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The official feed at 35mmc.com/feed only carries excerpts. This route reads the WordPress REST API and returns full posts with all images, featured image, author and categories, optionally filtered by category. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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<title>Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR608 110 Camera</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/SAM_1404-scaled.jpg" alt="Picture of the Keystone EverFlash XR 608 Zoom 110 Camera" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>Picture of the Keystone EverFlash XR 608 Zoom 110 Camera</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>The Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR608 110 camera was made during the 1980s. It is one of hundreds (if not thousands) of ‘chocolate bar’ 110 cameras marketed during the heyday of the 110 format. The camera style is reminiscent of the Fujica series of 110 cameras, such as the Pocket 330 Zoom. I don’t think the Keystone camera was of the same quality as the Fujica, but the features of the EverFlash are very similar to Fujica’s product. The camera was made in Japan although Keystone was a US company. Keystone was a major player in the American camera market, and was active from 1919 to the early 1990s when the company ended in bankruptcy.</p>
<h2>Key Features</h2>
<p>The XR608 EverFlash is, in essence, a point-and-press camera with the added feature of a simple push-pull zoom. The zoom range is 25-42mm in 110 terms, equivalent to 50-84mm in 35mm format. Helpfully the field of view in the finder is adjusted dynamically as the zoom is moved in and out. The aperture is a slow f/5.6 and the focus is fixed at any of the focal lengths. An exposure setting can be chosen using a slider based on full sun, hazy or overcast conditions. The camera is quite well built with a smooth black plastic exterior. The film is wound using a ridged wheel underneath the camera rather than a lever.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117801" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117801" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117801" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/SAM_1395-1024x683.jpg" alt="Detail of the top plate of the Keystone Zoom EverFlash 608 110 Camera" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117801" class="wp-caption-text">The top plate of the Keystone Zoom EverFlash 608 110 Camera</figcaption></figure>
<p>The built-in flash pops out from the left-hand side of the camera. It is powered by two AAA batteries which fit into a neat slide-out holder. The built-in flash avoided the need for external bulbs or flash guns. Unfortunately I was unable to test the flash because I couldn’t get it to work. The battery contacts were somewhat corroded, an affliction of many older cameras that have been stored in drawers with the batteries installed. This is the EverFlash that never flashed!</p>
<p>In the spirit of 110 photography the camera is very simple to use. Cartridge loading removed the need to fiddle around with film leaders and spools. There is no need to rewind the film at the end of the roll. The zoom and exposure settings, although basic, would have added another dimension to the user’s experience. This might have been designed to appeal to photographers who wanted to move beyond fixed focal length cameras.</p>
<h2>Image Quality</h2>
<p>The image quality is ‘impressionistic’ at best. This is, in itself, quite attractive but any photographer wanting sharp, clear pictures would have been disappointed. The images here are made with Lomography Orca, rated at ISO 100. From memory, the day was quite overcast. The camera might have done better with a faster ISO 400 film. I also tried the camera with some rolls of expired film. The results were fairly similar whichever film was used.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117803" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117803" style="width: 745px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117803" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Old-Boat-745x1024.jpg" alt="A picture of an old boat on the Exeter Canal taken with the Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR 608 110 camera" width="745" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117803" class="wp-caption-text">Old boat on the Exeter Canal</figcaption></figure>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<figure id="attachment_117805" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117805" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117805" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Fishing-Ponds-3-1024x746.jpg" alt="This is a picture of the fishing ponds beside Exeter Canal taken with the Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR 608 110 camera" width="1024" height="746" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117805" class="wp-caption-text">Fishing Ponds by the Exeter Canal</figcaption></figure>
<h2></h2>
<figure id="attachment_117806" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117806" style="width: 745px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117806" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Old-Boat-2-745x1024.jpg" alt="This is a picture of an old boat moored on the Exeter Canal taken with the Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR 608 110 camera" width="745" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117806" class="wp-caption-text">Old Boat on the Exeter Canal</figcaption></figure>
<h2></h2>
<figure id="attachment_117807" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117807" style="width: 745px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117807" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/000026-745x1024.jpg" alt="This is a picture of the promenade and seafront at Teignmouth taken with the Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR 608 110 camera" width="745" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117807" class="wp-caption-text">The Promenade and Seafront at Teignmouth</figcaption></figure>
<h2></h2>
<figure id="attachment_117808" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117808" style="width: 745px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117808" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/000008-745x1024.jpg" alt="This photo is a blurred image of railings on the cycle and footpath beside the River Exe taken by accident with the Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR 608 110 camera" width="745" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117808" class="wp-caption-text">Railings by Accident – Beside the River Exe</figcaption></figure>
<h2></h2>
<p>Of course the most interesting image was taken by accident. The Keystone has a very sensitive and almost silent shutter which, despite the option to lock it, occasionally responds to a gentle, serendipitous press.</p>
<h2>Conclusions</h2>
<p>The camera an be picked up cheaply on auction sites. Readers will have to judge whether it is worth their time and money. Nevertheless, it is an interesting camera and, on reflection, the images it makes are better than one might expect. The XR608 tried to extend the 110 experience beyond point-and-press, by offering the zoom feature and simple exposure adjustment. However, it was not the only camera to do this, and the Fujica series probably offered a higher quality experience.</p>
<h2>Links</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.analogcams.com/brands/keystone">https://www.analogcams.com/brands/keystone</a></p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Camera_Company">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Camera_Company</a></p>
<p>Developing and processing by Photo Hippo Lab:&nbsp;<a href="https://photohippo.co.uk/">https://photohippo.co.uk/</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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<link>https://www.35mmc.com/23/08/2026/keystone-zoom-everflash-xr-608-110-camera/</link>
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<pubDate>Sun, 23 Aug 2026 09:00:35 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Ed</author>
<category>Point & Shoot</category>
<category>110 Camera</category>
<category>Keystone point & shoot</category>
<category>Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR 608</category>
<category>Point & Shoot camera</category>
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<title>Plus X and a Mamiya 7II in Venice</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0213-scaled.jpg" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>The classic shot of Gondolas waiting for tourists</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>A post today from Edmakesfilms inspired me to dig into my old files. These shots from a hurried trip in the early 2000’s were shot on Kodak Plus X and my long gone lamented Mamiya 7 II system.</p>
<p>I was shooting for my job at a large regional magazine based in the American South. We were doing a story on the Atlanta Ski Club, the country’s largest. The writer Mark and I flew with the club to Italy and on to Cortina d’Ampezzo . After a few very cold days photographing their activities we took a break and headed northeast to Trieste where Mark was born. Mark wanted to see the house his family lived in back then. &nbsp;At that time Mark’s father was the commander at <span class="expandableItem">a UN military base. The post-war Treaty of Peace with Italy created the Free Territory of Trieste, a new independent and sovereign State under a provisional Government and under the direct responsibility of the United Nations Security Council. </span><span class="expandableItem">According to the protocol, when the Italian peace treaty came into force, the United Kingdom, the United States and Yugoslavia were each authorized to station 5,000 troops in the Free Territory of Trieste. All that kind of explains how Mark came to be born there.&nbsp;</span></p>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117825" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0299-1024x852.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="852" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<figure id="attachment_117827" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117827" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117827" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0304-Edit-1024x657.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="657" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117827" class="wp-caption-text">Entrance to the Jewish Ghetto in which Jews were forced to live by the government of the Venetian Republic. The English word ghetto is derived from the Jewish ghetto in Venice.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117828" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117828" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117828" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0309-1024x798.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="798" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117828" class="wp-caption-text">Venice’s Ubiquitous drying laundry</figcaption></figure>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117819" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0238-1024x627.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="627" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117833" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0290-Edit-Edit-Edit-780x1024.jpg" alt="" width="780" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p><span class="expandableItem">Our drive took us by Venice so we stopped overnight to see the city. But by the time we got there it was already late afternoon. Mark crashed in our hotel room but I was entirely too jazzed up to sit still. I grabbed the Mamiya and ran out of the hotel and into the cold hard light of a 30 degree day with some 3 hours of daylight left. I ran around the city with no plan, no idea, no clue where I was half the time. I shot till dusk. At that point, and without a tripod, it was just too dark with the Plus X I had in hand.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>I went back to the hotel room, waking Mark when I came in. He looked up at me with a odd expression and asked what happened to me. I probably looked like I was drunk. I’d just experienced a whirlwind of a visual fantasy. Mark said it looked like I had just had a ‘photogasm’. I believe he was right.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117816" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117816" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117816" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0215-Edit-1024x708.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="708" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117816" class="wp-caption-text">Fresh pasta in a fogged window</figcaption></figure>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117824" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0296-2-1024x832.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="832" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117826" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0301-1024x877.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="877" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117817" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0230-1024x768.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="768" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117820" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0241-865x1024.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<figure id="attachment_117821" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117821" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117821" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0246-1024x841.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="841" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117821" class="wp-caption-text">Fresh vegetables for sale on a cart.</figcaption></figure>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117822" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0247-1024x827.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="827" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117823" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0254-Edit-1024x839.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="839" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<figure id="attachment_117814" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117814" style="width: 836px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117814" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Venice_BW_6X70098-836x1024.jpg" alt="" width="836" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117814" class="wp-caption-text">fresh vegetables</figcaption></figure>
<p>We hit the road to Trieste early the next morning. We found our way to a local municipal office where an official volunteered to take us to the very house Mark’s family lived in. Unfortunately we didn’t speak the same language. I believe he spoke a Slovenian dialect. But we managed. He did find the house where an older Italian couple lived now. They didn’t speak Slovenian but Mark spoke a little Italian. The couple seemed thrilled when they realized why we were there. We were invited to sit at their kitchen table with the municipal official. The older mans wife shuffled out of the room only to return a little while later with a decorative tray. On the tray were small glasses and a dusty never-opened bottle of Johnny Walker Black. I imagine the bottle sitting in their cabinet for years and years waiting for a ‘special moment’. Apparently we were that moment. The wife set it before us and sat in a chair nearby but not at the table with us. We enjoyed the whisky and laughed, sharing stories in three languages.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117832" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117832" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117832" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0315-1024x811.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="811" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117832" class="wp-caption-text">Mark and the homeowner</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117831" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117831" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117831" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0261-1024x833.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="833" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117831" class="wp-caption-text">Cemetery along the road of the former military base in Trieste</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117830" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117830" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117830" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0256-1024x828.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="828" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117830" class="wp-caption-text">Mark with our new friends outside the home in Trieste where he was born.</figcaption></figure>
<p>What a wonderful trip and such great memories. I don’t know what to say about the Mamiya 7. Incredible camera for travel. Small but with beautiful 6X7 negatives. Tiny but brilliant lenses. When I shot slide film with it the results looked like stained glass windows. &nbsp;The only sadness is that after moving to digital and leaving the magazine I wasn’t shooting the Mamiya any more. It sat in a case on a shelf for a few years before I sold off the two bodies and four lenses. Sold off for pennies. Now I couldn’t afford to buy it all back it’s become so expensive.</p>
<p>A long time friend and fellow photographer made beautiful darkroom prints from many of my negatives from the shoot. She’s a master printer and toned them beautifully. They are well framed and form a collection in the dining room of our home. I scanned the negatives for this with my Canon camera. I tried to tone them similar to what she did with chemicals. I did not achieve the rich today beauty and depth she did.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/22/08/2026/plus-x-and-a-mamiya-7ii-in-venice/</link>
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<pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2026 09:00:50 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Art Meripol</author>
<category>Photos & Projects</category>
<category>Kodak Film</category>
<category>Kodak Plus X</category>
<category>Mamiya 7</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>Olympus Pen F – Third Time Lucky? My Olympus Pen Saga</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Pen-FT-scaled.jpg" alt="Olympus Pen FT" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>Olympus Pen FT</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>When I returned to film, it began with sub-miniature. First a Minox B, then a Pentax Auto 110, before the collection grew to include other sub-miniature and full frame 35mm cameras. Along the way I acquired, at budget prices, an original Olympus Pen and a Yashica Mimy, both half frame cameras.</p>
<p>Film is not cheap and sometimes 36 shots is not enough. That, combined with my love of sub-miniature cameras meant that half frame as a format appealed to me. The images from the original Pen were not great to be honest, but the Mimy? That was a different story and produced some cracking images on Kentmere 200 (see <a href="https://www.35mmc.com/23/05/2026/5-frames-with-a-yashica-mimy/">my post on this site.</a>)</p>
<p>I became aware of the Olympus Pen F – dating from the 1960’s this camera is a design classic and is a unusual design of SLR with interchangeable lenses, a mirror that acts at 90 degrees to convention, and a circular titanium shutter. The F range of Pen’s came as the original F (known as the Gothic F), the Pen FT with a internal TTL light meter, and the Pen FV, without the light meter.</p>
<p>Deciding to buy one was fairly easy, but these are not cheap cameras, even today, so I hunted around considerably, with my heart set on a Gothic F version. I found one on eBay from a Japanese seller with excellent feedback. It was advertised as fully working, and included a video demonstrating this. I paid about £180, plus another £40 or so import duty. It came with the standard lens and, whilst waiting I ordered a 25mm wide angle lens from a UK Olympus specialist. The crop factor for half-frame is 1.4, so the 25mm would be the equivalent of a 38mm on a full-frame camera. On the camera’s arrival, it was a beautiful and immaculate object. I was busy that week and so just placed it on my camera table and every time I passed, I picked it up and fired off a few ‘shots’ without film, at varying speeds and apertures. About 80 frames in and the problems started – first a sticking wind-on lever, then a sticking mirror. It had a failure rate of about 10%. Tweaking the lever, or nudging the mirror restored normality, albeit only briefly. I was gutted. A video to the seller brought the immediate offer of a discount or a return and refund. I chose the latter and off it went. The refund process went smoothly too.</p>
<p>Disappointed I brought another from a film specialist who has a shop about 90 minutes away. I followed the same process – firing blanks, as it were. About 20 shots in, the titanium shutter curtain stuck 50% closed. I was gutted – again! The shop’s repairer declared it unfixable without spares that he did not have – so another refund was offered and accepted.</p>
<p>By this stage I was really gutted and decided to ask the Olympus specialist if I could return the 25mm lens I had brought, explaining the issues I had. He was prepared to accept the return, but also offered the opportunity to purchase an FT he had in stock, and at a discount. I was a little uncertain, but, he offered a three month warranty and, despite it not being the Gothic F version, I took the plunge. Would it be third time lucky?</p>
<p>On arrival the camera was in good condition and the light meter appeared pretty accurate in comparison to my phone app. Over 160 dry shots were made without issue, and so I proceeded, over the next two weeks to load 2 rolls of Ilford Delta 100. This was a new film to me, but has a reputation for very fine grain and good results. 147 frames later came the moment of truth – development! Using my standard method of Pyro 510, and digitising using my OM5 and 60mm macro lens on a copy stand, the real test arrived……</p>
<p>And the were results were very pleasing – thank goodness!</p>
<p>The first few frames were shot in a fairly shoddy South Devon seaside town that has seen better days. Here are two diptychs.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117521" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117521" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117521 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/P7220037-1024x704.jpg" alt="Paignton Amusement Arcade" width="1024" height="704" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117521" class="wp-caption-text">Paignton Amusement Arcade</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117522" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117522" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117522" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/P7220025-1024x653.jpg" alt="Paignton Pier" width="1024" height="653" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117522" class="wp-caption-text">Paignton Pier</figcaption></figure>
<p>Then followed a trip to a Classic Car Show at Powderham Castle, Devon, UK and three more diptychs.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117518" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117518" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117518" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/P7220075-1024x647.jpg" alt="Lagonda engine" width="1024" height="647" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117518" class="wp-caption-text">Lagonda engine</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117517" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117517" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117517" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/P7220056-1024x657.jpg" alt="Jaguar" width="1024" height="657" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117517" class="wp-caption-text">Jaguar</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117519" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117519" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117519" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/P7220053-1024x670.jpg" alt="Engine Bay (unknown vehicle)" width="1024" height="670" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117519" class="wp-caption-text">Engine Bay (unknown vehicle)</figcaption></figure>
<p>The a trip into Exeter City Centre….</p>
<figure id="attachment_117516" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117516" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117516" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/P7220081-1024x652.jpg" alt="Gorilla" width="1024" height="652" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117516" class="wp-caption-text">Gorilla</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117515" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117515" style="width: 787px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117515" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/P7220109-787x1024.jpg" alt="Restaurant interior" width="787" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117515" class="wp-caption-text">Restaurant interior</figcaption></figure>
<p>And because 144 (minimum) exposures is quite a lot, I finshed the last film off in the garden…..</p>
<figure id="attachment_117520" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117520" style="width: 758px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117520" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/P7220042-758x1024.jpg" alt="Common Teasel" width="758" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117520" class="wp-caption-text">Common Teasel</figcaption></figure>
<p>In summary, well it really was third time lucky! The camera is lovely to use and the image quality is, to my eye at least, of a good quality. The light meter seems fairly accurate in good daylight, but when using it one evening at a party it did not read accurately, underexposing considerably if you followed it’s recommendations. Actually this is now the most expensive film camera I own, by quite some margin, with the rest being all sub £100 or considerably less. I would be more than content to use this camera as an alternative to a full frame 35mm film camera and be more than happy with the results, especially with a film like Delta 100. But for me, this is not just about a nice camera that takes good images – for me this camera is a design icon, and the best part is that I enjoy using it.</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/21/08/2026/olympus-pen-f-third-time-lucky-my-olympus-pen-saga/</link>
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<pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2026 09:00:43 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Daimon Tilley</author>
<category>SLRs</category>
<category>Half Frame Camera</category>
<category>Olympus Pen F</category>
<category>Olympus SLR</category>
<category>SLR Camera</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 Eclipse Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Planar 50mm f2 lens…</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7503-its-still-bright.jpg" alt="5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>…on a Sony A7Riii. In addition I had a “K&amp;F Concept Nano-K variable ND 2-400″ filter which I used set to maximum for the eclipse images and one of the other frames. The location was the Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels.</p>
<p>Anyone who has seen a partial solar eclipse before knows there is not a lot to see, at least not very well unless you have the right equipment. The eclipse is primarily an opportunity to have a party and/or sacrifice a few virgins to the gods. So that’s what we did – party that is – and play with some of our toys. I met with the “Photoresk” MeetUp group some of whom had brought extensive equipment but several had just come to look.</p>
<p>Having arrived only two days before after a gruelling 27 hour journey door-to-door, and having completely forgotten about the expected solar eclipse, my choice of equipment was limited and not entirely appropriate. I had the camera body and a choice of a 50mm or a 20mm lens. The image size of the sun or moon on a 35mm frame with a 50mm lens is under ½ mm and under 0.2mm with the 20mm lens. In neither case was there going to be an impressive solar image. Knowing the location I knew the 20mm lens would not be necessary so took the 50. The filter – which I had brought along for another task I planned with the 20mm lens – was too large for the 50mm lens but would be useful for visual observation and could be easily hand-held in front of the lens for photographing the sun (although image expectations were not high).</p>
<p>I arrived at 7:15 pm (about an hour before maximum) – the location was already covered with sun worshippers all being remarkably well behaved, quiet and sober.</p>
<figure id="attachment_119222" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119222" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-119222" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7474-arriving-1024x683.jpg" alt="5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-119222" class="wp-caption-text">Arriving – already crowded</figcaption></figure>
<p>The featured image was taken as I left – a few minutes after maximum and the light still noticeably sunset light rather than the bright light of half an hour before. Maximum eclipse reduced the sun’s light (on earth) by 90% – which sounds a lot but the dimmed sun is still far too bright, and potentially dangerous to your eyes, to look at directly.</p>
<p>It took me about 20 minutes to find the group I was signed up to meet – having never met any before it was just a matter of looking for the group with big cameras round their necks. Typical of Brussels the members turned out to include Portuguese, Italian, and Arabic so as always English seems to be the language everyone has to turn to – plus the poor English have no other options available. We chatted for a while about equipment, the type of photography we do and in between we were taking a few photos. I left soon after maximum and on the way back took a shot still holding the ND filter in front of the lens:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<figure id="attachment_119225" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119225" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-119225" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7501-returning-1024x683.jpg" alt="5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-119225" class="wp-caption-text">1/15 second</figcaption></figure>
<p>The eclipse images you will have seen many times before but here goes</p>
<figure id="attachment_119223" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119223" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-119223" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7484-early-stage-1024x683.jpg" alt="5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-119223" class="wp-caption-text">Eclipse about 20 minutes after the start</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_119240" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119240" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-119240" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7495-maximum-eclipse-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="5 eclipse frames with a Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-119240" class="wp-caption-text">at maximum</figcaption></figure>
<p>The last two images were ……. cropped (extensively)</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/20/08/2026/5-eclipse-frames-with-a-zeiss-loxia-sonnar-50mm-f2-lens/</link>
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<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2026 15:00:15 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Geoff Chaplin</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Event Photography</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>Being Un-Leica</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Lens-CU-scaled.jpg" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>Leica IIIf</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>Am I un-Leica? No… Well in the case of a IIIf, yes I am.</p>
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-117771 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Leica-IIIf-face-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>I’ve been giving some thought as to why I’m not a Leica user. It’s not because I don’t like them. What’s not to like? I did attempt a conversion a year ago when Thad, a fellow photography instructor, offered me his IIIf with several accessories for $300. It was a gift price, especially because it had been recently CLA’d and was cosmetically perfect. In my 74 years I’d never shot with a Leica, so I looked forward to this opportunity. It felt great to hold and I loved the collapsible lens. I shot some tests.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117769" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117769" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117769" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Yuki-Leica-2-copy.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="814" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117769" class="wp-caption-text">Yuki is always happy to pose. Shot with the 50mm Summicron at F/8 on HP5+</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117770" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117770" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117770" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/guy-with-granddaughter.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="740" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117770" class="wp-caption-text">Shot with a 50mm Summilux. The subject had to wait a couple minutes for me to focus and compose.</figcaption></figure>
<p>It was difficult to load, hard to focus, film advance was a chore, and the results were meh. I could not operate the camera fast enough to match my workflow. Something was wrong. I shot another roll and photographed some subjects I usually shoot with any newly acquired camera. I compared the IIIf results to shots with a Zeiss Contessa, Fed 3, Canonet G-III, Konica-III, Kodak Retina IIa, and Nikon S-2. As before, the Leica was a disappointment. Harder to use in every way and not sharp, even when stopped down. I redid the shots using a LTM Industar Russian lens. Those results were much the same as the Leica Summicron. I borrowed a Summilux lens from a friend and ran a roll of film. Better sharpness, but only a bit. How could millions of Leica users be wrong? Maybe the rangefinder needed adjustment? I checked it with a measuring tape and to the best of my efforts, it was accurate. Am I cursed?</p>
<p>Thad had the same experience with it and didn’t want it back. He asked me to sell it on eBay. It sold for $950 in less than an hour! It had several accessories, so the price was right. The buyer has since posted feedback that was gushingly positive. At least someone is happy with it. For me, that Leica model wasn’t right.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117772" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117772" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117772 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Konica-III-1024x712.png" alt="" width="1024" height="712" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117772" class="wp-caption-text">Konica III</figcaption></figure>
<p>In my opinion, if a person is going to shoot primarily with a 50mm, there are fixed lens rangefinders that will perform better than the Barnack era Leica I tested. From 1954, the Konica III is a great camera. The film advance is located on a ring around the lens and is operated with the left thumb. Wow, that is convenient and fast! The F/2 48mm Hexanon lens is tack sharp. My model is in great shape, and the rangefinder is accurate at the closest distance of 3 feet. It cost me $154 USD in Feb of 2026, including shipping from Japan. It is the fastest rangefinder for focusing and film advance that I own. It feels great. Bright 1:1 viewing. I believe the Konica III is the best bang for the buck in its category.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117774" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117774" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117774 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Open-shade-vs-hard-sun-1024x689.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="689" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117774" class="wp-caption-text">My colleague Thad, posing for a photo lesson. Taken with the Konica III and scanned.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117773" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117773" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117773 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Off-the-grid-1024x646.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="646" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117773" class="wp-caption-text">A cabin of one of many folks living off the grid in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Taken with Konica III.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Another rangefinder from the same era is my beloved Nikon S2. The film advance is a thumb driven one-stroke lever in the conventional location. I find the focus to be quick and bright. It’s not as silent as the Leica IIIf, but the ease of focus and film advance makes up for that. The three lenses I have are all sharp, but the 35mm is a real standout. I paid $750 in June 2025 for the camera, 35mm, 50mm, 135mm, viewer, manual, and vintage Nikon leather case. A Nikon S2 with a 50mm is normally about $550.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117775" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117775" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117775 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Nikon-S-2-1024x710.png" alt="" width="1024" height="710" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117775" class="wp-caption-text">Nikon S-2 Circa 1955</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117776" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117776" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117776" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Cadillac-guy.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="740" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117776" class="wp-caption-text">Nikon S-2. Image scanned from a sepia toned print. No enhancements.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117777" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117777" style="width: 734px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117777 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Couple-seated-NOLA-734x1024.jpg" alt="" width="734" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117777" class="wp-caption-text">Taken with the 35mm lens on Nikon S-2. Scan of a print.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117778" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117778" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117778" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Dapper-man-sm.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1331" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117778" class="wp-caption-text">Taken with Nikon S-2. Scan of a print.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117779" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117779" style="width: 796px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117779 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Guy-with-cig-NOLA-sm-796x1024.jpg" alt="" width="796" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117779" class="wp-caption-text">Taken with Nikon S-2 and 50mm. Scan of a negative.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117780" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117780" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117780 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Yuki-CU-1024x738.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="738" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117780" class="wp-caption-text">Yuki. Taken with Nikon S-2 with 135mm lens at f/4. Scan of a print.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Another camera that’s worth mentioning is the Kodak Retina IIa. It folds into a small form and fits into the back pocket of a pair of jeans. I inherited mine in 1969 and used it on endless backpacking trips. The Schneider 50mm lens is sharp and easy to focus. Sadly, I dropped my Retina IIa through the ice into the Stanislaus River. I bought another but haven’t done much with it yet. These photos were taken about 40 years ago!</p>
<figure id="attachment_117782" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117782" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117782 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Maltby-Mt-Bonner-1024x1018.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1018" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117782" class="wp-caption-text">Taken with Retina IIa in 1973. Scanned and sharpened.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117783" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117783" style="width: 691px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117783 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Matt-Bodie-Gem-fish-alt-691x1024.jpg" alt="" width="691" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117783" class="wp-caption-text">My nephew Matthew. Now he’s 43! Ektachrome with Retina IIa.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117784" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117784" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117784 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Matt-Danny-jeff-Camp-1024x691.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="691" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117784" class="wp-caption-text">Nephews Matthew and Danny on a one-week backpacking trip in 1973. Kodachrome with Retina IIa. Scanned with a Nikon Coolpix.</figcaption></figure>
<p>The Zeiss Contessa is very compact folding 35mm rangefinder with a stellar lens. Sharper than the Retina it replaced. My models (I have three) all miss focus at the 1 meter mark. I’ve learned to be a half step back to compensate. All other distances are accurate. If you’re an active person and want a fine camera with a small form factor, you can’t beat the Contessa. All of my fully functional models cost less than $150. each. Why do I own three? Because I loan them out to students. Risky, I know, but no fatalities so far.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117785" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117785" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117785 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Contessa-1024x797.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="797" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117785" class="wp-caption-text">Zeiss Contessa</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117786" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117786" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117786 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Framed-protester-2-sm-BW-1024x684.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="684" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117786" class="wp-caption-text">Zeiss Contessa. Scanned from a print.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117787" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117787" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117787 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Model-A-Contessa-1024x667.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="667" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117787" class="wp-caption-text">Zeiss Contessa. Scanned from a print.</figcaption></figure>
<p>One may also consider a Russian Fed-3. It is a pleasure to use. The adjustable eye piece lens is a nice feature if you must wear glasses while shooting. I have N26 and N61 lenses. Both are F/2.8 50mm. I think these are Industar lenses. The N61 is soft, but the N26 is quite good at f/8 and f/11. From what I’ve read, the optics are not consistent. I wish I knew which ones were made on Mondays, because vodka hangovers may be a factor. I paid $60 for this camera from a dealer in Ukraine. I loan this camera out to students because it’s robust.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117789" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117789" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117789 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Fed-3-1024x800.png" alt="" width="1024" height="800" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117789" class="wp-caption-text">Fed-3 camera</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117790" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117790" style="width: 755px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117790 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Matt-on-stairs-sepia-755x1024.jpg" alt="" width="755" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117790" class="wp-caption-text">Current photo of nephew Matthew. Fed-3 with 50mm. HP5 pushed to 800. Scan of a print.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117791" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117791" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117791 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Stagecoach-Fed-3-sepia-1024x603.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="603" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117791" class="wp-caption-text">Fed 3 w/50mm. Ilford FP 4 processed in Pyro developer. Scan of a sepia print.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Lastly, I’ll mention the Canonet GIII QL. This camera is from the 1960s, so it’s newer than the others on my hit parade. I love everything about this camera. The bright rangefinder is easy to focus and it’s accurate from 2 1/2 feet to infinity. The 40mm coated lens is a bit wider than the competition, which makes it very nice for street shooting. The lens is a 6-element in four groups Planar design. Very good contrast and color rendition. It has a battery powered meter that works! Another plus for street shooters is the Canon ‘Quick Load’ feature. No threading the film into a spindle. Just lay the film leader in place and close the back. You never have a problem, and you get two extra shots. I paid $60 for two of these on eBay in May 2025. They both required new light seals, which I bought online for $12 each. Easy fix.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117792" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117792" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117792 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Canonet-1024x649.png" alt="" width="1024" height="649" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117792" class="wp-caption-text">Mid 1960s Canonet</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117793" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117793" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117793 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Sax-player-alt-1024x819.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="819" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117793" class="wp-caption-text">Canonet at closest focus. Scan of a print.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117794" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117794" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117794 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Yuki-at-attention-Lauren-1024x819.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="819" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117794" class="wp-caption-text">Canonet with HP5. This image has been scanned and processed. Not printed.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117795" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117795" style="width: 819px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117795 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Yuki-window-final-8x10-Canonet-819x1024.jpg" alt="" width="819" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117795" class="wp-caption-text">Canonet with HP5. Scanned and processed. This is shot from a print.</figcaption></figure>
<p>I am not anti-Leica. I enjoy reading about and viewing Leica photos as much as any others. I will certainly try a newer Leica if I have a chance. I just wanted to share with you the possibility of owning a collection of good cameras for the price of one Leica IIIf.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/20/08/2026/being-un-leica/</link>
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<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2026 09:00:25 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Jeffery Luhn</author>
<category>Gear Theory</category>
<category>Camera Theory</category>
<category>Canon QL17 Giii</category>
<category>Fed-3</category>
<category>Konica IIIM</category>
<category>Leica iiif</category>
<category>Nikon S2</category>
<category>Zeiss Ikon Contessa</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>Open-Shut – A One-Shot Story And A Meditation on High-speed Film</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Open-Shut-P3200-scaled.jpg" alt="mother and son lying in bed together" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></figure><blockquote><p><em>“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”<br>
— Benjamin Franklin</em></p></blockquote>
<p>High-speed film has been keeping me up at night. It whispers my name, taunts me, dares me to be dirty. But we just don’t get along.</p>
<p>There’s always one roll of T-Max P3200 in my fridge, buried beneath a pile of FP4 or Kodak Gold, but I rarely reach for it. I like my women sharp, my whisky neat, and my film grain fine.</p>
<p>Now and then, I’ll let loose, grab a canister of Tri-X or HP5, even push it a stop or two. But the heavy stuff, the stuff with 3-2-0-0 on the box is a step too far. It’s more grain than this five-foot-six, hundred-and-forty-pound man can handle.</p>
<p>But we all get desperate. Say it’s a Sunday afternoon and I’m looking forward to a few hours of carefree photography. I open the fridge for a roll of Ortho 80 and what do I find? A lone box of Delta 3200 staring up at me. “Well, fuck it,” I say to myself. “I guess it’s better than nothing.”</p>
<p>In my experience, unfortunately, many high-speed films aren’t much better than having no film at all. Maybe that’s more a reflection of me as a photographer than the quality of the film.</p>
<p>But this isn’t a one-shot story of failure, of blurry mediocrity, of grain pain. No! It’s one of success, of overcoming a high ISO, of taming the wild SOB that is T-Max P3200.</p>
<p>Indeed, for every fifty or so shots of high-speed film, something clicks, and it’s more than the shutter of my Leica MP. For forty-nine frames I’ll be kicking myself for buying such a blunt knife of a film…Then suddenly the grainy gods will bestow me a real keeper, a shot that opens the aperture of my dark photographic soul.</p>
<p>At the top of this page is one such photo. Titled Open-Shut, it is a picture of my wife and son lying together after a long day. It was captured on T-Max P3200 using a 50mm Summilux f/1.4 aspherical lens. It’s grainy, it’s blurry, it has high ISO written all over it. But I love it.</p>
<p>And so, like an addict at a slot machine that spits out a winner every so often, I’ll keep returning to high-speed film. Thankfully, my wife doesn’t know what it costs to pull the leaver on the slot machine called T-Max P3200.</p>
<p>I hope you enjoyed this story. If you want to follow more of my adventures on film, please consider following me on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/... |
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<title>5 Eclipse Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Planar 50mm f2 lens…</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7503-its-still-bright.jpg" alt="5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>…on a Sony A7Riii. In addition I had a “K&amp;F Concept Nano-K variable ND 2-400″ filter which I used set to maximum for the eclipse images and one of the other frames. The location was the Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels.</p>
<p>Anyone who has seen a partial solar eclipse before knows there is not a lot to see, at least not very well unless you have the right equipment. The eclipse is primarily an opportunity to have a party and/or sacrifice a few virgins to the gods. So that’s what we did – party that is – and play with some of our toys. I met with the “Photoresk” MeetUp group some of whom had brought extensive equipment but several had just come to look.</p>
<p>Having arrived only two days before after a gruelling 27 hour journey door-to-door, and having completely forgotten about the expected solar eclipse, my choice of equipment was limited and not entirely appropriate. I had the camera body and a choice of a 50mm or a 20mm lens. The image size of the sun or moon on a 35mm frame with a 50mm lens is under ½ mm and under 0.2mm with the 20mm lens. In neither case was there going to be an impressive solar image. Knowing the location I knew the 20mm lens would not be necessary so took the 50. The filter – which I had brought along for another task I planned with the 20mm lens – was too large for the 50mm lens but would be useful for visual observation and could be easily hand-held in front of the lens for photographing the sun (although image expectations were not high).</p>
<p>I arrived at 7:15 pm (about an hour before maximum) – the location was already covered with sun worshippers all being remarkably well behaved, quiet and sober.</p>
<figure id="attachment_119222" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119222" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-119222" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7474-arriving-1024x683.jpg" alt="5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-119222" class="wp-caption-text">Arriving – already crowded</figcaption></figure>
<p>The featured image was taken as I left – a few minutes after maximum and the light still noticeably sunset light rather than the bright light of half an hour before. Maximum eclipse reduced the sun’s light (on earth) by 90% – which sounds a lot but the dimmed sun is still far too bright, and potentially dangerous to your eyes, to look at directly.</p>
<p>It took me about 20 minutes to find the group I was signed up to meet – having never met any before it was just a matter of looking for the group with big cameras round their necks. Typical of Brussels the members turned out to include Portuguese, Italian, and Arabic so as always English seems to be the language everyone has to turn to – plus the poor English have no other options available. We chatted for a while about equipment, the type of photography we do and in between we were taking a few photos. I left soon after maximum and on the way back took a shot still holding the ND filter in front of the lens:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<figure id="attachment_119225" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119225" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-119225" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7501-returning-1024x683.jpg" alt="5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-119225" class="wp-caption-text">1/15 second</figcaption></figure>
<p>The eclipse images you will have seen many times before but here goes</p>
<figure id="attachment_119223" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119223" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-119223" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7484-early-stage-1024x683.jpg" alt="5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-119223" class="wp-caption-text">Eclipse about 20 minutes after the start</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_119240" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119240" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-119240" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7495-maximum-eclipse-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="5 eclipse frames with a Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-119240" class="wp-caption-text">at maximum</figcaption></figure>
<p>The last two images were ……. cropped (extensively)</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/20/08/2026/5-eclipse-frames-with-a-zeiss-loxia-sonnar-50mm-f2-lens/</link>
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<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2026 15:00:15 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Geoff Chaplin</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Event Photography</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 Frames with a Voigtlander 40mm f/2 in Nikon F Mount</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260729_112820.jpg" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></figure><p>I’ve always been a bit of a black sheep when it comes to my personal preferences. Hence my likeness is for a 40mm lens rather than a 35 or a 50. It gives me just enough wide perspective to show the composition, and at the same time, it allows me to be able to get up close to someone and yet, not let it feel like a portrait.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, I love my M6 but I do wish I had a 40mm frame lines on it. Now I do have plenty of cameras but none of them really have a 40mm option, so when I saw the Voigtlander 40mm f/2 option for my Nikon F2, I knew this would be a favorite setup right after my Leica M6 combined with a 35mm lens.</p>
<p>To check the sharpness and the color of this lens I quickly loaded up a Provia 100F in the F2. In the picture below, we just finished summer and I was out on a beach one fine weekend quite excited to take some pictures. Here are the results from that outing.</p>
<figure id="attachment_108273" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-108273" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260026-scaled.jpg"><img class="wp-image-108273 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260026-1024x819.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="819" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-108273" class="wp-caption-text">The kid was trying to look over the fence and it just felt like a perfect picture. Wide enough but still up close and personal.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_108271" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-108271" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260021-scaled.jpg"><img class="wp-image-108271 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260021-1024x819.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="819" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-108271" class="wp-caption-text">This next picture made me chuckle, the person is soaking up the sun but the face is imposed from the magazine instead.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_108274" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-108274" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260027-scaled.jpg"><img class="wp-image-108274 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260027-1024x791.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="791" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-108274" class="wp-caption-text">The pastel colors of this picture were appealing and full of the summer vibe. How could I not take a film picture? Ha!</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_108272" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-108272" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260022-scaled.jpg"><img class="wp-image-108272 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260022-1024x791.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="791" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-108272" class="wp-caption-text">A somber picture? Maybe?</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_108270" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-108270" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260018-scaled.jpg"><img class="wp-image-108270 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260018-1024x679.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="679" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-108270" class="wp-caption-text">The standard giant wheel picture with all the red I wanted.</figcaption></figure>
<p>I was blown away with the results. The lens is tack sharp and it has that character where it represents all the colors as they are supposed to be. Not at any point did I feel that I had to fiddle with the lens, everything is where it’s supposed to be. To me the composition was easy because of that 40mm length. It just felt an extension of myself. I mostly took pictures with aperture ranging from F5.6 to F11 and the results speak for themselves. I’d be interested to hear from anyone else who has shot one of these lenses, or perhaps finds 40mm to work for them so well too!</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/16/08/2026/5-frames-with-a-voigtlander-40mm-f-2-in-nikon-f-mount/</link>
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<pubDate>Sun, 16 Aug 2026 09:00:17 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Mrigank Shekhar</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Fuji Provia 100F</category>
<category>Fujifilm film</category>
<category>Nikon F2</category>
<category>voigtlander 40mm 2.0</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 Frames with a Cameradrama</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/000407680005.jpg" alt="Paris, Ontario" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>Paris, Ontario</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>For a little roadtrip recently, I dusted off an old piece of kit I had lying around still. I thought I had gotten rid of it already, but it appeared stubbornly in a box in the study while I was rummaging around in there, unphazed and untouched, for what I’m sure has been some years now. It looked kind of sad, almost like it was calling out to me “Take me with, I am a good camera, there is still use for me!”. Well alright then. And so I took this cameradrama of a Yashica 230AF, loaded some expired Kodak UltraMax 400, and set out for Paris. Paris, Ontario, that is.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>And a drama it was, as this piece of 1980’s technology couldn’t make up it’s mind on whether it was on or off. Not according to the magnificent LCD screen on top at least, which by the looks of it had a refresh rate (read indicisiveness rate) of 65 million Herz. The shutter button required less pressure than my Olympus XA, and that one goes off just by looking at it. The auto-focus system was so slow I could have easily driven to actual Paris before it decided ‘yoohoo, I have locked onto something’ and some dusty circuitery inside begrudgingly told the mirror to lift up.&nbsp; Yet, once all was said and done, it chirped out some rather decent imagery. The lens is surprisingly sharp and the el cheapo film, in this situation, just worked. Aside from me opening up the camera too eagerly and flaring a few frames, it produced 30+ useable images.</p>
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-117695 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/000407680015-1024x679.jpg" alt="Wait, is that a submarine?" width="1024" height="679" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>Not a bad result for an expired camera with expired film.</p>
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-117696 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/000407680016-1024x679.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="679" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-117697 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/000407680019-1024x679.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="679" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-117698 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/000407680025-1024x679.jpg" alt="Palm trees, in Ontario." width="1024" height="679" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>These pictures were taken whilst driving around from Paris via a few other towns to Port Dover, Ontario. And yes, you saw that right, that was indeed a submarine parked in someone’s backyard.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading!</p>
<p>…these images are part of a larger article on <a href="https://blog.sneakerzoom.ca/2026/06/roadtrip/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sneakerzoom.ca</a>.</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/10/08/2026/5-frames-with-a-cameradrama/</link>
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<pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2026 15:00:17 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Sneakerzoom</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Kodak Film</category>
<category>Kodak UltraMax 400</category>
<category>Yashica 230AF</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 Frames with my Porsche… (designed Fujifilm FinePix 6800z)</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IMG_3498.jpeg" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>Screenshot</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>Being that this is the closest to the actual sports car that I’ll probably ever be, I decided to take the ole’ 6800z out for a spin and see what it could do. As I had just finished watching an episode of <em>Top Gear</em> (British version, thank you very much) and cars were top of mind, I chose to make five images of my 2009 Hyundai Sonata V6 fragmenting the car in a somewhat abstract way.</p>
<p>As the history of photography will reveal, there have been instances where a celebrated icon of 20th century design was “in” on how a camera came to be, aesthetically, functionally, and mechanically. The aficionados reading this article will undoubtedly have their virtual hands raised to help with the list but the ones that come to immediate mind are:</p>
<ul>
<li>The 1975 Contax RTS (Porsche Design)</li>
<li>The 1950(s) Ducati Sogno (Ducati)</li>
<li>The 1980 Nikon F3 (Giorgetto Giugiaro)</li>
<li>The 2012 Pentax K-01 (Marc Newson)</li>
<li>The 1997 Rollei QZ (Porsche Design)</li>
<li>The Anscomark M/Ricoh 999 (Raymond Loewy)</li>
<li>The Fujifilm Finepix 4800z/6800z (Porsche)</li>
</ul>
<p>As I said to name a few. There are countless other cameras designed by celebrated designers from other countries whose influence is well documented.</p>
<p>I am fortunate in that my 6800z is almost mint and functions perfectly. This is not the case with many of the Fujifilm CCD cameras of the era who were victims of early sensor death leaving the camera virtually useless (The notorious F700 comes to mind)</p>
<figure id="attachment_116842" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116842" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-116842 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IMG_0014-1024x413.jpeg" alt="" width="1024" height="413" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-116842" class="wp-caption-text">The three states of the 6800z; “Hello” “Goodbye” and ”Zzzzzzzzzzz!”</figcaption></figure>
<p>Despite its famous and talented designer, the Fujifilm Finepix 6800z does not share the same unabashed “drive-ability” of the Porsche, itself. The camera is somewhat unwieldy, difficult to grip effectively, and falls short considerably as a shooter. And while that does limit the camera’s usefulness compared to, let’s say, an X-Pro2, one cannot possibly deny that this is a very cool camera. Hitting the power button on the 6800z treats you to a lovely welcome message, and a mechanical lens cover snapping open allowing the 3x optical zoom to come to attention. Concluding your photo session means a final salutation (See You! – in a somewhat “Prisoner”-like fashion) and that same zoom lens returning to its lair. Honestly, one could simply watch the lens door open and close all day which I’m sure contributes to a considerable failure rate on the used camera market.</p>
<p>As mentioned above, the 6800z is not a particularly easy camera to shoot with so I relied heavily on the automated features to make my photographs. And as a result of a dim LCD monitor and a tunnel VF, my images are not S.O.O.C but were subject to mild cropping to reach my desired results.</p>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-116886" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/DSCF0013-1024x827.jpeg" alt="Taillight of an automobile" width="1024" height="827" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>The 2009 Hyundai Sonata Limited is an attractive car and the clean lines reflect a certain level of sophistication and drama. This first image depicts the rear tail-light of the car and the V6 plaque referencing the 3.3 litre engine under the hood. The “Old-Man Edition” plaque is a bit of humor nodding to the popular American tradition of the 70’s when companies targeted a specific demographic through subtle variations in a model line. (The irony here is that old men are really the only ones who get the joke) The 6800z did an adequate job of rendering some very nice colors with the strong green of the grass contrasting the blue metallic finish of the Hyundai. The slash of red from the taillight compliments the color pallet nicely.</p>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-116885" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/DSCF0014-1024x741.jpeg" alt="Automobile tire" width="1024" height="741" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>The 6800z’s 1/1.7” Super CCD captures the detail of this custom wheel. Sadly, one can detect a slight shift in focus towards the center of the frame. As wheels go, this is an okay photograph of one.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-116884" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/DSCF0015-1024x653.jpeg" alt="Front bumper of automobile" width="1024" height="653" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">The State of Ohio has a rear license plate requirement only, which, fortunately, opens up the infinite possibilities of what could be mounted on the front. I let my “nerd flag” fly and chose a reproduction plate from <i>American Grafitti</i> (1973, George Lucas) that hung on the back of Suzanne Somer’s 1956 white T-Bird. And as my fellow nerds will confirm, a truncated nod to Lucas’ first film THX-1138 starring Robert Duvall as the namesake.The full resolution of the 6800z’s (interpolated) 6 MP captured the burst of yellow while still rendering the specular highlights created by the car’s trim.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-116882" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/DSCF0018-1024x785.jpeg" alt="Sunroof of a car" width="1024" height="785" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">The Sonata has a great moonroof. The photograph depicts the strong dynamic of the roof’s relationship to the rest of the car. I like the reflection of the trees in the smoky, mirrored glass. The Fuji did manage to capture the Sonata’s finish even in the slightly “blown-out” highlights of the strong reflection. Overall, I appreciate the juxtaposition and the composition of this shot.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117292" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117292" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117292 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/DSCF0001-1024x769.jpeg" alt="Car engine" width="1024" height="769" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117292" class="wp-caption-text"><b>V6 Power!</b></figcaption></figure>
<p>I decided to try the Black &amp; White “Scene” that is one of the 6800z’s offerings. Ànd while it pales in comparison to the Monochrom’s dedicated B &amp; W sensor, it still manages to capture the tonal range of the various components of the Sonata’s engine bay. I really like the subtle difference between the oil dipstick (Screen Left) and the automatic transmission fluid dipstick (Screen right)</p>
<p>So there you have it or “Submitted for your approval” as one might say. Five frames per the imaginatively designed Fujifilm FinePix 6800z. A camera of smiles and quirks. As as I would never expect my 2009 “Old Man Edition” Hyundai Sonata 3.3L Limited to overtake a 911 Carrera off the line, I would never grab the 6800z and expect it to outperform a contemporary mirrorless camera. Owning one is a different story. It makes a wonderful addition to any vintage CCD sensor collection.</p>
<p>And then there’s that magical lens door… slamming open and closed… releasing that 3x zoom and then pulling it back in… over and over…</p>
<p>Michael Kaplan is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. An avid image maker for half a century, Kaplan has finally sworn off Film Photography completely in favor of digital technology. Stay tuned for an account of this fascinating journey!</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/09/08/2026/5-frames-with-my-porschedesigned-fujifilm-finepix-6800z/</link>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.35mmc.com/09/08/2026/5-frames-with-my-porschedesigned-fujifilm-finepix-6800z/</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 09 Aug 2026 09:00:08 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Michael Kaplan</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Fujifilm FinePix 6800z</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 Frames of Parched England with a Panasonic LX100</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/1110680-scaled.jpg" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></figure><p>I started writing a post about some of my compact digital cameras the other day and have gotten bogged down in my own meandering ramblings about what I do and don’t like about various cameras in the collection. I have too many of the things really, and am planning to have a bit of a clear out. The simple fact is, I think I’d be perfectly content if I just had the Panasonic LX100.</p>
<p>This was brought home to me for the umpteenth time the other day when I took it out with me on a dog walk. I’ve been shooting my Nikon Zf almost exclusively for months now, but decided I couldn’t be bothered with carrying it on this particular day. For the first time in ages, it actually wasn’t too hot outside – just low twenties – which was something of a relief from the heat but also allowed us to take Kippy out in the daytime. We decided a walk on the Old Hills near Callow End in Worcestershire where I live was on the cards – it’s usually pretty quiet there, and there’s plenty of space for Kip to run about and wear himself out.</p>
<p>Despite it being cooler, as I say, I had ditched the bigger Zf in favour of the little LX100. I’m very familiar with the landscape of the Old Hills – we have walked there a lot of times over the last couple of decades. So much so that taking a camera sometimes feels pointless. This is when the LX100 feels like the obvious choice. There are plenty of times when it feels like the perfect camera for taking photos, but it’s also my first choice for when I don’t really have photography in mind. Like, I suspect, a lot of people reading this, I am the of the sort that struggles to leave the house without a camera, so having one I trust that I can just chuck in my little shoulder bag or pocket is a great solution to that bit of anxiety without it being a burden to tote around with me. This was exactly one of those occasions. I didn’t really intend or expect to take many photos on this outing, but I wanted to have a camera just in case the opportunity arose. And in the end, I did find myself inspired to take a few shots.</p>
<p>As always, the LX100 did the job perfectly. I got a few shots I like, but I didn’t really have to think about the process or the camera at all. It’s one of those cameras that just works effortlessly and flawlessly for me. I know exactly where I am at with it at all times. I know where the controls and settings I need to change are, and find myself entirely undistracted by features and settings I don’t need. I know what the wide and long end of the zoom range looks like and have set it so the intermediate range of the zoom is stepped at familiar focal lengths. The screen and the viewfinder could be better, but neither get in the way in use. An articulated screen on the back would make it perfect – but you can’t have it all!</p>
<p>I’m pleased with the results too. There’s obviously a narrative around the parched landscape here – the grass is yellow as there’s been no rain, or at least a vanishingly small amount of the stuff, for months. I’m sure many of us have thoughts about the impact of climate change. These sorts of issues were certainly a part of the conversation between me and my wife as we crunched our way through the crisp, dry grass. I’m used to the views being of rolling green fields. There’s only one other situation this changes and that’s when it snows and the green turns to white. Of course, if I shoot black and white, the green turns to grey, but that’s a choice I make as a photographer. When it snows, or doesn’t rain for months, the landscape is almost equally as changed. When it snows though, that just feels like an aesthetic change. When it doesn’t rain for months, the aesthetic changes, but it feels like there’s a bigger impact on the narrative too…</p>
<a title="Parched Old Hills" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hamishgill/55432960816/in/dateposted/" data-flickr-embed="true"><img class="aligncenter" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55432960816_94cfb60454_b.jpg" alt="Parched Old Hills" width="1024" height="685" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a>
<a title="Parched Old Hills" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hamishgill/55433351950/in/photostream/" data-flickr-embed="true"><img class="aligncenter" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55433351950_85cd76fd68_b.jpg" alt="Parched Old Hills" width="1024" height="685" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a>
<a title="Parched Old Hills" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hamishgill/55431990622/in/photostream/" data-flickr-embed="true"><img class="aligncenter" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55431990622_21f5572a98_b.jpg" alt="Parched Old Hills" width="1024" height="685" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a>
<a title="Parched Old Hills" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hamishgill/55431990682/in/photostream/" data-flickr-embed="true"><img class="aligncenter" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55431990682_0f94d6965a_b.jpg" alt="Parched Old Hills" width="1024" height="685" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/04/08/2026/5-frames-of-parched-england-with-a-panasonic-lx100/</link>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.35mmc.com/04/08/2026/5-frames-of-parched-england-with-a-panasonic-lx100/</guid>
<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2026 09:00:30 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Hamish Gill</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Panasonic LX100</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 Frames with a Holga 120GN and Kentmere 400 in North Jutland</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026_06_Kentmere400_1600_Holga120GN_-28-von-42-scaled.jpg" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>Negative Lab Pro v3.1.0 | Color Model: B+W | Pre-Sat: 2 | Tone Profile: Linear + Gamma | WB: None | LUT: Frontier</p>
</figcaption></figure><p><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="0">I spent three months working in North </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="30">Jutland this spring, and it became a </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="67">bit of a ritual: whenever friends came </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="106">to visit, I’d take them out hiking either </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="141">along the coast, through woodlands or the dunes. As most of them</span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="180"> weren’t photographers, they came </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="219">for the walks, the wind, and the company, </span>and I didn’t want to be the one holding everyone up while the group drifted ahead<span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="334">. For this reason, I’d grab my easy-going </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="370">Holga 120GN </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="404">instead. It’s a plastic medium-format </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="442">camera that weighs almost nothing and </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="480">costs about as much as a couple of </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="515">rolls of film, and there’s a </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="544">particular freedom in carrying a camera </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="584">you wouldn’t mind losing. I could </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="618">grab a frame in the time it took </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="651">the others to get a few steps down </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="686">the path, then catch up. No fuss, </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="721">no apologies, just a quiet </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="748">souvenir of where we’d been. But could a toy camera really be a serious travelling companion? Here are five frames that made the case.</span></p>
<blockquote><p>The Holga isn’t a camera for making records; it’s a camera for making memories.</p></blockquote>
<h2>My Holga 120GN Set-Up</h2>
<p>If you haven’t met one, the Holga is gloriously simple. It shoots 120 film in 6×6 (or 6×4.5 with the supplied mask), has a single shutter speed of roughly 1/100s, a zone-focus scale of four little icons, and two aperture symbols (sun and cloud) that in practice barely differ. The “GN” means it has the glass lens, in my opinion, a touch sharper than the plastic version. However, you still get the soft corners, heavy vignetting, and unpredictable character that the camera is loved/hated for. By any technical measure, it’s a bad camera, and that’s exactly why I wanted it here: light enough to forget on a long walk, cheap enough that sand, salt spray, and a knock on the rocks didn’t worry me, and limited enough that I stopped fussing and just looked at the landscape.</p>
<figure id="attachment_116024" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116024" style="width: 923px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-116024 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Image-1.jpg" alt="" width="923" height="923" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-116024" class="wp-caption-text">My weapon of choice: the Holga 120GN, pimped up with a filter thread and a flash.</figcaption></figure>
<p>As an artistic and practical choice, I loaded the Holga with Kentmere 400, rated at 1600, which I developed later in Rodinal (1:60, semi-stand for 1h). I wanted the hard, contrasty, grainy rendering that push-processing and Rodinal give you. In my opinion, this look works really well with the soft rendering of the Holga lens. Of course, a 1600-speed film in a camera with one shutter speed and one aperture is wildly overexposed in daylight, so the filters did the work the camera couldn’t: coloured filters (orange and red) to cut light and darken those skies, and an additional variable ND filter to claw back the excess light. On a Holga, the filter ring is the only exposure control you’ve got (and even this one you have to install by yourself). Keeping things simple, I applied the “sunny-16-rule” for metering (aka reducing my ISO number), which works suprisingly well. But what about my results?</p>
<h2>5 selected frames from my walks:</h2>
<p>My favourite thing about hiking in North Jutland is the network of coastal paths that wind through the dunes, the “<em>klitter”</em>, as they’re called here. These are great drifts of pale sand, anchored by tough marram grass and shaped endlessly by the wind off the North Sea, so the landscape is never quite the same twice. The trails rise and dip over the dune ridges, opening now and then onto the sea, and there’s a wonderful sense of space to them: wide and often empty for as far as you can walk. Stripped down to sand, grass, sky, and sea, this landscape leaves nothing to distract from light and form. Isn’t that what all photographers are chasing? In my opinion, my first frame shows that really well.</p>
<figure id="attachment_116000" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116000" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-116000 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026_06_Kentmere400_1600_Holga120GN_-47-von-42-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-116000" class="wp-caption-text">The coast near Lønstrup on the West Coast: the kind of wide, weather-worn view that defines this stretch of North Jutland. Orange filter to deepen the sky. All images were scanned with a Canon 5D Classic and converted with Negative Lab Pro.</figcaption></figure>
<p>One of my favorite shots from this series was captured in Råbjerg Mile, which is the largest migrating dune in Northern Europe. Some four square kilometres of sand that the wind pushes steadily inland at around 15 metres a year, swallowing whatever lies in its path and uncovering it again on the far side. Standing in the middle of it, you lose all sense of scale, and the frame above works by giving you that scale back through its layers. Here, the Holga’s heavy signature vignette does its magic, while the orange filter presses the sky into something dark and brooding above. I love how the contrast between the bright sand, shadowed grass, and heavy sky makes my eye travel through all three people in the photograph, acting as anchor points and scale.</p>
<figure id="attachment_116004" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116004" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-116004 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026_06_Kentmere400_1600_Holga120GN_-28-von-42-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-116004" class="wp-caption-text">Råbjerg Mile: the largest migrating dune in Northern Europe, a slow river of sand that shifts a little further inland every year. Orange filter to weigh the sky.</figcaption></figure>
<p>A Holga classic is the double exposure (yikes! I hate them). Overlapping frames usually feel like a gimmick to me, a busy mess seldom ending up as something useful, and the Holga’s lack of double-exposure prevention means you get them whether you want to or not. Here, near Skagen, Denmarks northmost city, I forgot to wind on, and the camera happily stacked two pictures on top of each other. But every so often, the chaos lands, and I end up with a double exposure I adore. That’s the strange gift of a camera this crude: it makes mistakes you’d never make on purpose, and now and then one of them turns out better than anything you intended.</p>
<figure id="attachment_116001" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116001" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-116001 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026_06_Kentmere400_1600_Holga120GN_-46-von-42-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-116001" class="wp-caption-text">Somewhere near Skagen. While the red filter darkened the sky for drama, the ghosting was the Holga’s own idea. A double exposure of my girlfriend making her appear half-there, against all that pale space.</figcaption></figure>
<p><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="0">For all that North </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="19">Jutland is defined by its </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="45">coast, it was the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="63">Danish woodlands that </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="85">caught me off guard. One of my favorie places was i</span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="106">nland and is called Rebild Bakker, </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="130">Denmark’s oldest national park located south of its main city Aalborg. It’s a </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="166">rolling landscape of heath and old </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="201">beech forest, where I stumbled across </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="224">something gentler than the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="251">windswept dunes</span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="280">: A lonely</span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="452">&nbsp;great beech in full </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="477">early-season leaf, glowing almost </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="511">white against a darkened sky, with </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="541">the trail running right up </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="568">to its feet as if it had </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="593">been placed there to be </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="617">photographed. The red filter pulled the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="653">sky down and let the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="674">foliage shine, while the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="699">vapour trails crossing </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="722">overhead gave the whole scene an </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="755">unexpected geometry and some nice leading lines. What you can see in the image </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="847">is the Holga at its best: the falloff into the dark corners, the gentle unsharpness, the way the cheap glass lens turns fresh spring foliage into something that glows rather than merely records (also shout-out to the Rodinal glow #freerodinal), flaws on paper that here add up to a kind of quiet magic.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_116003" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116003" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-116003" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/202606_Kentmere400at1600_Holga120GN_RebildBakker.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1021" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-116003" class="wp-caption-text">Rebild Bakker, inland from the coast. The vignette frames the tree like a soft spotlight, and the red filter drops the sky behind it — the plastic lens doing exactly what a sharper one couldn’t.</figcaption></figure>
<p><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="0">I’ll end </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="9">in Rold Skov, one of </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="30">Denmark’s largest forests, where I </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="65">pointed the Holga straight up into </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="100">the sun. Everything a </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="122">“serious” lens is built to </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="149">prevent happened at once: </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="176">flare blooming across the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="202">frame, a round ghost of </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="226">light hovering among the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="251">branches, the whole image </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="277">dissolving into haze at the edges. </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="312">And yet it’s the frame I come </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="342">back to most. The bare canopy </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="372">reaching up, the sun caught flaring </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="408">through it, the soft </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="429">imperfection of it all. Somehow, it holds a </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="465">moment that mattered to me </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="492">in a way a cleaner, more </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="517">technically correct photograph </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="548">never could have. Some </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="571">pictures are good because </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="597">they’re sharp; this one is good </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="629">because it feels like the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="655">day felt.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_116002" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116002" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-116002 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026_06_Kentmere400_1600_Holga120GN_-33-von-42-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-116002" class="wp-caption-text">Rold Skov, shooting straight into the sun. Flare, ghosting, haze. Every “flaw” the Holga is capable of, and the frame I treasure most of the five. Can you recreate that shot with your Hasselblad?</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Closing remark:</h2>
<p><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="0">Looking </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="8">back over these </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="24">five frames, there isn’t much to speak </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="63">of in terms of technical quality or artistic value. Are those among my best photographs? Surely not, but </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="101">they hold the feeling of being </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="132">there. They’re soft, flared, vignetted, </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="172">blurry, and occasionally doubled over </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="210">themselves by accident. To me they </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="250">resemble memories: a little dreamlike, </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="289">a little uncertain at the edges, the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="326">way the recollection of a good day </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="361">actually feels when you reach for it </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="398">months later. Sure, my legendary Rolleiflex</span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="436">&nbsp;gave me a more faithful </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="474">record of North Jutland and some of the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="514">best darkroom prints I’ve made so far. </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="553">But the Holga gave me something closer </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="592">to how I remember it. And I really appreciate that. </span></p>
<p><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="592">M</span>aybe that’s the point that some of us hating on the Holga are missing: the Holga isn’t a camera for making records; it’s a camera for making memories. Farvel Nordjylland! – I’ll be back soon.</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/21/07/2026/5-frames-with-a-holga-120gn-and-kentmere-400-in-north-jutland/</link>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.35mmc.com/21/07/2026/5-frames-with-a-holga-120gn-and-kentmere-400-in-north-jutland/</guid>
<pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:00:55 GMT</pubDate>
<author>fleetwoodler</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Holga 120GN</category>
<category>Kentmere 400</category>
<category>Kentmere Film</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 frames with an Olympus XA</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/PXL_20260623_074816432.PORTRAIT.ORIGINAL-scaled.jpg" alt="Olympus XA" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>Olympus XA</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>Although I have been back into film photography for a year or so, I only recently became aware of the Olympus XA rangefinder camera. Introduced in 1979, with production ceasing in 1985, this camera has now become something of an icon. It features a 35mm f/2.8 lens, a true rangefinder patch (as opposed to the zone focusing of the Minox 35, for example) and has aperture priority metering. Models introduced after 1985 included the XA2, XA3 and XA4, but these were zone focus cameras. The lenses also changed to a slower f/3.5 at 35mm and then 28mm for the XA4.</p>
<p>The camera features a sliding clamshell design, a thumb wheel advance, with aperture and focus controls on the front. A small lever on the base allowing exposure compensation. There is also a facility to choose the ASA rating of your film. In essence, it is a highly pocketable and very respected camera, with many reviewers praising a “tack-sharp” lens.</p>
<p>As with a number of cameras which are becoming popular again, prices can be high, and I often see them for sale for between £150 and £200 if in working order. I decided I would like one, as I love the Minox 35GT, (see one of my previous “Five Frames with…” posts) but not at that price.</p>
<p>Forgetting all about it, and browsing Facebook Market Place one day, I saw a small number of cameras being sold by the brother of someone recently passed away. An Olympus XA was advertised for £20 with no indication whether or not it was working, but with some damage to the rear shutter door. I dropped the seller a message to ask if he knew if it was working or not. He didn’t know, and having acquired a number of “untested” cameras that didn’t work, I politely said I would not go ahead.</p>
<p>The next day I received a message from the seller offering me the camera for free if I covered the cost of postage! I thought that £5 for postage was worth the risk, and the deal was done. The camera arrived a few days later. When it turned up, the damage to the camera door was quite bad. It appeared that someone did not know how to open the back (by the standard lifting of the rewind handle) and had attempted to unsuccessfully prise the back door open with a screwdriver or similar! Thankfully, the back door is made of metal, and a trip to my workshop enabled me to carefully bend the door back into shape, almost perfectly. I popped in a battery and the camera appeared to work correctly! I might have just landed a bargain!</p>
<p>A good clean and new light seals followed, along with a roll of Kentmere 200.</p>
<p>Two trips were made with the camera – the first was to a local Steam Fair in South Molton, Devon, UK. There were a number of classic cars, and this was my favourite, a 1971 Mk1 Ford Escort, which happened to be my very first make and model of car when I passed my driving test.</p>
<figure id="attachment_115853" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-115853" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-115853" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/P6090010-1024x762.jpg" alt="Mk1 Ford Escort" width="1024" height="762" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-115853" class="wp-caption-text">Mk1 Ford Escort</figcaption></figure>
<p>I was also attracted to this Jaguar from 1966.</p>
<figure id="attachment_115857" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-115857" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-115857" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/P6090012-1024x663.jpg" alt="1966 Jaguar" width="1024" height="663" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-115857" class="wp-caption-text">1966 Jaguar</figcaption></figure>
<p>A week or so later, my wife had to travel to Brighton for work, so I tagged along for a couple of days and took the XA on my travels around the town. In the 18th century, King George IV built a residence in the town, which over the years became grander and grander, known as the Royal Pavilion, and this formed the basis of my first few shots here.</p>
<figure id="attachment_115854" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-115854" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-115854" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/P6090041-1024x729.jpg" alt="Royal Pavilion, Brighton" width="1024" height="729" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-115854" class="wp-caption-text">Royal Pavilion, Brighton</figcaption></figure>
<p>Between 1896 and 1899, a new and very grand Pier was constructed. The Brighton Palace Pier is 1,722 feet (525 metres) long. It attracted worldwide attention with Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel both perfomred in the Pier’s Theatre. Funfair rides were added from 1932 and during WWII a section of the Pier was removed due to the fear of German ships being able to use it as a dock! It is now a Grade II Listed Building, which is designed to protect the Pier and its heritage by applying very strict rules about any changes. Still attracting may thousands of visitors, the Pier now costs about £1,000,000 a year to maintain and run.</p>
<figure id="attachment_115855" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-115855" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-115855" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/P6090030-1024x671.jpg" alt="Brighton Palace Pier" width="1024" height="671" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-115855" class="wp-caption-text">Brighton Palace Pier</figcaption></figure>
<p>To finish off I took a walk along the beach. It was a grey, blustery day, but the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) Lifegaurds were on duty ready and waiting for anyone daft enough to venture in the sea and get into trouble.</p>
<figure id="attachment_115856" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-115856" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-115856" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/P6090033-1024x681.jpg" alt="Royal National Lifeboat Institution Lifeguards Station" width="1024" height="681" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-115856" class="wp-caption-text">Royal National Lifeboat Institution Lifeguards Station</figcaption></figure>
<p>So, another internet bargain has once more added to my ever growing collection of film cameras. I wonder what might be next?</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/12/07/2026/5-frames-with-an-olympus-xa/</link>
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<pubDate>Sun, 12 Jul 2026 09:00:33 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Daimon Tilley</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Kentmere 200</category>
<category>Kentmere Film</category>
<category>Olympus XA</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 frames with a KMZ ZORKI 1 & Industar-22 f3.5/50mm</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DSC02624.jpg" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></figure><p>Living just 120 miles from Leica AG’s headquarters, I have just bought my first Leitz product at the age of 78. No, not that camera pictured above, but a Leitz Prado 150 slide projector with a slide holder, probably from 1955. It’s in very good condition, presumably rarely used – much like many Leica cameras owned by their first buyers, which usually spent more time in a display cabinet than being taken out for a walk, but were regularly serviced at the Leica factory. That’s what people used to say, without forgetting just how much money it all cost. After all, they’ve got it! At least, that’s the impression I’ve gained over the decades here in Germany. That’s one of the reasons why the Prado 150 is my first Leitz device. I wanted to treat myself to a ‘red dot’ on a piece of kit for a change, especially as it only cost €40. Sorry, I’m digressing.</p>
<p>The cover photo shows a “KMZ Zorki 1”; according to its serial number, it was manufactured in 1955 – specifically the “1e” version with the new shutter speeds. A replica of the Leica II, it was initially produced at the FED factory; however, due to the threat of war in Kharkiv, production |
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<ttl>5</ttl>
<item>
<title>Nippon Kogaku W-Nikkor 3.5cm f/1.8 LTM – A Review a Legendary Lens (Pt. 2 of 3)</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/DSC4628-Edit-1.jpg" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></figure><p><em><strong>NOTE:</strong> If you have not read <a href="https://www.35mmc.com/?p=75162">part 1.</a> I really encourage you to spend the time and read it first as it rounds up all that I have found during my research into Hideo Azuma’s truly unique <span style="font-weight: 400;">Nippon Kogaku </span>W-Nikkor. And why I’m calling it “legendary,” specifications and information on the various versions, including the <a href="https://omnarlenses.com/product/omnar-nk35-18/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Omnar NK35-18,</a> links to other revie<span style="color: #000000;">ws and film photographs, t</span>he patents, info on Lanthanum elements, background on rendering of Sonnar lenses, and many other notions that I refer to here.</em></p>
<figure id="attachment_118119" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-118119" style="width: 960px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-118119 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/L1008064.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="848" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-118119" class="wp-caption-text">f/1.8 ISO 64 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Is It Love?</h2>
<p>As I shared in <span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;"><a href="https://www.35mmc.com/?p=75162">Part 1</a> of my search for a primary 35mm lens</span></span><span style="color: #000000;">,</span> it all started with love, Sonnar love that is. Therefore, I found it pretty ironic when this possible new love arrived a couple days before Valentines Day in 2025. Of course being Iowa, delivery was delayed by a day-long snow storm. The box arrived after spending around eight hours in the back of a UPS truck that day at 15F / -9C, so upon bringing it inside that evening I needed to give it a chance to warm up, or risk tears.</p>
<p>After dinner, when the risk of drops of condensation had passed, I was finally able to open the layers of packaging and inspect my copy of the legendary <span style="font-weight: 400;">Nippon Kogaku </span>W-Nikkor 3.5cm/1.8 in Leica Thread Mount (LTM) made almost 70-years ago. After spending months researching and reading, it was a thrill to see that the large, beautiful, cemented Lanthanum rear elements that are a key part of this lens’ magic was in pristine condition:</p>
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-101723" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/DSC4644-1007x1024.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="712" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-75543 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/US2896506-drawings-page-1.jpg" alt="" width="759" height="672" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>I happened across this LTM copy of the W-Nikkor on <a href="https://www.igorcamera.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Igor’s Camera Exchange</a> website in the States at a decent price as it had a couple minor issues, and I decided to jump at it and not wait to go the <a href="https://omnarlenses.com/product/omnar-nk35-18/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Omnar NK35-18</a> route. I’m not a collector, and actually prefer “user” condition lenses so I’m not worried about taking it out daily, and honestly, to make it a bit more affordable. As had been described by the seller the front element had a difficult to see tiny bit of coating missing, and there was a slight looseness to the lens barrel.</p>
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-101728 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/DSC4609-1024x702.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="702" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>Putting one of less than 1,600 of these 3.5cm W-Nikkors made in LTM on my Leica M11, and taking a couple shots in my desk area, I immediately felt the focus was very, very heavy. I knew our initial time together was going to be short. I decided I would send it right away to <a href="https://www.dagcamera.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DAG Camera Repair</a> for a complete overhaul to take care of this heavy focus and the looseness. As well as a little OCD trigger I had noticed; the aperture numbers did not stop right at the black indicator dot, oh good grief.</p>
<h2>And Then 6-Bit Issues</h2>
<p>Then I noticed the camera would not change ISO values as I pointed to lighter and darker areas of my room even though I was in auto-ISO. I found that the 6-bit sensor was not covered (below) by the Leitz 35mm LTM to M-mount adapter ring I had sourced in anticipation of this lens and caused the camera to be confused. I have since found some mounts of LTM lenses are large enough to cover this sensor, otherwise need to make sure to have an adapter ring where that part is not cut out like the one I had. I grabbed a workable non-35mm one I had so I could at least try out the lens before sending it out for service, even though it would bring up the wrong frame lines.</p>
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-101729 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/DSC4642-1024x540.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="540" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<h2>Sunny Day</h2>
<p>The next day was sunny, but with a busy work schedule I could only manage to make some quick images at various apertures before shipping the lens off. A couple days later when I had time to really look at these images, one stood out that was made while at a local chocolate shop (below) when getting valentines truffles for my wife and my 93-year-old mother-in-law who was visiting us from Canada. Taken at f/2.8, and underexposed to hold the highlights, once I lightened it up almost 3/4 of a stop I was really pleased to see the graduation of tones and that rendering! I encourage you to click on the image to see the details and textures captured. The lower contrast of the lens allowed selective burning and dodging to hold tones where I wanted. Images shot wide open (above) had lots of vintage fast-lens spherical aberration “glow,” but here at f/2.8 it was all “rounded sharpness,” with no distracting “lens character!”</p>
<figure id="attachment_118117" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-118117" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 16px;" href="http://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/L1008071.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="wp-image-118117 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/L1008071-1024x623.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="623" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-118117" class="wp-caption-text">f/2.8 ISO 64 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<h2>My Goals</h2>
<p>Wait! This is a vintage lens, is it not supposed to be all about vintage vibe and loads of character?</p>
<p>Well, not for me. This lens tale started with looking for a 35mm lens&nbsp;to compliment the “<a href="https://www.35mmc.com/22/11/2015/zeiss-50mm-1-5-zm-c-sonnar-review/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">somehow organic, something entirely un-clinical</a>, and despite the obvious dose of character, still uncontrived and real” rendering of my beloved Sonnars. What I have called an “honest look.” My hope is this legendary W-Nikkor’s high resolution, with it’s unique lens design – Lanthanum kissed bit of magic – and sweet aberrations will be along the lines of a Sonnar’s rendering as <span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.35mmc.com/author/skyllaney/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Andreyo</a>, Managing Director and Head Engineer of <a href="https://skyllaney.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Skyllaney Opto-Mechanics</a> </span> shared in <a href="https://www.35mmc.com/?p=75162">part 1.</a></p>
<p>Also, during the time this lens was out for service I decided to get back to my photojournalism roots and volunteer for the staff of a couple local weekly papers and to do most of the assignments with manual focus lenses, like I did when I was first starting out, but back then it was with SLR and film. I really like the smaller size of my digital rangefinder kit, and use the 35mm focal length by fare the most in my <a href="https://www.35mmc.com/07/11/2024/approaching-reportage-photography/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportage photography,</a> so been searching for what will be my primary lens. In this work I usually photograph stopped down a bit to have more story-telling content in my images, and looking for the lens’ honest rendering to carry through not just wide open. My other considerations are it has good handling and flare control, as I had read the latter can be an issue with this W-Nikkor since it has early-tech lens coatings.</p>
<h2>The W-Nikkor is Back! And Some Testing</h2>
<p>The lens arrived back with the focus working much smoother, no looseness and the aperture numbers now lining up with the dot as they should. Also, while the lens was gone I bought a 35mm Rayqual LTM to M-mount adapter that works with 6-bit readers, and I like the look of its black finish with my black bodied camera. The lens is really small and barely gets into the corner of the 35mm frame lines at the close-focus setting. I never acquired a 43mm lens hood for the lens, so all these photographs are without one. A couple quick test shoots showed its great resolution:</p>
<figure id="attachment_89955" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89955" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-89955 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/L1008220.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="520" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-89955" class="wp-caption-text">f/8 ISO 1,000 M11 DNG/LR full width of the frame</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_101982" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-101982" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-101982 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1008320-1.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="696" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-101982" class="wp-caption-text">f/1.8 ISO 64 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<p>Wide open (above) the spherical aberrations, or glow, is actually really beautiful as just a slight softness, without being overwhelming as I have had on other fast classic lenses.</p>
<h2>Pressure Brings Out the Faults, and the Joys</h2>
<p>My first assignment for the paper was a community health and safety fair. A good way to ease back into this work since it had been over twenty-five years since I have done a news assignment. I was also looking for this work to sharpen my rangefinder skills as I felt I had stalled out on the steep part of the learning curve as I was just not going out and photographing regularly. I’m usually not big on focus tabs, preferring to grab a focus ring, but found the focus lock did work well as a focus tab on this lens, especially good news since the focus ring is narrow and not really practical to use. I was happy with several images from this first assignment, and especially with this moment taken at f/5.6. And again, like the chocolate shop image, loved how the tones developed up in Lightroom:</p>
<figure id="attachment_101739" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-101739" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-101739 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1008419-1024x789.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="789" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-101739" class="wp-caption-text">f/5.6 ISO 2,500 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<p>The next assignment was a small high school’s graduation of a class of f<span style="font-weight: 400;">orty-two</span>. The success at the health fair gave me confidence to go a bit more wide open at times. But, boy did my rustiness come out, as well the pressure brought out the faults in the lens! I was slow to anticipate moments, and crashed into the shortcomings in this 70-year old lens. Trying to work quickly the long <span style="color: #000000;">180<strong>° </strong></span>focus throw was not a good thing. And when trying to photograph this student’s mortar board I slammed into the 35″ / .9m minimum focus as I really wanted to get closer, so relied on a large crop. Also, at this end of the focus range the focus tab just got in the way up towards the top of the camera body. And it was also just in the way when holding the camera vertically. But again, very happy with the resolution and sharpness of the lens! – as this was a horizontal cropped in a lot from all sides to a vertical:</p>
<figure id="attachment_89947" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89947" style="width: 631px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-89947 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/L1000042.jpg" alt="" width="631" height="700" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-89947" class="wp-caption-text">f/4 ISO 2,000 M11 DNG/LR large crop</figcaption></figure>
<p>When making my edit of the shoot afterwards the nervous background in this one stood out, also not in a good way, so going to have to keep an eye on that:</p>
<figure id="attachment_89946" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89946" style="width: 960px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-89946" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/L1000026.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="702" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-89946" class="wp-caption-text">f/2.8 ISO 800 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<p>But, for this f/8 and be there moment with the camera held over my head after the ceremony, it delivered the joy:</p>
<figure id="attachment_89948" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89948" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-89948 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/L1000163.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="785" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-89948" class="wp-caption-text">f/8 ISO 400 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<p>However, another quirk I found annoying while setting up the f/8 zone focus under pressure is the focus mark and depth of field scale (DOF) is set off to the left. So when glancing down I can see at f/8 I’m covered to about 22′ on the long end, but have to tilt the camera to see what the other end is set at:</p>
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-102420 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/DSC4589-1.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="705" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>Next up was the county fair. And boom, did the classic lens type 3D-pop show up!:</p>
<figure id="attachment_89957" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89957" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-89957 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/L1008703.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="800" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-89957" class="wp-caption-text">f/2.8 ISO 400 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<p>I sent this image to 35mmc founder and Sonnar lover Hamish Gill and he replied “it’s the same as I see from a lot of more simple optical formula lenses – there is just a whole load of 3D-pop that you don’t get with modern lenses that tend to produce more dimensionally-flat images. The water spout and water coming out of it is a great example.” I believe it was shortly after this that Hamish decided to order himself an <a href="https://omnarlenses.com/product/omnar-nk35-18/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Omnar NK35-18</a> version of this lens.</p>
<p>Also at the county fair a calf and some horses, and then an Independence Day parade, and a couple car show assignments:</p>
<figure id="attachment_89958" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89958" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-89958" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/L1008748.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="824" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-89958" class="wp-caption-text">f/2.8 ISO 80 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_101985" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-101985" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-101985 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1008769-1.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="438" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-101985" class="wp-caption-text">f/11 ISO 1,000 M11 DNG/LR large crop</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_89959" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89959" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-89959" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/L1008964.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="523" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-89959" class="wp-caption-text">f/8 ISO 125 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_89960" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89960" style="width: 700px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-89960" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/L1008970.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="698" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-89960" class="wp-caption-text">f/4 ISO 64 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_89961" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89961" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-89961 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/L1008974.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="497" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-89961" class="wp-caption-text">Probably f/8 ISO 200 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_101986" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-101986" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-101986 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1009008-1.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="624" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-101986" class="wp-caption-text">f/11 ISO 500 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_101987" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-101987" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-101987 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1009279-1.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="575" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-101987" class="wp-caption-text">f/2.8 ISO 125 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_101988" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-101988" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-101988 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1009270-1.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="539" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-101988" class="wp-caption-text">Probably f/2 ISO 64 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_89962" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-89962" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-89962" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/L1009007.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="608" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-89962" class="wp-caption-text">f/11 ISO 80 M11 DNG/LR Adaptive Color cropped</figcaption></figure>
<p>There is just something about the graduation of tones and the detail captured with this W-Nikkor, and that bit lower contrast that again, and again I felt like I was back in the darkroom when working with these RAW files in Lightroom, especially this frame above. Just the way the details and tones responded somewhat organically when dodging and burning. Confirmation bias? – if other users of this lens on digital cameras have found, or not found the same please comment below as like to hear if these toning characteristics are truly unique.</p>
<p>On a lark I tried <a href="https://www.lifeafterphotoshop.com/lightroom-tip-lightrooms-new-adaptive-color-profile-is-much-better-than-it-sounds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lightroom’s Adaptive Color</a> Profile on the scene above with the motorcycle exhibitors seeking shade during a bike, car and truck show on a hot Iowa summer afternoon and liked the results just a bit better than when I set the starting parameters myself. At a different car show with a different black Cadillac, as a tractor rounded the corner and the flare from the sun peaked over the building, I really like what this lens gave me in atmosphere amplification, like a good ‘ol Sonnar. I’m sure a modern 35mm would have knocked down the flare and the sense of a late Iowa summer evening feeling would not have come through:</p>
<figure id="attachment_101750" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-101750" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-101750" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1009274.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="723" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-101750" class="wp-caption-text">f/2.8 ISO 64 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<p>While not on assignment, but in our backyard as the sun went down on our cucumbers I was impressed at the detail held when wide open, while still having that subtle softness at the edges and highlights. The lens seems to have a very good balance between character and resolution – you can click the photograph to open it up larger:</p>
<figure id="attachment_101762" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-101762" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1009138-1.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="wp-image-101762 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1009138-1-1024x596.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="596" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-101762" class="wp-caption-text">f/1.8 ISO 640 M11 DNG/LR cropped</figcaption></figure>
<p>If you can not tell already, I’m really, really liking this lens. It meets my goals, and more. All through this time I also did some simple tests to just gain a better understanding of it . . .</p>
<h2>Some More Testing</h2>
<p>I shot this scene with the camera locked down on a tripod at multiple apertures to see how it behaves. Just as was said in other reviews, and Nippon Kogaku’s advertising copy – see <a href="https://www.35mmc.com/?p=75162">part 1</a><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="color: #000000;">&nbsp;–</span></span> I found no issues with the vignette, which in my opinion is just slight wide open – this is uncropped, with no toning in Lightroom, other than what is done on import, to show the change from f/1.8 (left side) to f/4:</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="juxtapose"><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1009100-1.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="680" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1009103.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="680" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></div><p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">f/1.8 vs. f/4</p>
<p>Like a lot of fast classic lens types you get at least two “brushes” with this lens. At the wide open apertures you can paint some scenes with highlight glows, but when you change this lens from f/2 to f/2.8 there is a big shift, just like the distance between those stops on the aperture ring (below). And again when you change from f/2.8 to f/4, again the distance on the aperture scale represents another character change, though a lot more subtle than the one before, but still noticeable in some scenes as a slightly more refined brush with no spherical aberrations, which continues through the rest of the aperture range.</p>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-101738" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/DSC4676-1024x525.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="525" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>The change in spherical aberrations from f/1.8 to f/2 is very slight:</p>
<div class="juxtapose"><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/f1.8.jpg" alt="" width="743" height="750" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/f2.jpg" alt="" width="743" height="750" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></div>
<p style="text-align: center;">f/1.8 vs. f/2</p>
<p>But, from f/2 to f/2.8 there is that shift to a new brush:</p>
<div class="juxtapose"><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/f2.jpg" alt="" width="743" height="750" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/f2.8.jpg" alt="" width="743" height="750" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></div>
<p style="text-align: center;">f/2 vs. f/2.8</p>
<p>And then f/2.8 to f/4:</p>
<div class="juxtapose"><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/f2.8.jpg" alt="" width="743" height="750" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/f4.jpg" alt="" width="743" height="750" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></div>
<p style="text-align: center;">f/2.8 vs. f/4</p>
<p>I also played with different apertures at the closest focus distance while handheld at the fair, again just to get a feel for the lens:</p>
<div class="juxtapose"><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/L1008719.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="680" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/L1008720.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="680" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></div>
<p style="text-align: center;">f/2 vs. f/2.8</p>
<div class="juxtapose"><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/L1008720.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="680" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/L1008721.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="680" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></div>
<p style="text-align: center;">f/2.8 vs. f/4</p>
<p>From what I had read flare control can be an issue with the W-Nikkor 3.5cm f/1.8, but I found it was not troublesome. As shown above at the car show flare can be, dare I say, another brush? – and I generally had to force it to make it ugly in my opinion, like this scene while on vacation in Florida at f/1.8:</p>
<img class="size-full wp-image-101840 aligncenter" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1009264-1.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="680" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>Where just closing down took care of it:</p>
<img class="size-full wp-image-101841 aligncenter" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1009265-1.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="680" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<h2>70-Year Old Specs and Handling In Real World Use</h2>
<p>This lens is wonderfully small, but starting with the high school graduation and onwards for the way I use it, the 70-year old design is not conducive to quick work. I had no issue with the infinity lock as it was natural to press to disengage while using it as a focus tab, and it needs to be there for those using it on screw-mount cameras. However, the tab just got in the way when taking a vertical image, and was annoying when close to the subject. I was surprised I hit the minimum focus wall enough times it was bothersome. And I found the focus ring just not really big enough to easily use. And that long focus throw was no help either.</p>
<p>Only a bit annoying was the widest apertures to the left on the aperture ring, opposite of most of my other lenses, along with the focus mark and DOF scale set to one side. And I found the small DOF and distance numbers on the silver background to be difficult to read with my eyes where I have to reach for reading glasses often in everyday life. If you are always wide open, or working at a slower pace, then most of this would only be fun vintage quirks, and would probably be no big deal, but early on my thoughts turned to Omnar’s option . . .</p>
<h2>The Omnar NK35-18 MkII Rehousing of the S-Mount W-Nikkor 3.5cm f/1.8</h2>
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-118650" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Photo-01-07-2026-14-32-24-scaled-e1785975651204.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="783" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>With the larger focus ring, but somehow still keeping it the same small protrusion off the front of the camera and the promise of a build quality and focus smoothness as good as the best modern lenses, I started contemplating the <a href="https://omnarlenses.com/product/omnar-nk35-18/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Omnar NK35-18</a> pretty early on. Made from the abundant supply of S-mount versions of this lens, they shorten the focus throw to a more modern 90° through the coupled range, which now goes to 26″ / 0.65m, which is 9″ / .25m closer than the LTM. And then the bonus of uncoupled focusing down to 13.8″ / 0.35m so over 21″ / .5m closer!</p>
<p>The <span style="color: #000000;">aperture sca</span>le still goes in the opposite direction as it is the original S-mount’s ring, and unlike the LTM, the aperture and focus turn together, so it keeps the S-mount’s dual aperture markings. And more concerning to me is there is no DOF scale and the distance scale is in meters. Me, being me, I have already found the original <a href="https://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/RF-Nikkor/RF35mm/index2.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nikkor DOF chart</a> and plan to learn f/8 and be there zone focus by a single meter point and not a scale, with numbers that look to be easier to read than on the LTM. Other good things would be the M-mount, and it comes ready to be DIY 6-bit coded.</p>
<p>Since this is the focal length I use by fare the most I decided to go for the NK35-18 MkII as I believe I have found my new 35mm. Chose the matte black finish to go with my all black M11. I hunted for an optically clean copy of the S-mount version of the W-Nikkor 3.5cm f/1.8 and found it in the states from private seller <a href="https://www.instagram.com/leitzusa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Leitz USA</a>&nbsp;in August, 2025, and sent it off to Scotland, and sold the LTM copy to help fund it.</p>
<p>I want to reaffirm what I said at the end of the previous article in this series, while I have obviously communicated a lot with Chris, Vita and Hamish who own Omnar, in no way does it affect my opinions and the text I write. And, as always with my articles they are in now way written by a machine.</p>
<h2>My Conclusion and What is Next</h2>
<p>I have not used every LTM or M-mount 35mm lens out there – I have watched and read waaaaaay too many reviews though, LOL. However, I am now in the camp that the Nippon Kogaku W-Nikkor 3.5cm f/1.8 is not only legendary, but one of the best 35mm lens ever made for these mounts, as <span style="color: #000000;">Chris’ shared <a href="https://www.35mmc.com/?p=75162">before</a>. And, <a href="https://leicaphilia.com/nikons-w-nikkor-3-5cm-1-8-is-this-the-best-35mm-wide-angle-ever-made-for-a-leica/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to quote Tim Vanderweert</a>, “Ironic, then, maybe the best 35mm focal length lens ever produced for the venerable Leica was made by” Nippon Kogaku (Nikon).</span></p>
<p>Am I expecting it to be perfect, heck no – it is not a modern a APO APSH FLE, and I want the imperfect perfection in the rendering to give feeling to my images. And while I can understand the low contrast, especially at f/1.8-2.8 might be a concern for someone printing from negatives, for myself it adds to the magic of how the files work up in my digital processing. I am for one, glad they focused on resolution for their Nikkors, and not contrast. And I am completely smitten by Hideo Asuma’s amazing unique lens design and the lanthanum element’s magic that can not be reproduced again.</p>
<p>As mentioned before, I am not one for wide open shallow DOF photography often, but this lens is making me reconsider! While on vacation waiting to leave a seafood restaurant in Florida and playing with f/1.8 I took this image, and was again surprised by the combination of the Nikkor’s resolution and just a touch of aberrations – you can also click on this image to see it larger:</p>
<figure id="attachment_101748" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-101748" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1009252.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="wp-image-101748 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/L1009252-1024x734.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="734" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-101748" class="wp-caption-text">f/1.8 ISO 200 M11 DNG/LR slight crop from the left</figcaption></figure>
<p>I can now see the attraction of just a bit of softness this lens gives wide open. I’m actually looking forward to trying using that brush some more, and in black and white too. Now I am in a time of waiting, anxious waiting, and anticipation for the arrival of my copy of the Omnar NK35-18 Mk II, which will be the topic of Part 3 . . .</p>
<p>You can find me on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/rollinphotoj/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@rollinphotoj.</a></p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/24/08/2026/nippon-kogaku-w-nikkor-3-5cm-f-1-8-ltm-a-review-a-legendary-lens-pt-2-of-3/</link>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.35mmc.com/24/08/2026/nippon-kogaku-w-nikkor-3-5cm-f-1-8-ltm-a-review-a-legendary-lens-pt-2-of-3/</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2026 09:00:29 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Rollin Banderob</author>
<category>Lenses</category>
<category>35mm Lens</category>
<category>Nikon Lens</category>
<category>Rangefinder Lens</category>
<category>W-Nikkor 3.5cm f/1.8</category>
<category>Wide-Angle Lens</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR608 110 Camera</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/SAM_1404-scaled.jpg" alt="Picture of the Keystone EverFlash XR 608 Zoom 110 Camera" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>Picture of the Keystone EverFlash XR 608 Zoom 110 Camera</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>The Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR608 110 camera was made during the 1980s. It is one of hundreds (if not thousands) of ‘chocolate bar’ 110 cameras marketed during the heyday of the 110 format. The camera style is reminiscent of the Fujica series of 110 cameras, such as the Pocket 330 Zoom. I don’t think the Keystone camera was of the same quality as the Fujica, but the features of the EverFlash are very similar to Fujica’s product. The camera was made in Japan although Keystone was a US company. Keystone was a major player in the American camera market, and was active from 1919 to the early 1990s when the company ended in bankruptcy.</p>
<h2>Key Features</h2>
<p>The XR608 EverFlash is, in essence, a point-and-press camera with the added feature of a simple push-pull zoom. The zoom range is 25-42mm in 110 terms, equivalent to 50-84mm in 35mm format. Helpfully the field of view in the finder is adjusted dynamically as the zoom is moved in and out. The aperture is a slow f/5.6 and the focus is fixed at any of the focal lengths. An exposure setting can be chosen using a slider based on full sun, hazy or overcast conditions. The camera is quite well built with a smooth black plastic exterior. The film is wound using a ridged wheel underneath the camera rather than a lever.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117801" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117801" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117801" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/SAM_1395-1024x683.jpg" alt="Detail of the top plate of the Keystone Zoom EverFlash 608 110 Camera" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117801" class="wp-caption-text">The top plate of the Keystone Zoom EverFlash 608 110 Camera</figcaption></figure>
<p>The built-in flash pops out from the left-hand side of the camera. It is powered by two AAA batteries which fit into a neat slide-out holder. The built-in flash avoided the need for external bulbs or flash guns. Unfortunately I was unable to test the flash because I couldn’t get it to work. The battery contacts were somewhat corroded, an affliction of many older cameras that have been stored in drawers with the batteries installed. This is the EverFlash that never flashed!</p>
<p>In the spirit of 110 photography the camera is very simple to use. Cartridge loading removed the need to fiddle around with film leaders and spools. There is no need to rewind the film at the end of the roll. The zoom and exposure settings, although basic, would have added another dimension to the user’s experience. This might have been designed to appeal to photographers who wanted to move beyond fixed focal length cameras.</p>
<h2>Image Quality</h2>
<p>The image quality is ‘impressionistic’ at best. This is, in itself, quite attractive but any photographer wanting sharp, clear pictures would have been disappointed. The images here are made with Lomography Orca, rated at ISO 100. From memory, the day was quite overcast. The camera might have done better with a faster ISO 400 film. I also tried the camera with some rolls of expired film. The results were fairly similar whichever film was used.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117803" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117803" style="width: 745px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117803" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Old-Boat-745x1024.jpg" alt="A picture of an old boat on the Exeter Canal taken with the Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR 608 110 camera" width="745" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117803" class="wp-caption-text">Old boat on the Exeter Canal</figcaption></figure>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<figure id="attachment_117805" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117805" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117805" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Fishing-Ponds-3-1024x746.jpg" alt="This is a picture of the fishing ponds beside Exeter Canal taken with the Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR 608 110 camera" width="1024" height="746" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117805" class="wp-caption-text">Fishing Ponds by the Exeter Canal</figcaption></figure>
<h2></h2>
<figure id="attachment_117806" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117806" style="width: 745px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117806" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Old-Boat-2-745x1024.jpg" alt="This is a picture of an old boat moored on the Exeter Canal taken with the Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR 608 110 camera" width="745" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117806" class="wp-caption-text">Old Boat on the Exeter Canal</figcaption></figure>
<h2></h2>
<figure id="attachment_117807" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117807" style="width: 745px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117807" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/000026-745x1024.jpg" alt="This is a picture of the promenade and seafront at Teignmouth taken with the Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR 608 110 camera" width="745" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117807" class="wp-caption-text">The Promenade and Seafront at Teignmouth</figcaption></figure>
<h2></h2>
<figure id="attachment_117808" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117808" style="width: 745px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117808" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/000008-745x1024.jpg" alt="This photo is a blurred image of railings on the cycle and footpath beside the River Exe taken by accident with the Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR 608 110 camera" width="745" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117808" class="wp-caption-text">Railings by Accident – Beside the River Exe</figcaption></figure>
<h2></h2>
<p>Of course the most interesting image was taken by accident. The Keystone has a very sensitive and almost silent shutter which, despite the option to lock it, occasionally responds to a gentle, serendipitous press.</p>
<h2>Conclusions</h2>
<p>The camera an be picked up cheaply on auction sites. Readers will have to judge whether it is worth their time and money. Nevertheless, it is an interesting camera and, on reflection, the images it makes are better than one might expect. The XR608 tried to extend the 110 experience beyond point-and-press, by offering the zoom feature and simple exposure adjustment. However, it was not the only camera to do this, and the Fujica series probably offered a higher quality experience.</p>
<h2>Links</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.analogcams.com/brands/keystone">https://www.analogcams.com/brands/keystone</a></p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Camera_Company">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Camera_Company</a></p>
<p>Developing and processing by Photo Hippo Lab:&nbsp;<a href="https://photohippo.co.uk/">https://photohippo.co.uk/</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/23/08/2026/keystone-zoom-everflash-xr-608-110-camera/</link>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.35mmc.com/23/08/2026/keystone-zoom-everflash-xr-608-110-camera/</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 23 Aug 2026 09:00:35 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Ed</author>
<category>Point & Shoot</category>
<category>110 Camera</category>
<category>Keystone point & shoot</category>
<category>Keystone Zoom EverFlash XR 608</category>
<category>Point & Shoot camera</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>Plus X and a Mamiya 7II in Venice</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0213-scaled.jpg" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>The classic shot of Gondolas waiting for tourists</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>A post today from Edmakesfilms inspired me to dig into my old files. These shots from a hurried trip in the early 2000’s were shot on Kodak Plus X and my long gone lamented Mamiya 7 II system.</p>
<p>I was shooting for my job at a large regional magazine based in the American South. We were doing a story on the Atlanta Ski Club, the country’s largest. The writer Mark and I flew with the club to Italy and on to Cortina d’Ampezzo . After a few very cold days photographing their activities we took a break and headed northeast to Trieste where Mark was born. Mark wanted to see the house his family lived in back then. &nbsp;At that time Mark’s father was the commander at <span class="expandableItem">a UN military base. The post-war Treaty of Peace with Italy created the Free Territory of Trieste, a new independent and sovereign State under a provisional Government and under the direct responsibility of the United Nations Security Council. </span><span class="expandableItem">According to the protocol, when the Italian peace treaty came into force, the United Kingdom, the United States and Yugoslavia were each authorized to station 5,000 troops in the Free Territory of Trieste. All that kind of explains how Mark came to be born there.&nbsp;</span></p>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117825" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0299-1024x852.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="852" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<figure id="attachment_117827" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117827" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117827" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0304-Edit-1024x657.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="657" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117827" class="wp-caption-text">Entrance to the Jewish Ghetto in which Jews were forced to live by the government of the Venetian Republic. The English word ghetto is derived from the Jewish ghetto in Venice.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117828" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117828" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117828" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0309-1024x798.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="798" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117828" class="wp-caption-text">Venice’s Ubiquitous drying laundry</figcaption></figure>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117819" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0238-1024x627.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="627" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117833" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0290-Edit-Edit-Edit-780x1024.jpg" alt="" width="780" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p><span class="expandableItem">Our drive took us by Venice so we stopped overnight to see the city. But by the time we got there it was already late afternoon. Mark crashed in our hotel room but I was entirely too jazzed up to sit still. I grabbed the Mamiya and ran out of the hotel and into the cold hard light of a 30 degree day with some 3 hours of daylight left. I ran around the city with no plan, no idea, no clue where I was half the time. I shot till dusk. At that point, and without a tripod, it was just too dark with the Plus X I had in hand.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>I went back to the hotel room, waking Mark when I came in. He looked up at me with a odd expression and asked what happened to me. I probably looked like I was drunk. I’d just experienced a whirlwind of a visual fantasy. Mark said it looked like I had just had a ‘photogasm’. I believe he was right.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117816" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117816" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117816" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0215-Edit-1024x708.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="708" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117816" class="wp-caption-text">Fresh pasta in a fogged window</figcaption></figure>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117824" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0296-2-1024x832.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="832" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117826" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0301-1024x877.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="877" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117817" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0230-1024x768.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="768" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117820" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0241-865x1024.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<figure id="attachment_117821" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117821" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117821" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0246-1024x841.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="841" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117821" class="wp-caption-text">Fresh vegetables for sale on a cart.</figcaption></figure>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117822" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0247-1024x827.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="827" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"> <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-117823" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0254-Edit-1024x839.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="839" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<figure id="attachment_117814" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117814" style="width: 836px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117814" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Venice_BW_6X70098-836x1024.jpg" alt="" width="836" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117814" class="wp-caption-text">fresh vegetables</figcaption></figure>
<p>We hit the road to Trieste early the next morning. We found our way to a local municipal office where an official volunteered to take us to the very house Mark’s family lived in. Unfortunately we didn’t speak the same language. I believe he spoke a Slovenian dialect. But we managed. He did find the house where an older Italian couple lived now. They didn’t speak Slovenian but Mark spoke a little Italian. The couple seemed thrilled when they realized why we were there. We were invited to sit at their kitchen table with the municipal official. The older mans wife shuffled out of the room only to return a little while later with a decorative tray. On the tray were small glasses and a dusty never-opened bottle of Johnny Walker Black. I imagine the bottle sitting in their cabinet for years and years waiting for a ‘special moment’. Apparently we were that moment. The wife set it before us and sat in a chair nearby but not at the table with us. We enjoyed the whisky and laughed, sharing stories in three languages.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117832" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117832" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117832" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0315-1024x811.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="811" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117832" class="wp-caption-text">Mark and the homeowner</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117831" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117831" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117831" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0261-1024x833.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="833" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117831" class="wp-caption-text">Cemetery along the road of the former military base in Trieste</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_117830" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117830" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-117830" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VeniceItalyBW0256-1024x828.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="828" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117830" class="wp-caption-text">Mark with our new friends outside the home in Trieste where he was born.</figcaption></figure>
<p>What a wonderful trip and such great memories. I don’t know what to say about the Mamiya 7. Incredible camera for travel. Small but with beautiful 6X7 negatives. Tiny but brilliant lenses. When I shot slide film with it the results looked like stained glass windows. &nbsp;The only sadness is that after moving to digital and leaving the magazine I wasn’t shooting the Mamiya any more. It sat in a case on a shelf for a few years before I sold off the two bodies and four lenses. Sold off for pennies. Now I couldn’t afford to buy it all back it’s become so expensive.</p>
<p>A long time friend and fellow photographer made beautiful darkroom prints from many of my negatives from the shoot. She’s a master printer and toned them beautifully. They are well framed and form a collection in the dining room of our home. I scanned the negatives for this with my Canon camera. I tried to tone them similar to what she did with chemicals. I did not achieve the rich today beauty and depth she did.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/22/08/2026/plus-x-and-a-mamiya-7ii-in-venice/</link>
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<pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2026 09:00:50 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Art Meripol</author>
<category>Photos & Projects</category>
<category>Kodak Film</category>
<category>Kodak Plus X</category>
<category>Mamiya 7</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>Olympus Pen F – Third Time Lucky? My Olympus Pen Saga</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Pen-FT-scaled.jpg" alt="Olympus Pen FT" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>Olympus Pen FT</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>When ... |
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<item>
<title>5 Eclipse Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Planar 50mm f2 lens…</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7503-its-still-bright.jpg" alt="5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>…on a Sony A7Riii. In addition I had a “K&amp;F Concept Nano-K variable ND 2-400″ filter which I used set to maximum for the eclipse images and one of the other frames. The location was the Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels.</p>
<p>Anyone who has seen a partial solar eclipse before knows there is not a lot to see, at least not very well unless you have the right equipment. The eclipse is primarily an opportunity to have a party and/or sacrifice a few virgins to the gods. So that’s what we did – party that is – and play with some of our toys. I met with the “Photoresk” MeetUp group some of whom had brought extensive equipment but several had just come to look.</p>
<p>Having arrived only two days before after a gruelling 27 hour journey door-to-door, and having completely forgotten about the expected solar eclipse, my choice of equipment was limited and not entirely appropriate. I had the camera body and a choice of a 50mm or a 20mm lens. The image size of the sun or moon on a 35mm frame with a 50mm lens is under ½ mm and under 0.2mm with the 20mm lens. In neither case was there going to be an impressive solar image. Knowing the location I knew the 20mm lens would not be necessary so took the 50. The filter – which I had brought along for another task I planned with the 20mm lens – was too large for the 50mm lens but would be useful for visual observation and could be easily hand-held in front of the lens for photographing the sun (although image expectations were not high).</p>
<p>I arrived at 7:15 pm (about an hour before maximum) – the location was already covered with sun worshippers all being remarkably well behaved, quiet and sober.</p>
<figure id="attachment_119222" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119222" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-119222" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7474-arriving-1024x683.jpg" alt="5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-119222" class="wp-caption-text">Arriving – already crowded</figcaption></figure>
<p>The featured image was taken as I left – a few minutes after maximum and the light still noticeably sunset light rather than the bright light of half an hour before. Maximum eclipse reduced the sun’s light (on earth) by 90% – which sounds a lot but the dimmed sun is still far too bright, and potentially dangerous to your eyes, to look at directly.</p>
<p>It took me about 20 minutes to find the group I was signed up to meet – having never met any before it was just a matter of looking for the group with big cameras round their necks. Typical of Brussels the members turned out to include Portuguese, Italian, and Arabic so as always English seems to be the language everyone has to turn to – plus the poor English have no other options available. We chatted for a while about equipment, the type of photography we do and in between we were taking a few photos. I left soon after maximum and on the way back took a shot still holding the ND filter in front of the lens:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<figure id="attachment_119225" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119225" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-119225" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7501-returning-1024x683.jpg" alt="5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-119225" class="wp-caption-text">1/15 second</figcaption></figure>
<p>The eclipse images you will have seen many times before but here goes</p>
<figure id="attachment_119223" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119223" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-119223" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7484-early-stage-1024x683.jpg" alt="5 Frames with a Zeiss Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-119223" class="wp-caption-text">Eclipse about 20 minutes after the start</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_119240" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119240" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-119240" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC7495-maximum-eclipse-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="5 eclipse frames with a Loxia Sonnar 50mm f2 lens" width="1024" height="683" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-119240" class="wp-caption-text">at maximum</figcaption></figure>
<p>The last two images were ……. cropped (extensively)</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/20/08/2026/5-eclipse-frames-with-a-zeiss-loxia-sonnar-50mm-f2-lens/</link>
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<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2026 15:00:15 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Geoff Chaplin</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Event Photography</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 Frames with a Voigtlander 40mm f/2 in Nikon F Mount</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260729_112820.jpg" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></figure><p>I’ve always been a bit of a black sheep when it comes to my personal preferences. Hence my likeness is for a 40mm lens rather than a 35 or a 50. It gives me just enough wide perspective to show the composition, and at the same time, it allows me to be able to get up close to someone and yet, not let it feel like a portrait.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, I love my M6 but I do wish I had a 40mm frame lines on it. Now I do have plenty of cameras but none of them really have a 40mm option, so when I saw the Voigtlander 40mm f/2 option for my Nikon F2, I knew this would be a favorite setup right after my Leica M6 combined with a 35mm lens.</p>
<p>To check the sharpness and the color of this lens I quickly loaded up a Provia 100F in the F2. In the picture below, we just finished summer and I was out on a beach one fine weekend quite excited to take some pictures. Here are the results from that outing.</p>
<figure id="attachment_108273" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-108273" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260026-scaled.jpg"><img class="wp-image-108273 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260026-1024x819.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="819" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-108273" class="wp-caption-text">The kid was trying to look over the fence and it just felt like a perfect picture. Wide enough but still up close and personal.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_108271" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-108271" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260021-scaled.jpg"><img class="wp-image-108271 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260021-1024x819.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="819" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-108271" class="wp-caption-text">This next picture made me chuckle, the person is soaking up the sun but the face is imposed from the magazine instead.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_108274" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-108274" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260027-scaled.jpg"><img class="wp-image-108274 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260027-1024x791.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="791" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-108274" class="wp-caption-text">The pastel colors of this picture were appealing and full of the summer vibe. How could I not take a film picture? Ha!</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_108272" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-108272" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260022-scaled.jpg"><img class="wp-image-108272 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260022-1024x791.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="791" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-108272" class="wp-caption-text">A somber picture? Maybe?</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_108270" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-108270" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260018-scaled.jpg"><img class="wp-image-108270 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/000237260018-1024x679.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="679" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-108270" class="wp-caption-text">The standard giant wheel picture with all the red I wanted.</figcaption></figure>
<p>I was blown away with the results. The lens is tack sharp and it has that character where it represents all the colors as they are supposed to be. Not at any point did I feel that I had to fiddle with the lens, everything is where it’s supposed to be. To me the composition was easy because of that 40mm length. It just felt an extension of myself. I mostly took pictures with aperture ranging from F5.6 to F11 and the results speak for themselves. I’d be interested to hear from anyone else who has shot one of these lenses, or perhaps finds 40mm to work for them so well too!</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/16/08/2026/5-frames-with-a-voigtlander-40mm-f-2-in-nikon-f-mount/</link>
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<pubDate>Sun, 16 Aug 2026 09:00:17 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Mrigank Shekhar</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Fuji Provia 100F</category>
<category>Fujifilm film</category>
<category>Nikon F2</category>
<category>voigtlander 40mm 2.0</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 Frames with a Cameradrama</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/000407680005.jpg" alt="Paris, Ontario" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>Paris, Ontario</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>For a little roadtrip recently, I dusted off an old piece of kit I had lying around still. I thought I had gotten rid of it already, but it appeared stubbornly in a box in the study while I was rummaging around in there, unphazed and untouched, for what I’m sure has been some years now. It looked kind of sad, almost like it was calling out to me “Take me with, I am a good camera, there is still use for me!”. Well alright then. And so I took this cameradrama of a Yashica 230AF, loaded some expired Kodak UltraMax 400, and set out for Paris. Paris, Ontario, that is.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>And a drama it was, as this piece of 1980’s technology couldn’t make up it’s mind on whether it was on or off. Not according to the magnificent LCD screen on top at least, which by the looks of it had a refresh rate (read indicisiveness rate) of 65 million Herz. The shutter button required less pressure than my Olympus XA, and that one goes off just by looking at it. The auto-focus system was so slow I could have easily driven to actual Paris before it decided ‘yoohoo, I have locked onto something’ and some dusty circuitery inside begrudgingly told the mirror to lift up.&nbsp; Yet, once all was said and done, it chirped out some rather decent imagery. The lens is surprisingly sharp and the el cheapo film, in this situation, just worked. Aside from me opening up the camera too eagerly and flaring a few frames, it produced 30+ useable images.</p>
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-117695 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/000407680015-1024x679.jpg" alt="Wait, is that a submarine?" width="1024" height="679" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>Not a bad result for an expired camera with expired film.</p>
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-117696 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/000407680016-1024x679.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="679" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-117697 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/000407680019-1024x679.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="679" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-117698 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/000407680025-1024x679.jpg" alt="Palm trees, in Ontario." width="1024" height="679" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>These pictures were taken whilst driving around from Paris via a few other towns to Port Dover, Ontario. And yes, you saw that right, that was indeed a submarine parked in someone’s backyard.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading!</p>
<p>…these images are part of a larger article on <a href="https://blog.sneakerzoom.ca/2026/06/roadtrip/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sneakerzoom.ca</a>.</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/10/08/2026/5-frames-with-a-cameradrama/</link>
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<pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2026 15:00:17 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Sneakerzoom</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Kodak Film</category>
<category>Kodak UltraMax 400</category>
<category>Yashica 230AF</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 Frames with my Porsche… (designed Fujifilm FinePix 6800z)</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IMG_3498.jpeg" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>Screenshot</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>Being that this is the closest to the actual sports car that I’ll probably ever be, I decided to take the ole’ 6800z out for a spin and see what it could do. As I had just finished watching an episode of <em>Top Gear</em> (British version, thank you very much) and cars were top of mind, I chose to make five images of my 2009 Hyundai Sonata V6 fragmenting the car in a somewhat abstract way.</p>
<p>As the history of photography will reveal, there have been instances where a celebrated icon of 20th century design was “in” on how a camera came to be, aesthetically, functionally, and mechanically. The aficionados reading this article will undoubtedly have their virtual hands raised to help with the list but the ones that come to immediate mind are:</p>
<ul>
<li>The 1975 Contax RTS (Porsche Design)</li>
<li>The 1950(s) Ducati Sogno (Ducati)</li>
<li>The 1980 Nikon F3 (Giorgetto Giugiaro)</li>
<li>The 2012 Pentax K-01 (Marc Newson)</li>
<li>The 1997 Rollei QZ (Porsche Design)</li>
<li>The Anscomark M/Ricoh 999 (Raymond Loewy)</li>
<li>The Fujifilm Finepix 4800z/6800z (Porsche)</li>
</ul>
<p>As I said to name a few. There are countless other cameras designed by celebrated designers from other countries whose influence is well documented.</p>
<p>I am fortunate in that my 6800z is almost mint and functions perfectly. This is not the case with many of the Fujifilm CCD cameras of the era who were victims of early sensor death leaving the camera virtually useless (The notorious F700 comes to mind)</p>
<figure id="attachment_116842" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116842" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-116842 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IMG_0014-1024x413.jpeg" alt="" width="1024" height="413" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-116842" class="wp-caption-text">The three states of the 6800z; “Hello” “Goodbye” and ”Zzzzzzzzzzz!”</figcaption></figure>
<p>Despite its famous and talented designer, the Fujifilm Finepix 6800z does not share the same unabashed “drive-ability” of the Porsche, itself. The camera is somewhat unwieldy, difficult to grip effectively, and falls short considerably as a shooter. And while that does limit the camera’s usefulness compared to, let’s say, an X-Pro2, one cannot possibly deny that this is a very cool camera. Hitting the power button on the 6800z treats you to a lovely welcome message, and a mechanical lens cover snapping open allowing the 3x optical zoom to come to attention. Concluding your photo session means a final salutation (See You! – in a somewhat “Prisoner”-like fashion) and that same zoom lens returning to its lair. Honestly, one could simply watch the lens door open and close all day which I’m sure contributes to a considerable failure rate on the used camera market.</p>
<p>As mentioned above, the 6800z is not a particularly easy camera to shoot with so I relied heavily on the automated features to make my photographs. And as a result of a dim LCD monitor and a tunnel VF, my images are not S.O.O.C but were subject to mild cropping to reach my desired results.</p>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-116886" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/DSCF0013-1024x827.jpeg" alt="Taillight of an automobile" width="1024" height="827" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>The 2009 Hyundai Sonata Limited is an attractive car and the clean lines reflect a certain level of sophistication and drama. This first image depicts the rear tail-light of the car and the V6 plaque referencing the 3.3 litre engine under the hood. The “Old-Man Edition” plaque is a bit of humor nodding to the popular American tradition of the 70’s when companies targeted a specific demographic through subtle variations in a model line. (The irony here is that old men are really the only ones who get the joke) The 6800z did an adequate job of rendering some very nice colors with the strong green of the grass contrasting the blue metallic finish of the Hyundai. The slash of red from the taillight compliments the color pallet nicely.</p>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-116885" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/DSCF0014-1024x741.jpeg" alt="Automobile tire" width="1024" height="741" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">
<p>The 6800z’s 1/1.7” Super CCD captures the detail of this custom wheel. Sadly, one can detect a slight shift in focus towards the center of the frame. As wheels go, this is an okay photograph of one.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-116884" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/DSCF0015-1024x653.jpeg" alt="Front bumper of automobile" width="1024" height="653" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">The State of Ohio has a rear license plate requirement only, which, fortunately, opens up the infinite possibilities of what could be mounted on the front. I let my “nerd flag” fly and chose a reproduction plate from <i>American Grafitti</i> (1973, George Lucas) that hung on the back of Suzanne Somer’s 1956 white T-Bird. And as my fellow nerds will confirm, a truncated nod to Lucas’ first film THX-1138 starring Robert Duvall as the namesake.The full resolution of the 6800z’s (interpolated) 6 MP captured the burst of yellow while still rendering the specular highlights created by the car’s trim.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-116882" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/DSCF0018-1024x785.jpeg" alt="Sunroof of a car" width="1024" height="785" referrerpolicy="no-referrer">The Sonata has a great moonroof. The photograph depicts the strong dynamic of the roof’s relationship to the rest of the car. I like the reflection of the trees in the smoky, mirrored glass. The Fuji did manage to capture the Sonata’s finish even in the slightly “blown-out” highlights of the strong reflection. Overall, I appreciate the juxtaposition and the composition of this shot.</p>
<figure id="attachment_117292" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117292" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-117292 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/DSCF0001-1024x769.jpeg" alt="Car engine" width="1024" height="769" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-117292" class="wp-caption-text"><b>V6 Power!</b></figcaption></figure>
<p>I decided to try the Black &amp; White “Scene” that is one of the 6800z’s offerings. Ànd while it pales in comparison to the Monochrom’s dedicated B &amp; W sensor, it still manages to capture the tonal range of the various components of the Sonata’s engine bay. I really like the subtle difference between the oil dipstick (Screen Left) and the automatic transmission fluid dipstick (Screen right)</p>
<p>So there you have it or “Submitted for your approval” as one might say. Five frames per the imaginatively designed Fujifilm FinePix 6800z. A camera of smiles and quirks. As as I would never expect my 2009 “Old Man Edition” Hyundai Sonata 3.3L Limited to overtake a 911 Carrera off the line, I would never grab the 6800z and expect it to outperform a contemporary mirrorless camera. Owning one is a different story. It makes a wonderful addition to any vintage CCD sensor collection.</p>
<p>And then there’s that magical lens door… slamming open and closed… releasing that 3x zoom and then pulling it back in… over and over…</p>
<p>Michael Kaplan is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. An avid image maker for half a century, Kaplan has finally sworn off Film Photography completely in favor of digital technology. Stay tuned for an account of this fascinating journey!</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/09/08/2026/5-frames-with-my-porschedesigned-fujifilm-finepix-6800z/</link>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.35mmc.com/09/08/2026/5-frames-with-my-porschedesigned-fujifilm-finepix-6800z/</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 09 Aug 2026 09:00:08 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Michael Kaplan</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Fujifilm FinePix 6800z</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 Frames of Parched England with a Panasonic LX100</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/1110680-scaled.jpg" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></figure><p>I started writing a post about some of my compact digital cameras the other day and have gotten bogged down in my own meandering ramblings about what I do and don’t like about various cameras in the collection. I have too many of the things really, and am planning to have a bit of a clear out. The simple fact is, I think I’d be perfectly content if I just had the Panasonic LX100.</p>
<p>This was brought home to me for the umpteenth time the other day when I took it out with me on a dog walk. I’ve been shooting my Nikon Zf almost exclusively for months now, but decided I couldn’t be bothered with carrying it on this particular day. For the first time in ages, it actually wasn’t too hot outside – just low twenties – which was something of a relief from the heat but also allowed us to take Kippy out in the daytime. We decided a walk on the Old Hills near Callow End in Worcestershire where I live was on the cards – it’s usually pretty quiet there, and there’s plenty of space for Kip to run about and wear himself out.</p>
<p>Despite it being cooler, as I say, I had ditched the bigger Zf in favour of the little LX100. I’m very familiar with the landscape of the Old Hills – we have walked there a lot of times over the last couple of decades. So much so that taking a camera sometimes feels pointless. This is when the LX100 feels like the obvious choice. There are plenty of times when it feels like the perfect camera for taking photos, but it’s also my first choice for when I don’t really have photography in mind. Like, I suspect, a lot of people reading this, I am the of the sort that struggles to leave the house without a camera, so having one I trust that I can just chuck in my little shoulder bag or pocket is a great solution to that bit of anxiety without it being a burden to tote around with me. This was exactly one of those occasions. I didn’t really intend or expect to take many photos on this outing, but I wanted to have a camera just in case the opportunity arose. And in the end, I did find myself inspired to take a few shots.</p>
<p>As always, the LX100 did the job perfectly. I got a few shots I like, but I didn’t really have to think about the process or the camera at all. It’s one of those cameras that just works effortlessly and flawlessly for me. I know exactly where I am at with it at all times. I know where the controls and settings I need to change are, and find myself entirely undistracted by features and settings I don’t need. I know what the wide and long end of the zoom range looks like and have set it so the intermediate range of the zoom is stepped at familiar focal lengths. The screen and the viewfinder could be better, but neither get in the way in use. An articulated screen on the back would make it perfect – but you can’t have it all!</p>
<p>I’m pleased with the results too. There’s obviously a narrative around the parched landscape here – the grass is yellow as there’s been no rain, or at least a vanishingly small amount of the stuff, for months. I’m sure many of us have thoughts about the impact of climate change. These sorts of issues were certainly a part of the conversation between me and my wife as we crunched our way through the crisp, dry grass. I’m used to the views being of rolling green fields. There’s only one other situation this changes and that’s when it snows and the green turns to white. Of course, if I shoot black and white, the green turns to grey, but that’s a choice I make as a photographer. When it snows, or doesn’t rain for months, the landscape is almost equally as changed. When it snows though, that just feels like an aesthetic change. When it doesn’t rain for months, the aesthetic changes, but it feels like there’s a bigger impact on the narrative too…</p>
<a title="Parched Old Hills" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hamishgill/55432960816/in/dateposted/" data-flickr-embed="true"><img class="aligncenter" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55432960816_94cfb60454_b.jpg" alt="Parched Old Hills" width="1024" height="685" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a>
<a title="Parched Old Hills" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hamishgill/55433351950/in/photostream/" data-flickr-embed="true"><img class="aligncenter" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55433351950_85cd76fd68_b.jpg" alt="Parched Old Hills" width="1024" height="685" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a>
<a title="Parched Old Hills" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hamishgill/55431990622/in/photostream/" data-flickr-embed="true"><img class="aligncenter" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55431990622_21f5572a98_b.jpg" alt="Parched Old Hills" width="1024" height="685" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a>
<a title="Parched Old Hills" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hamishgill/55431990682/in/photostream/" data-flickr-embed="true"><img class="aligncenter" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55431990682_0f94d6965a_b.jpg" alt="Parched Old Hills" width="1024" height="685" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></a>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/04/08/2026/5-frames-of-parched-england-with-a-panasonic-lx100/</link>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.35mmc.com/04/08/2026/5-frames-of-parched-england-with-a-panasonic-lx100/</guid>
<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2026 09:00:30 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Hamish Gill</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Panasonic LX100</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 Frames with a Holga 120GN and Kentmere 400 in North Jutland</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026_06_Kentmere400_1600_Holga120GN_-28-von-42-scaled.jpg" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>Negative Lab Pro v3.1.0 | Color Model: B+W | Pre-Sat: 2 | Tone Profile: Linear + Gamma | WB: None | LUT: Frontier</p>
</figcaption></figure><p><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="0">I spent three months working in North </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="30">Jutland this spring, and it became a </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="67">bit of a ritual: whenever friends came </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="106">to visit, I’d take them out hiking either </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="141">along the coast, through woodlands or the dunes. As most of them</span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="180"> weren’t photographers, they came </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="219">for the walks, the wind, and the company, </span>and I didn’t want to be the one holding everyone up while the group drifted ahead<span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="334">. For this reason, I’d grab my easy-going </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="370">Holga 120GN </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="404">instead. It’s a plastic medium-format </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="442">camera that weighs almost nothing and </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="480">costs about as much as a couple of </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="515">rolls of film, and there’s a </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="544">particular freedom in carrying a camera </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="584">you wouldn’t mind losing. I could </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="618">grab a frame in the time it took </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="651">the others to get a few steps down </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="686">the path, then catch up. No fuss, </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="721">no apologies, just a quiet </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="748">souvenir of where we’d been. But could a toy camera really be a serious travelling companion? Here are five frames that made the case.</span></p>
<blockquote><p>The Holga isn’t a camera for making records; it’s a camera for making memories.</p></blockquote>
<h2>My Holga 120GN Set-Up</h2>
<p>If you haven’t met one, the Holga is gloriously simple. It shoots 120 film in 6×6 (or 6×4.5 with the supplied mask), has a single shutter speed of roughly 1/100s, a zone-focus scale of four little icons, and two aperture symbols (sun and cloud) that in practice barely differ. The “GN” means it has the glass lens, in my opinion, a touch sharper than the plastic version. However, you still get the soft corners, heavy vignetting, and unpredictable character that the camera is loved/hated for. By any technical measure, it’s a bad camera, and that’s exactly why I wanted it here: light enough to forget on a long walk, cheap enough that sand, salt spray, and a knock on the rocks didn’t worry me, and limited enough that I stopped fussing and just looked at the landscape.</p>
<figure id="attachment_116024" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116024" style="width: 923px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-116024 size-full" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Image-1.jpg" alt="" width="923" height="923" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-116024" class="wp-caption-text">My weapon of choice: the Holga 120GN, pimped up with a filter thread and a flash.</figcaption></figure>
<p>As an artistic and practical choice, I loaded the Holga with Kentmere 400, rated at 1600, which I developed later in Rodinal (1:60, semi-stand for 1h). I wanted the hard, contrasty, grainy rendering that push-processing and Rodinal give you. In my opinion, this look works really well with the soft rendering of the Holga lens. Of course, a 1600-speed film in a camera with one shutter speed and one aperture is wildly overexposed in daylight, so the filters did the work the camera couldn’t: coloured filters (orange and red) to cut light and darken those skies, and an additional variable ND filter to claw back the excess light. On a Holga, the filter ring is the only exposure control you’ve got (and even this one you have to install by yourself). Keeping things simple, I applied the “sunny-16-rule” for metering (aka reducing my ISO number), which works suprisingly well. But what about my results?</p>
<h2>5 selected frames from my walks:</h2>
<p>My favourite thing about hiking in North Jutland is the network of coastal paths that wind through the dunes, the “<em>klitter”</em>, as they’re called here. These are great drifts of pale sand, anchored by tough marram grass and shaped endlessly by the wind off the North Sea, so the landscape is never quite the same twice. The trails rise and dip over the dune ridges, opening now and then onto the sea, and there’s a wonderful sense of space to them: wide and often empty for as far as you can walk. Stripped down to sand, grass, sky, and sea, this landscape leaves nothing to distract from light and form. Isn’t that what all photographers are chasing? In my opinion, my first frame shows that really well.</p>
<figure id="attachment_116000" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116000" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-116000 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026_06_Kentmere400_1600_Holga120GN_-47-von-42-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-116000" class="wp-caption-text">The coast near Lønstrup on the West Coast: the kind of wide, weather-worn view that defines this stretch of North Jutland. Orange filter to deepen the sky. All images were scanned with a Canon 5D Classic and converted with Negative Lab Pro.</figcaption></figure>
<p>One of my favorite shots from this series was captured in Råbjerg Mile, which is the largest migrating dune in Northern Europe. Some four square kilometres of sand that the wind pushes steadily inland at around 15 metres a year, swallowing whatever lies in its path and uncovering it again on the far side. Standing in the middle of it, you lose all sense of scale, and the frame above works by giving you that scale back through its layers. Here, the Holga’s heavy signature vignette does its magic, while the orange filter presses the sky into something dark and brooding above. I love how the contrast between the bright sand, shadowed grass, and heavy sky makes my eye travel through all three people in the photograph, acting as anchor points and scale.</p>
<figure id="attachment_116004" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116004" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-116004 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026_06_Kentmere400_1600_Holga120GN_-28-von-42-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-116004" class="wp-caption-text">Råbjerg Mile: the largest migrating dune in Northern Europe, a slow river of sand that shifts a little further inland every year. Orange filter to weigh the sky.</figcaption></figure>
<p>A Holga classic is the double exposure (yikes! I hate them). Overlapping frames usually feel like a gimmick to me, a busy mess seldom ending up as something useful, and the Holga’s lack of double-exposure prevention means you get them whether you want to or not. Here, near Skagen, Denmarks northmost city, I forgot to wind on, and the camera happily stacked two pictures on top of each other. But every so often, the chaos lands, and I end up with a double exposure I adore. That’s the strange gift of a camera this crude: it makes mistakes you’d never make on purpose, and now and then one of them turns out better than anything you intended.</p>
<figure id="attachment_116001" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116001" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-116001 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026_06_Kentmere400_1600_Holga120GN_-46-von-42-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-116001" class="wp-caption-text">Somewhere near Skagen. While the red filter darkened the sky for drama, the ghosting was the Holga’s own idea. A double exposure of my girlfriend making her appear half-there, against all that pale space.</figcaption></figure>
<p><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="0">For all that North </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="19">Jutland is defined by its </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="45">coast, it was the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="63">Danish woodlands that </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="85">caught me off guard. One of my favorie places was i</span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="106">nland and is called Rebild Bakker, </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="130">Denmark’s oldest national park located south of its main city Aalborg. It’s a </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="166">rolling landscape of heath and old </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="201">beech forest, where I stumbled across </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="224">something gentler than the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="251">windswept dunes</span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="280">: A lonely</span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="452">&nbsp;great beech in full </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="477">early-season leaf, glowing almost </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="511">white against a darkened sky, with </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="541">the trail running right up </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="568">to its feet as if it had </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="593">been placed there to be </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="617">photographed. The red filter pulled the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="653">sky down and let the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="674">foliage shine, while the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="699">vapour trails crossing </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="722">overhead gave the whole scene an </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="755">unexpected geometry and some nice leading lines. What you can see in the image </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="847">is the Holga at its best: the falloff into the dark corners, the gentle unsharpness, the way the cheap glass lens turns fresh spring foliage into something that glows rather than merely records (also shout-out to the Rodinal glow #freerodinal), flaws on paper that here add up to a kind of quiet magic.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_116003" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116003" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-116003" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/202606_Kentmere400at1600_Holga120GN_RebildBakker.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1021" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-116003" class="wp-caption-text">Rebild Bakker, inland from the coast. The vignette frames the tree like a soft spotlight, and the red filter drops the sky behind it — the plastic lens doing exactly what a sharper one couldn’t.</figcaption></figure>
<p><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="0">I’ll end </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="9">in Rold Skov, one of </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="30">Denmark’s largest forests, where I </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="65">pointed the Holga straight up into </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="100">the sun. Everything a </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="122">“serious” lens is built to </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="149">prevent happened at once: </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="176">flare blooming across the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="202">frame, a round ghost of </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="226">light hovering among the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="251">branches, the whole image </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="277">dissolving into haze at the edges. </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="312">And yet it’s the frame I come </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="342">back to most. The bare canopy </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="372">reaching up, the sun caught flaring </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="408">through it, the soft </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="429">imperfection of it all. Somehow, it holds a </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="465">moment that mattered to me </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="492">in a way a cleaner, more </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="517">technically correct photograph </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="548">never could have. Some </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="571">pictures are good because </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="597">they’re sharp; this one is good </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="629">because it feels like the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="655">day felt.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_116002" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-116002" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-116002 size-large" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026_06_Kentmere400_1600_Holga120GN_-33-von-42-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1024" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-116002" class="wp-caption-text">Rold Skov, shooting straight into the sun. Flare, ghosting, haze. Every “flaw” the Holga is capable of, and the frame I treasure most of the five. Can you recreate that shot with your Hasselblad?</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Closing remark:</h2>
<p><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="0">Looking </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="8">back over these </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="24">five frames, there isn’t much to speak </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="63">of in terms of technical quality or artistic value. Are those among my best photographs? Surely not, but </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="101">they hold the feeling of being </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="132">there. They’re soft, flared, vignetted, </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="172">blurry, and occasionally doubled over </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="210">themselves by accident. To me they </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="250">resemble memories: a little dreamlike, </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="289">a little uncertain at the edges, the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="326">way the recollection of a good day </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="361">actually feels when you reach for it </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="398">months later. Sure, my legendary Rolleiflex</span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="436">&nbsp;gave me a more faithful </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="474">record of North Jutland and some of the </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="514">best darkroom prints I’ve made so far. </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="553">But the Holga gave me something closer </span><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="592">to how I remember it. And I really appreciate that. </span></p>
<p><span class="_animating_6ta1u_10" data-newtext-seq="592">M</span>aybe that’s the point that some of us hating on the Holga are missing: the Holga isn’t a camera for making records; it’s a camera for making memories. Farvel Nordjylland! – I’ll be back soon.</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/21/07/2026/5-frames-with-a-holga-120gn-and-kentmere-400-in-north-jutland/</link>
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<pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:00:55 GMT</pubDate>
<author>fleetwoodler</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Holga 120GN</category>
<category>Kentmere 400</category>
<category>Kentmere Film</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 frames with an Olympus XA</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/PXL_20260623_074816432.PORTRAIT.ORIGINAL-scaled.jpg" alt="Olympus XA" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption><p>Olympus XA</p>
</figcaption></figure><p>Although I have been back into film photography for a year or so, I only recently became aware of the Olympus XA rangefinder camera. Introduced in 1979, with production ceasing in 1985, this camera has now become something of an icon. It features a 35mm f/2.8 lens, a true rangefinder patch (as opposed to the zone focusing of the Minox 35, for example) and has aperture priority metering. Models introduced after 1985 included the XA2, XA3 and XA4, but these were zone focus cameras. The lenses also changed to a slower f/3.5 at 35mm and then 28mm for the XA4.</p>
<p>The camera features a sliding clamshell design, a thumb wheel advance, with aperture and focus controls on the front. A small lever on the base allowing exposure compensation. There is also a facility to choose the ASA rating of your film. In essence, it is a highly pocketable and very respected camera, with many reviewers praising a “tack-sharp” lens.</p>
<p>As with a number of cameras which are becoming popular again, prices can be high, and I often see them for sale for between £150 and £200 if in working order. I decided I would like one, as I love the Minox 35GT, (see one of my previous “Five Frames with…” posts) but not at that price.</p>
<p>Forgetting all about it, and browsing Facebook Market Place one day, I saw a small number of cameras being sold by the brother of someone recently passed away. An Olympus XA was advertised for £20 with no indication whether or not it was working, but with some damage to the rear shutter door. I dropped the seller a message to ask if he knew if it was working or not. He didn’t know, and having acquired a number of “untested” cameras that didn’t work, I politely said I would not go ahead.</p>
<p>The next day I received a message from the seller offering me the camera for free if I covered the cost of postage! I thought that £5 for postage was worth the risk, and the deal was done. The camera arrived a few days later. When it turned up, the damage to the camera door was quite bad. It appeared that someone did not know how to open the back (by the standard lifting of the rewind handle) and had attempted to unsuccessfully prise the back door open with a screwdriver or similar! Thankfully, the back door is made of metal, and a trip to my workshop enabled me to carefully bend the door back into shape, almost perfectly. I popped in a battery and the camera appeared to work correctly! I might have just landed a bargain!</p>
<p>A good clean and new light seals followed, along with a roll of Kentmere 200.</p>
<p>Two trips were made with the camera – the first was to a local Steam Fair in South Molton, Devon, UK. There were a number of classic cars, and this was my favourite, a 1971 Mk1 Ford Escort, which happened to be my very first make and model of car when I passed my driving test.</p>
<figure id="attachment_115853" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-115853" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-115853" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/P6090010-1024x762.jpg" alt="Mk1 Ford Escort" width="1024" height="762" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-115853" class="wp-caption-text">Mk1 Ford Escort</figcaption></figure>
<p>I was also attracted to this Jaguar from 1966.</p>
<figure id="attachment_115857" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-115857" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-115857" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/P6090012-1024x663.jpg" alt="1966 Jaguar" width="1024" height="663" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-115857" class="wp-caption-text">1966 Jaguar</figcaption></figure>
<p>A week or so later, my wife had to travel to Brighton for work, so I tagged along for a couple of days and took the XA on my travels around the town. In the 18th century, King George IV built a residence in the town, which over the years became grander and grander, known as the Royal Pavilion, and this formed the basis of my first few shots here.</p>
<figure id="attachment_115854" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-115854" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-115854" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/P6090041-1024x729.jpg" alt="Royal Pavilion, Brighton" width="1024" height="729" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-115854" class="wp-caption-text">Royal Pavilion, Brighton</figcaption></figure>
<p>Between 1896 and 1899, a new and very grand Pier was constructed. The Brighton Palace Pier is 1,722 feet (525 metres) long. It attracted worldwide attention with Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel both perfomred in the Pier’s Theatre. Funfair rides were added from 1932 and during WWII a section of the Pier was removed due to the fear of German ships being able to use it as a dock! It is now a Grade II Listed Building, which is designed to protect the Pier and its heritage by applying very strict rules about any changes. Still attracting may thousands of visitors, the Pier now costs about £1,000,000 a year to maintain and run.</p>
<figure id="attachment_115855" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-115855" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-115855" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/P6090030-1024x671.jpg" alt="Brighton Palace Pier" width="1024" height="671" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-115855" class="wp-caption-text">Brighton Palace Pier</figcaption></figure>
<p>To finish off I took a walk along the beach. It was a grey, blustery day, but the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) Lifegaurds were on duty ready and waiting for anyone daft enough to venture in the sea and get into trouble.</p>
<figure id="attachment_115856" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-115856" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-large wp-image-115856" src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/P6090033-1024x681.jpg" alt="Royal National Lifeboat Institution Lifeguards Station" width="1024" height="681" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-115856" class="wp-caption-text">Royal National Lifeboat Institution Lifeguards Station</figcaption></figure>
<p>So, another internet bargain has once more added to my ever growing collection of film cameras. I wonder what might be next?</p>
</description>
<link>https://www.35mmc.com/12/07/2026/5-frames-with-an-olympus-xa/</link>
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<pubDate>Sun, 12 Jul 2026 09:00:33 GMT</pubDate>
<author>Daimon Tilley</author>
<category>5 frames with...</category>
<category>Kentmere 200</category>
<category>Kentmere Film</category>
<category>Olympus XA</category>
</item>
<item>
<title>5 frames with a KMZ ZORKI 1 & Industar-22 f3.5/50mm</title>
<description><figure><img src="https://www.35mmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DSC02624.jpg" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></figure><p>Living just 120 miles from Leica AG’s headquarters, I have just bought my first Leitz product at the age of 78. No, not that camera pictured above, but a Leitz Prado 150 slide projector with a slide holder, probably from 1955. It’s in very good condition, presumably rarely used – much like many Leica cameras owned by their first buyers, which usually spent more time in a display cabinet than being taken out for a walk, but were regularly serviced at the Leica factory. That’s what people used to say, without forgetting just how much money it all cost. After all, they’ve got it! At least, that’s the impression I’ve gained over the decades here in Germany. That’s one of the reasons why the Prado 150 is my first Leitz device. I wanted to treat myself to a ‘red dot’ on a piece of kit for a change, especially as it only cost €40. Sorry, I’m digressing.</p>
<p>The cover photo shows a “KMZ Zorki 1”; according to its serial number, it was manufactured in 1955 – specifically the “1e” version with the new shutter speeds. A replica of the Leica II, it was initially produced at the FED factory; however, due to the threat of war in Kharkiv, production |
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@TonyRL all comments are resolved～ could u help take a look again? thanks |
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