Tag: 35mm Format Camera
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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…
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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…
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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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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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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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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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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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A Day in the Life: London Street Photography with the Leica M6
This article is part diary, part camera review, part lens review, and part film review, all based around my average day-to-day exploits as a film-based street photographer and photojournalist in London.
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Camera review: 14 years with the “invisible” Nikon FM3a
In January 2006, after 5 or so years of film photography with a combination of cheaper cameras (e.g., a Minolta SRT-101, a Fed-3 and an old Mamiya 35mm), I bought a like-new Nikon FM3A for $429 USD on eBay. Since then it has shot hundreds (if not thousands) of rolls of film, and has accompanied…
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The Ricoh GR10: “piggy in the middle” GR sibling (plus GR1s comparison)
A year ago I was looking for the “ultimate film compact camera”, the Ricoh GR1 series, but I was somewhat afraid of what I’ve read on many websites: they’re fragile, they can’t be repaired (or at least, not easily and cheap), and I was scared of wasting more than 600€ that I could invest in…
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Choosing a 35mm film SLR? A quick look at six (vintage?) film camera manufacturers…
Since the publication of my original book, “Nikon Film Cameras, Which one is right for you?“, I’ve acquired a number of additional cameras and lenses which I describe and evaluate from personal experience in the newly released second edition, which recently went live on Amazon. In addition to the extra hardware, I tracked the prices…
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Camera review: the Contax S2, “Simple is Best”
Two years ago at a tram stop in Antwerp, I misstepped on the pavement’s edge and fell over. It was a bit embarrassing and it wasn’t helped by my own wife and daughter doubled up with laughter at my expense. “Why didn’t you put your hands out to break your fall?”, they asked. To them,…
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Ricoh GR1s vs Ricoh R1s: Is “premium” really worth the money?
Here’s a question you’ve probably asked yourself before: “Is it really worth paying for a premium compact 35mm camera when a lesser-known, lower spec’d camera can produce a comparable result?” To answer it, I decided to see if my “premium” Ricoh GR1s and not-so-premium Ricoh R1s were really as different as the marketing and internet…
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Compact camera mega test finale: 12+ high, mid and low-end 35mm point and shoot cameras head-to-head
One day, some time ago, I hatched a plan to do the biggest comparative test of compact film cameras that had (possibly) ever been done in the history of the human race. Surely it must have been done before? Well, not quite. Not as broad as the one you’re reading this very minute. This test…
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Compact camera mega test: Yashica Zoomate 115, the poor man’s MJU Zoom
Welcome to the twelfth and final quick camera review for my upcoming 12-camera 35mm camera mega test. In this series, I’ll be comparing image quality, durability, speed and overall performance for cameras ranging from the very high end of the 35mm compact camera world to the very low – or close to it. I’ll be…
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Compact camera mega test: Samsung Vega 700, does Schneider-Kreuznach equal “better”?
Welcome to the eleventh in my series of quick compact 35mm camera reviews. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be publishing a total of 12 of these articles as part of a 35mm compact camera mega test spanning cameras made from 1990 to 2003 – arguably the golden age of these pocketable beasts. You can find…