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I admit that I haven’t used many of them for Canon cameras because I’m primarily a Nikon shooter. But there’s something special about a unique camera within the overall history of a camera manufacturer, and when it comes to Canon, that camera is the EF. Not to be confused because these days, when you match Canon and EF, you’re talking about their line of Autofocus lenses for the EOS system in the EF-Mount. But before the name was applied to lenses, it was a model of Canon cameras. Often passed over in general history, the EF is unique for two reasons: it was the firstRead More →

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If there’s one thing that is always uncertain these days is the availability and quality of photochemistry. At the same time, some companies have had no issues with maintaining their normal level of quality. As manufacturers of the materials and chemistries shift away from the originals, things get a little grey. Thankfully some are willing to take a chance and help keep things going, and one such company is Adox. While most of their chemical offerings are based on formulas from other firms, Rodinal, FX-39, and Atomal spring to mind. Adox XT-3 is a new offering, backwards engineers from Kodak Xtol a well-loved Ascorbic AcidRead More →

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When it comes to metering for precision, there is nothing better than a spot meter, but most spot meters these days are expensive, both new and on the used market. The first and only spot meter I’ve used is the Pentax Spotmeter V. This analogue 1° spot meter has become the accessory that always gets thrown in my bag when I’m out with my Crown Graphic Hasselblad or Mamiya for precision tripod-based work. The meter served me through almost my entire War of 1812 project, Canadian Confederation and most recently, the Railway project. A simple easy to use device that allowed me to execute aRead More →

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And now for something completely different. I know I’m better known for my reviews of film-based cameras, but I have reviewed a digital camera here before, back when I got the camera that this one replaced. In fact, the Nikon D750 marks two, not three things. First, it marks a return to an SLR as my digital camera; second, it marks the return to the Nikon Digital system. And finally, a digital camera that I like using a lot. It’s not to say the a6000 was an unenjoyable camera to operate; the only complaint was that the system continued to be limited. Yes, I couldRead More →

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Being in North America and raised on Kodak and Ilford developers, I did not even know that Atomal existed, other than seeing it listed on the Massive Dev chart and just passing it by as another European developer. But when I was hunting for more Rollei developers at Freestyle, I came across Atomal 49 as an ‘other people purchased’ listing. I was excited to give this a shot, and after mixing it up, I posted in a Film Photography Chat group on Facebook and asked if anyone else had used the stuff. The response was overwhelming how many people used the stuff. However, the bestRead More →

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It is always a good idea to future proof your lenses, especially when working with the Minolta manual focus cameras. I say that because, like Nikon, while the original 1958 SR-Mount is basically the same as 1977 SR-Mount, there are subtle differences, like the Nikon F-Mount. I first picked up this lens as part of a drive to get better glass for my Minolta X-7a, my second Minolta SLR. While I could go with MC variant lenses, I went with the MD variant. The reason being that if I had updated my X-7a to an X-700, I needed lenses that would work with all theRead More →

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When it comes to slide film, it is not something that I like to shoot often, mostly because when it comes to processing, it’s time-consuming and costly; even purchasing the stock is costly. Plus, scanning some slide films stocks are difficult to nail down both exposure and colour balance. And then there’s Provia 100F; Provia is a solid performer and one that gives an excellent starting point in the world of shooting slide film. It reminds me of Sensia and Astia, both excellent slide films with a bit more forgiveness than the Velvia line and natural colour reproduction. It also scans easily without too muchRead More →

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When it comes to colour films, I’m picky about which ones I shoot. I’m the first to admit I wouldn’t say I like working with colour film as I have a digital camera that gives me consistent colour images with little work on my part. The biggest problem is getting the colours right from my scans as I don’t use specialised software like Negative Lab Pro. When it comes to medium format, I am reliant on my Epson V700; the Nikon Coolscan V ED makes life easier. So it comes as no surprise that when I learned of the discontinuation of Fujicolor Pro 400H thatRead More →

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When it comes to the name Velvia, most photographers will often latch onto the cult classic Fuji Velvia or its modern form, Velvia 50. But Fuji also released a one-stop faster version, Velvia 100 or 100F, which offers everything you like about Velvia 50 but in a slightly faster form. While I’ve shot plenty of slide films, Velvia 100 is one that I have far less experience with; again, I’m more likely to shoot Provia, Ektachrome, or Astia (RIP) when shooting a 100-Speed slide film. But Velvia 100 is an interesting animal and one that I’m not likely to shoot again. So I wasn’t tooRead More →

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While Fuji Velvia was not my first experience with slide film, it is certainly is the one that made me like slide film. First released in 1990, the film became an immediate threat to Kodachrome, especially Kodachrome 25. And unlike Kodachrome, Velvia used the standard E-6 process that could be done in any lab that covered the process. No need to send it to speciality labs, and you could have your slides back the same day from the right lab. The name itself comes from combining Velvet and Media to describe the smooth images produced by the stock. While the original version was discontinued inRead More →