By:
On:
In: A Faded Glory
With: 1 Comment

The late 19th century brought the final push to extend out the transcontinental line. The arrival of the 20th century, the Canadian Pacific Railway was the only line that extended across Canada, at least from Vancouver to Montreal. In Ontario, Grand Trunk managed to secure itself as the big player in the province by absorbing all the competition but could not do that with Canadian Pacific finding itself against a competitor that it simply could not buy out. This was the golden age of rail travel when mighty steam locomotives travelled across the country; rail networks connected people and places, mail and cargo were easilyRead More →

By:
On:
In: Foma:52
With: 0 Comments

Throughout most of my 52-Roll projects, I made a point that at Week 45 or thereabout, to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country, here in Canada that is called Remembrance Day and falls on the 11th of November to mark the armistice that ended the fighting on the western front. While I had initially planned to photograph the Milton Remembrance Day Parade the Sunday before the 11th, I quickly shifted to feature cenotaphs and war graves in Oakville, Milton, and Guelph due to other plans. This week there are a few items to unpack historically, but let’s startRead More →

By:
On:
In: Optical Review Blogs
With: 1 Comment

It is always a good idea to future proof your lenses, especially when working with the Minolta manual focus cameras. I say that because, like Nikon, while the original 1958 SR-Mount is basically the same as 1977 SR-Mount, there are subtle differences, like the Nikon F-Mount. I first picked up this lens as part of a drive to get better glass for my Minolta X-7a, my second Minolta SLR. While I could go with MC variant lenses, I went with the MD variant. The reason being that if I had updated my X-7a to an X-700, I needed lenses that would work with all theRead More →

By:
On:
In: Classic Camera Revival
With: 0 Comments

While we love shooting and talking about our own cameras, what happens when you’re thrown for a loop you can get some interesting results! So with the gang all back together in person, we decided to take this favourite format and take on another mystery camera challenge! This time around we have John, Jess, Bill, and Alex all trading cameras around the table. John takes over Alex’s favourite, the Minolta Maxxum 9. Jess getting to work with a beautiful Nikon FM from John. Alex lugging around a beast, the Nikkormat FTn from Bill. And it wouldn’t be an MCC without Bill ending up with aRead More →

By:
On:
In: Foma:52
With: 0 Comments

I have seen Fergus in the past, but it’s only been for a short visit. Whenever I’m in this area, I tend to gravitate more towards Elora, Ontario, because it is a community that I enjoy exploring and can always find something new. But having already visited Elora this year and in this project, I needed someplace new. With the exact concentration of stone buildings from the 19th century and a walking route in mind, it was time to head into a bit of a pocket of the highlands in Ontario. For thousands of years before the arrival of the earliest European settlers, the GrandRead More →

By:
On:
In: Film Review Blogs
With: 0 Comments

When it comes to slide film, it is not something that I like to shoot often, mostly because when it comes to processing, it’s time-consuming and costly; even purchasing the stock is costly. Plus, scanning some slide films stocks are difficult to nail down both exposure and colour balance. And then there’s Provia 100F; Provia is a solid performer and one that gives an excellent starting point in the world of shooting slide film. It reminds me of Sensia and Astia, both excellent slide films with a bit more forgiveness than the Velvia line and natural colour reproduction. It also scans easily without too muchRead More →

By:
On:
In: A Faded Glory
With: 0 Comments

In about three decades, the railway in Ontario had grown from a small collection of operators to the principal means of moving people and cargo around the Province and, by extension, Canada. But the one thing that it still lacked was a complete link across the entire length of British North America. While some efforts had been made in 1873, the resulting scandal ousted the MacDonald conservatives, and the new Liberal Government made some efforts to start the construction in 1875. Despite completing 1,000 kilometres of track by the time they were voted out in 1878, not enough had been done. MacDonald returned to power,Read More →

By:
On:
In: Foma:52
With: 0 Comments

If you haven’t heard of the small community of Petrolia, that makes perfect sense, it seems a bit out of place here in Ontario. But this is the area credited with kicking off an early oil boom in Ontario and within the British Empire. While a shadow of its former glory, the name and legacy live on as part of Canada’s role as a major exporter of raw resources. Back thousands of years, the Attiwonderonk, Anishiabewaki, and Mississaugas made use of the sticky tar-like substance through the region to help with waterproofing their canoes. The area remained the territory of the Mississaugas until the CanadaRead More →

By:
On:
In: Camera Review Blogs
With: 2 Comments

When it comes to medium format cameras, there are two formats that I’ve always been drawn to, the iconic 6×6 square and the slightly smaller 6×4.5 or 645. I’ve run with a Pentax 645 and more recently the Mamiya m645. I have shot with other medium format cameras, 6×9, 6×7, and 6×8 and even larger exposure sizes. But I keep on coming back to 645; it’s great for everyday shooting and gives you that larger image size than 35mm. But the cameras are often bulky unless you go with a folder. But what about the best of both worlds? Enter the Fujifilm GA645Zi, the thirdRead More →

By:
On:
In: Classic Camera Revival
With: 0 Comments

A solo show as Alex sits down to discuss downsizing a camera collection. Tips on how to choose what to keep and what to sell or give away and the all-important techniques to avoid the dreaded separation anxiety. Want a subscription to SilverGrain Classics and are a fan of Classic Camera Revival? Visit their shop online and buy a magazine or a subscription? Looking for a good spot to get your gear and material fix check out Burlington Camera (Burlington, ON), Downtown Camera (Toronto, ON), Film Plus (Toronto, ON), Belle Arte Camera (Hamilton, ON), Pond’s FotoSource (Guleph, ON), Foto Art Camera (Owen Sound, ON). InRead More →