Ever since I sold off my Pentax 645, I honestly thought I would not want another 645 camera; I mean, I had my Hasselblad. But there is some draw to the 645 formats; you don’t want a square, but that nice rectangle. And with my Hasselblad acting up, I wanted something similar but in 645. In other words, I wanted a system camera that could be customisable. One day I was sitting in the Higher Grounds coffee shop in Belfountain, having shot some 4×5, and an older man came over. We started talking as he recognised the Crown Graphic. He promptly offered his Mamiya m645Read More →

There’s something fun about simplicity in a camera. Over the course of these reviews, I’ve shot cameras at every point on the spectrum from complex to annoyingly simple. But in the case of the Pentax P3n, it fits the perfect balance between sophisticated and simple. The P3n is a camera that you can take out, shoot from the hip and get outstanding results. The P3n is Pentax’s answer to that wonderfully strange period from the mechanical and manual 1970s and the automatic days of the 1980s a perfect blend of the old and the new. The camera is alternately known outside the USA at theRead More →

When I’ve shot 6×7 cameras in the past, I’ve found them clunky and unwieldy. Think back to the Mamiya Universal and RB67. Even the Bronica GS-1 which is better than most. None of these cameras had the style and handling of the Pentax 67II. Now the 67II fixes what I would see as problems with the 6×7 and 67. This camera is a traditional 35mm SLR on steroids and is worthy of the description. There are some cameras that I enjoy instantly, and this camera certainly ranks among those. Thanks to James Lee for loaning out this beauty. Camera Specifications Make: Pentax Model: 67II Type:Read More →

September 2017 marked a milestone for Sheridan College. As a College Sheridan began its life as a collection of Satellite campuses, those campuses closed, the college moved to centralised campuses. One remained the Skills Training Centre. This September that campus would close its doors as the last satellite campus for Sheridan. STC, as it was better known, holds a special spot for me. I worked at the campus for several years, establishing a permanent IT presence at the small campus. So when I learned that the campus was doomed to closure I made a point to return one last time and document it. And documentRead More →

If you’ve ever listened to me talk about film, you’ll know there are some films I have a strong view. I love my Kodak Tri-X and JCH Streetpan 400; then there are the ones I’m not too happy with, that is Ilford HP5+ in 35mm and Delta 400 in general. But what if I could change my mind on just one? Would it give me another tool in the kit to use to get a specific look? Could I shoot four rolls of a film stock and come to like it, even go as far as recommending it? Challenge Accepted. That film isn’t Delta 400,Read More →

One more shot, one more shot! While today such a call is commonplace in the day where the number of images you can get is dependent on how fast your camera’s shutter works and how large and fast the memory card that you have in your camera is, but back in the early 20th Century, asking for one more shot could mean sacrificing one in the future. But many iconic images and photographers worked with large format cameras and the idea of a Press Camera pre-dates the camera I’m reviewing today by nearly three decades. While the Crown Graphic is not as well known asRead More →

Here we are, a long time coming but, this is the end, and it has been a long and fascinating journey to reach this point. It’s always a bittersweet feeling when such a long and involved project comes to an end. But all things must end, and so must my journey into the War of 1812. At least I can say that I’ve done more than just scratching the surface of the conflict that would go on to define the relations between Canada, England, and the United States still today. When I first started the project way back in March 2012, I had no ideaRead More →

I don’t remember what drew me to purchase the Horizon Kompakt; I had worked with the panoramic format before, but in the digital sphere, I stitched images together by shooting multiple frames to capture a unique take on an environment. But in 2011, I walked along Queen Street to a Toronto UER meetup, stopped in the Lomography Store (sadly closed), and picked up the Horizon Kompakt. In hindsight, I spent the extra money on the Perfekt. I immediately loaded up a roll of film (with the help of the store staff), went out, and shot through the roll. Well, I was hooked and hit theRead More →

The Signet 35 was the top dog in the Kodak 35mm line following WW2, this beautiful all metal rangefinder had it’s top lens, the Ektar mounted on the front, a shutter that could go up to 1/300″ and an accessory shoe. This was the snapshot camera for the wealthy and the elite, and today it works as great as it looks. The Signet 35 like many other Kodak cameras of the day was designed by their top designer, Arthur H Crapsey. I was loaned this camera again by Mike Bitaxi to review and I was actually really happy with the results I got out ofRead More →

Sadly, my usual trip over the August Long Weekend to Cleveland this year did not happen because the gentleman running the event has felt a bit discouraged over the lack of interest in it. (I really should make a point to go out and shoot the area this fall). So instead, I headed down to a different area of Ohio, Hocking Hills State Park. I had been seeing a tonne of really great photographs from the park from a good friend and fantastic photographer Mat Marrash of late so I decided to take him up on the offer to show me around the park andRead More →