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Back in May the fine folks at Harman Technologies, the parent company of Ilford Photo and Harman Photo announced their newest film stock, Kentmere 200. The Kentmere line of film is designed to be a more budget friendly film stock, lower silver content than the main line of film stocks. Now I did not like this film when I first ran them through reviews, I did like Kentmere 100 more than Kentmere 400. But now I like both, so I was notably excited when Kentmere 200 was released. This puts the Kentmere line in the same range of the other budget friendly films, Fomapan. NowRead More →

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When it comes to point-and-shoot cameras, they still remain very much in vogue with a certain cross-section of film photographers. While I don’t often reach for these cameras, it is always fun to try out something outside of my usual selection of cameras. This is my third Pentax Point-And-Shoot; I’ve used the first point-and-shoot, the PC35AF, and one of the Espios, a more high-end offering. The Zoom 280-P is a clunky, early ’90s brick of a camera with a bit of ergonomics. And you know, despite being a P&S, the Zoom 280-P is a decent little camera that does the job of taking photos, butRead More →

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I miss Efke films; these were a blast from the past, a film stock that survived sixty years through three manufacturers. While the production line shut down in 2012, I had several years of using these classic films under the Adox and Efke brands. And even after the discontinuation, I secured a brick of the film through eBay, which I enjoyed for another couple of years. Back in July, I got a single roll of film from James Lee after the CCR 10th Anniversary event. So I decided to save it for a special day, so I took it out on World Photography Day, 19Read More →

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I often mix up Tower Automotive with National Rubber, two former industrial locations in the Junction neighbourhood of Toronto. Today, the Junction is home to galleries, craft breweries, condo lofts, and other gentrified options, and it once was Toronto’s hotbed for industry. Founded along a significant trade path for indigenous peoples and growing into a railway junction starting in 1884, what we know as the Junction was a town in its own right until amalgamation into the City of Toronto in 1909. The Tower building became part of the skyline. While it stands out as a beautiful example of early 20th-century architecture, it is farRead More →

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The early parts of 1814 had proven to be a quiet point in the war. While there was some action, it was almost a pause in the war, and both sides regrouped from a fiery 1813. While the British took the time to regroup, lick their wounds and prepare for renewed conflict and the promised reinforcements from Europe, the Americans took a different approach. Secretary of War John Armstrong would mostly be free of some of the older Generals, those who had achieved their rank through appointment rather than merit. As those officers had failed on the front lines, Armstrong either reassigned them to lessRead More →

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One of the most rewarding and frustrating parts of working with traditional film mediums is developing the film yourself. This often allows for faster turnaround and greater control. However, when things go sideways, you can only blame yourself. I started developing black & white film myself over ten years ago now for two reasons. First, I was inspired after attending my first Photostock event, where I saw all the fantastic work people were doing and had the opportunity to chat with my good friend Matt Marrash. Second, my local lab had reduced its processing to a single day of C-41. The owner (Joan) took meRead More →

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The folks at the Film Photography Project have once again reached into their bag of tricks and brought out the latest addition to their line of monster films, in this case Jiangshi 400. The name Jiangshi honours the jumping vampire (and ghosts) of Chinese legend. The film itself comes from China and is relatively new to the North American market. While rated at ASA-400, most signs point to the fact the film responds better when over-exposed by a stop at ASA-200 and pulled in development, so I’ll be shooting all four roll at that ASA-200 mark. Although like many films out of China the emulsionRead More →

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This episode is another live show from the streets of Toronto during our 10th Anniversary Photo Walk & Brewery Tour. The tour took the gang from Sugar Beach and the Great Lake Brew Pub on Lower Jarvis, through Old Town Toronto and into the Distillery District for Old Flame Brewing Co and into Riverside for Eastbound Brewing and into Leslieville for Radical Road, Black Lab, Rorschach and finally Godspeed Brewery. Despite the weather (which was not plesent) about twenty people attended the event and everyone enjoyed the shorter, but safer walk. Alex took time to record short interviews with twelve folks attending and asked themRead More →

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While most TFS walks start with coffee and end with beer, this walk started and contained beer from start to finish. With the help of fellow co-host Bill, I selected a series of breweries across the eastern part of Toronto, starting with the Great Lakes Brewpub on Lower Jarvis and ending at Godspeed, located at Coxwell and Gerrard. Sadly, since I started planning this walk, one of the breweries closed at the end of June (Saulter Street). Bill Smith suggested Radical Road as a replacement. The bonus is that Radical is right along the route, so there was no need to make any changes. TheRead More →

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There are small cameras; then there are small ones; the Pentax MX is one of the latter. Released as Asahi’s response to the Olympus OM-1, the Pentax MX took things to the next level with the size. The M-Series of Pentax SLRs are strangers to me; I’ve used the ME, ME Super and even an MG, but never an MX. Save for a brief encounter with an MX in Bill Smith’s collection for a CCR Episode (Ep. 36 – Last But Not Least) So when I started to look for one a few years back I found that they were rare on the used marketRead More →