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When it comes to 50mm lenses I’m a sucker for a fast fifty, and while I initially got the 50/1.8 (don’t worry, I will get that lens on the review table but not until next year). I couldn’t turn down the excellent price tag on the chrome nosed 50/1.4 when I was at Burlington Camera one day. While in some circles the early version (which I’m reviewing today) gets a bit of a bad rap due to the coating on the lens. But honestly, the coating just looks cool when hit with light and viewed at the right angle. Most will go for the newerRead More →

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I never heard of the Duex before as I scrolled past the cameras being offered up for free on the Toronto Film Shooters Facebook Group, and this camera certainly caught my eye. One of the first things to catch me attention is the design of the camera, it screams art deco and saw the production during the height of the style’s popularity. The camera itself is asking to be used amongst the amazing architecture of The Loop in Chicago, Illinois or Manhatten in New York City. But since we’re in the time of plague still, it’ll have to be more local. The Duex is oneRead More →

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One of the least appreciated focal lengths in the world of photography is the humble 35mm lens. And I make a point to have one for almost all camera systems that I own. So I made a point that as soon as I got into the OM-System that a 35mm lens was on the shopping list. Like Nikon, the f/2 version carries a hefty price tag but like all systems, there is always an alternative. After a positive experience with the Nikkor 35mm f/2.8, I made a point to hunt down the Olympus equivalent. And it quickly became the lens of choice when I takeRead More →

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If you’re of a certain age, your entire childhood was captured by a class of cameras that first showed up on the market in the late 1970s, the compact point-and-shoot. While the idea of automatic compact 35mm camera is nothing new, and the idea of the family snapshot as old as Eastman Kodak. But in the 1970s something new showed up on the market, autofocus. No longer did the photographer have to fiddle to get things in focus, autoexposure allowed for no thought to metering. The point, then press the shutter. Harkening back to the original Kodak, you press the button, we do the rest.Read More →

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When it comes to Zuiko lenses, I don’t think there is a bad one, sure some are better than others, but all of them are excellent performing optics. And the Zuiko 28/3.5 is one such lens, might not be the fastest lens for a wide-angle, but it is a strong performer. When I was putting together my OM kit, I did not want to spend too much money, and when it came to Zuiko glass, you can get some excellent deals on solid optics, but wide-angles are not one of them, especially the fast glass, but there is always a third option, the slower ones.Read More →

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When it comes to Polaroid cameras, I have a love-hate relationship with them. I often find I don’t gel well with these instant wonders, and the cost of the film remains fairly steep. And these days almost all of the old-school Polaroid cameras are starting to get long in the tooth. Sure the Polaroid One is a great option and made in this century, but there are far more of the older cameras around than, the newer ones. This is where the Spirit enters, it is one of the first of the new Type-600 Polaroid cameras released in the early 1980s and is a bitRead More →

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If there is one lens that I use even less than my Rokkor 135/2.8, it’s my Nikkor 135/2.8. This beat-up lens is one of the groups that I got when I received my Nikon F3 kit back many years ago. In that kit along with the 135/2.8 was the 105/2.5 which got all the attention and the glory. I was always more of a fan of the 105mm focal length and the 85mm focal length before that. The 135mm length seemed a little redundant. Then last year when Dan Novak ran the 135mm challenge I dug out this lens from the back of the shelfRead More →

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I’ll have to admit, ever since I went to Europe in 2015, I’ve wanted to add some sort of folding medium format camera to my collection. Something compact, shooting at least 6×4.5 or 6×6. And for a little while earlier this year, I had my eye on a Mamiya Six (the original one, not the modern rangefinder). After reading and searching, I realised that there were too many questions about the Mamiya Six and stopped looking. And then this beauty fell into my lap, and I’m glad it did. The Ikonta 521 might not be the best folding camera out there, but it is exactlyRead More →

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When it comes to TLRs, there are plenty of choices out there and in many cases will cost you a fair amount of money. I’m talking Yashica, Minolta, Mamiya, and Rolleiflex plus several other upper-crust cameras. But for me, these were a second step (Yashica-12) and third step (Rolleiflex 2.8F) in my journey of Twin-Lens cameras. My first TLR is a true Soviet-era classic and a gateway drug into the wonders of both 120 film but also TLRs in general, and that is the Lubitel 2. Built by ЛOMO (LOMO) or Ленинградское Oптико-Mеханическое Oбъединение translated Leningrad Optical Mechanical Association one of the pillars of theRead More →

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If there is one lens in my entire lineup that I know and have used the least, the Rokkor 135/2.8 is that lens. I’ve had the lens for some time and decided to keep it after I got out of Minolta cameras as my primary camera kit but dug it out when I got the XG-M and XE-7 in close succession to each other. And I have used the lens a total of twice. Once on the XG-M and once on my a6000 at Disney. As you probably have seen when it comes to short telephoto lenses my focal length of choice is the 100Read More →