Category: Articles
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5 Frames… At the Albuquerque Atomic Museum on Kodak Panatomic-X (El 1 / Nikon F3 + Voigtlander Nokton 58mm f/1.4)
The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA has a back lot with about 2 acres of the sort of hardware that fueled my nightmares in the ’90s. Military planes, missiles, and more are all in various stages of restoration or decay. Some are just left to be baked to…
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Confessions of a film developer
Okay, so when things go wrong the best thing to do is chalk it up to experience and make sure you don’t do it again. In the real world this is sometimes easier said than done, fortunately, when developing film at home it’s a bit more straightforward, as long as you know what you did…
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5 Frames… From Bloomsbury to Kings Cross on Kodak Portra 400 and a Pentax ME Super
The Pentax Super ME is a beautiful little camera, introduced in 1979, superseding the old Pentax ME. It’s an extremely compact camera, with aperture priority and manual mode, making it a great camera for beginners, or a cheap alternative to adding to your collection. Coming from the family of the Pentax K mount, you are…
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Crash! Bang! Rollop! What a Picture! A review and test of the Lipca Rollop II TLR
A year or two back I was given a box of old cameras, four in total. These included a Voigtlander Vito B. a couple of Soviet-era rangefinders, and a Lipca Rollop TLR. I tested the Vito B with a roll of film not long after receiving it, but not a single shot was even close…
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The Canon AL-1: Do opposites attract?
Everybody knows the AE-1 and AE-1 Program. Maybe that’s because Canon produced so many of them. In reviews of this camera, they mention it was one of the products that opened the world of SLR to an average consumer. Nowadays young photographers may keep warm memories of their parents’ (or grandparents’) cameras when they are…
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5 Frames… Around Vassar College, New York, on Kodak Portra 400 (120 format / EI 400 / Mamiya RB67 Pro SD + Mamiya-Sekor 180mm f/4.5 C)
I bought a Mamiya RB67 Pro SD and 180mm f4.5 C lens in fall 2021 and did)n’t want to stray too far from home for the first roll through the camera. We recently moved to the Hudson Valley of New York and live across the street from Vassar College, which is more and more becoming…
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5 Frames… Of my hometown Leeuwarden in the Netherlands on Fomapan 100 Classic (120 Format / EI 100 / Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex)
The Ikoflex is the only true Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) made by Zeiss Ikon — the WWII Tengoflex is actually just a box-camera with a large, simple brilliant finder which does not aid focussing and is therefore considered to be a pseudo-TLR. The first Ikoflex was introduced in 1934 and had a striking “Art Deco”…
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Camera review: The LEGO VIP Rewards Vintage Camera + build video
It’s not a Leica, but if you’re a film photographer, you’re probably going to Like-uh-it a lot. If you like LEGO, you’ll likely be quite partial to it, too. Yes, it’s the (limited edition?) LEGO VIP Rewards Vintage Camera. This article reviews the camera in full with a start-to-finish video of the build (condensed to…
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Mini-review: The RETO Ultra Wide & Slim – Experiences and a change in attitude to P&S cameras
Traditionally I have avoided the point and shoot class of camera because I wanted to be able to make my own exposure decisions. I either shoot Manual, or in Aperture Priority modes with one finger on the exposure compensation button. Most of my cameras date from the 20th century and most of those are entirely manual. In…
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5 Frames… Of what makes Havana special on Kodak Tri-X 400 and a Kodak Brownie Reflex 20 (120 Format / EI 400)
When my wife turned 40, she wanted just one thing: to have a nice vacation in a warm place with a beach. After negotiating that our destination be all-inclusive so that I might walk around with cocktails in coconuts all day, we settled on a resort in Veradero, Cuba. She got her beach; I got…
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Instant Memory: Textile collages on vintage found Polaroids and contemporary Fujifilm INSTAX film
This series of textile collages began with finding a collection of seemingly random Polaroid images from my late Great Aunt Thelma’s house. As one of the executors of her estate, my father asked me and my mother to help go through her belongings at her small home in Oklahoma. Among our findings were boxes and…
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New ADOX COLOR MISSION 35mm film: a “reverse Kickstarter”
A new, very limited ISO 200 35mm color film from ADOX is upon us just 41 days into 2022. It’s released on Thursday, February 10th, 2022, and is available for pre-order now in limited quantities in 36 exposure, 35mm cassettes. Say hello to ADOX COLOR MISSION: The film, described by ADOX as having “delicately vibrant…
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5 frames… Or 5 woodland portraits, taken with a Hasselblad 500CM and Sonnar CF 180mm f/4 on expired Kodak T-MAX 100 at EI 50
For what am I not trying to capture if not the essence of the character of my motifs? That´s why I like to shoot the woodlands and other things I find interesting with a portrait lens or at least mostly with a shallow depth of field. I´m interested in details I see or the beauty…
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The King’s Trail: Documenting my hike through the Swedish Lappland on the Leica M4 and Kodak ULTRAMAX 400
Above the Arctic Circle, amidst the wide green plains, enclosed in looming blue peaks, the ‘King’s Trail’ covers 400km of land devoid of civilisation, save for the indigenous Sami, their reindeer, and the occasional shelter. Here is where I found myself last year, Leica M4 in hand, photographing one of the most beautiful places on…
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Film review: ADOX HR-50, a high-resolution film with a boost
Earlier this summer I shot a roll of ADOX HR-50. I had seen this film online and since I live in a country which can be very sunny I had decided to try slower films this summer. I went to the photography store (In Zurich I recommend ars-imago, the customer service is good and they…
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5 Frames… Around NYC’s Lower East Side on CineStill BwXX with the Konica C35MFD (35mm format / EI 250 / Hexanon 38mm f/2.8)
Last December, I was fortunate enough to take a solo trip to New York City after my semester finished up. I settled on staying in the Lower East Side, where I could easily walk to museums and other unique spaces without breaking a sweat. As a Canadian visiting NYC, I very much wanted to blend…
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5 Frames… At the North Shields Fish Quay on Fujicolor C200 and an Olympus OM-2 + Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 – by Peter Dyers
My Olympus OM-2 comes with me everywhere I go. I recently traveled around France and took this small but mighty camera along for the ride. It handles most shots perfectly however, operation can sometimes be fiddly and a separate light meter is often required. When I got back, I missed the local area so much…
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The Contax RX: My search for the perfect camera
I started out writing a 5 Frames article for this excellent website but my typing ran away a little and I ended up realising it had turned into a mini-review of my latest 35mm acquisition, the Contax RX. I thought that rather than crop the article down, I would publish the long version in its…
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Photo story: Dérive, Panama City
In August of 2021, I was sent to Panama to work as a documentary photographer on a campaign. Because of one reason or another, I had a lot of free time on my hands to explore Panama City and its surroundings. I ended up spending two months in the country, strolling the streets, alleys and…
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My first roll… Well, plate: 4×5 format J. Lane Speed Dry Plate, El 25, Graflex Speed Graphic + Graflex Optar 135mm f/4.7
I’ve always loved vintage camera equipment. The engineering and care that went into the creation of old cameras have always fascinated me. The science and chemistry of film development have also intrigued me. Who doesn’t want total control of their image from start to finish? So, with all of that in mind, and some free…
Recently published
- Ultreia: Making pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
- 5 Frames… In the pits at Brands Hatch motor racing circuit on FP4 PLUS (35mm format / EI 125 / Nikon L35AF) – by Nik Stanbridge
- 5 Frames… Of my boy (skeleton) Jeffrey on Polaroid Color SX-70 film
- New film day! Say hello to HARMAN Phoenix 200, a brand new mid-speed colour film
- My First Roll… With a Yashica Mat 124G
- The Contax 645: Not just a wedding camera
