Recently I picked up this thread about finding some 120 year old glass plates in a time capsule and watched the video on YouTube which was pretty fascinating and worth the watch them printed with Cyanotype. Honestly I’m pretty amazed that glass plate negatives from 120 years ago could print so well, and not at all surprised the that image was of the family pet, but pretty impressed with the craft employed by the photographer… getting correct exposure and compositionRead more
A Brief History of the Camera Flash, From Explosive Powder to LED Lights
Here’s a 2nd good article that covers some information on photographic flash bulbs. The first known photograph was captured in 1826 when light reacted with a particular type of asphalt known as Bitumen of Judea. Since that first natural Source: A Brief History of the Camera Flash, From Explosive Powder to LED LightsRead more
Flash Bulbs – The Lowdown! – The Film Photography Project
Many of the older flash bulbs had more power than electronic camera mounted flash units and some argue better quality of light. I’ve not used them much, but am really curious. Here’s an article on the Film Photography Project page that I read recently after a customer asked me about where to find flash bulbs. The Lowdown on Flash Bulbs Guest blog by Steve Ringrose Editor’s Notes: Millions of vintage cameras (especially the Kodak Instamatic cameras here in the USRead more
Zenit-E review – Kosmo Foto
Here’s a great review of perhaps the best selling SLR camera in the last century that maybe you never heard about? Definitely worth a read. These days these cameras are really inexpensive on Ebay and you even can get more modern versions with motor drive for about $140 with a f/2.0 lens Kosmo Foto review of the Soviet Zenit-E SLR camera, one of the cheapest M42-mount SLRs available. Source: Zenit-E review – Kosmo FotoRead more
Reviewing the Rolleiflex 2.8GX Expression 75 years edition (it’s gold!) – By Aivaras Sidla | EMULSIVE
Really great and thorough article on Emulsive about the Rolleiflex 2.8GX by Aivaras Sidla. Let’s start with the elephant in the room – this camera comes with some serious bling. It is in fact, a special gold-dipped version officially called the “Rolleiflex 2.8GX Expression 75 years edition”. Source: Reviewing the Rolleiflex 2.8GX Expression 75 years edition (it’s gold!) – By Aivaras Sidla | EMULSIVERead more
Wikipedia’s List of Photographic Films a great reference
Source: List of photographic films – Wikipedia Recently I landed on this great and very complete film stock reference page at Wikipedia and thought I’d share it. What makes it so useful is one can quickly find the particular characteristics of each film stock, ie. fine grain, pushes to ISO 3200, etc. If you find yourself wanting to test different emulsions coming out or happen like me to get old film stock in lots of cameras and want to knowRead more
F-stop, T-stops and even H-stops
I’ve been reading about the differences between T-stops which are based on the measured amount of light as opposed to a calculated f/stop, and I’ve found this wikipedia page to be super useful. Wikipedia.org page on F-numbers Check it out as it has lots of great information including all the math formulas and other useful information – and btw T-stops take in account the efficiency of the lens and can be different from a calculated f/stop because most lesses only transmitRead more
“The Russian Portrait Monster”: Helios 40-2 1.5/85 | hispan’s photoblog
Today I’d like to share a really great photo blog that I discovered while researching Russian lenses. The blog started and run by Krisztián Horváth with input from others is really excellent as are his photos. I’m linking to an article about the Zenit Helios lenses since I’m working with the new restructured Krasnogorsky Zavod PJSC (Zenit KMZ) to import new lenses and cameras for resale in the US via Zenit Lenses US. Anyhow, back to Hispans Blog, I’ve neverRead more
Source: Filmtypes – Explore the world of analog film This is a really useful film comparison site….and I think it will improve as more reviews are added. Hope they add sheet film! I almost never shoot 35mm, but only 120 and LF films….Read more
Fantastic article on panoramic cameras at Only Images
Article on Panoramic cameras and the Zenit Horizont KMZ Because I’m now importing Zenit Lenses and cameras I’ve been reading up on their older products like the Horizon panoramic camera. This article about panoramic cameras by Walter Lungov on his website Apenasimagens.com is truly fantastic! Make sure to check out his other articles too! I know I’ll be reading through them all.Read more
4D Printing Already? | HP® Tech at Work
What is 4D printing? The 4th Dimension in printing is time or change over time – objects that can be printed in 3D that change properties over time or in reaction to external stimuli. Wow! Think of the possibilities! The link below has some details on what HP is doing with this tech. Source: 4D Printing Already? | HP® Tech at WorkRead more
Optical Illusion Makes People See Color When They Look at B&W Photos
Source: Optical Illusion Makes People See Color When They Look at B&W Photos This is absolutely fascinating to me. It just goes to show how powerful our imagination is and also makes you wonder what other things your subconscious mind is filling in for you.Read more