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I always seem to want to come back for more. One of my first experiences with a Soviet camera was a Smena 8m, this was a gift from my good friend Michael Raso, and the camera was interesting, to say the least. There wasn’t anything bad with it; it was pretty unique and produced excellent images. It was hard to work with, too much to do, too fickle, and I wasn’t getting to know the camera well enough. So I passed it onto another photographer who went on to use the camera to produce awesome results. There wasn’t anything wrong with the 8m; I thinkRead More →

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When you read the datasheet for Adox Silvermax Developer, you almost can think that this is the secret cypher key to unlock the best possible results when using Adox Silvermax film as the developer is used to unlock a secret silver reserve in Silvermax films and use it to the best photographic potential. Now I’m no language expert, especially German, but I feel that something got lost in translation. (Checks translation), okay, dormant reserves. Either way, this developer is best used with Silvermax films, as it couples with the specialised sensitiser used in that film’s production. But don’t let that stop you as the developerRead More →

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I have known about Adox HR-50 for some time but have purposefully avoided including it in past years. Originally released in 2018, HR-50 was one of the new film emulsions to come out of Adox shortly after releasing CHS 100 II (reviewed last month). The reason being that HR-50 is a semi-closed imaging system and I never had good luck with those, as seen by my Adox CMS20 II review. I caught a lot of flack for that one. There is also the trouble with getting the stuff here in Canada. But when I saw that both the film and the dedicated developer, Adox HR-DEVRead More →

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The Hasselblad V-System, one that has achieved legendary status within the photographic community. I’m surprised that I actually own the original 500c, and while I don’t use it as much as I used to, it remains a popular tool in my kit. But what about going with something a little newer? The original 500c saw its initial release in 1957 and certainly has flaws, but as a system camera, it started something. While the 503cx isn’t the newest horse in the stable, it adds a pile of features that makes up a greatly improved camera system but allows the use of the older accessories. AndRead More →

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When a developer and a film stock are so intertwined or one was made for the other it makes you think of a closed image system. I have plenty of experience working with those, not surprisingly also from Adox, but also Kodak Techincal Pan comes to mind. While the film and the developer are specifically designed for each other, both can be used in other developers and on other films. However, don’t think of Adox HR-DEV as a one or two-trick pony as despite the name it is a wonderful developer that does more than just develop Adox HR-50. While the bottle only lists twoRead More →

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The year was 2012; I had been shooting film in a far more serious way for three years at that point. I learned of a speciality film store called Freestyle Photographic from an episode of the Film Photography Project. They had all sorts of weird films from Europe that I had never heard of nor seen at my local camera store (which at that time was either Henry’s or Burlington Camera). With companies like Efke and Adox, strange, exotic for my North American sensibilities. I purchased a pile of Efke and Adox CHS Art films, both in 35mm and 120, 50 and 100-speed offerings. WhileRead More →

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I remember it clearly, having walked into Henry’s store to get film for an upcoming PYPS weekend, Winter Weekend 2006 in Oshawa, Ontario. I don’t remember exactly why I pulled the roll of Sensia 400 off the rack; my jam in those days was colour negative films. But that was also the weekend that I had a digital camera for the first time, so maybe I started to branch out in my shooting. Sensia was the right speed I usually shot (400), and the name was close to Superia (at a glance), and my journey into slide film had begun. Eventually, I branched out andRead More →

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You’re probably wondering why I’m reviewing a Nikkormat EL when I’ve reviewed a Nikon FE. The reason is simple; the Nikkormat EL is the FE’s foundation, the original Nikon electronic semi-automatic camera. This means that to understand where the FE comes from, I needed to try out an EL. That was my first mistake; the second mistake was shooting a second roll through the Nikkormat EL. I don’t think this mistake is a bad thing. The camera worked perfectly in both rolls; the mistake was that now I want a Nikkormat EL. It’s an easy-to-use camera, especially if you’ve used an FE or FE2, andRead More →

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There are a couple of highly specialised and mysterious developers out there, both made by the same company. While most people are drawn towards Diafine (which I plan on reviewing next year), Acufine is the cousin of that magic bullet developer. Like Diafine, Acufine’s chemistry is a trade secret; even the datasheets are redacted in that sense. But Acufine is a rare bird; it has the capability to increase the speed of most film stocks. But without all the drawbacks of push processing, increased grain, over the top contrast. While I have worked with Acufine before the stuff was way out of date, and IRead More →

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If there is one film that has achieved a little bit of a cult following these days it’s Adox Silvermax. Silvermax was the first true film to come out of the renewed Adox Fotowerks GmbH factory in Bad Sarrow, Germany and its parent company Fotoimpex. Based on a classic Agfa film, which some people think is rebadged Agfa Scala 200 (a legendary B&W reversal film), it has a higher than normal silver content and when paired with Adox Silvermax Developer presents a classic B&W look. If you were a fan of the older Adox and Efke films, then Silvermax will be your jam (I Hope).Read More →