This month is a weird entry into the project. for this year. I have focused on a single place to photograph, usually a town, location or event—something with a defined history and story, and yes, even a maple syrup festival counts. And no, before you ask, I’m not a closet K-Pop fan, and this has nothing to do with the band by the same name. Instead, B.T.S. is a term used within film/T.V./theatre to indicate behind-the-scenes. The idea came from a challenge that I gave to a person over on Twitter who wanted an idea for photography. I suggested that he photograph the backsides’ ofRead More →

Regarding film developers, I tend to stray from those designed for one specific film stock. It’s not that I don’t want to try them; I have a dislike of closed image systems. A good developer should be able to achieve a specific result with various films. And for a while, I thought that Foma Retro Special is explicitly designed for Foma Retropan 320 Soft, and while this is the ideal film for the developer, it can do so much more for the entire line of Foma films. After finding a source for the developer, I purchased a pack since I am finally running a reviewRead More →

But wait, don’t I already have this lens? I do, after a fashion, of course. Suppose there is a single lens that changed my work as a photographer, especially within my urban exploration work. In that case, it is the Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G, a lens that was a bit limited on my D300 but came into its power on the F5 and D750. But let’s admit it; the 14-24/2.8G is a heavy and big lens. I knew in the back of my mind that Nikon had several wide-angle lenses, but it was a chance that a fellow podcaster who picked this lens up for herRead More →

Regarding CatLABS, you never know what they will pull out of the bag next. Earlier this year, I reviewed their latest version of the XFilm 320 Pro and was presently surprised with the results. While I never touched the original version (which is said to be Eastman Double-X), I did try their original version of XFilm 80. I loved the stuff in my original review and revisiting it at ASA-32. When I got my hands on the new 320 stuff, I grabbed a box of XFilm 80 II. And I’ve been sitting on it for a while, but during the hot days of summer finallyRead More →

A particular classification of camera always elicits a nod of understanding; these are cameras with a mark of quality and precision. Names like Rollei, Hasselblad, Zeiss, and of course, Leica. Although through my work on this review, I have often found that not all Leica’s are treated with the same equal respect, and among many of the more snobbish Leica collectors and users, the M4-2 and M4-P are the ones that are seen as the redhead cousins of the classic M-Series of rangefinders. These cameras indeed hold a much higher space in my mind because of their historical significance in Leica history and Canadian history,Read More →

I caught a glimpse of a modern production of this developer from the folks at Silvergrain Classics and immediately started to hunt down the developer. Most sources pointed to having to order from a European supplier and waiting a month for it to arrive when I ran across the developer at a local source, Downtown Camera. Well, I jumped at the chance. I first learned about Neofin Blau in my review of Adox FX-39 II, which is based upon Neofin Rouge; both developers are based on the works of noted German photographer Willi Beutler. Blau, unlike Rouge, is designed for films rated at ASA-200 orRead More →

Light or Dark, Chocolate is one of my favourite treats, especially in ice cream form. But when it comes to film, it becomes a classic type 100 film that I loved to work with for the limited time I had access to well-stored packed. I first got a taste for this lovely film during the earliest days of the Impossible Project when the folks got their hands on an entire warehouse of new-old-stock of integral and packed films and sold them to help raise capital for the recreation of integral films. And I went with a whole pile of different options, colour, black & white,Read More →

When it comes to film from FilmWashi, they can get their hands on some pretty unique stocks. And I’ve had some good luck with most of their films; others have struggled a bit. Thankfully I’ve been working through my wish list in their catalogue and have gotten my hands on most of them. But one has been out of stock until recently, and that’s FilmWashi A. Described as a motion picture leader film, the film is spliced onto the front of a motion picture prints to help lead the film through the projector. But it can be used for high-contrast uses, like titles or thatRead More →

Within the film photography community, the OM-System, specifically the Zuiko lenses, are held in high regard with good reason. The Olympus OM-1 is a stunning mechanical SLR perfect for beginners, and the sophisticated metering system on the OM-2 is brilliant. Even cameras like the OM-3 and the OM-4 are excellent replacements for the original two. But an entire subset of the OM-System often takes a backseat, the double-digit consumer models. As much a part of the OM-system as the single-digit ones, often holding some of the same technology. One such example is the original consumer model, the OM-10. The OM-10 was on my hit listRead More →

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 →