Classic Camera Revival

That's right, we're doing it again with another episode about zoom lenses. While many of us are prime lens sort of people, a zoom lens can offer up a lot of versatility when we either don't want to or cannot, due to space constraints, bring a selection of prime lenses. So with this episode, each of our team members brings up a trio of zoom lenses with the following criteria, one that surprised them with how good it worked, one that they will always reach for, and finally, one that sucked so hard they wanted to toss it in the Hudson River. Please note we had some audio issues with this episode due to equipment issues.

From Plus-X to Panatomic-X and Fujifilm colour stocks, join Alex, Bill and James as they discuss their favourite discontinued film stocks and what they try and do to recreate the magic. While far from perfect, there is a lot you can do with modern emulsions to recreate those looks you enjoyed in the past. Plus, a discussion around how Alex can get that Panatomic look without paying for TMax 100 and retain a classic grain structure. Plus, there was a bit of discussion around what film we'd want to bring back, the new Ferrania P33, and some developer discussion. It's a classic CCR roundtable episode.

While we're still far from summer vacation, many people are already starting to figure out where they're going on holidays this year. As photographers, especially film photographers, it can be challenging to choose what camera(s) to bring and how to keep things to a minimum! There is a temptation to bring everything plus the kitchen sink along for the ride, and if any member of the CCR team knows this full well, it's Alex. But when space is limited, and extra bags cost airlines money, we may need to rethink and start packing a little lighter. This is a follow-up to the original episode recorded in 2015, where Alex discusses his travels in Europe from Europe. But this time around, with another ten years of experience and often some back-breaking loadout, he sits down for a solo show and discusses some ideas on how to travel lighter and get the most bang from a slimmed-down kit.

Family albums, photo projects, books and double exposures. Jess, Chrissie, and Alex all sit down with the talented local Toronto photographer Tawnya Mahoney for our ongoing interview series. If you haven't had the chance to check out Tawnya's feed, you're in for a treat, as her work is intentional, ethereal, and inspired, not to mention her inspired captions that go along with her images. There are lots of double exposures, experimental and wild. And yes, there is a lot of fanning from our host team! And, of course, the usual chat about gear, first cameras, home development, scanning and film choices. Check out Tawnya on Socials: Instagram: instagram.com/phototee83 Threads: threads.net/@phototee83

When it comes to Nikon, tons of cameras and lenses are available, and you might feel a bit frozen when making that choice and where to jump in. Well, we aren't going to hide that we're a bunch of Nikon fanboys, so Bill and Alex sit down for a bit of a meandering episode talking about some good places to start when buying Nikon cameras. From the original rangefinders to the mechanical and hybrid SLRs of the 1950s to 1980s. And, of course, the brilliant AF models of the 1990s and 2000s. There's something here for everyone.

Even though this year's winter has not exactly been the best so far, with the lack of snow and almost a continuation of the weather we expect through November, the CCR gang isn't letting that stop them from getting out and enjoying the weather put also preparing for when we finally do get some wonderful winter days with sun and snow. From film to cameras, clothing to best practices, James, Alex and Bill break it all down for when it's cold outside.

As part of revisiting some of our classic episode topics, this episode traces itself back to Season 2, Episode 13. The idea is that it is more important to invest in a lens system for your interchangeable lens systems; camera bodies are often cross-compatible once you're in the mount. Camera bodies come, and camera bodies go, but lenses are forever. In today's episode, each host will discuss a lens system they invested heavily in for their 35mm and 120 systems. While many of us have multiple systems, it would be an incredibly long episode if we all discussed every system. Today, we're talking about two Nikon systems, the autofocus and manual focus (mainly AI(-S)), Canon FD system, Olympus OM-System (manual focus), and in medium format, Pentax 67, Mamiya RB, Mamiya C-Series (TLR), and Mamiya m645!

We're kicking off season ten with a little game, which is much harder than it sounds! Join Alex as he sits down with Daren from Learn Film Photography, Dmitri from Analog Cafe, and Yvonne Hanson, a fashion photographer and YouTuber who are the force behind the online game "What the Film", a game that pits your knowledge of film stocks against the images created by members of the online community. The conversation also spills over into discussing everyone's plans for 2024, what got them into photography and a little tasty camera made from Gingerbread. You can play the game at https://www.analog.cafe/app/what-the-film and see how you stack up. You can also find a couple of demos online: YouTube (Learn Film Photography): youtube.com/watch?v=4yVNyTqXerQ YouTube (Yvonne): youtube.com/watch?v=VBjHHT9dI5k Darren Web: www.learnfilm.photography Instagram: instagram.com/learnfilm.photography YouTube: youtube.com/@LearnFilmPhotography Yvonne Hanson Web: yhansonphotography.ca/blog Instagram: instagram.com/yhanson_photography YouTube: youtube.com/@YvonneHansonPhotography Dmitri Web: www.analog.cafe Instagram: instagram.com/analog_cafe YouTube: youtube.com/@analog_cafe

Well, we made it to the end of another year, and the whole team is back around the table for one final episode, including a special guest, John Meadows. If you remember, at the start of the year, we all shared some of our photographic and personal goals, so we're coming back around and sharing how we all did. Not to feel guilty if we didn't make it but rather to be encouraging. The team also discusses the joy of photography and what photography can bring during the holiday season. Here are some handy links for those new to the show this season! CCR Episode Archive: alexluyckx.com/blog/classic-camera-revival-episode-list CCR Facebook Page: facebook.com/classiccamerarevival CCR Instagram: instagram.com/classiccamerarevival Our host's Instagram Accounts John Meadows (Emeritus): instagram.com/johngmeadows James Lee: instagram.com/james.lee.photo Bill Smith: instagram.com/wbsmith200 Jess Hobbs: instagram.com/jesshobbsphoto Alex Luyckx: instagram.com/alexluyckxphoto Chris Wu: instagram.com/wutography

The Frugal Film Project is a collective photography challenge to help reign in the cost of photography. Starting in 2018, it encourages using budget cameras, lenses, and film over a year. The framework in which those participating work includes a camera/lens that costs no more than 75$ (USD) and a relatively inexpensive film (no Portra). And shooting one roll of film a month. Bill has been participating in this for several years now. This year marked the first time Alex joined in, so we're bringing in a small cross-section of those who participated in a couple of chats on today's episode. This is the first time CCR has done a round-table 'open source' style episode, so it is split into two parts recorded on two separate days. If you want to join in on next year's FFP, you can head over to the Facebook group and join in the fun! To Find the Frugal Film Project... Facebook: Official FFP Facebook Group Instagram: instagram.com/frugalfilmproject Web: rr1photography.com The Original 'Zine: magcloud.com

Throughout its history, Nikon cameras have been primarily aimed at the professional market, from their stunning rangefinders in the S-Range to the original Nikon F and beyond. However, the mid-century and post-war economic boom brought a new group of photographers, the advanced consumer. Now, hobbyist photographers have always been around. These new photographers want access to the same quality cameras and optics as the professionals. And while Canon and Minolta were certainly starting to fill that gap, Nikon wanted a piece of the action. While their initial offerings under the Nikkorex line fell flat, save the Nikkorex F, it was their second attempt, the Nikkormat or Nikkomat line of SLRs, that proved to be successful. And these lovely cameras make for an excellent addition to any Nikon photographer. What set these cameras apart is that Nikon went with the Copal Square shutter for each camera, starting with the Nikkorex F rather than building in-house shutters. Also, the Nikkormat EL is the first Nikon camera with a semi-automatic exposure system. Overall, the Nikkormat line was replaced by the small-form-factor SLRs of the FM and the FE. Nikkormat FT (1965) - The Original Nikkormat body that featured a full F-Mount (Pre-AI) and a metered prisim using the same metering technology as the Nikon Photomic T metering head. Nikkormat FS (1965) - An unmetered version of the Nikkormat FT. Nikkormat FTn (1967) - An improved version of the Nikkormat FT, it now uses a classic 60/40 center-weighted metering. An improved match needle display in the viewfinder. The FTn underwent a number of changes over the course of the camera's production that lasted for nearly a decade. Nikkormat EL (1972) - Uses a CdS meter cell and provides semi-automatic aperture priority auto-exposure. Nikkormat FT2 (1975) - Rolled all the improvements of the FTn into a single camera, and changed the power source from a mercury cell to a silver oxide cell. Nikkormat ELW (1975) - Basically the same camera as the EL, but added the contacts for the AW-1 autowinder. Nikkormat FT3 (1977) - Basically took everything from the FT2, but updated the mount to accept the new AI lenses natively. Nikon EL2 (1977) - An improved ELW, with a SPD metering cell, AI lens support (native).

It's been a while since we've interviewed a fellow film photographer, and today, joining Bill and Alex, is Suzanne Pedersen, a Colorado-based photographer who loves film! And you may have heard her on the Gen-X Photography Podcast! In the episode, we talk about Suzanne's journey as a photographer, a little Nikon GAS and some talk about going to a large format camera. You can find more of Suzanne's Work Online Web: https://www.suzannepedersen.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/b.roll.backup/ Gen-X Photography Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gen-x-photography/id1494585131

In my experience, there's no such thing as luck - Obi Wan Kenobi From an RB67 purchased behind a Tim Horton's Dumpster, a sketchy FM, endless Polaroid Cameras, and an over-engineered German Camera, the team at CCR have had some bad luck. So today, for our Friday the 13th Episode, we're digging into our unlucky cameras, films, and developers. But we're also discussing ways to make our luck through careful planning, strategic retreats and experimentation.

Everyone knows and loves the various cameras: FM, FE, FM2, FM2n, and FE2. But there are a series of cameras that are part of the minor F's that make some significant technological splashes and some belly flops that are generally not as well known or are out of reach of the average photographers. These cameras were used to experiment with new technologies before they hit the big times with professional cameras. First is the Nikon FG, produced from 1982 to 1984; it was the first camera from Nikon to have full auto-exposure and semi-automatic and metered-manual modes. The Nikon FA, released in 1983, had a new matrix-metering system that used an internal CPU to determine the exposure based on multi-pattern detection. Produced from 2001 to 2006, the FM3a is the perfect hybrid of the FE2 and FM2n; it is a fully electro-mechanical camera with semi-automatic aperture priority metering and functions as a manual camera when no battery is present. And then there is the FM10, a camera in Nikon name and mount only, aimed as back-to-basic student cameras that were contract builds from Cosina and based on the Cosina CT1 Super but with several customizations not available on the stock model. These included the Nikon F-Mount, depth-of-field preview, meter activation button, and multi-exposure override. Released in 1995, they remained on the market until 2015.

The world of SLRs changed with the release of the OM-System from Olympus. It proved you could have a professional, high-end SLR in a small package. Nikon, at the time, was producing high-end but large cameras. While the F and F2 were solid performers in the professional market, their Nikkormat line of cameras proved popular. It would make the perfect camera to scale down to produce the next generation of advanced consumer SLRs. It also helped the Nikon recently did their first update on the iconic F-Mount, introducing Automatic Indexing or AI. This mount was first introduced in the final two models of the Nikkormat line, the FT3 and EL2. Nikon released the Nikon FM in 1977, an all-mechanical, metered manual camera, and the FE, a semi-automatic aperture priority camera 1978. These were followed up by improved models, the FM2 in 1982 that upped the shutter speed to 1/4000s but retained full mechanical metered-manual operation. It was superseded in mid-1983 by the FM2n that made some minor adjustments, notably changing the sync speed from 1/200s to 1/250s. The FE2 in 1983 carried over similar specs to the FM2n but maintained the aperture-priority metering. While the FE2 ceased production in 1987, it remained on sale until 2001. The FM2n, however, did change to an aluminium shutter in the early 1990s and remained in production until 2001. Cameras In Today's Show

The whole team is on board for this one! Together we have enough kit to open up a small camera shop or a museum at least, but one of the hardest things many photographers face is when faced with all that gear; what do you bring along? Well, it does all depend on the situation at hand. So in today's episode, join Bill, James, Jess, Chris, and Alex as they hash out what they would bring into some familiar, strange and downright weird photographic situations. The team discusses their choices for the following conditions: cameras to lenses and film to developers.

While we have given cameras like the F, F2, and F3 their own separate episodes, the final three "Big F's" in Nikon's lineup were more evolutions of each other and were a radical departure from the previous manual cameras of the group. So on today's episode, we dig into the F4, F5, and the F6 to wrap this series up (finally). Like the original F, the F4 did not come out of a vacuum but rather from a combination of other cameras that acted as proof of concepts. The first is the Nikon FG which gave Nikon their first complete AE SLR, then the Nikon FA, which offered Matrix metering, and finally, the F-501, which introduced the original form of autofocus. These all culminated in 1988's Nikon F4. Again turning to the design first of Giroetto Giugiaro, the new design was big, bulky, and retained much of the manual control surfaces that many photographers were used to during this period. The camera won a design award that year, and despite being polarising, it proved that professional cameras could have full AE, integrated motor drives and, more importantly, autofocus. The F4 also has matrix metering; you could add a 250-shot magazine, use pre-AI lenses, and swap out the battery grips to add specific features and increase the frame rate in burst mode. The main weak point in the camera is the autofocus; it's far from perfect and often described as slow in a modern context. But already looking forward, in the early 1990s, Nikon was again improving their cameras. Using things like the F90(x) to move to more buttons, menus and dial-style interface and building a single unibody camera, the F5 arrived in 1998. The F5 proved to be the ultimate culmination of all the previous cameras. An improved 3D Colour Matrix Metering, limited support for manual focus lenses, but full autofocus support even for the new G-Type lenses. Plus, support for AF-S and VR-equipped lenses. The unibody design housed the 8 AA batteries. But unlike previous cameras, there were limited abilities to modify the camera. You could swap out the prism heads and add a databack (the MF-28 is the one you want), but that was about it. But the F5 left a lasting impression as the unibody design was carried over to the first pro digital SLR, the D1 and continued well into the last pro-SLR, the D5. But most pros had gone digital when the F5 ended production in 2004. But there was still a market segment that wanted to shoot 35mm. Meet the F6, a film camera born out of the digital age. With a look and feel similar to the digital SLRs of the era, the D2x and D200, this camera is chock-full of the best metering, autofocus, and other features. Plus, you could add or remove the battery grip to ensure the best use of space. And you had far better support for manual focus lenses (just not pre-AI), with full 3D Colour Matrix Metering. These days all three cameras are excellent performers; it's a matter of figuring out what you want.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Toronto Film Shooters Meetup. Our co-founder Alex started the initiative and noticed a post on the old APUG Toronto subforum wanting more film photography-centred meetups in the GTA. Having co-hosted an APUG/FPP meetup in May 2011, attended another APUG event later in the month. And also having attended Photostock in 2012 along with a 2013 APUG events in North-East Ohio. He felt ready to start organizing a large-scale regional event four times a year. So in July 2013, the very first TFS event took place at Toronto's Evergreen Brick Works. And while the group has grown and changed and even survived a global pandemic, it is still a driving force within the film photography community through the GTA and beyond! You can check out Alex's photos from the event on Flickr. Looking to join a future walk, or just like the idea of the TFS, you can join our group on Facebook! Or make sure to check out Toronto Analog Friends over on Instagram and join their Discord for meetup details.

In today's episode, we are happy to welcome Kelsey Smith to the podcast. If you haven't been paying attention to Social Media, Kelsey is a relative newcomer to the Internet and is busy outputting a tonne of online and physical content. Kelsey's work is beautiful, bordering on nostalgia, and he even recently released a new book on his hometown. So please tune in and hear about Kelsey's journey and his application of Psychology & Sociology in their photography. You can pick up a copy their book through the website! Web: kelseysmithphotography.net Instagram: instagram.com/kelseysmithphotography Facebook: facebook.com/KelseySmithPhotos YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UChw7eVEUtSgLaL0VpXR_niA Twitter: twitter.com/NotKelseySmith

Joining Bill, James, and Alex is the dynamic duo, Jeff and Gabe, the folks behind the I Dream of Cameras podcast. Together they talk about all things gear, from the X-Pan to the rare Ilford Witness. Other head-turning cameras, even the simple Canon EF-Mount, and Nikon F-Mount. And a rant against electronic cameras. Life in Northern Ontario from Muskoka to the far north. You can follow along IDC at the following spots. Web: idreamofcameras.com Instagram: instagram.com/idreamofcameras YouTube: youtube.com/@IDreamofCameras Twitter: twitter.com/idreamofcameras