Work has been a bit stressful of late and that restless feeling I had about a month into this whole mess we’re still sorting through came back. Either that or I never stopped feeling that way, and it just regressed enough to function. Thankfully I had my form of therapy still available with a lot more options than I did in April. I made a point to ensure I had three days of photography even if I only went out for a short amount of time with a camera and a roll of film. I ended up going out Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with WednesdayRead More →

In a continuation from the last episode, Bill and James are again joined by Marwan from SilverGrain Classics. In today’s episode, we’ll be talking about the cameras that disrupted Leica’s little kingdom of Rangefinders, the SLR. And the fact that despite not wanting anything to do with them, Lecia would be forced kicking and screaming into the SLR market with mixed results. While Leica sat tall among camera manufactures when it came to rangefinders, the fact of the matter was that by the 1960s the SLR had been gaining traction among photographers both professionals and amateurs. While Leica had the capacity to built high-quality cameras,Read More →

One thing that I enjoyed about the Sheet film version of this film (When it was called Ilford Ortho Copy Plus) is that some developer/time combinations had no film speed listed so in some cases I shot the stuff as low as ASA-6. So here I decided to test the roll film in the same way. And you know what? It worked! I selected five scenes and shot every scene three times, at ASA-25 (left), ASA-12 (middle), and ASA-6 (right) and processed them all D-76 (1+1). How did I go about making these frames? I used my Pentax Spotmeter V, in a couple of theRead More →

At the beginning of this project, I asked the question where is home? And through these weeks I have shared with you the places and stories in Milton, but I have left this building until last. And with good reason, this is my home today. It might not look like much, but home is so much more than a big fancy building or lots of space. Home is where you choose to make it and who you choose to make it with. And while some days I feel like the walls of the condo are closing it, there is no place I’d rather be rightRead More →

When I first started with film development, my world consisted of Kodak products, D-76 and HC-110. The only other developer I used outside of Kodak was Rodinal and Ilfosol 3 (at least at first). Then in 2015, I started reviewing cameras and decided at the same time to explore Ilford more both in film stocks and developers. I stumbled upon two developers that soon became favourites, one of them is Perceptol (which I will review next month) the second is Microphen. While not a developer I use often, it offers fine grain, neutral contrast, and works for both push and pull processing. Technical Details Manufacturer:Read More →

If you have been doing home film development, then the term stand-development might have crossed your eyes. And when it comes to the process, I’m still relatively new to using stand-developing in my black and white film processing toolkit. While I’ve had some successes when it comes to handling particularly rough or even unknown film stocks, it isn’t a method for all films. So for today’s post, I went out with three different films, Ilford FP4+, Rollei Superpan 200, and Kodak TMax 400. Each shot on a different day, in different conditions, and various cameras. Then I went and soaked all three rolls in aRead More →

Back in my first struggling steps into the broader world of film photography, I came across this strange camera. Now, I knew about Hasselblads and also knew how expensive they were, but the seller informed me proudly that the Kiev 88 is a direct copy of the Hasselblad but at a far better price. I ended up getting the body, two lenses (but never used the second one??) and a pair of film backs. Oh, the seller also threw in a Zorki 4 with a pinholed shutter. I had to admit; I liked working with the 88, I lucked out and got the CM versionRead More →

When it comes to the buildings in downtown Milton there has been on that is somewhat of a nemesis for me and getting a decent photo of the rather rundown stone structure. The Thompson House, once one on many hotels that populated the Milton. Constructed by Charles H. Thompson in 1847 as the second hotel in the small town of Milton, the original building would be replaced in 1864 and the same crew went onto to build the first town hall in 1865. The three-story stone structure boasted fourteen rooms, four parlours, a dining room and a wine cellar. It quickly became a popular jointRead More →

When I started building my Minolta A-Mount kit, the Maxxum 100/2.8 Macro was not the first choice for a short telephoto lens. Instead, I was more drawn to the 135mm f/2.8 lens, only because Minolta did not have a 105, which has always been my preferred short telephoto prime lens. It wouldn’t be until a Toronto Film Shooters event last year hosted by Burlington Camera that I had the chance to try out the 100mm macro for the first time care of my good friend James McFarlane. While I wasn’t completely sold at that point, I wasn’t completely turned off the lens either. That lovelyRead More →

When it comes to cameras there are many who are fans of the red dot but we’re not talking about older Kodak cameras, rather those gems from Germany, the Leicas. Today’s episode covers the famous and super expensive M-Series of Rangefinders. Joining Bill and James on today’s episode is Marwan from SilverGrain Classics. The history of Leica extends well back from the introduction of the M rangefinders. If you have a Leica you’ll know that the company has always had an eye for quality and a certain high-standard. The original Leica cameras designed by Oscar Barnack had their days in the inter-war years and theRead More →