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In the world of black & white developers, my exploration of different chemicals has been a lot of fun. And I’ve seen plenty of other odd developers, but one has always stood out as being one I’ve wanted to try, mainly because of its name. And that is R09 Spezial, which looks cool because of the ‘z’. While browsing, the Argentix website netted me a small bottle of this stuff. It took a while to trace precisely what this stuff is at the core because it has gone under many names and been produced by many companies. You can also find it as Rodinal Special,Read More →

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Of late, I’ve had a soft spot for consumer-level SLRs. These are excellent options as knock-about cameras that often have the same internals as their professional cousins but in a smaller form factor and can be had for a low cost. The F65 is one of Nikon’s final entry-level SLRs and one of the best options for the era, as it combines form and functions and offers the greatest compatibility. While the F65 only saw production for a short period, its replacements split things into two sub-varients, a lower-spec F55 and a high-spec F75, the features on both are found in the F65. If you’reRead More →

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At the end of last year, Harman/Ilford made a fantastic announcement, their popular budget film, Kentmere, was now available in 120 formats. And it was going to be the least expensive option for medium-format shooters. Kentmere and I go back, and when I first reviewed Kentmere 400, I was not happy with my results. I was downright rude towards the film stock, but looking back at it now, I can see it was not as bad as I thought it was when I first came to review it. Kentmere 100, however, did make an excellent first impression. And since then, I hadn’t thought much aboutRead More →

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Heading into the big city is a rarity these days between no major events running yet and mainly shooting for review purposes and parenthood. My travel circle is limited these days, not that I’m complaining. But having a random mid-week trip into Toronto with a bit of free time allows me to get out, stretch my legs and camera gear and head out for some enjoyment of the craft. It also helped that I was again shooting for the Embrace the Grain film of the month challenge, which for March was Kentmere 100. So I packed two rolls of film, two cameras, and two lenses.Read More →

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Like Svema Foto 400, I’ve only ever shot a single roll of Kentmere 400, and that was when it was being bulk loaded by the Film Photography Project as their EDU line of films. And yes, like Kentmere 100, this film stock is also produced by Ilford/Harman for their export market. While I personally think the film is best for students and those photographers on a budget, I don’t mind the film. It’s a lot closer to the old Ilford Pan 400 than their HP5+ stock, and that’s not a bad thing. And while I can still only find the film in the old packaging,Read More →