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I first discovered a package of Kodak Microdol-X in the back of an old camera shop in Pittsburg, PA. Microdol-X was Kodak’s original fine-grain developer before being supplanted by Kodak Xtol. Although both But Microdol-X was much loved by those who used it and I’ll admit, it’s an excellent developer. Thankfully as a powder developer even those old pouches have a long shelf life, but the supply is limited. Thankfully the fine folks at LegacyPro have an answer, Mic-X, a complete clone of the original Microdol-X that uses all the original times and dilutions. Technical Details Manufacturer: LegacyPro Name: Mic-X Primary Developer: Metol Type: Reusable/One-ShotRead More →

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I was more familiar with Robert Preston in his final role as Centauri in The Last Starfighter but my mom and my wife will always sing the line “Gary, Indiana” from the movie “The Music Man” and while it might have tripped along softly on the tongue this way. The city of Gary today is a far cry from what it once was in the early 20th Century. This boom steel town has seen its highs and is now in its lows. I would have loved to include every building I explored in Gary in my “Between Darkness & Light” Series, the simple fact isRead More →

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While every type of review I write comes with unique problems, nothing is more challenging than writing a film review. Film reviews have been done for years, mostly in dusty photographic journals and magazines and reviewed under exact conditions and in large quantities. If I tried to follow these methods, it would take me years to complete and require a large volume of films, cameras, lenses, and equipment I need more room for. Like all my reviews, I set out my method to work within the realms of what I wanted these reviews to cover: the basics. I’ve aimed these at beginner and intermediate photographersRead More →

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Sometimes you just need to get out and shoot with no real plans. On Canada Day, we wanted to head out somewhere and get some fresh air before everywhere got busy with the Canada Day celebrations. Where didn’t matter as long as we could get some fresh air and enjoy some sunshine. We settled on Burlington’s downtown. I took along my Elan 7 with the 50mm lens and a roll of Fomapan 200 loaded. I didn’t have any real plans or subject matters for what I was going to photograph with the roll I only wanted to try something different and look for patterns orRead More →

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No shade on Polaroid…. Today, we have a pair of Chrises on the show; Chris Erickson is joining Chrissie! If that name isn’t familiar, he’s Just Another Chris who loves his instant film! He went from producing and being behind the scenes of various other YouTube channels to putting out his own content focused on instant film. He shoots everything from Instax to modern Polaroid. He produces many amazing videos and isn’t afraid to present his reviews, warts and all, making his channel one of the best sources for reviews of Polaroid and other Instant products. You can find Chris’ work on the following socialRead More →

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Hot show based lightmeters are nothing new, one of the first accessories I got for my Barnack Leica was a Voitlander VCII and even before that Leitz released their own dedicated shoe mounted meter for the M-Series of rangefinders. But ever since the release of the Reveni Labs LM-1, there has been a massive upsurge of similar OLED based shoe meters. So when I was contacted by AstriHori if I wanted to review their newest shoe meter, the Lightmeter II or XH-2 I jumped at the chance. I had heard of AstriHori in passing mostly through ads on my social media feeds but also withRead More →

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In: Between Darkness & Light
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Regarding locations, the former Indiana Army Ammunition Plant is by far the largest location I ever explored and only a tiny percentage of the total area. This massive factory is terribly repeatable, as it was designed to be an enormous plant for the production of smokeless powder during the Second World War. Based on what I’ve read and seen, I spent almost all the time at the Indiana Ordnance Works No. 1 and a bit of the Hoiser Ordnance Works. Either way, this was a single location I spent five hours at, but I still feel that I only saw a little but at theRead More →

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Established in 2013 by MainStreetHost and taken on by Alex Luyckx Photography in 2015, #photochat is a community of photography professionals and enthusiasts who congregate to talk shop and discuss anything and everything photography. After a brief pause through 2023 Photochat is back with a monthly chat model. To participate in our monthly chat (every Second Thursday at 1:00 pm), search the #photochat hashtag on Twitter, Mastodon, and BlueSky Social to see the conversation, or find me at @AlexLuyckxPhoto on Twitter, Mastodon & BlueSky. Include the hashtag in your tweets to answer the questions and talk with the other participants. If there’s a topic you’dRead More →

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In: Classic Camera Revival
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Infrared photography is one of the more unique niches of the hobby and can produce some amazing and wild images using light beyond our visible spectrum. In this episode, Alex digs into black-and-white infrared photography specifically. Infrared light is part of the overall electromagnetic spectrum, which includes our human visible light spectrum, which ranges from 380nm to 700nm or violet to red. Most infrared photography uses specialised film and filters to capture light between 700nm and 900nm. Today, we don’t have dedicated IR films being newly produced like Kodak HIE, Efke IR820 or Konica Infrared 750, but we do have extended red sensitive films thatRead More →

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This is technically my third attempt at getting Guelph into the Frugal Film Project. I attempted once last year but was driven out by rain, and then earlier this year. But it looks like it has finally struck. While I have visited Guelph many times because my Opa lived here until his death, it was the short stint I lived in the city while house-sitting and just starting to explore photography that I took to wandering the downtown. I don’t know if I still have the digital files from those days when the downtown was a rough spot with lots of urban decay and theRead More →