Just a few streets away from where I live sits the subject of our focus today. But why is a former windmill in a small Scottish town listed ?
Well by 1836 it would have certain device installed in it. That device was a camera obscura which gave us the modern word ‘camera’. Continue reading A BRIEF HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY BY OBJECTS – 2 – Former Windmill 1700’s
This was a chance finding on eBay earlier this year and on paper what’s not to like. Also known as the RZ-3000, the Shotmaster 130Z, or the Q-130Z, this is a Ricoh compact but in zoom format. it’s as cheap as chips and feature laden including Passive AF. But did it live up to the promise of being a bargain for those of us who can’t afford a GR1 ? Sadly on the 2 rolls I shot, it’s a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde number. And that’s not just down to the optics.
Continue reading 1 roll good one roll bad -Tentative Ricoh Myport 330 Super Review
There’s been quite a lot of good articles over the last 7 days so picking is hard. But here’s my ten best film photography reads for the week. Continue reading THE READING ROOM – NEWS & THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED (WEEK 6: 31st AUG – 6th Sept)
This is my take on the history of photography from the earliest days to now. In slight hommage to Neil MacGregor’s seminal A History of the world in a 100 Objects, I’m going to do this by using actual objects that still exist in the world. We begin with the first self portrait (aka a selfie) Continue reading A brief History of Photography by Objects – 1 – A self portrait of a Man 1839
Week 5 brings us everything from pioneering century spanning photography to one of the most sought after current films. We also head into space thanks to Kodak and if you think it’s sacrilege to chop up a folder look away now ! Plus another farewell to acros and a new Yashica ?
All this and more. Continue reading THE READING ROOM – NEWS & THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED (WEEK 5: 24-30TH AUG)
In both film and digital land there’s some bargains to be had in the second hand market. This blog like many has focused on the bargains to be had in the analogue world but few discuss older digital cameras in the same way (a notable exception being our sometimes guest writer Dan James over at his 35hunter blog). But can you make a real comparison ?
Continue reading 99p SLR v bargain bucket dSLR challenge – Nikon F55 v Nikon D50
A short list this week as the blogs sphere has been fairly quiet. But come as we step back in time to look at the birth of those lo-fi plastic pushing Austrians, Walk through the streets of Paris and discover more about quartz date. We even manage to see 127 film in action and learn how to load a Paterson tank. And is the new Polaroid as good as the old Polaroid ?
Continue reading THE READING ROOM – NEWS & THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED (WEEK 4: 17-24th AUG)
This is nostalgia for me. Th Smena was first proper camera I got given to me as a child although in its UK Export guise as the Cosmic Symbol. But enough nostalgia for the mo….. If you fancy a vintage styled fully manual P&S with FSU character then this could be for you. Continue reading The Cosmic Comrade – A 1 roll Review of the Lomo Smena (Cosmic) Symbol
I’m a bit more on the ball this week. So in this guide to news, reviews and stories you may have missed from the last 7 day, we’ll travel from the early days of photo Journalism to the imminent rebirth of a classic and find time to muse over our GAS problems and our shots from yesteryear. Some of this will be beyond the usual spectrum and we’ll be left asking what to do with that last roll…
Although the thunderstorms and rain of the last weeks paint a different picture, the UK has basked under some of the best Summer weather ever seen. That luckily coincided with my time off in what’s known as the Golden Fortnight. So I though for something different I’d chart my photographic experience. Here’s my journey in the first of 4 parts Continue reading Shooting in the Golden Fortnight – Part 1 YouthBeatz
