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Thinking back to what could have been, I remember when I first got into film photography, photography in general and happened across Minolta. The SR-T 102, Hi-Matic 7s, even the X-7a, but I wanted to make the jump to autofocus. I was in a local bargain shop and happened across an open box, the Maxxum 7. It didn’t come with a lens and was well outside my price range. And now that I know more about that shop, it was probably hot also. I ended up switching to Nikon. But here it is now, the Minolta Maxxum 7, what many online sites describe as theRead More →

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If you remember back to my review of the new release of Kodak TMax P3200 I mentioned that I wanted to give the film stock a better chance at impressing me, the review is a chance to see how the film behaves in different developers. I’d give it a chance to show me what it can do at 1600, 3200, and 6400 but all developed in Kodak’s TMax developer. The 3200 images are from the original review, so I made a point to get another two rolls and shoot them accordingly and then develop them both in TMax Developer. Please note, I use the termRead More →

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Like Ultrafine Extreme 100, the 400-speed flavour is another mystery as of where the film stock comes from. But when it comes to a budget-friendly film, it might be best not to ask too many questions. Extreme 400 is a stock that I have little experience with before I started this review, I had shot a single roll several years back for a camera review. And while, like Kentmere 400 I expected Extreme 400 to be of similar style and class, with heavy grain and low contrast in general. However, the film stock quickly proved me wrong as being inexpensive but far from cheap. FilmRead More →

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As much as I would love to get my hands on enough APX 25 to run a classic film review of that legendary stock, sadly they are few and far between, and when they are sold, often it’s at a premium. In the meantime, how about its faster cousin, APX 100. But the two films are wildly different, APX 100 is a silver rich film that produces amazing sharpness, detail, and contrast. For this review, I got lucky and found 50-sheets of APX 100 in 4×5 which made shooting the film all the more enjoyable. Film Specs Type: Panchromatic B&W Film Base: Acetate Film Speed:Read More →

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If you’re a fan of the Polaroid Automatic Land Camera or old school pop-out folders, then the Lomography Belair X 6-12 will be a familiar camera. I’ll be referring to the camera as the Belair from now on. And while the Belair shares some design features of the Auto Land Camera, the two are very different cameras altogether. The Belair doesn’t try to be anything but a fun camera that sits nicely on the edge of being a toy camera. A fairly simplistic camera, but has one thing that drew me in, the giant 6×12 panoramic images and the interchangeable lens. Special thanks to AngelaRead More →

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I’m keeping with the budget-friendly theme here and going with the Ultrafine Extreme films for this month. I’m not exactly sure where Ultrafine gets its film stocks from, but it certainly knows how to get a decent product. Ultrafine Extreme 100 appears to be a classic grained panchromatic film that offers fine grain and excellent sharpness. And it certainly does not break the bank. The film isn’t so much cheap as it is inexpensive, a roll of 35mm 24-exposure runs about five dollars Canadian. I can honestly say I’m impressed by this film and it certainly stands up to most conditions you can throw atRead More →

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Like Svema Foto 400, I’ve only ever shot a single roll of Kentmere 400, and that was when it was being bulk loaded by the Film Photography Project as their EDU line of films. And yes, like Kentmere 100, this film stock is also produced by Ilford/Harman for their export market. While I personally think the film is best for students and those photographers on a budget, I don’t mind the film. It’s a lot closer to the old Ilford Pan 400 than their HP5+ stock, and that’s not a bad thing. And while I can still only find the film in the old packaging,Read More →

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When it comes to Soviet cameras you can never be too sure, I’ve had some winners in the way of the Fed and Zenit E, but also some failures with the Zenit 122K. However, when Boris, a member of the Toronto Film Shooters group offered up his Kiev-19 I jumped at the chance, and the day I tested it on, was the perfect way to see if these Soviet Cameras could take a Soviet Winter. But the Kiev-19 is no ordinary Soviet Camera. While most use a universal mounting system like the M39 or M42 Screw Mount, this camera uses a Nikon F mount. NotRead More →

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I like to think I have an open mind when it comes to different film stocks, but it’s easier to write that than to practice it. Thankfully thanks to these reviews I’ve found that I have come to like several stocks that I once derided. It would be in that category I will place Kentmere 100. Kentmere, once an independent company saw purchase in 2007 by Harman, and today is manufactured by our friends at Ilford. My first couple experiences were fairly terrible, especially the first and second rolls, but in those cases, I’ll chalk it up to the camera and my own mistake inRead More →

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The North American film photography community can probably thank Mike Bitaxi for the introduction of Polypan F. And to make things more interesting, the film is not intended for pictorial work. Instead, Polypan F is a motion picture copy film. As such the film is a blue-sensitive orthochromatic film, but looking at it, you can hardly tell. But if there is one thing the film is known for it’s the GLOW, thanks to the lack of an anti-halation layer on the film. Sadly the film was discontinued, but there’s still plenty of bulk rolls floating around. Undoubtedly worthwhile trying if you come across it. IRead More →