By:
On:
In: Developer Review Blogs
With: 0 Comments

Like my last developer review (Fuji Microfine), Fuji Super Prodol (SPD) has little information online about the developer. SPD is the faster version of Prodol and according to what I could find online says that this developer is designed for push-processing films. And to make things even more interesting is that looking at the chemical formula it shares similar characteristics to Crawley’s FX-37. This was part of the care package from a reader that included Microfine which turned out to be an amazing developer with Fuji Acros 100 II. The package does appear to be a modern pouch, and appears to be still in productionRead More →

By:
On:
In: Optical Review Blogs
With: 2 Comments

Nikon is known for many things; among them is its insane level of detail regarding its macro lenses, or micro lenses in Nikon parlance. For those who aren’t in the know, macro photography is photographing small objects and reproducing them at life-size. Nikon produced its first macro lens in 1956 for the rangefinder or S-Series of cameras, a 55mm f/3.5; this got carried into the F-Mount in 1961, the Micro-Nikkor 1:3.5 f=5.5cm. This lens was improved through its lifetime, eventually becoming the legendary AI-S Micro-Nikkor 55mm 1:2.8, then got an AF make-over and eventually was superseded by this lens, the Micro-Nikkor 60mm 1:2.8. First introducedRead More →

By:
On:
In: Film Review Blogs
With: 4 Comments

It was during the pre-production process for my video about Efke 100 that I finally decided to review Efke 50. I was looking back at my past photos, not only the ones I shot on Efke 100, but also 50 and 25. And I quickly found that by numbers alone, 50 and 100 were my favourite two flavours, with a lot of my favourite shots being taken on Ekfe 50. Until working on this review, the last roll I had shot was almost ten years ago (2016 at the Virginia Intermont College during the MAMU VIII event on my second day). I ended up developingRead More →

By:
On:
In: Camera Review Blogs
With: 7 Comments

You don’t often hear professional system camera in the same sentence as Pentax. But Pentax cameras have had their place in professional photography since the ESII, it is only that Pentax hasn’t always marketed cameras towards the professional market demographic. The Pentax MZ-S would be the last 35mm SLR to fit into that marketing segment and be the last camera to be developed under the original Asahi Optical Co. name (it was officially changed to Pentax in 2002). My review of the Pentax MZ-S is a long time coming, it was first promised in 2022 but the timely CCR 10th Anniversary and the visit ofRead More →

By:
On:
In: Camera Review Blogs
With: 2 Comments

It feels weird writing it as color instead of colour but as it is the proper name of the camera I will have to struggle through. The Polaroid Colorpack II is one of several rigid body pack film cameras to come out of Polaroid through the late 1960s and into mid 1970s, there has been several different models to carry the Colorpack name and all seem to share similar specifications. It’s been a while since I used this camera, and I think I ended up donating it to another photographer as this was one of the first pack film cameras that I ever got. ItRead More →

By:
On:
In: Optical Review Blogs
With: 0 Comments

There’s no denying it; this lens is a monster. I have some big and heavy lenses in my tool kit, and while this one is undoubtedly smaller than my 70-200/2.8G, it is the largest and heaviest of my manual focus kit. It is also often overlooked compared to later versions of the lens, which means that it’s an excellent, affordable lens, no matter what other people say about the number of aperture blades. The lens itself comes from a long lineage, released in 1977. Designed initially by Saburo Murakami and released in 1964, the Auto Nikkor-P 300mm 1:4.5 used a five-element design but struggled withRead More →

By:
On:
In: Developer Review Blogs
With: 3 Comments

While I’ve always known that Fujifilm produces chemistry for film development, I had always assumed it was primarily aimed at colour processing. Since they still manufacture (possibly) mini-lab processing systems for labs to develop C-41. But black & white chemistry? Then I received an email. A reader graciously offered to mail me some developers that were difficult to obtain in North America. I initially thought of Europe, but then a lovely package arrived from Japan and inside were two pouches of Fujifilm Microfine and two pouches of Fujifilm SPD. Well, I was touched, but Microfine was a name I had seen before on the massiveRead More →

By:
On:
In: Camera Review Blogs
With: 0 Comments

When it comes to point-and-shoot cameras, they still remain very much in vogue with a certain cross-section of film photographers. While I don’t often reach for these cameras, it is always fun to try out something outside of my usual selection of cameras. This is my third Pentax Point-And-Shoot; I’ve used the first point-and-shoot, the PC35AF, and one of the Espios, a more high-end offering. The Zoom 280-P is a clunky, early ’90s brick of a camera with a bit of ergonomics. And you know, despite being a P&S, the Zoom 280-P is a decent little camera that does the job of taking photos, butRead More →

By:
On:
In: Film Review Blogs
With: 0 Comments

The folks at the Film Photography Project have once again reached into their bag of tricks and brought out the latest addition to their line of monster films, in this case Jiangshi 400. The name Jiangshi honours the jumping vampire (and ghosts) of Chinese legend. The film itself comes from China and is relatively new to the North American market. While rated at ASA-400, most signs point to the fact the film responds better when over-exposed by a stop at ASA-200 and pulled in development, so I’ll be shooting all four roll at that ASA-200 mark. Although like many films out of China the emulsionRead More →

By:
On:
In: Camera Review Blogs
With: 0 Comments

There are small cameras; then there are small ones; the Pentax MX is one of the latter. Released as Asahi’s response to the Olympus OM-1, the Pentax MX took things to the next level with the size. The M-Series of Pentax SLRs are strangers to me; I’ve used the ME, ME Super and even an MG, but never an MX. Save for a brief encounter with an MX in Bill Smith’s collection for a CCR Episode (Ep. 36 – Last But Not Least) So when I started to look for one a few years back I found that they were rare on the used marketRead More →