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Of late, I’ve had a soft spot for consumer-level SLRs. These are excellent options as knock-about cameras that often have the same internals as their professional cousins but in a smaller form factor and can be had for a low cost. The F65 is one of Nikon’s final entry-level SLRs and one of the best options for the era, as it combines form and functions and offers the greatest compatibility. While the F65 only saw production for a short period, its replacements split things into two sub-varients, a lower-spec F55 and a high-spec F75, the features on both are found in the F65. If you’reRead More →

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If you’ve been following along with my photography for a while, one of my favourite places to visit and take photos is the historic downtown of Milton, Ontario. I’ve called Milton home for forty years and have never tired of photographing the downtown. While I need to drive these days to get here promptly, where I grew up, I could walk here without difficulty. So as an introduction to a group of potential new blog viewers, I look into my hometown for the first month of 2023’s Frugal Film Project. The modern town of Milton, Ontario, sits upon the traditional territories of the Neutral, Huron-Wendat,Read More →

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At the end of last year, Harman/Ilford made a fantastic announcement, their popular budget film, Kentmere, was now available in 120 formats. And it was going to be the least expensive option for medium-format shooters. Kentmere and I go back, and when I first reviewed Kentmere 400, I was not happy with my results. I was downright rude towards the film stock, but looking back at it now, I can see it was not as bad as I thought it was when I first came to review it. Kentmere 100, however, did make an excellent first impression. And since then, I hadn’t thought much aboutRead More →

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If there is a single place in southern Ontario where you could find Scottish immigrants, it was the Esquining Township. A small farming settlement, known locally as the Scotch Block, is the perfect spot to find the oldest Presbyterian congregation in Milton. But Boston is much more than that; it also shows the messy history of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. The earliest recorded service of Presbyterian Worship took place in 1820 on the farm of Alexander Laidlaw. Rev William Jenkins used a tree stump as a pulpit. He preached on Ezekial 34:25. The service proved popular, and in 1824, a section of Laidlaw’s farmRead More →

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Respooling and shooting motion picture films have been around for several years now. The Vision3 line of the film presents a somewhat affordable way to shoot colour film since it is far more readily available than dedicated still photography film. But most people have been developing this film in C-41 chemistry. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, my first experiences with motion picture film developed in C-41 at home. And CineStill strips away the remjet layer specifically to allow motion picture film to be developed in C-41 lab machines. But technically, processing motion picture films, specifically Kodak Vision3 films, in C-41 chemistry is cross-processing. KodakRead More →

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The return of the 1990s classic trashcam that, despite being what it was, the Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim became a cult classic in the rise of the toy camera movement. And while the original Vivitar run ended, and the Sproketheadz version had some serious troubles, in 2022, a new version came to the market. Produced by Hong Kong firm RETO, the RETO Ultra Wide & Slim rebirthed the classic and is probably one of the closest versions of the original. It’s all plastic, light, and has a particular flare for the strange. But if you missed the boat on the original, this camera mightRead More →

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I love a good wide-angle lens, and while I have two excellent options in my A-Mount kit, the 17-35mm and the 28mm f/2.8, sometimes you want something a touch wider and in a fast prime. So I kept my eyes out for a 24mm f/2.8 and jumped when I came across one for a good price. I was not disappointed at all; this is a fantastic lens and one that will be used much more than the 28mm when photographing landscapes and urbanscapes. Lens Specifications Make: Minolta Model: Maxxum AF 24mm 1:2.8 Focal Length: 24mm Focal Range: ∞ – 0.25m Aperture: f/2.8 – f/22, 7Read More →

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It was raining in the city by the lake, a hard rain. A hard rain would wash the silver halides off any type of film. I was looking for something or someone for that matter. Someone contacted me about something new hitting the streets. A film stock would deliver the look of those old detective movies from the mid-century. I spent hours in the old one-screen cinema watching these films when I was a kid, growing up on the wrong side of the tracks. He called himself Shadow, Agent Shadow, although, given his love of cloak and dagger, I think the “agent” part was made-up,Read More →

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When people hear the name ORWO, they mostly think of their brilliant motion picture films, UN54 and N74. Their newer offerings include the recently announced but yet-to-arrive NP100 and NP400 plus NC500. But that is only a small cross-section of their original offerings. ORWO, or rather ORiginal WOlfen is built in Wolfen, Germany, the original Agfa plant that ended up on the eastern side of the iron curtain and continued to produce films and developers after World War Two through the Cold War. Their films became popular among photographers in East German and the Soviet Bloc. My first experience with ORWO films is one ofRead More →

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This is not my first time working with SPUR HRX, but it’s always been a developer that I’ve wanted to go back to revisit with a few more different film options. I first learned about HRX through a former co-host of Classic Camera Revival, and the developer certainly piqued my interest. SPUR HRX is the latest and far more stable update to HRX-3 (I know it doesn’t seem logical to go from HRX-3 to HRX) and stands for High-Resolution X from Speed Photography, Ultra Resolution. HRX offers up an ultra-high resolution, fine grain, and excellent tonality. If that sounds familiar, it should because it soundedRead More →