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Back to the boxes! There is something oddly satifying about shooting with box cameras. Take away all the fancy settings, lens choices, aperture, shutter speed and you’re left with, at least in Nikon’s words, Pure Photography. Point, Guess, Shoot, Enjoy. And that’s exactly what you get with the Agfa Box 50. One of many cameras in the “Box” line. This particular camera was one that belonged to my Opa Oosthoek, that is my mom’s father and has been passed down through my family. In fact we have several photos at home that were taken on this camera. Special thanks to my mom for loaning meRead More →

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These days the two big camera names that see fanboys (and girls) in both camps is Cannon vs. Nikon. But that wasn’t always the case. In the 1950s Nikon and Canon were still fairly unknown in the pro-market, both were producing rangefinder cameras stamped with “Made in occupied Japan” the real competitors of the 1950s was Contax and Leica. Since I have both a Leica IIIc and a Contax IIIa I figured I should do a side by side comparison and have these two heavy-weights of the mid-century fight it out. Before you continue, I suggest reading by reviews of each camera, first the ContaxRead More →

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There are certain brand names in cameras and even models of cameras that carry a certain quality that goes along with it, and often the idea that the simple matter of owning one will improve the quality of your photographs by extension. One of those names is Leica. The Leica has been attached to many greats within the world of photography. The Barnack Leicas are among those cameras and have created great images in the hands of famous photographers. So I went into this and found a good camera at a fair price, but I soon found that maybe Leica wasn’t for me, having goneRead More →

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This year it was a real shame that Polaroid Week just snuck up on me. It serves me right for not watching social media a little more closely. But I still managed to get out on the last day to get some Instant film shooting in. This year I was sort of limited. My wonderful Automatic Land Camera Model 250 has a dead battery and I didn’t have time to fix it up with the AAA battery fix. Also I didn’t get in any order from Impossible to run my Spectra (the only Integral Polaroid I have working), and didn’t get a couple packs ofRead More →

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When it comes to rangefinders, if you know me, I’m not a fan; they just don’t fit, I struggle to use them, and generally, I am more likely to reach for an SLR. But then there’s my Contax IIIa; for some reason, this is the rangefinder I just won’t let go of; it’s far from perfect, needs a bit of work, and often is a bit frustrating to use. It suffers from frame spacing issues, and I’m sure it will give up the ghost one day. Yet, since I picked it up off John Meadows the first time, I am often drawn back to itRead More →

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This past Tuesday, the Ides of March, is also Expired Film Day. So I figured I would do a post about shooting expired film along with tips/tricks that I’ve come across with shooting old/expired film stocks. While I do a majority of my shooting with fresh film stock there is a certain level of fun and intrigue when shooting with expired film stock. 1. You can Shoot Film that is no longer available fresh. There are plenty of film stocks out there that is new that you can often make behave like well loved film stock in the past but it just never will beRead More →

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The Minolta X-700 was a game changer for Minolta it introduced to their shooters a camera that had a full program auto-exposure mode as well as semi-auto (aperture priority) mode and manual all in a lightweight body backed by some great optics. It also introduced a whole host of cousins in the X line of Minolta cameras. Actually my second Minolta SLR was an X-7a basically the same as the X700 but lacked the program mode. This is a great camera for a beginner photographer as it gives them a chance to experience every mode that is generally used and these cameras can be prettyRead More →

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I don’t remember what drew me to purchase the Horizon Kompakt; I had worked with the panoramic format before, but in the digital sphere, I stitched images together by shooting multiple frames to capture a unique take on an environment. But in 2011, I walked along Queen Street to a Toronto UER meetup, stopped in the Lomography Store (sadly closed), and picked up the Horizon Kompakt. In hindsight, I spent the extra money on the Perfekt. I immediately loaded up a roll of film (with the help of the store staff), went out, and shot through the roll. Well, I was hooked and hit theRead More →

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Paparazzi, Paparazzi…the taunts seemed almost to be sung as I grabbed a shot of two women walking across the street. They don’t bother me, besides I’m far from a paparazzi photographer, these two women are not famous nor am I going to be selling these photos. Besides I can barely hear the voices over the History Extra Podcast about Richard I and the Third Crusade. Having just come from a beautiful photowalk in the High Park Area I had some time to kill before meeting up with my buddy James at Trinity-Bellwood Park to head up to the Dakota Tavern to catch the Silver HeartsRead More →

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The bakelite beast, the snap shot camera of the 1950s and a staple camera in most every antique camera store I’ve visited. The Brownie Hawkeye flash was one of many cheap Kodak snapshot cameras that was a staple of plenty of families and still stands up today as a solid starter 620 camera because you can actually use a 120 spool in the camera providing you have a 620 spool in the take up! But although it works, I really don’t recommend it, as you’ll often damage the film itself. Disclaimer: This is an old review, and is scheduled for an update and may lookRead More →