“I guess I’ve shot about 40,000 negatives and of these I have about 800 pictures I like.” – Harry Callahan One of the major differences in the way that I see digital and film photographers approach each medium is how rapidly we shoot. A common mantra among film shooters is “I shoot film because it […]
Read more "Rapid Firing With Manual 35mm Cameras"Over the years, many different manufacturers have offered many different types of accessory viewfinders that have taken on numerous forms. I have tried only a handful but am pretty committed to what are known as as “bright-line” accessory viewfinders. Unlike early viewfinders that consist only of wire frames of appropriate sizes or even simple optical […]
Read more "Shining a Light on Bright-Line Viewfinders"I’ve never been one to care very much about stylish camera bags. As long as I had something durable that I could organize neatly, that has been fine. I justified my position by thinking that a cheaper, more tatty looking bag was less likely to attract attention and get stolen. And hey, cheaper camera bag, […]
Read more "My New Daily Carry Camera Bag – ONA Prince Street"If you’re okay with giving inconceivable amounts and forms of personal information to Big Data, you may as well use your smart voice assistant to help you process your film too! And while there are no consumer AI’s that have hands yet, they are still willing to help film photographers the best that they can. […]
Read more "“Alexa, Process My Film!”"I touched on this topic a little bit in a previous blog about hoods for various LTM lenses entitled Throwing Shade, but I wanted to drill down on lens hood options for the Leitz 50mm f2 Summitar. As previously stated, I think that earlier Leitz lenses require a hood in many circumstances to perform their […]
Read more "Lens Hoods for the Leica Summitar"I wasn’t really hyperbolizing when I said that the Leica 14312 is the best camera strap in the world. I own one for each of my Leica bodies and swap them onto my other rangefinders and SLR’s too. So when Mark from Due North Leather Goods in Canada reached out to me about test-driving one […]
Read more "Is Your Camera Due for a New Strap?"The beauty, the style and the build quality of mechanical film cameras made before the 1960’s is simply unmatched. Barnack Leica’s, the original Nikon F, Rolleiflex TLR’s, Konica rangefinders, early Pentax SLR’s, Zeiss, Voigtlander and Agfa folders. WOW! Okay, I’m going to need a moment to calm down! (Particularly since most of the cameras pictured […]
Read more "Upgrade Your Meterless Film Camera!"If you’re cheap or just enjoy a variety of glass in your quiver, it’s worth running vintage Leica Thread Mount (LTM or M39) lenses on your newer bayonet M mount Leica bodies. The fact that this can be done so flawlessly is yet another boon to the Leica rangefinder system and justification to buy a […]
Read more "Leica LTM to M Adapters"Instead of reviewing yet another needless classic camera, I wanted to talk about products that will actually help our photography while still indulging our universal fixation on gear; developing tanks. If you are interested in developing your own film or have been doing it for decades, hopefully you find this review useful in some far […]
Read more "Paterson Film Developing Tank Review"Something that drives me crazy is when I see photographers with disorganized camera bags. My wife’s is absolutely terrifying. Film photographers are probably the worst offenders but ironically have the greatest need for an organized bag. If you’re an award-winning, world renowned photographer and keep a messy bag, fine. Who am I to criticize you? […]
Read more "A Well Organized Bag is a Good Start"
Johnny Martyr 