PYPS, Presbyterian Young People’s Society, Pick Your Potential Spouse. However you want to call it, yesterday I learned of some news that I never expected to receive. And while I have, like many before me, aged out and ultimately drifted away from the organization a friend whom I met through PYPS posted the following on Facebook. THE FUTURE OF PYPS Hello PYPS family, Recently the Synod of Central Northeastern Ontario and Bermuda had their annual meeting and decided to pull funding from our ministry. We felt that, in the face of declining attendance, the money that has been allotted to PYPS in the past couldRead More →

There’s something fun about simplicity in a camera. Over the course of these reviews, I’ve shot cameras at every point on the spectrum from complex to annoyingly simple. But in the case of the Pentax P3n, it fits the perfect balance between sophisticated and simple. The P3n is a camera that you can take out, shoot from the hip and get outstanding results. The P3n is Pentax’s answer to that wonderfully strange period from the mechanical and manual 1970s and the automatic days of the 1980s a perfect blend of the old and the new. The camera is alternately known outside the USA at theRead More →

In the past, I have chosen to use just a single film stock to shoot these film challenges laid out by Emuslive. Not because I have to based on the rules of the challenge, just because I choose to. In part one I used Delta 100 in 35mm and part two Delta 400 in 120. But for part three I decided to go crazy and shoot not one, not two, but four rolls from all across the spectrum. Following no real pattern, shooting from the hip and living with the results! I plan to have seven solid shots from each of the four rolls toRead More →

When it comes to iconic cameras, Nikon does not have a shortage in their catalogue. From the highly valued rangefinders to the game-changing Nikon F. Plus all the professional camera bodies that followed in the footsteps of the original system camera. But among the cameras that are highly sought after by many photographers still, today are the compact SLRs of the 1970s and 1980s. Among those is the Nikon FM and the electronic cousin, the Nikon FE. For me, the FE fits into that little niche between my all-mechanical Nikon F2 Photomic and the fair more automatic Nikon FA. The FE fills the gap whenRead More →

The 1980s were a weird time, both for the world as a whole and for the camera industry. We saw the rise of electronics in cameras and the strange merge between the modern era and style and a clinging to the earlier form factors. One of the iconic styles is the Canon T-Series, these were automatic cameras complete with auto-exposure on manual focus cameras. While these T-Series started off fairly boxy, but by the Canon T90, they had some streamlining. Enter the Yashica 108 Multiprogram (Yashica 108MP), like the T-Series Canon cameras the 108 features autoexposure (heavy automation in the camera) and a manual focusRead More →

Black powder and a plastic camera is the theme of World Toy Camera day for my shoot. This year I am not in an exotic location like Pittsburg or Washington DC, but instead, I participated in the final War of 1812 Reenactment event of the season at the Bradley House Museum in Mississauga. So into my Haversack went my Holga 120N loaded up with a roll of Fomapan 100. While toy cameras aren’t for everyone, they certainly add a touch of fun to my photography. For the most part, I work with high-end equipment, but I do enjoy the strange nature of toy cameras, plasticRead More →

There’s a fun nature for an event that is total fiction rather than historical. It gives us a chance to play and provides us with a view of other historic sites within our province. Until this event, I had never even heard of the Bradley House. But as I took the gentle curve along Orr Road in the village of Clarkson on the border of Oakville and Mississauga I was pleasantly surprised at the industrial fences of a Suncor Petroleum plant melted away into a forest alight with fall colours. As I chatted with folks around the site, it turned out that Clarkson has aRead More →

Polaroid is dead, long live Polaroid A rather morbid way to start this whole celebration of Instant Photography. Polaroid week and I are a bit hit and miss. And yet I’ve managed to join in on it several times. But this year I thought that it would be at an end for me. See, I had ditched all my instant photography gear between the end of last year’s Polaroid Week and the early spring of this year. And as the quote says, I tried to get out, but they just pulled me back in. I guess you can say at the last recording session forRead More →

When it comes to the Delta line of films from Ilford, my least favourite is Delta 400; I don’t know why. I just never got the results I honestly liked out of it. So with Delta Def Jam in full swing, I figured why not give it another go! Downtown Cambridge, or rather the historical name for this part of the city, Galt has always been on my radar as a place to take a camera and have some fun. While I have tried in the past to do some shooting here, the camera I had with me just didn’t behave. I grabbed my Rolleiflex,Read More →

When I’ve shot 6×7 cameras in the past, I’ve found them clunky and unwieldy. Think back to the Mamiya Universal and RB67. Even the Bronica GS-1 which is better than most. None of these cameras had the style and handling of the Pentax 67II. Now the 67II fixes what I would see as problems with the 6×7 and 67. This camera is a traditional 35mm SLR on steroids and is worthy of the description. There are some cameras that I enjoy instantly, and this camera certainly ranks among those. Thanks to James Lee for loaning out this beauty. Camera Specifications Make: Pentax Model: 67II Type:Read More →