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

The iconic Leica camera, often cloned and duplicated by many, the Russians with their Fed line, and the Japanese by Canon, Nikon, and Yashica. Wait, Yashica? Meet the Yashica YF, a camera that I didn’t even know existed until fellow photographer and friend James Lee showed it off. The YF, based on the Nicca 3L, which Yashica bought up the whole company, is a wonderful combination of the Barnack Leicas and the M-Series. Combined in such a way to produced a spectacular camera that shows off exactly how a rangefinder of the era should look and behave. Big thanks to James Lee for loaning outRead More →

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

Before Apple picked up the name Retina, it attached itself to a line of folding German Kodak cameras. Wait, isn’t Kodak an American camera brand you may be asking. And yes, you’re right but their German branch, Kodak AG, had a rather strong reputation in bringing inexpensive but solid performance cameras to market, and their iconic line, Retina. And while the camera is classified as a folder, it lacks the distinctive bellows that prove to be a weak spot in these cameras. Armed with German rather than American optics the cameras are solid performers if a bit fickle in their operation. A note to theRead More →

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

Ever since I sold off my Pentax 645, I honestly thought I would not want another 645 camera; I mean, I had my Hasselblad. But there is some draw to the 645 formats; you don’t want a square, but that nice rectangle. And with my Hasselblad acting up, I wanted something similar but in 645. In other words, I wanted a system camera that could be customisable. One day I was sitting in the Higher Grounds coffee shop in Belfountain, having shot some 4×5, and an older man came over. We started talking as he recognised the Crown Graphic. He promptly offered his Mamiya m645Read More →

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

Anyone who has read these reviews from the beginning knows I have a bit of a conflict with Bronica cameras. It’s not that they’re bad cameras, it’s just that for me there are too many small issues, minor annoyances that make me shy away from them. And the Bronica EC is no different, but it does come to the same point of almost earning a recommendation from me as the GS-1 does. At first glance, the EC has the look of an overgrown Kiev 88, a mechanical beast. However, that is far from the truth. As the EC in the name suggests, the camera isRead More →

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

I’ve always found the TLR to be an enjoyable camera to operate. From my very first Lubitel 2, the Yashica-12, and my current Rolleiflex 2.8F. The waist level finder, the dedicated finder lens and near silent operation. Of course, for the average photographer, the two brands that come to mind when it comes to TLRs is Rollei (both flex and cord) along with Yashica. But if you just stuck with these two brands you just might miss out on several other options, one being the Ricoh Diacord. The model under review today is the Diacord L, L standing for lightmeter. While the Diacord could neverRead More →

By:
On:
In: Photography
With: 0 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve had a wedding to write about, and this wedding is one that has been in the works for some time now. And the longest I’ve ever been on retainer for a job. But in this case, it was well worth the wait. I am of course talking about the wedding between Amy and Jeremy. The trouble with weddings is how do you go about photographing them? I say this because a wedding is a job that is many jobs. You’re a portrait photographer, event photographer, counsellor, valet, gopher, and many other jobs on top of everything else. So thisRead More →

By:
On:
In: Photography
With: 0 Comments

The trouble with photo walks is that you’re walking, this pretty much takes the idea of bringing large format cameras and tripods along. I mean, I love LF and have a press camera which allows me to shoot the Crown Graphic Handheld as I did back at the Summer Toronto Film Shooters Meetup. But again, when making a meet up especially for large format, you can’t call it a photo walk because it’s hard to walk with an LF camera and I know that many members don’t shoot press, technical, or field cameras they use monorails. You don’t walk around with a monorail, while youRead More →

By:
On:
In: Photography
With: 0 Comments

They came on in the same old way, and we defeated them in the same old way. – Field Marshal Sir Arthur Wellesley – June 1815 Being primarily a War of 1812 reenactor the folks I usually face across the field are the American forces, however, in 2015 I had a chance to visit Europe to join with fellow reenactors around the world to face off against the French at the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. It seemed some of the French were coming to visit us in Canada at Old Fort Erie. I’ll admit it was strange seeing the French tri-colour flyingRead More →

By:
On:
In: Photography
With: 0 Comments

This was certainly a first for me. I’ve been doing photography for many years, and while my favourite subjects are things I can’t move around, I enjoy the few portrait and wedding gigs I come across. But when it came to shooting maternity, it was all new territory. And it can be a pretty creepy one, also. You look at places like Pinterest, and you can get carried away by semi-nude women showing off their pregnant bodies. Now, before you lay on the hate, I’m not saying that’s bad or wrong. I don’t like that shooting style, and when my subjects are my soon-to-be brotherRead More →

By:
On:
In: Photography
With: 0 Comments

A sure sign that spring is just around the corner is the start of the maple season here in Ontario, where the sugar bushes come alive with the sound of sap dripping into buckets and the sweet smoke pouring out of the many sugar shacks across the province. For Heather and I that thankfully does not mean long hours working out in the bush, but rather a drive out to Mountsburg Conservation Area for their Maple Town event. You get all the sweet rewards but without any of the hard work attached to it. Despite the cold weather, which worked a bit in our favour,Read More →