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The Minolta Zoom 24-105mm is Minolta’s late-model elevated kit lens, released initially with the Maxxum 7. It was designed to be better than the lower spec kit lens, the 28-100mm. And you know, when you put the two lenses next to each other, the 24-105 is a far better lens and doesn’t carry a hefty price tag. In all fairness, I was not happy with the results I got from the 28-100, and my copy broke and had to be fixed with a doner lens. However, the 24-105 is only slightly better as a lens because despite being an elevated kit lens, it is stillRead More →

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When I hear the name Miranda I think of two things first and foremost, number one is Star Trek and the venerable Miranda Class that first appeared in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and has remained a staple of the Federation Starfleet (I prefer the roll bar version) the second is Shakespeare which is where the class name takes its inspiration from. But when it comes to cameras, the Miranda brand is one that doesn’t get much respect, despite being an innovative company that sadly lacked the level of quality assurance that the bigger names could provide. I first learned about Miranda camerasRead More →

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In: Musings
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So far in this ongoing series, I have only focused on my written content, mainly because there continues to be an influx of AI-generated blog posts. But this isn’t the only area where AI is starting to get in the way of real creative content. AI videos are a thing with avatars that can act and look like real-life people. Also, the number of ‘faceless’ videos with obviously generated images and voices is large. I’m happy that my channel is AI-generated content-free and always will be! Let’s dig into the process of how I go about creating a YouTube video. In the case of thisRead More →

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Easter was late this year, but that’s how it all works; we’re tied to a lunar calendar that is constantly changing and shifting. It has been many years since I went chasing a sunrise, and because Easter was late this year, it was an early start to my morning while Heather and the little guy slept. It was out to Rattlesnake Point to attend an early morning service with Southside Community Church, Redhill Church and one other that I can’t remember. I took my D750 and carried along my 24mm, 28mm, 50mm, and 105mm lenses. I also took the chance to use manual exposure, especiallyRead More →

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I’ll be the first to admit that when I first started taking my photography seriously, I looked down on people who used their mobile devices to take pictures. I’m also a bigger person and have grown much as a photographer. The cameras available on mobile devices are far better now than in the early 2000s, and I have come to appreciate the power they bring. While I have written on this subject in the past, this entry will be different. Rather than focus on mobile photography, I’ll look at some of the apps I have collected and why I like using them outside the stockRead More →

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Various names, including Modern Grain, Delta Grain, or T-Grain, are known for these films. These are the newest style of black and white film emulsions that offer fine grain, added sharpness, and a distinctly different structure than traditional cubic-grained film. In this episode, the team sits down to discuss films from Ilford Delta, Kodak TMax, Fomapan 200, and the Fujifilm Neopan line, as well as the various and assorted developers designed to maximise the potential of these modern films. But we also dig into developers like Kodak TMax Developer, Ilford DD-X, and Crawley’s FX-37! There is also a Canadian Federal Election taking place on theRead More →

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In: Between Darkness & Light
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After Edgar’s disappointment in exploring a radar station from the Cold War, it would be several years before I could check one out. It wasn’t for lack of trying; I did try and figure out a way to visit the former CFS Falconbridge location, but that never materialised. However, when planning the first MayPEX trip in 2009, one of the places on our hit list was the former CFS Ramore, an almost intact radar station that served on both the Pinetree and Mid-Canada lines during the Cold War. Located in northern Ontario in the mainly francophone town of Ramore, but unlike Edgar, it was initiallyRead More →

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In: 1812:Revisited
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The first six months of the war had not gone as planned for the United States. Rather than a swift capture of Amherstburg, Niagara, and Kingston, the swift actions of the late Major-General Sir Isaac Brock resulted in the capture of Mackinac Island, Fort Detroit and Michigan Territory down to the River Raisin, and a repulse of the invasion across the Niagara River which cost him his life at the Battle of Queenston Heights. The death of General Brock was a significant blow, as his replacement, Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, proved to be a far less effective administrator and military leader. It got bad enoughRead More →

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Established in 2013 by MainStreetHost and taken on by Alex Luyckx Photography in 2015, #photochat is a community of photography professionals and enthusiasts who congregate to talk shop and discuss anything and everything photography. After a brief pause through 2023 Photochat is back with a monthly chat model, as of 2025 photochat has migrated to BlueSky Social. To participate in our monthly chat (every Second Thursday at 1:00 pm (ish)), search the #photochat hashtag on BlueSky Social to see the conversation, or find me at @alexluyckxphoto.bsky.social on BlueSky. Include the hashtag in your posts to answer the questions and talk with the other participants. IfRead More →

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It should come as no surprise that the core team at CCR are Nikon fans. Between Alex, James, and Bill, we have a ton of Nikon kit, from cameras to lenses. So, in this episode, we’re running through each of our five favourite Nikkor lenses from our auto and manual focus kits, pre-AI to modern Type-G. Thanks to Joss Hollingworth for putting forward this idea! It was a lot of fun to decide which lenses to include! Lenses in this episode include: Bill: Nikkor 105/2.5, Nikkor 50/2 (K), Nikkor 35/2, Nikkor 28-105/3.5-4.5D, Nikkor 50/1.8 James: Micro-Nikkor 200/4D, Nikkor 50/1.4D, Nikkor 35/2D, DC-Nikkor 105/2D, Nikkor 85/1.4GRead More →