In the convoluted times that was the Second World War the American photographic industry saw some interesting changes in Up-State New York, specifically in the city of Binghamton. So Alex took a trek down to Rochester, NY to speak to photographer Andrew Hiltz who has done extensive research into Ansco, Agfa, GAF, and the Third Reich. A short summary, Ansco was founded in 1842 as E. Anthony & Co, by 1901 the family has picked up the camera business of Scovill Manufacturing, becoming Anthony & Scovill, this would be combined to become Ansco before 1905. By 1928 the company has merged with German camera giantRead More →

Long before we had flexible film and even dry plate it was the wet plate process that brought photography to the masses. This is by no means an easy process involving lots of nasty chemicals and a very slow process that today seems rather strange with head braces, brass lenses, and rubber gloves. But for some it’s their passion and art form, so John Meadows speaks to Shane Balkowitsch about how he got into photography and went right for wet plate. Here are some examples of Shane’s amazing work: We’d also like to thank everyone who made it out to our big meetup at theRead More →

Part 2 of Special Guest Interview – David Nardi – David Nardi is the man behind the return of E-6 processing to the city of Toronto, John took some time (read several hours) to sit down and discuss processing and photography as a whole! If you want to learn more about his services and use them yourself you have head over to: www.e6it.ca Co-Host Mike has used E6it in the past, I highly recommend using David Nardi. His work is absolutely brilliant!  He treats every single roll of film as his own.  He uses fresh chemistry each time and loves film! And don’t forget, ourRead More →

So what happens when a whole group of photographers sit down and share a single camera? Well we get a nice little picture of what each of us enjoys about cameras in general! So today the whole group sits down to talk on the Nikon FA and John sits down with David Nardi from E6it! Camera Featured on Today’s Show… Nikon FA – This was the first Nikon camera to feature a full lineup of auto-exposure modes, from full Program, Aperture and Shutter Priority and of course Full Manual. The power behind this is a set of stored exposures a computer will pattern match fromRead More →

Toronto resident Mike Robinson is a master of the Daguerreotype process, producing images of unparalleled beauty and technical excellence. In this bonus episode, John talks with Mike about the challenges and rewards of this venerable photographic process A video of Mike at work Mike has been kind enough to supply us with some images of his recent work. All images are copyright Mike Robinson, all rights reserved.  Read More →

While many in the world are keen on March Madness and College Basketball we here at the CCR are looking at all mechanical cameras. That means that the cameras may have a battery to run the light meter but they can still work without one! Cameras Featured on Today’s Show… Nikon F2 Photomic – This is the camera you can take into the Zombie Apocalypse and document the end of the world and it won’t let you down. Make: Nikon Model: F2 Photomic Type: Single Lens Reflex Format: Miniature Format (35mm), 24x35mm Lens: Interchangeable, Nikon F Mount Year of Manufacture: 1971-1980 Nikon F2 Photomic –Read More →

Sometimes you just can’t trust a camera’s meter or you want to do something creative with how you meter your photos. And then there are times your camera just doesn’t have a trusty built in meter. So you have to do things old school and that’s use an external meter. Something that lives in almost every photographer’s bag. To give a quick review there are two types of meters based on how they measure light. The first is incident metering that measures the amount of light falling on the subject and then there’s reflective meters that measure the amount of light reflected off the subject.Read More →

Not to be outdone by the rest of the group Donna has a new camera, and she’s going big, like 8×10 big! She recently picked up a beautiful Cambo SC Monorail 8×10 camera and so far loves it! Make: Cambo Model: Legend SC Type: View Camera, Monorail Format: 8×10 or 4×5 Lens: Interchangable, Cambo SC Board Plus Donna has already taken it out and shot a few images on it with beautiful results!! Cambo Legend SC – Agfa Gevaert AG Super Intergon 1:9/305mm – Agfa RC Paper – Kodak Dektol (Stock) Cambo Legend SC – Agfa Gevaert AG Super Intergon 1:9/305mm – Agfa RC PaperRead More →

Probably one of the best things to actually invest in with your camera kit is lenses, as the title says, marry your lenses, date your cameras. Once you’ve figured out what system you want to shoot with, invest in glass, so on this the first episode of our second season the gang talks about their favourite lenses! Glass Featured on Today’s Show… In 35mm… Canon FD Lens S.S.C. 50mm 1:1.4 – While on the surface this is just another 50mm FD Canon lens which are already a fantastic lens to shoot on all your FD mount cameras what sets this camera about is the SSCRead More →

  < In this special bonus episode, an interview with Tim Gilbert of the SP-445 Kickstarter project. In this project, Tim and his team have come up with a new kind of 4×5 development tank that can develop up to 4 sheets at once, with an economical use of chemistry. This Kickstarter project closes on January 18th,  2016 so you still have time! Check it out! Looking for a good spot to get your gear and material fix…check out Burlington Camera, Downtown Camera, Film Plus, Belle Arte Camera and Camtech, if you’re in the GTA region of Ontario, if you’re on the West Coast (BritishRead More →