Category: Film camera reviews
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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…
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Camera review: the Certo Six and “lightweight” 6×6 film photography
The Certo Six is a camera I will own for a long time. If you’re looking for the short version of the article that follows, here it is: the Certo Six is light enough to carry up a mountain, and takes sharp, beautiful photos, with less faffing around than a large format, with more consistency…
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Camera review: The Rolleiflex MX
I’ve been trying to come to grips with how I ended up owning a 60-plus year old machine as a daily-and-only camera, after a truncated career with the latest and greatest at the time. I’m not sure if this will be a camera review or another personal journey into the philosophy of my own craft, but we’ll…
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An in-depth guide to: The Leica M6 (aka M6 Classic / M6 Non-TTL)
The Leica M6 — also commonly known as the Leica M6 Classic or Leica M6 Non-TTL — is a 35mm film rangefinder camera designed and manufactured by Leica in Germany between 1984 and 1998. The camera was the successor to the Leica M4-P, which was produced concurrently for the first two years of the M6’s…
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Release the Kraken: accessible 6×12 wide format film photography for all
I am Graham Young and I am one of the hosts (along with Ethan Moses and Nick Lyle) of the Homemade Camera Podcast. We yammer on every fortnight about making cameras and taking pictures with those cameras. I’ve been messing around with building my own lensed cameras for the past three or four years but…
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Still life in lockdown: Yashica MAT-124 and Fomapan 200 Creative
Greetings and salutations from Quentin Quarantino at Club Lockdown! I’ve always appreciated still life but never really practised it at a photography level. If you need encouragement may I recommend having a look at the work of Josef Sudek. What this master can do with just an egg and a glass, is outstanding! Even though…
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Camera review: The Olympus XA, Downhill longboarding, Madeira Park and Agfa Vista Plus 200
“Of course they are..” I remember thinking to myself as I read the headline that Agfa Vista films were being discontinued. Why? Because it had just cemented its position as my go-to roll for weekend getaways. An almost perfect companion to the tiny must-pack-with-me Olympus XA that’s always in my pocket for casual trips. Best…
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A look at two uniquely different medium format Fujifilm cameras: The Fuji GA645Zi Professional and Fuji GW690III Professional
From the fully automatic point and shoot Fujifilm GA645Zi to the totally manual Fujifilm GW690III, Fujifilm’s medium format cameras encompass a wide range of types and functions and formats. I purchased both of these cameras based on recommendations from very different sources and as different as they are, I enjoy them both. I first learned…
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Learning to love a rangefinder camera: Five years with the Leica M6 TTL 0.85
In late 2015 I was hit by a taxi making an illegal turn and received three fractured vertebrae for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. When the mist cleared a second or two after I hit the tarmac, I found myself with my right arm aloft, still holding a new to me…
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The Olympus AF-1 (Infinity): A solid combination of affordability and quality
I first got back into film photography when I dug through some old boxes at home and came across my mom’s point and shoot camera. For those new to photography, a point and shoot camera is simply that: a camera that was designed to “point and shoot” without having to worry about technical settings. It…
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Pocket wonder: The Olympus XA with ILFORD PAN 100
My first of roll of film for the new year 2020: a fresh roll of ILFORD PAN 100 all used up in one day with a camera I’ve never used before. This was January’s commitment to the new year’s resolution I’ve signed up for. That resolution is to shoot one roll of film per month.…
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So you want to shoot Fujifilm Instax? These are your options today
Fujifilm Instax covers a huge range of instant film and cameras created and sold since 1998. Over the past 2+ decades, while the number of other instant film options have dwindled to just enough to count with your fingers and toes, Instax has gone from strength to strength. In this article, I cover the history…
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Canon Demi EE17: The everyday diptych machine
There are many cameras out there that take standard 35mm film and expose alternative formats for creative effect. The Noblex’s literally sweeping panoramas, the Nishika N8000’s 3D gifs, and the Lomography Pop’s 9 frame pop-art “explosions” all have their appeal, but they all share the same problem: their form factor and results are too niche…
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Shooting the Leica M1: From 1960s British holiday camps to the streets of 21st century England
I am a great fan of the Leica M1, having first used this camera in the late 1960s as a camp photographer at Butlin’s in the UK. I can safely say that for me, it has everything necessary for quick shooting and nothing that you don’t need. So before I get stuck in, let me…
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Push me, pull you: The Contax RTS III and Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 35-70mm f/3.4
Following my CONTAX S2 review last year, I got thinking why I liked using my S2 so much more than my RTS II. After all, the RTS II had some great features with its centre weighted meter and aperture priority mode, it was a more relaxed camera than the all-manual S2. And yet, I did…
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Compact, lightweight medium format panoramic photography with the Horseman SW612
I first came across the Horseman SW612 when I saw a stills photographer on a film shoot I was on using one. I was impressed by the compactness of the camera compared to my Fujica G617. The SW612 is about the same size as modern pro DSLR, and as such is a much more portable…
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CatLABS X-Film 80 with the ONDU 612 MULTIFORMAT pinhole camera or… how to screw up a roll and learn to love the mistakes
An article about learning to love photographic mistakes may not be completely interesting to all of you reading this. Stay with me for a minute. My promise to you is that at the very least, I will end with my feelings on Catlabs X-film 80 as they specifically relate to my experience with the ONDU…
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The best (and worst) film cameras of the 1990s
My take on the 10 “best” film cameras released during the 1990s. It’s not a countdown in the traditional sense and “best”…well…
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Building the Goodman One: A homemade, 3D printed plastic fantastic (review)
Do you remember being a kid and building stuff out of whatever you had lying around? It was difficult at times finding the right materials or the perfect tools. The good part about being a grown-up is that you get to play with tools which are much — MUCH — more fun! Queue the 3D…