Leica is known for its legendary craftsmanship of cameras, but I don’t need to tell you that. Why do you think we all clamour at the idea of finding one amongst our grandfather’s possessions? It’s like finding the holy grail. While pretty much any camera from the M-Series is most sought after, most people would […]
Category: Film camera reviews
Read EMULSIVE film camera reviews right here. You’ll find film cameras that use all formats of photographic film from, 110 to 35mm, medium and large format. Reviews include the Hasselblad 500CM, Pentax 67, Mamiya Press, Ricoh GR1s, Leica M cameras and Olympus MJU.
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. […]
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 […]
Bringing home a new baby… The Automatic Rolleiflex 4×4 (featuring Rollei, ReraPan and Kodak 127 format films)
Let me tell you about my adventures with my new Baby Rolleiflex 4×4 (technically speaking, the “Automatic Rolleiflex 4×4”) and Rollei Nightbird, ReraPan (and ReraChrome), AND Kodak Portra 160NC film… The adventure started way back in 2016 when I saw the Vivian Maier documentary and was just starting out with film. I really wanted a […]
Another Hasselblad XPan alternative: Introducing the PressPan
Before we begin, I just wanted to mention a couple of things. In the interest of the flow of the article, links to websites, Instagram pages, and YouTube videos will all be found at the end of the review (but I do hope you’ll read the whole thing, and not just skip to the end!). […]
Box of Magic: The Zeiss Ikon Box Tengor 56/2
This post has been a long time coming as well. Seems as though I have a backlog of ideas to work through, so bear with me. I’ve always had some sort of junk box camera kicking round for decoration, and the few times I’ve used them the results have been a bit of a joke […]
Camera review: The Dora Goodman SCURA pinhole experience
One day I came across a post on Facebook by a fellow “pinholer” showing their recently acquired SCURA 35mm panoramic pinhole camera. I own several pinhole cameras but none are 35mm. I was intrigued by the film size and the fact this camera was designed to create 60x25mm panoramic images. The creator, Goodman Lab, also […]
Leica R6 Review; Like recommending an Aston Martin
The secret behind Leica’s R series is that their optical formulas for their SLR lenses are the same as their famous M mount lenses. A 50mm f/2 Summicron is made by the same people, with the same materials, in the same factories whether it is on an M6 or an R6. The R counterparts go […]
Camera review: The unlovely (but very good) Pentax MZ-S
First an admission, I am an accidental Pentaxian. Like thousands of others, quite by chance I first learned to shoot film on a Pentax K1000. Since then many other Pentaxes have passed through my life: Spotmatic II, KM, MX, LX, 645n, both the 67 and 67ii and the MZ-S of course (twice!). The attraction is […]
Night photography with the MiNT Camera Instantkon RF70 and Fujifilm Instax Wide film
There have been few opportunities for me to take the Instax Wide format MiNT Camera Instantkon RF70 on a night shoot, a favourite activity of mine. With the “iso” in Sydney having lifted in June, I was excited to have an opportunity to see what it could really do in low light. The Instantkon RF70 […]
Building the CAMERADACTYL Brancopan
“Are you drilling?” asked my bleary-eyed wife, coming out of the bedroom of our small apartment at 1:30am. My desk was cluttered with tools, plastic shavings, and a half-completed CAMERADACTYL Brancopan 3D-printed camera. Of course I was drilling: the Brancopan has 27 fasteners with 1,094 thread revolutions, and there was no way that I was […]
The Leica M3: 5 reasons why it’s the greatest camera ever
The Leica M3 doesn’t do anything that another camera can’t. In fact, by today’s standards, it is severely lacking in features that are normally considered standard. No light meter. No hot shoe. No autofocus. No automatic exposure. Limited frame line selection (50/90/135). 1/50 max flash sync speed… On paper then, one might ask why anyone […]
Expired Film from 1987! Kodacolor VR 400 and the Contaflex Super (New)
Discovered in the depths of the cellar this film from 1987. My oh my expired, brittle and a pain in the major to develop and scan. Nonetheless, its finally done! Video and Images of my adventure across an alpine pass and up to the Ramsau am Dachstein plateau from some images taken with the Contaflex […]
Zenza Bronica ETRS: Not exactly the poor man’s Hasselblad
The Bronica has been described as the poor man’s Hasselblad. That is just wrong, as I hope to demonstrate through this article. When I began my journey back to film photography, I looked at Rolleiflex cameras first, but finally settled on the Hasselblad 500C/M — of which I have two now. I recently decided to […]
Rolleinar: it’s German for Sorcery
Lots of chatter about Rolleinars lately, I’ve only had mine since October ’15. A Rolleinar is a set of close-up lenses that fit on the front of your Rolleiflex. This shortens the working distance to your subject at the cost of minimal distortion and arguable loss of quality. The magnifier goes down below on the taking […]
Yashica-B review: the lovable “rare” TLR camera
I’ve been fascinated with Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) cameras ever since I can remember, and even before I knew what a TLR was — I just knew them as these beautiful, quirky little photograph-taking boxes that appeared in the hands of famous and not-so-famous people dressed in 1950s and 60s attire. They had appeal, they […]
An in-depth guide to: The Leica M6 TTL
Made for only four years between 1998 and 2002, the Leica M6 TTL was the successor the 1984-98 Leica M6 and brought with it a couple of new party tricks: an ergonomically designed shutter speed dial and TTL flash metering. That huge shutter dial might not seem like a big deal today, in fact, you […]
NOT Being Vivian Maier: NOT really a Rolleiflex 2.8F camera review
It has nearly been 12 months since I got my hands on my Rolleiflex 2.8F, and whilst I’m not usually a reviewer of equipment, I’d like to share my experience of using this iconic camera and the inspiration behind me finally owning one. Like many who were first made aware of the story of Vivian Maier, I was completely […]
72 frames per roll: The surprisingly sharp Canon SURE SHOT MULTI TELE
I’ve enjoyed shooting half frame 35mm film photography for quite some time now. Of course, being a broke college student, the thought of 72 photos in a roll is quite intriguing. However, it’s not all about the money; I feel that this “abundance” of shots also provides a new perspective when walking around and shooting. […]
Why I love Twin Lens Reflex cameras: A quick Mamiya C220 Professional review
As the title suggest this article is a love letter to TLR cameras, specifically the Mamiya C220. Before I get to that, I’d like to start with a little personal history. When I first got into film photography back in 2002, My parents bought me my first SLR, a CANON EOS 300. Boy was it […]