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The market for modern production meters is saturated with many options for those looking at a simple shoe-mounted meter. Matt at Reveni Labs has taken things beyond that, first with the spot meter and now with a unique handheld incident meter. And with the market for these sorts of meters being dominated by classic equipment or the same names still producing modern meters, Reveni Labs decided to take things in a fun and ergonomic direction. The style and design are somewhat limited because of how you use an incident meter. But there is some room for modification. And yes, the new Reveni Incident Meter looksRead More →

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While the Mark 1 Intrepid is long obsolete, it was a fantastic camera for the era in which it was produced. It became the foundation of a resurgence in modern large-format camera creation, not only from the folks at Intrepid. And while this camera is long gone, it certainly left an impression on me and my photography. This camera was designed to make large format affordable and modern construction. And it certainly made that dream a reality. Was the camera perfect? Far from it, I had many problems with this camera, but for what it was and what it cost, it made a large format,Read More →

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When it comes to assistance with long processing times or the need for constant agitation, there aren’t that many options out there today. Sure there is the original Jobo system, but these are completely closed systems that often carry a high startup cost. And on the opposite end of the spectrum are the Besler and Unicolor Cibachrome bases and tanks. But what about something new, using modern solutions. Last year I had the chance to try out one such system, the AuRA film processor, and it certainly made an impression on me and my processing. Sadly these aren’t yet for sale, and given the technologyRead 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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Being in North America and raised on Kodak and Ilford developers, I did not even know that Atomal existed, other than seeing it listed on the Massive Dev chart and just passing it by as another European developer. But when I was hunting for more Rollei developers at Freestyle, I came across Atomal 49 as an ‘other people purchased’ listing. I was excited to give this a shot, and after mixing it up, I posted in a Film Photography Chat group on Facebook and asked if anyone else had used the stuff. The response was overwhelming how many people used the stuff. However, the bestRead More →

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When it comes to lenses, some out there have become a key part of many photographers’ main kit. And for me, this lens marked my first major lens purchase and investment in the Nikon system. This lens marks the fifth iteration of the 70-200mm f/2.8 series of telephotos and the second Silent Wave Motor (AF-S) of this iconic lens. First released in 2003 alongside two other f/2.8 G-Type lenses, the 14-24mm and 24-70mm, which forms the Nikon Trinity. This lens quickly became a go-to lens for wedding, event, and reenactment photography originally paired with my Nikon D300 and later my F5 and D750. It’s heavy,Read More →

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Ontario is blessed with a tonne of amazing rural communities that have stood the test of time. They never undertook vast urban renewal plans through the 20th Century and have stayed close to their roots in the mid to late 19th Century. And one such community is Elora, not only with natural wonders of the Gorge and the Falls but also with architectural splendour. Back on the Canada Day long weekend, I went into Elora to shoot some video work and to meet up with two fellow hosts of the Classic Camera Revival for a quick jaunt around the village. I went simple going withRead More →

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If you know me and my photography, you know that I’m a sucker for a good ultra-wide angle lens. The problem is that these lenses can often cost a fair amount of money and often have several issues that go along with that wide focal length. Probably the best lens of this class (ultra-wide zoom) is the Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G which I reviewed last month. Sadly no other company has a similar lens to that beautiful Nikkor glass. However, while I was building up my Maxxum kit, I happened across this lens. While it is the odd duck in my Maxxum kit, all my lensesRead More →

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Let me start this by saying that DD-X and I have not had the best of relationships. The first time I used it I wasn’t happy with my results and decided that I was never going to touch the stuff again. But hey, almost every filmstock and developer are worth a second glance. DD-X, like its Kodak cousin, TMax developer was initially designed for use with the Delta range of films, specifically Delta 3200. Ilford has two versions of this developer, Ilfotec DD which is designed mainly for automated film processors that will use a dedicated replenisher and used in the stock formulation. White DD-XRead More →

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Over the previous year, I worked hard to expand my knowledge of black & white film developers and find myself down a deep rabbit hole. Some good, some meh. Some I didn’t care for or I found them to be too specialised for average use. And while I have several up for review later this year and you can check those out later, here are seven that have stood out in my head as worthy of using again and of getting you out of the rut of using the more vanilla developers like D-76/ID-11, HC-110/Ilfotec HC, and Rodinal. 1 – Adox FX-39 II Based onRead More →