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Well, here we are at the end of another year, and you know in the rearview, 2024 was a good year. I felt that I was putting out posts and content at a more sustainable rate. I also felt that I was not always pressed for time each month in producing reviews. I got to check out some new film stocks, add some new favourite cameras, and explore some familiar and new places. The Best of 2024 This year, I consciously chose to reduce the number of reviews I did over the year. It was starting to get challenging to keep everything moving and outputRead More →

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Developing your film at home is both rewarding and frustrating at the same time and to add on an extra layer of complexity there is a lot of developers out there that you can use, especially in the black & white field. While certainly not as much as there used to be, there is still an excellent selection of developers to suit almost every person’s need, without having to dive deep into building your developers from base chemicals. Ultimately every photographer has a different taste but if you’re starting out with home development the choices may seem a little overwhelming so I’ll be breaking downRead More →

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I’m coming back for more, especially after being pleased with the results I got from the Formulary version of Kodak D-19. Like Formulary, Flic Film’s MQ-19 is a perfect clone of the classic high-contrast, fast-acting developer D-19, and while I am limited by what film stocks can be developed I did manage to find a few more options to run through the developer this time around include a few classic films that I did not include in the first time around. Like any good review, having a second chance with a developer gives a better chance to explore other options and get a better pictureRead More →

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While writing camera reviews remain a favourite of mine, second favourite is developers. Despite the challenges, it does allow me a bit more latitude in choices of films and gear. And while there are only a limited number of developers out there and some that are highly specialised or have limited film stocks that are available. But despite the limited numbers, there are in many cases a tonne of clones out there that allow me to fully explore these developers. I’ll be walking through how I write and work through reviewing film developers as I write my review of Flic Film MQ-19. The main reasonRead More →

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Last year, when Foma announced the release of a new film, I’ll admit, I was immediately interested. What drew me into the film is that it was an orthochromatic film and not sensitive to the red end of the visual spectrum. I’ve worked with these films, notably Ilford Ortho+ and Rollei Ortho 25 plus. The trouble with these is that they are slower films, rated at ASA-80 (or ASA-40) and ASA-25, respectively. I’m not one to shy away from slower films, but it can get rather dull and grey here in Ontario during specific points in the year. So, having an Ortho option rated atRead More →

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I have far surpassed one hundred and fifty camera reviews and one hundred film reviews, my other two reviews being lenses and developers have only made it to the big fifty this year. If you read my previous post on lens reviews these are my least favourite. And while I rather enjoy creating film and camera reviews the most, developer reviews come in as the third favourite. The reason being is that I have the most amount of freedom connected to their creation. And while I’m working on a full post on how I write developer reviews, this post is about looking back at theRead More →

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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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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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Suppose you look back at my catalogue of images. In that case, you’ll see a lot of repetition regarding the historic communities I’ve visited and continue to visit, especially if they’re a short drive away. I count a short drive as anything I can get to in an hour or under. I have hundreds of photos of downtown Milton, Oakville, Stratford, Hamilton, Dundas, Elora, Guelph and many others. But when I look at these images, one thing is clear: there are changes, sometimes significant and other times small, but changes are all the same. I’m reminded of the Midsomer Murders episode, Picture of Innocence, whichRead More →

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If there is the closest thing to a universal developer in the film photography world, that developer is Diafine. If you’re thinking, “Wait, aren’t all developers universal?” You are right; a B&W developer will develop many different film stocks. But it doesn’t often happen that two other film stocks, shot at different speeds, can be developed simultaneously. There are some examples of cross-over, but only a few. Diafine uses three main development times and a couple of unique combinations. These are shared across many different film stocks that allow you to develop multiple rolls shot multiple ways in the same tank. You can also shootRead More →