tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87179812024-03-16T03:37:05.925-04:00Random Camera BlogMy thoughts and activities in photography, camera collecting, current events, and photographic tips.mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.comBlogger866125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-15304380530097246922024-03-06T13:35:00.004-05:002024-03-06T13:35:50.919-05:00Simple Joys I have been in a bit of a creative slump lately, whether it's writing or making photos. Today, I have felt the best in about a week, after getting over some lower-back issues that had me in a lot of pain and limiting my mobility. Thanks to some stretches, ibuprofen, and heat pad, I now feel pretty good. It's a rainy day, and the daffodils are looking quite good. Spring is mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-14456402144727653932024-02-14T21:07:00.002-05:002024-02-14T21:07:56.769-05:00 Revisiting Tucson with the Ricoh 35ZF In 2021, I purchased this camera from an antique mall in Tucson, but in that incarnation, it was part of a mechanism to record store robberies - as discussed in this post. This time, the Ricoh 35 ZF (ZF= zone focus) returned to Tucson as part of my gear for a week of photography and travel in the Tucson area. Since the meter no longer works, I attached a small hot-shoe meter, mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-61389617226020946742024-02-10T17:16:00.004-05:002024-02-15T10:10:39.783-05:00Don't waste $20 on an onn. cameraWalmart’s Simple 35mm onn. CameraI confess, I made a trip to WalMart- that store that just sucks the life out of you. I had to, so that I could acquire one of the cheapest simple-use 35mm cameras available. After seeing photos of the onn. camera online, I decided that it was time to give one the Random Camera Blog test. So, I went and bought it for $19.98, and the best thing is mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-46865115908295529732024-02-07T14:37:00.000-05:002024-02-07T14:37:06.421-05:00Sonoran Desert in January Sabino Canyon Recreation AreaAdrienne and I flew out to Tucson, Arizona for a week in the Sonoran desert and to also visit with our daughter who lives there. It was perfect timing for us, as the temperatures at home went down into the single digits while we were away. Our original flight plan had to be adjusted due to some delay in Asheville, which resulted in flying from AVL tomfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-31113355850566126232024-01-14T10:45:00.000-05:002024-01-14T10:45:26.729-05:00One Roll Review - Reflx Lab 200TI was recently contacted by Reflx Lab to see if I’d like to try out their 200T 35mm film, and of course, I said yes. There are so many new rebranded films turning up now, that it’s getting hard to keep track of them. In 2022, I reviewed their 400D ECN-2 film which was Eastman Vision 3 250D with the remjet layer already removed, so that it could be processed in any lab mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-14267111906068733732023-12-28T14:15:00.000-05:002023-12-28T14:15:02.526-05:00 2023 - Another great year for film usersMillbrook Diner, Kodak Aerocolor.Here it is, almost the end of December, and it’s a good time to review some events of 2023, both good and bad, that involve film-based photography. In the digital world, it’s all about mirrorless wonders from Nikon, Canon, Leica, Fuji, etc., but over here in film land, we rarely get new film cameras, so we get excited by new film stocks, right? Of mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-7299777965350624122023-12-19T13:01:00.001-05:002023-12-19T13:01:06.133-05:00Twenty Years of Holgas Yes, this is a pitch for my latest issue of Monochrome Mania! First of all, when I started Monochrome Mania in 2020, I had no idea that I would be publishing a 12th issue just a few years later. Yes, for me, it's my creative outlet, and more importantly, I'm able to reach many more people with a zine than with a gallery showing. Twenty Years of Holgas actually startedmfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-78442991067810507822023-12-11T21:28:00.001-05:002023-12-11T22:10:49.691-05:00Harman Phoenix 200 - One Roll Review Like a lot of people, I’ve been curious about Harman’s release of an experimental color film, and like a lot of people, I really had no advance information about it. No, I’m not a YouTube influencer, getting a preview at the Harman factory, nor did they send me an advance info packet. Mike Raso of the FPP sent me a package with two rolls of the Phoenix film, along with the mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-28319800637522562102023-11-29T19:40:00.000-05:002023-11-29T19:40:34.786-05:00Coming soon... FPP's 620 Color!Back in October, I received some rolls of film to test for the Film Photography Project. Two were from a batch of color film rolled onto 620 spools by a vendor for the FPP. What's not to like? How many of us have cameras that use 620 film? Back when I was testing various models for my guide to medium format toy cameras, (Monochrome Mania No. 3 - now out of print), I mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-16327964049107771152023-11-21T15:43:00.002-05:002023-11-21T15:43:49.198-05:00The Lomo Apparat - a quick takeLomography introduced the Apparat 35mm camera in 2022, and while I was somewhat interested in the new camera, its price of $90 was a bit off-putting. Furthermore, it was an all-plastic camera - which isn’t surprising, but I decided a while ago not to jump right on a new Lomography product until I had seen some reviews about it. In October 2023, KEH had a 20% off sale on some film cameras, mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-79328724059070820452023-11-11T17:51:00.001-05:002023-11-12T20:13:12.937-05:00Appreciating a Classic Lens - Nikon’s 50mm f/2 Nikkor-H My Nikon FE with a factory AI'd Nikkor-HOver the years, I have had lenses come and go in my “toolkit” and some lenses become favorites for a time, to be replaced by another another focal length that fits my photographic practice. Early on, it was always a 50mm lens of some sort on whatever camera body you can imagine, and I have used an awful lot of different “normal” lenses. Inmfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-91869370428697059452023-10-17T18:32:00.005-04:002023-10-17T18:32:43.470-04:00 Kodak 2238 and a Rollei 35 TEI first reviewed Kodak 2238 in 2017, and shot it under winter conditions, where the contrast was already quite high. Also known as Kodak Panchromatic Separation Film for use in the cine world, it’s a low ISO film that’s rated at 12-25 ISO, and does not require a special low-contrast developer to get a proper negative. That’s what I like about it, since D-76 and D-96 are my favorite mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-56643800767814189472023-10-15T12:20:00.000-04:002023-10-15T12:20:03.378-04:00 PANOZINE - for PanoramasI’ve been thinking for a long time about publishing a zine dedicated solely to panoramic film images. The first iteration in a way, was the Monochrome Mania issue No. 9 featuring the works of 4 photographers using the Ansco Pix Panorama camera. Instead of being a typical portrait 8.5 x 11” format, I switched the layout to landscape format, so that the page was 11” long and 8.5” high.&mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-32622105469952733592023-10-05T11:57:00.000-04:002023-10-05T11:57:16.342-04:00The Simple Plastic Camera Over the course of a couple of decades of photography, I’ve often extolled the virtues of simple plastic cameras, and with two issues of Monochrome Mania that dealt with medium-format and 35mm simple cameras, I guess I have promoted them as much as anyone can. That doesn’t mean that they are the best cameras, by any stretch of the imagination. But what they do well, is to offer a different mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-38875223798881145782023-09-23T12:29:00.000-04:002023-09-23T12:29:00.493-04:00One Roll Review - Svema MZ3image courtesy of the Film Photography ProjectIt’s been a few years since I have shot with this film that’s available from the Film Photography Project store. I kept putting off shooting with it until I had a little project. I decided to put a roll in my camera bag for my trip up to Ludington, MI last week. I knew that I’d have the opportunity to photograph in the dunes near Lake Michigan, mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-47868493628748650642023-09-07T13:51:00.003-04:002023-09-14T21:43:15.209-04:00 Photographic EchoesDid you ever visit a place, take some photos, and then only later realize the significance of that place in regards to another photographer’s body of work? It’s not like going to, say, Yosemite, fully aware of Ansel Adams’ photographic legacy. Nor is it like going to New York City, that has been the subject of many photographers. How about a “small town”? First, a mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-82248424985603449882023-08-28T14:21:00.006-04:002023-08-28T14:21:37.429-04:00 One Roll Review - Lomochrome Color '92I have to hand it to the minds at Lomography. Whatever sources they have, or partnerships with film manufacturers, they have been able to come up with some films that simply defy convention and encourage experimentation by photographers. I'm not sure where this latest release stands in the world of C-41 films that Lomography has come up with, but when I saw it available, I purchased three mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-40932251791632990322023-08-23T13:39:00.002-04:002023-08-23T13:39:52.448-04:00 One Roll Review - SHD 100 ProLast month, I stopped into my local photography store - Ball Photo, in Asheville, NC. I bought a few rolls of film that I hadn’t seen before, and one of them was SHD Pro 100. I was a little surprised, as I thought that Lucky film in China had disappeared from the scene, so I was certainly curious and eager to try this film.The box containing the film has an expiration date of October mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-34853475693312511972023-08-04T22:24:00.002-04:002023-08-04T22:37:39.162-04:00Among The Trees - My latest issue of Monochrome Mania I've been publishing Monochrome Mania since January 2020, and every issue has had a different focus. My latest, Among The Trees, is the 11th issue, and I've put a lot of thought into it. First of all, I limited it to images made since 2018, which certainly made choosing the photographs a lot easier, and not having to go back over 20 years for source material. Secondly, most of mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-57890378668913016702023-08-02T14:44:00.001-04:002023-08-02T14:44:51.263-04:00 Retro Digital - The Nikon Coolpix 5000The E995 - 3.2 MP system cameraHiyotada, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia CommonsBack at the turn of the millenium, Nikon wowed us with the Coolpix 950 (E950) - a nearly 2 megapixel digital camera with an unmistakable twist - the body swiveled to provide the user with a more stable handling, while the lens section was pointed at the subject.mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-53746003847438646142023-07-19T15:12:00.002-04:002023-07-19T15:12:29.384-04:00The new, stylish Reflx Lab Light Meter Last month, I received a nice little package from Reflx Lab. In it, was a sample of their new accessory light meter for me to evaluate. Over the course of several weeks, I kept the meter on my black-bodied Pentax Spotmatic SP, and used it to shoot three rolls of film. In the past 4 years or so, a lot of small shoe-mounted light meters have come on the market. Inmfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-5036589179593870032023-07-10T11:41:00.000-04:002023-07-10T11:41:41.291-04:00The Kodak C300R - camera and mini-printerAbout a month ago, I finally purchased a Kodak Minishot 3, 2 in 1 Retro Instant Digital Camera and Photo Printer - hereafter known as the C300R. I bought it on Amazon with 6 cartridges of “film” for $130. The main reason for the purchase is that the C300R is not only a camera with an instant printer, but it also functions as a Bluetooth-connected printer for my iPhone. What mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-27440278406767951042023-07-08T11:31:00.001-04:002023-07-08T11:32:42.661-04:00 One Roll Review - Reflx Lab Pro 100I was in my local camera store and recently picked up a roll of Reflx Lab Pro 100 C-41 film. I have previously shot with their 400 ISO C-41 film and it was early days for Reflx Lab at that time. Now, with more experience, and more offerings, Reflx Lab is no longer some unknown little company based in China. It’s obvious that their excellent packaging (love those aluminum mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-16601075165376857812023-07-04T08:03:00.000-04:002023-07-04T08:03:29.443-04:00 One Roll Review - Elektra 100One thing that’s really become apparent in the past few years is the rebranding of film stocks from various sellers. For example, you’ll find Fomapan 100 rebranded as no less than 8 different films. In the color film world, it's generally been rebranding of Kodak ECN-2 films - some with the remjet removed, such as with Cinestill and Reflx Lab. However, some recent introductions have been a mfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8717981.post-31710474430183718242023-06-22T17:46:00.013-04:002023-07-01T16:16:18.958-04:00 Kodak, TennesseeEver since we moved to western North Carolina, I have been interested in exploring and photographing many of the small towns that are in the surrounding counties. However, once I found out there was a town in Tennessee named Kodak, I knew that I had to visit it to satisfy my curiosity, sort of like when I went to Mongo, Indiana in 2018. So, after yesterday, I can delete Kodak, TN frommfophotoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.com0