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The winter is a good time to kick back and enjoy a good movie or TV show, so for our season 8 premiere, the gang is going to talk about our favourite shows that have some feature of photography or a photographer. As a group, our tastes are rather varied and encompasses both fiction, non-fiction and even a bit of anime thrown in. Blow Up First spotted on a local PBS channel Blow Up directed by Michelangelo Antonioni caught Bill’s eye not just for the photography but also the mystery thriller aspect of the film. From the wrong side of the tracks to the highRead More →

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In: A Faded Glory
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Off the main street of the historic village of Streetsville, there is a strange building and one that seems a little out of place at first glance. Beyond this strange building are the train tracks; you can see a tall communication tower from behind. While the sign out front declares it an office of the local branch of the Victorian Order of Nurses, everything about the building says that it’s a train station, and you would be right, but this station is not at its original location. In fact, it is several kilometres south of where the Credit Valley Railway line once branched off towardsRead More →

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In: Film Review Blogs
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When it comes to colour negative films, there are a few fast options out there, and one of the most iconic of these is Fuji Superia Xtra 800. Fuji also released a professional version, Venus and an even faster ASA-1600. Now I’ve never been one to shoot fast films. Usually, I go as high as ASA-800. Even with my Delta and TMax, I’ll rate them lower than box speed. I have shot this film in the past but only ended up with a handful of good shots. Although, like most Fuji colour negative films and any colour negative film through 2021, it became difficult toRead More →

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It’s interesting as someone who grew up that saw film’s end within the consumer sphere, the transition to consumer point-and-shoot digital cameras, and then the film resurgence. But I didn’t expect to see the revival of the early point-and-shoot digital camera, or DigiCam as they are now called. I first learned about this new craze through Lucy Lumen’s YouTube channel. I laughed because I used several of these cameras when they were new. I guess I’m old now; I am turning forty this year. So I started to put this together last year to try to pick a single one to do a camera review,Read More →

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In: A Faded Glory
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There’s always something particularly exciting about starting up a new project. A Faded Glory is a small project on railroad history here in Ontario, as my earlier project on the Welland Canal grew out of my 1867 project. But telling the entire history of the railroad is something that would probably take a great deal of travel and at least a decade to complete in a full and proper manner. And there have been others with more interest and insight than I who have completed such lengthy projects. And honestly, as much as the railroad is fascinating, I’m not a fanatic when it comes toRead More →

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In: Camera Review Blogs
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I admit that I haven’t used many of them for Canon cameras because I’m primarily a Nikon shooter. But there’s something special about a unique camera within the overall history of a camera manufacturer, and when it comes to Canon, that camera is the EF. Not to be confused because these days, when you match Canon and EF, you’re talking about their line of Autofocus lenses for the EOS system in the EF-Mount. But before the name was applied to lenses, it was a model of Canon cameras. Often passed over in general history, the EF is unique for two reasons: it was the firstRead More →

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In: Developer Review Blogs
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If there’s one thing that is always uncertain these days is the availability and quality of photochemistry. At the same time, some companies have had no issues with maintaining their normal level of quality. As manufacturers of the materials and chemistries shift away from the originals, things get a little grey. Thankfully some are willing to take a chance and help keep things going, and one such company is Adox. While most of their chemical offerings are based on formulas from other firms, Rodinal, FX-39, and Atomal spring to mind. Adox XT-3 is a new offering, backwards engineers from Kodak Xtol a well-loved Ascorbic AcidRead More →

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When it comes to metering for precision, there is nothing better than a spot meter, but most spot meters these days are expensive, both new and on the used market. The first and only spot meter I’ve used is the Pentax Spotmeter V. This analogue 1° spot meter has become the accessory that always gets thrown in my bag when I’m out with my Crown Graphic Hasselblad or Mamiya for precision tripod-based work. The meter served me through almost my entire War of 1812 project, Canadian Confederation and most recently, the Railway project. A simple easy to use device that allowed me to execute aRead More →

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In: News & Updates
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Here we are at the end of another year! While 2021 was significantly better than 2020, we still have a long way to go, but things certainly were looking brighter (not so much now)! And while I certainly did not get all I wanted to in for 2021 mainly because of continued restrictions throughout the first part of the year, I am happy with the amount of work I did, and I’m rather pleased with what I did do this year. Project Work For 2021 I brought back one of the first formats of photography projects I ever did, the fifty-two roll project. Where IRead More →

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In: Optical Review Blogs
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When I first started into the Minolta Maxxum system, my first two lenses were zooms, the iconic duo of f/4 classics, the 35-70mm and 70-210mm. A trip to Burlington Camera yielded a couple of prime lenses that would be perfect additions to my kit; they were the classic 50mm f/1.7 and the lens I’m reviewing today the 28mm f/2.8. The Maxxum 28/2.8 is a great lens and a perfect fit. Doesn’t take too much space. It is close to the same size as the 50 and even the 35-70 and is my favourite prime lens for my Maxxum 9 system without a 35mm prime. AndRead More →