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It’s hard to find a lens that balances cost, constant aperture, and quality. While OEM lenses with constant aperture are top-notch in terms of quality, they often (with the exception of some) come at a higher price point. Sure, you can get away with a lens with variable apertures depending on where you are on the zoom, but you may end up needing a faster aperture even when zoomed in. After the AF motor on my Nikkor 28-70 f/2.8D failed, I was still able to use the lens in manual focus, but after photographing a Christmas play with it, I was starting to get tiredRead More →

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After getting some excellent results from TMax 400, could lightning strike twice with TMax 100? Now I like TMax 100 far more than the 400 version mainly because TMax 400 despite being super sharp lacks a lot of character. But with TMax 100 I’ve always liked the results I’ve gotten out of it, but I’ve always under-exposed and pulled in development but I’ve never under-exposed and pushed. So will I get similar performance from TMax 100 as I got before? Well the answer is… Film Specs Manufacturer: Kodak Name: TMax 100 (100TMX) Type: Panchromatic B&W Film Base: Acetate Film Speed: ASA-100 Formats Available: 135, 120,Read More →

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There are small cameras, and then there are small cameras. When designing cameras, there are certain constraints that you must work within. In the realm of 35mm cameras, you do have to make sure there’s enough room to fit the cartridge, and there have been some small 35mm cameras that I have reviewed. The one I think of is the RETO Ultra-Wide & Slim, and in the 35mm world, the smallest I’ve worked with is the Pentax MX (smaller than even the Olympus OM-1 and Nikon FM). But once you start to scale down the size of the film, you can bring the size ofRead More →

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Do I really need to do another D-76 clone review? The answer is yes, yes I do. So during the end of production of Kodak chemicals by Sino Promise the fine folks at Adox Photo went out and purchased the rights to some of the names of Kodak chemicals, including D-76 (although you can still get Kodak D-76 now produced in the USA) as part of their efforts to ensure that the supply of these chemicals continue. And so in 2023 Adox D-76 hit the market, the one thing that sets Adox’s version apart is that it has a longer shelf life thanks to aRead More →

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While it has taken me a while to come to like Ilford HP5+ the one thing that this film stock can take is punishment. And I’ve done a fair bit of pushing on HP5+ in the past with some excellent success. Last year it was pushing it to ASA-1600 and developing in Fujifilm SPD with some of the best results I’ve seen. I have also seen some excellent results back on the slower end of things. So I have high hopes for this roll. Film Specs Manufacturer: Ilford Photo Name: Ilford HP5+ Type: Panchromatic B&W, Cubic Grained Film Base: Acetate Film Speed: ASA-400, Tested Latitude:Read More →

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Alright, I said I wasn’t going to get one of these, well, specifically an autofocus version of the Nikkor 20mm lens. The Minolta one solidified my enjoyment of the 20mm focal length, and I was passively looking for a manual focus lens, either AI or AI-S, because then it would work on all my cameras without fail. But I also don’t turn up my nose to a lens when offered. And well, here we are, the 20mm f/2.8D. I do like my wide-angle choices, and the 20mm offers up a nice in-between when 24mm isn’t wide enough and 14mm is too wide. And I don’tRead More →

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It has taken me a bit of time to figure out Kodak TMax 400, I’ve always been much more of a fan of traditional grained films, T-Grained films have always looked too clean, too modern. But they do have one thing, films like TMax 400 has a wide latitude. And I’ve also heard that TMax 400 pushes far better than Tri-X. Now I have done push processing with TMax 400 in the past, I’ve also done pull processing in the past so that should make things even more interesting. Film Specs Manufacturer: Eastman-Kodak Name: Kodak TMax 400 Type: Panchromatic B&W, Tabular-Grained Film Base: Acetate FilmRead More →

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I have a troubled history with 200-speed films. They’ve always given me more trouble and often try too hard, which can be detrimental. I struggled to find a way through Fomapan 200 and Rollei Superpan 200. Both Svema and Derev Pan 200-speed offerings were far more trouble than they’re worth. And then last year, along came Kentmere 200, a middle child for the Kentmere budget offerings. In all these colour film releases, Kentmere 200 took a backseat. But I latched onto Kentmere 200 almost right away. I already enjoyed Kentmere 100 and Kentmere 400, and the first flush of Kentmere 200 proved a solid performer.Read More →

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I’ve never been a fan of films faster than say ASA-800, they just don’t look good in my mind. But the modern high-speed offerings often have some of the widest latitudes in modern black & white emulsions. Among them is Ilford Delta 3200, this is the fast film that lived. If I had to choose between Delta 3200 and TMax P3200 I would take Delta 3200. I feel it has a lot cleaner look and feel and a bit more contrast than its Kodak cousin. But it’s still a fast film so it isn’t my first choice. But it should be fun to see howRead More →

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It’s hard to believe that I have been writing camera reviews for ten years now! I also can’t believe that I’ve been able to continue to write camera reviews for ten years. Of course I have slowed down on the number of reviews a year since I started in 2015 but it has also made this series far more sustainable. As of this posting I have published 171 reviews, I made it to the 100th only four years, mostly because I published about twenty five per year on average. I only started to slow down after I introduced additional reviews into the mix (films followedRead More →