In an area filled with Gothic Revival churches, Nassagaweya Presbyterian bucks the local trend by sticking to its rural roots with its loyalist-style building. But this small rural church has a big heart. Starting in 1836, Presbyterian ministers from the Esquining Presbyterian Church (Boston) began to host worship services in S.S. No. 3 or Knowles Schoolhouse. Despite the area’s poor reputation, the congregation flourished, and in 1838 Daniel McNair donated a section of his property to establish a church and burial ground. Volunteers constructed a simple Loyalist-style frame meeting house which hosted its first service in 1839. In May 1839, the session’s first meeting wasRead More →

This is not the first time I’ve worked with an Elan camera, and it certainly stuck in my head as an amazing camera. These are semi-pro cameras that continue the lineage of the original Canon EOS 650. And of late, I’ve found that the EOS system is an excellent addition to my tool kit. So after being offered up an Elan IIe, I couldn’t say no. And while this is an older model than the 7ne, it still fits nicely as a camera to add to the mix of helping out with reviews of film, lens, and developers. Camera Specifications Make: Canon Model: EOS ElanRead More →

When it comes to Kodak’s back catalogue of developers, it is extensive. Today it is small compared to the past, with most people going with D-76, HC-110 and XTol. But Kodak once produced a wide range of developers for almost every application. And there is one that provides fast, high-contrast, and low-fog negatives, and that is Kodak D-19. While the original creation and cancellation of D-19 are lost in history, today, you can mix it up yourself or purchase a premixed kit from Photographer’s Formulary. Of all the developers I’ve used and reviewed to date, D-19 is undoubtedly among the most exciting and unique, notRead More →

This beautiful stone church stands right around a corner and is slightly out of a driver’s visual range. But this stone church occupies the historic village of Lowville, which is technically part of Burlington, but where the modern borders lay, the church is in Milton. Anglican ministers started visiting the area in 1836, hosting non-denominational Sabbath Schools in a schoolhouse in Lowville. While these schools are not technically connected to a modern parish, they certainly helped support the area’s Anglican population. It wasn’t until 1856 that a Parish was officially established in Lowville. A plot of land was donated to the church by George AgnewRead More →

I’m a big fan of prime lenses; they have always been a go-to for working with SLRs. And I have many options for my auto and manual focus Nikon kits. And while I have all my preferred focal lengths in my manual kit, I have been lacking a couple of options in my autofocus kit. Sure I have two fantastic zoom lenses with missing focal lengths, but they are both heavy and awkward to bring along when size matters. The problem is that even today, AF-D lenses can fetch a high price on the used market. So when someone offered up a couple of second-generationRead More →

I love trying out new film developers or new-to-me developers. So a while back I wrote an article on seven film developers that are worth trying. Since then, I’ve tried several more unique developers and have another five options to try something different in your home development experience. And this time, I’ve also included a colour developer. 1 – Kodak D-19 Originally designed for X-Ray Film, Technical Film, and IR Films, Kodak D-19 is a high-contrast developer. But that should not stop you from giving it a try. Because while it is a specialised developer, it works surprisingly well with regular panchromatic films. It alsoRead More →

Christmas came early last year with the latest film offering from the Finish film photography store KameraStore. SantaColor 100 is a modern, fresh colour negative film designed for aerial surveillance. While not available to the general public, large orders allow suppliers to purchase and re-spool this film stock for public consumption. And with all the trouble last year getting colour negative film, having another option is always good. It’s an open secret that SantaColor 100 is Eastman-Kodak Aerocolor IV 2460 and that it’s been made available under multiple brands, Silberra Color 100, FlicFilm Electra 100, and FilmWashi X. As a technical film, SantaColor is uniqueRead More →

As someone who loves history and weird cameras, the Graflex Century 35 is a camera that fits both of those items. The Century 35 is a straight-up rebadge of the Japanese-produced Kowa Kallo 35. I first had a chance to try this camera out last year in an episode of Classic Camera Revival, where it was chosen for me to use by my good friend John Meadows, who gifted the camera by the end of the episode to me. Despite being primarily an SLR shooter, I do like some rangefinders. This camera fits the bill with my rangefinders, is compact and straightforward, and produces excellentRead More →

I’ve always been a prime lens user, but my re-entry into Minolta (especially autofocus) and purchasing the D750 have made me appreciate a good zoom lens. I can’t recall where I got the idea to pick this particular lens up, but I’m going to assume that it was back during the infamous CCR episode “Zooming Right Along.” where James Lee spoke about the Nikkor 28-80mm kit lens, so I went onto B&H and looked for that lens. Not finding it, I found something that was a bit longer, a one-and-done lens, the 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5D. And this lens has been a helpful tool to carry aroundRead More →

Last year when I reviewed Fortepan 200, I indicated that I would love to review the 400 and 100 flavours of the Fortepan line. And the film photography community being fantastic, responded. On the post to a Facebook group, a reader indicated they had a large stash of Fortepan 100 and asked if I wanted some. Well, he came through, so thank you to Wendell Anderson for sending over the rolls for this review. Film Specs Type: Panchromatic B&W Film Base: Acetate Film Speed: ASA-100, Latitude: 50-400 Formats Available: 135, 120, Sheets Discontinued: 2007 Roll 01 – Kodak D-76 I decided to shoot the firstRead More →