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The KMZ ЗЕНИТ 3m (Zenit 3m) is a camera that is often bought for only a couple of reasons. The first is the desirable Helios 44 lens; the second is a collector’s item. In the overall history of Soviet cameras, the Zenit 3m marked the first popular SLR to come out of the Красногорский механический завод or Krasnogorskiy Mechanicheskiy Zavod (KMZ). Sadly, like many older Soviet cameras, they aren’t known for their longevity and often suffer shutter failure. But my good friend John Meadows uncovered his Zenit 3m, and it still works, so he loaded it out to me along with his Helios lens withRead More →

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When it comes to basic bare-bones developers, you can’t get any simpler these days than Metol and Hydroquinone. And there are a lot of these developers out there, my first developer review, Kodak D-76, is one such developer, and there are numerous clones of the developer. Each has its little takes on this foundational developer. So it only makes sense that I review several different options, so today, I will be talking about Ilford ID-11. Often called the British D-76, ID-11, while at its core is the same as D-76, it does have a few things that set it apart from the colonists over inRead More →

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This won’t be the first time that I have a Nikon camera that is Nikon in name only. Remember the Nikkorex? While not the same idea, while the Nikkorex line was contracted out to another manufacturer, the Nikon FM10 is a straight-up rebrand (with some modifications) of an existing camera. The Nikon FM10 is one of many cameras built on the Cosina CT-1 Super/CT-1G chassis and dressed up to look like a Nikon. And I’ll give Nikon and Cosina one thing, the FM10 seems a lot like a Nikon right down to the red stripe. Camera Specifications Make: Cosina Model: Nikon FM10 Type: Single LensRead More →

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Despite being far more niche these days, film photography still hangs on. And while there are plenty of options out there for getting your films lab developed and colour film developed, both C-41 and E-6 is fairly uniform no matter what chemical you buy. Except for E-6, Cinestill has a unique E-6 kit, but that’s a whole other thing. When it comes to Black & White, there is a tonne of options available to you for development. It can seem a bit overwhelming at times. But I have spent close to a decade developing my own Black & White at home and have tried aRead More →

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Ever since I sold off my Pentax 645, I honestly thought I would not want another 645 camera; I mean, I had my Hasselblad. But there is some draw to the 645 formats; you don’t want a square, but that nice rectangle. And with my Hasselblad acting up, I wanted something similar but in 645. In other words, I wanted a system camera that could be customisable. One day I was sitting in the Higher Grounds coffee shop in Belfountain, having shot some 4×5, and an older man came over. We started talking as he recognised the Crown Graphic. He promptly offered his Mamiya m645Read More →

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This is what it’s all been leading up to. A print, there’s something unique about holding a print in your hand, looking down at the patterns of light and shadow being brought out in blacks, whites, and grays, it’s magic. Well actually its science, the perfect blend of art and science. Creating the print is a rather neat process from start to end and when you sit down and think about the sheer amount of control you have over the whole process is fantastic. You get to pick the camera (and in some cases the lens), film stock. Then you can meter it the wayRead More →