Have you already reviewed this film? The answer would be yes and also no. ORWO Wolfen NP100 is a film that is a variant of the cult favourite motion picture film, UN54+. However, the folks at Filmotec have added an anti-halation and anti-static layer to the film stock to make it better for still photography. And that’s enough of a change for me to warrant a full-on review. Now the history of ORWO is complicated; the company was formed from the original home of Agfa in the German town of Wolfen. When World War Two divided Germany in the post-war era, Wolfen ended up inRead More →

Throughout its history, Nikon cameras have been primarily aimed at the professional market, from their stunning rangefinders in the S-Range to the original Nikon F and beyond. However, the mid-century and post-war economic boom brought a new group of photographers, the advanced consumer. Now, hobbyist photographers have always been around. These new photographers want access to the same quality cameras and optics as the professionals. And while Canon and Minolta were certainly starting to fill that gap, Nikon wanted a piece of the action. While their initial offerings under the Nikkorex line fell flat, save the Nikkorex F, it was their second attempt, the NikkormatRead More →

The central railways offered long-distance travel but lacked the local service that many in Oakville and around Ontario needed. Personal automobiles were not a thing, and most roads were still dirt, with only a few paved in any meaningful way. Enter the Interurban railways, also known as radial railways. These small-scale services travelled out from a central station, radiating into surrounding communities. And provided some of the earliest forms of mass transit in the province. The earliest radial railway operators began services in 1890; these systems were used to steam or electrical motive power. Running small, often single carriage trails along a preset route fromRead More →

The often overlooked Nikkormat line of cameras is an excellent addition to anyone with a large selection of manual focus Nikon glass, both original Auto-Nikkor or the modern AI and AI-S glass. Sold as a consumer camera built to the same quality and specification as the professional Nikon cameras of the era, today, they have more of a cult following. While most people will gravitate towards the improved original Nikkormat FTn or the short-lived FT3, the FT2 is the forgotten middle child and is the ultimate Nikkormat. With backward and forward compatibility, a modern battery cell, over its life, never changed. Thanks to Bill SmithRead More →

It’s fall vacation time! While yes, my family and I went away to Regina back in the summer. While we did some touristy things, it wasn’t so much a vacation as it was to visit family and introduce the little guy. In October, we went out on a real family vacation. It was the first in a long time for my little family of three. We decided to keep things simple and drove out to Ottawa, Ontario—the national capital of Canada, which is about a six-hour drive from where we live. The valley in which the modern city of Ottawa is located was formed whenRead More →

Last year I completed a project about Ontario’s railway heritage. Still, one location I had sadly missed was Oakville, as there is no historic railway station in the community, as both Oakville and Bronte had been replaced in the 20th century. But this massive railway viaduct over the Sixteen Mile Creek caught my eye, not only because I’ve travelled over it many times, but because it looked old. The railway was both a boost and a problem for the growing community of Oakville by the mid-century. The railway would open up a faster means of moving both people, mostly goods, across the province. And aRead More →

This is only the second time I’ve reached a significant milestone in my ongoing reviews, the magic number of one hundred. And to be clear, I’ve done one hundred film reviews, not reviewed one hundred separate film stocks. And that’s because I’ve reviewed some rebadged films; sometimes, I knew it was a rebadge and then made a point not to go after that film stock again, notability ORWO films. I reviewed the four motion picture-specific films from ORWO as their Lomography rebadge. But in the case of Fomapan 100, I reviewed that first as KosmoFoto Mono 100 and then again as Fomapan 100. Agfa AviFotoRead More →

It’s been a while since we’ve interviewed a fellow film photographer, and today, joining Bill and Alex, is Suzanne Pedersen, a Colorado-based photographer who loves film! And you may have heard her on the Gen-X Photography Podcast! In the episode, we talk about Suzanne’s journey as a photographer, a little Nikon GAS and some talk about going to a large format camera. You can find more of Suzanne’s Work Online Web: www.suzannepedersen.com Instagram: instagram.com/b.roll.backup Gen-X Photography Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gen-x-photography/id1494585131 Want a subscription to SilverGrain Classics and are a fan of Classic Camera Revival? Visit their shop online and buy a magazine or a subscription? Looking forRead More →

Canada, despite being mainly an Anglo-European construct, today, our country is a rich tapestry of many cultures that had all come and called Canada home. And not just as a melting pot; each culture adds more to the whole. But this certainly has accelerated in the post-World War II world, but even in the earliest days of Upper Canada, many who sought freedom made the arduous journey north. In 1791, Sir John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieuteant-Governor of Upper Canada, signed the Act to Reduce Slavery in Upper Canada. In the British Empire, slavery was still a thing, and the slave trade was alive andRead More →

I had a lot of fun looking at the dedicated line of Foma developers this year. Yes, they produce a couple of clones but have three developers unique only to their company. LQN crossed my desk after someone suggested that it is the dedicated developer for Fomapan 200. And having struggled with Fomapan 200, I wanted to give this one a shot. I initially thought I would have to get it shipped by the slow European route. I soon discovered that my local source of rare developers had some in stock, so I got a bottle. LQN is the sibling to Fomadon LQR. But unlikeRead More →