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Robert McDouall was born to a merchant father in March of 1774 in the town of Stranraer, Scotland. Educated at the Felsted School both his father and uncle hoped he would follow in the family trade as a merchant, placing young Robert at a business in London. Robert, however, was drawn to the military life much to his father’s dismay and with his reluctant approval purchased a commission as an ensign in the 49th (Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot only to three days later purchase a lieutenant commission in the 8th (King’s) Regiment of foot in 1797. He served during the 1801 Egyptian Campaign against theRead More →

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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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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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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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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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The Nikon F is the great-grandfather of all the professional level Nikon SLRs, yes even modern digital professional digital SLRs can trace their ancestry back to the Nikon F. The Nikon F introduced the idea of a system SLR where everything could be swapped out to make the camera fit the task you wanted it to do and your own personal style as a photographer and saw production for just under two decades before being replaced by the Nikon F2. For this review, I’ll be running with a Nikon F Photomic FTn however the meter is no longer working. The Dirt Make: Nikon Model: FRead More →

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The Nikon F5, at first glance you might mistake it for a digital SLR. I certainly have been asked ‘what sensor is in that camera’ and depending on my mood and my general view of the person asking I might reply with something a little more sarcastic, other times a simple response is “oh a 36x24mm or full-frame as it’s called in digital photography.” The F5 was my second grail camera after switching over to a Nikon system from Minolta, in fact, I picked up the battery grip for the F80 to make it look like an F5 because at the time the F5 wasRead More →

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If there is a single camera out there that most people will associate with professional film photographers, it is the Hasselblad V-System. Designed and built in Sweeden, the Hasselblad is the luxury camera of the medium format market. While the 500c is the original model to use a leaf shutter, it is a good entry point into the Hasselblad system if you can find one at the right price. Thankfully I was able to find a complete setup (lens, finder, back) for a reasonable price, but soon found that there is a certain cost to owning a Hasselblad system. And the fact you can’t justRead More →

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Before we begin, even still today I am primarily a Nikon shooter. Sure I have had a couple of Canon cameras come through my collection throughout the years, in fact this is my second AE-1 Program to come and go. The first camera went on to help out my friend Nick in Ohio with a photography course he took in University and the second, this camera, went to my friend Laura from the 49th after her T50 kicked the bucket. But when it comes to Canon cameras and if you are a friend and fan of the Film Photography Podcast, the Canon AE-1 Program isRead More →

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When I call the Rolleiflex 2.8F the oldest camera in my toolkit, that doesn’t mean it is oldest by age, rather oldest having been in my toolkit the longest of any other cameras. I got the camera in 2010 after buying it from the original owner. The original owner having purchased it in Germany in 1969 along with most major accessories, and since then it became a near-constant companion. And the camera saw a lot of action from trips to abandoned buildings, nature to weddings and other portrait sessions. The Rolleiflex 2.8F is my third and honestly final TLR in my kit having solidified myRead More →