One Year with the Voigtlander 40mm 1.4 Nokton MC

Since buying, shooting and writing about the Voigtlander 40mm 1.4 Nokton MC, I feel like I see this lens everywhere! I didn’t realise how popular it is. The blog I wrote about it is my third most viewed of all time, I see it mounted to many of the cameras that I read reviews of […]

Three Common Issues with the Nikon FM2n

If you currently own or are interesting in buying a Nikon FM2n, you’ll want to know about the three common issues that I’ve found with these cameras. As previously noted, I’m a big fan of the Nikon FM2n. I’ve owned five and have whittled down to just two black FM2n’s. I’ve been shooting on them […]

Is Your Camera Due for a New Strap?

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 […]

Johnny’s Favorites

For my last entry, I shared The Very Best of Johnny Martyr, but as with most greatest hits compilations, so many great songs get left behind. Often the songs that mean the most to the author are not the chart-toppers. So if you don’t mind, I’d like you to give the blogs below a second […]

The Very Best of Johnny Martyr

Okay, I fully admit to being in a blogging lull right now. And what do people do when they’re in a lull, they release their greatest hits! Below are my blogs from each year for the past five years which had the highest number of views. It’s funny how sometimes the the topics/photos/articles that I […]

Photographing Fireworks with a 90 Year Old Leica

*photos and text depict July 2019 There they were, a continuous, almost organized line of middle-aged men in various stages of unfolding tripods, mounting massive DSLR’s on them, carefully aiming long lenses at indeterminate points in the darkening late evening sky. The LCD’s lit their faces with a soft glow as they took test shots […]

Abuse of Power Comes As No Surprise

Back in art school, between my classes, I’d follow friends into their classes and hang out for a bit. One fateful day (these stories always contain a fateful day) I followed Becca into her drawing class. Becca was a quiet but opinionated graphic designer I had a crush on. She seemed to take pride in […]

One Photographer’s Experience; The Frederick Maryland March for Justice

It’s a little after 10pm on Friday, June 5 2020. My negatives are hanging in a nearby window to dry and my shoes are still sopping wet too. Today was the Frederick March for Justice, one of innumerable nationwide demonstrations in honor of George Floyd. A storm front began lingering around the area Thursday afternoon […]

One Photographer’s Experience; the George Floyd Washington D.C. Protests

Guest blog; all text and photos by Ben Eisendrath, depicting his experience on Sunday May 31st, 2020 When the crowd’s chants and weight against the steel barricades diminished, the wall of police stepped back, careful to remain shield-to-shield. The quieter the protesters, the further away law enforcement fell. But when the chants turned instead to […]

Martyr’s Leica’s vs. Eckman’s Copies: Canon IVsb

A while back, fellow blogger/photographer Mike Eckman sent me his three favorite Leica copies to compare to my originals. I posted a brief intro before I assessed a Leica II clone, the Zorki-1c. Next was a variation on the classic Barnack design, the Zorki-3. Today’s third, and final review is a curve-ball in every sense, […]