These are the 31 days and 30 articles that made EMULSIVE in December 2020. There’s no fancy countdown here, just my usual recap for those of you who missed the goings-on.
If you read the November 2020 update, I’m still very much in catch-up mode but definitely getting there. As ever, if you’ve got something to share, please drop me a line.
Enjoy!
You might be interested in...
~ EM
EMULSIVE’S most popular articles of 2020
And here it is, the final listicle of 2020. The most popular articles of the year as decided by you for the year we all want to forget. I don’t really have anything more to add other than to wish you all well as you see in the new year and to thank you for your support and contributions this year. Here’s to a truly […]
EMULSIVE’S most popular film camera reviews of 2020
Time for this year’s penultimate listicle, and it’s one for the gear heads out there, this year’s most popular camera reviews on EMULSIVE. Thanks to everyone who submitted their own reviews, and helped my with my own efforts this year cataloguing a series of exhaustive Leica M Camera guides! I’d love to hear from you about specific cameras you’d like reviewed here in 2020. Ask […]
EMULSIVE’S most popular film stock reviews of 2020
There are a few days left for 2020 (well, 2 at the time of publication) and like 2019, we didn’t see any film stocks being discontinued. A small blessing, given everything else that’s been going on. I was hoping for official news of a couple of new film stocks at least but you’ll have to wait until 2021 to hear more about those. Perhaps we’ll […]
EMULSIVE’S most popular darkroom related articles of 2020
Here’s listicle #2 for this year, and it’s 100% focused on darkroom alchemy. From bringing back Kodachrome (development, that is!), to RA-4 color printing, to monobath developers, lith printing and…the list goes on. Darkroom and darkroom-related work continues to increase through our community as more and more photographers find them selves coming back to traditional film development and printing, or discover it for the first […]
EMULSIVE’S most popular “5 Frames” of 2020
If you’re celebrating, Merry Christmas! If you’re not, welcome to the end of a year which, well, that’s enough about that. I made a promise to myself early in 2020 that I’d do my best to focus on the positives and share a little more love than usual this year. Things didn’t turn out exactly the way I expected but I got close – I […]
Seasonal Reflections of an Analogue Photographer
“It’s Christmas Theo, it’s the time of miracles” Hans Gruber, Beloved Christmas Terrorist Christmas is a piece of family-orientated theatre, rich with idiosyncratic traditions that only exist within our own eccentric little bubbles, along with the shared, large scale infectious hysteria of a nation psyching itself up for some overly indulgent festive respite. The glittery extravagances aside, there are some sombre notes in there too, […]
5 Frames… From the Peter Pan Cup Christmas Day 2019, on ILFORD Delta 3200 Professional and HP5 PLUS
The Peter Pan Cup is a yearly 100m race, a swim across the icy-cold Serpentine Lido in Hyde Park. Swimmers have met in the park every Christmas morning since 1864, and the titular “Peter Pan Cup” was first donated in 1904 by author J.M. Barrie himself. Participants must acclimatise themselves to the cold across the year, and these weekend swim sessions have caught the attention of […]
5 Frames… Of Yosemite National Park on a Yashica Mat-124 G and Kodak Portra 400 (120 Format / EI 400)
In order to reduce the number of folks that are visiting Yosemite National Park due to Covid-19, only a handful of park passes were being released at 7am each day through the Yosemite National Park website. After a few failed attempts and early wake-ups that were in vain, my fiancée and I finally got the opportunity for a much-needed getaway from LA to spend a […]
5 Frames… Of Bradford on a Voigtlander Bessa 66 (ILFORD XP2 Super / 120 Format / EI 400)
5 Frames… Of Bradford on a Voigtlander Bessa 66 (ILFORD XP2 Super / 120 Format / EI 400) – by Mike Avison It was time to try out one of my 120 format film cameras and the first one that came to hand was the Voigtlander Bessa 66 with its Voigtar 1:3.5 75mm lens. It’s a folding camera and I do like the fact I […]
5 Frames… Of the Saskatchewan prairies on Kodak AEROCHROME III Infrared Film 1443 (120 Format / EI 400 / Mamiya C330 Professional S)
What an amazing way to visualise the world. I have pursued the joys and wonders of film photography and darkroom work for some decades now and within this journey find it not only therapeutic but fascinating when I can try new film emulsions, chemistry or papers (really liking ILFORD’S new RC MG V). Thanks to permission from my wife some time ago, I was able […]
I bought a Leica M3: Everything I need and nothing more
The Leica M3 is a camera I have lustered over since the beginning of my photography career almost eleven years ago now. Obviously, it looks absolutely beautiful as far as mechanical design and engineering go, and although you hear a lot of people saying the camera you use doesn’t matter, I actually believe it does. I believe if you are using a camera that you […]
5 Frames of Kodak VISION3 500T 5219 developed in RA-4 chemistry (35mm Format / EI 500 / Lomography Sprocket Rocket)
5 Frames of Kodak VISION3 500T 5219 developed in RA-4 chemistry (35mm Format / EI 500 / Lomography Sprocket Rocket) – by Steve Jones Like many analogue fans the Coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions, which started here in the UK in March, have both created time to fill and the means of filling it. I have been trying out new films and processes and using various […]
5 Frames… Of 20-year expired Paterson Acupan 800 (35mm Format / EI 100 / Pentax P30n + Pentax-a 50mm f/1.7)
I’ve been wary of expired film in the past. The possibility of spending time and money buying, shooting and developing film with no guarantee of any results put me off. Buying expired film does offer one exclusive advantage, however: access to discontinued stocks. While browsing online auctions recently, I came across Paterson Acupan 800. An ISO 800 black and white film from a manufacturer better […]
5 Frames… Of double exposures on Kodak Portra 160 (35mm Format / EI 160 / Minolta SRT 101 + MC W.Rokkor 35mm f/2.8)
When it comes to double exposure photography, I’ve never really seemed to get it quite right. Whether that is by not underexposing enough or just a lack of composition, the exposures never quite came out right. I’ve been shooting with my inherited camera (like many who got started in 35mm film photography), a Minolta SRT101, for about a year and a half, and for that […]
5 Frames… Of textures at the boatyard on Fuji Pro 400H (120 Format / EI 400 / Mamiya C330 Professional F + Mamiya Sekor 80mm f/2.8)
My Father was a forensic photographer and I first took a picture in about 1968 using his Pentax Spotmatic. When I was a teenager my Father bought a Mamiya C330 Professional F, which I thought terribly old-fashioned, being a TLR and having no exposure meter. I bought a Mamiya 645 Pro and three lenses which was far more modern, having a prism finder and even […]
5 Frames… Of Kodak Technical Pan 2415 developed as slides (35mm Format / EI 50 / Olympus OM-1 + Zuiko Auto-W 28mmm f/2.8)
2020 is a different year in every way. So how about using a technical ISO 50 film and doing a reverse process to get a B&W SLIDE? It all started with an old roll of the famous Kodak Technical Pan, the film with ultrafine grain, discontinued in 2004. This roll was bought in a purchase with 2 more analog photographer friends. Until now, we didn’t […]
5 Frames… Of Edinburgh Castle on ILFORD XP2 Super (120 Format / EI 400 / Rolleicord)
5 Frames… Of Edinburgh Castle on ILFORD XP2 Super (120 Format / EI 400 / Rolleicord) – by Jake Williams ILFORD XP2 Super is a long time favourite of mine. I’ve been using it since my earliest steps in photography, back when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, Prince hadn’t yet changed his name to a symbol and the likes of Duran Duran were topping the […]
Camera review: The Contax G2… So close…
I’ve waited long enough to speak. We’ve broken up, it’s over. The romance was hot and quick. A flash in the pan. It’s time to do a review on the Contax G2. If I could anthropomorphize the G2, it’s an unapologetically awkward, runway-gorgeous genius. The Contax excels conquers in every way that matters, and falls criminally short in a few ways that are easy to overlook if you’re in the right […]
5 Frames… Of 120 format Kodak Gold 200 (EI 100 / Pentax 67 + SMC- Pentax 105mm f/2.4 + SMC- Pentax 55mm f/4)
Since the 1980’s Kodak Gold has survived the test of time and is still a staple film for many film photographers worldwide. Gold 200 has been (sorry for the terrible pun) the Gold standard for consumer film photography, offering beautiful warm tones, which only get better with overexposure. When I met with my friend at Kodak Alaris at WPPI before the COVID-19 pandemic reached the […]
A deeper dive into CineStill Simplified Cs2 chemistry: ECN-2 + CINESTILL = ?
We are the Brothers Wright, the photographers and creators behind CineStill. Ever since the beta tests of CineStill 800T processed in C-41 chemistry, and especially once we began designing simplified chemical processes, we have been asked many technical questions about motion picture processing and still photography. Over the years, we have done our best to point people in the right direction, but some of the […]
News: Introducing CineStill Simplified Cs2 chemistry kits
Following several years of research and development, CineStill have launched one of their most long-awaited products — no, not another film stock — a simplified ECN-2 kit for developing motion picture film in its native chemistry…with a CineStill twist. Say hello to the CineStill Cs2 “Cine Simplified” ECN 2-Bath Kit: In the same vein as their Cs41 “Color Simplified” 2-Bath kit (2019) and Df96 Monobath, […]
5 Frames… Of Portraits on ILFORD HP5 400 (35mm Format / EI 400 / Canon AE-1 Program + Canon FD 50mm f/1.8)
5 Frames… Of Portraits on ILFORD HP5 400 (35mm Format / EI 400 / Canon AE-1 Program + Canon FD 50mm f/1.8) – Tashdique Mehtaj After my first portrait session with Kodak Portra 400, I was excited to try a B&W film. A quick search on Filmfotostore led me to ILFORD HP5 PLUS, an ISO 400 film which is known for its all-purpose value. My […]
So, am I a film shooter now? Part 1: Finding what works for me
The decision as to which camera, which lens, how much can I fit in my bag, which bag shall I use, and can I carry it all day comfortably, will be familiar, I am sure, to a lot of photographers. I mean it’s a complicated game we are playing. To capture any potential scene that we might encounter! I wanted to go through my take […]
5 Frames… By the historic Ho Chi Minh City District 1 Post Office on expired Kodak Portra 400NC (120 Format / EI 100 / Pentax 67 + SMC Pentax 67 90mm f/2.8)
This shoot was based on the Ao Dai – a traditional dress of Vietnam. The Ao Dai has always been something I wanted to shoot but the thing is, they are readily available everywhere here in Vietnam. You can get them from street vendors, tailors, etc., but the biggest problem for the look I was going for was finding a “Vietnamese-looking” model. You read that, […]
An end of year photo competition by the David Hancock YouTube Channel
Many of EMULSIVE’s readers know David Hancock and his self-titled David Hancock Channel on YouTube. David got in touch with me a little while ago asking if I’d be able to help him promote his end of year photo competition for 2020. always happy to assist spread the good word, I invited David to do just that himself. Over to you, David. ~ EM I’m […]
Working inside the ‘limits of your equipment’
When choosing to use a certain camera one must come to terms with the limits inherent. Speaking in respect of my Rolleiflex MX, there are things one can do very well with a TLR. There are also things that you’d be mad to shoot with a TLR (but do anyhow). What is a Rolleiflex excellent at doing? It’s a superb holiday camera. it’s a superb […]
The Nikon F6 is dead, long live the Nikon F6!
News coming in from across the web tells us that the Nikon F6, Nikon’s last flagship film camera, which was first released back in 2004 has finally been discontinued, bringing a formal end to a professional SLR line that started in April 1959 with the tank-like Nikon F. After 16 years in continuous production — albeit in much smaller runs over the past decade — […]
5 Frames… With A Kaleidoscope Filter and Cinestill 50D (35mm Format / EI 50 / Canon AE-1 + Canon FD 50mm f/1.8)
When I started shooting analog, I mostly shot on Polaroid film and basically still do so today. Compared to 35mm film, shooting Polaroids is very straightforward, as the cameras only offer less than basic adjustment options – there is a lighten/darken wheel and a manual focus and that’s it. But lately, I felt the urge to dust off my 35mm cameras and take them with […]
5 Frames… During California’s “Fire Season” on Arista EDU ULTRA 100 (35mm Format / EI 100 / Minolta SRT102 + Minolta MC Rokkor-X PG 58mm f/1.2)
If you’ve never had the misfortune of experiencing a California “fire season”, you are blessed. This was my 39th, and it has been the worst I can remember thanks in large part to the ever-present smoke from the nearby Bobcat Fire. But it didn’t help matters that I picked this particular occasion to pay my sister a visit on her ranch in Nevada County – […]
5 Frames… On 30-ish year old Svema FN 64 (35mm Format / EI 64 / Nikkormat FTN + Nikkor-H 50mm f/2 Non-AI)
I’m fairly new to the world of film photography, so I’ve been doing quite a bit of experimentation lately. In order to better understand the medium (and to curtail some pandemic-induced boredom), I’ve taken to shooting a broad assortment of films, trying various processing methods, and using different developers. In continuing this trend, I recently got my hands on a few rolls of Svema FN […]
5 Frames… Of birthday photos on ILFORD Delta 400 Professional (35mm Format / EI 400 / Canon A-1 + Canon FD 100mm f/2.8)
“Happy birthday!!! I hope you’re doing well these (often strange) days. If you’re ever interested or up for some more photos let me know. I’ve got a new lens that could use some testing! Take care, all the best in the year ahead!” “Thanks!!!!” “And I have every weekend off and would absolutely LOVE to do more photos any time!!!” With the pandemic subsiding somewhat […]
Thanks for reading!
~ EM
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