In the past couple of weeks we’ve had some really cool stuff on the blog. The thing I am most excited about still is the ability to turn negative film into slides. I know we I covered it a week ago, but it you didn’t check it out already, be sure to pay dr5.com a visit and see our review of the process here. I think this is such an important process to preserve and something everyone should try.
On the Blog
© Cheyenne Morrison
Since then we had a a great review by Cheyenne Morrison on our blog about the Canonet QL17. This camera oozes vintage cool as Cheyenne points out and can be a great option for someone look for a small but high quality camera. From what I heard, more than one person was on the hunt for the QL17 after reading the review. Kevin Lim also contributed some great photos for the review so be sure to check it out.
“For me the attraction to buying this camera was its classis 70s styling. When I take this out around the town, it elicits admiration from people who don’t even know anything about cameras. There was a saying in the early days of flight that if a plane “looked right, it will fly right”. Well this little camera just looks the business, a no-nonsense camera, which just oozes vintage style. For me, who grew up in the 60s and 70s modern camera no matter how good the quality of the image just feel like cheap, plastic rubbish. There is something extraordinary satisfactory in holding a rangefinder camera; the weight and metal construction, the quality of construction and the fact it doesn’t even need a battery to work means this is something that was made before designed obsolescence. If - God willing - film is still around in 100 years you can still create document the world with a rangefinder camera.”
Canonet QL17 Review
On Twitter this week, here’s what happened:
@Mikeosbornphoto tweeted to us - @film_shooters My first shots with the Olympus-35 EC. Vintage cool or old school disaster?
After checking out the link I think that vintage cool is the only answer. See his results yourself at http://mikeosbornphoto.com/2015/05/10/the-new-joy-of-film/
@Ebojorq Tweeted his last blog post on the Mamiya C330 to us. It’s a great camera and he’s got a cool bilingual account of it on his blog. How cool is the shoe store shot? https://ebojorq.wordpress.com/2015/05/07/mamiya-c330/
@ujhphoto had a really cool account of meeting up with another photographer from the Film Shooters Collective that he tweeted to us about. It sounds like they had a great time chatting it up about gear, photography, and a lot more. Check out his post here - http://urbanhafnerphotography.com/blog/2015/5/4/meeting-fellow-fsc-member-kevin-lim
The hottest topic this week on Facebook in our private group was to stop or not to stop. It’s an extension conversations about development we’ve been having over the past couple of weeks. The conversation went like this and the responses that followed are below:
"Hey everyone, i'm sure this question has been asked before but... Stop Bath or just Water when developing B&W film? I've been using just water as my stop bath for years and haven't had any issues with results. Anyone notice better results when using purchased stop bath chemical over water?"
- I just started using stop bath a week or two ago after ten years of not using it. No difference.
- There are however strong pro and con views, but after 40+ years of doing this, I can honestly say, not seen any difference between using it and not....See More
- I generally use a stop, but sometimes I'm lazy and just use water. Never noticed any difference.
- I use Tf4 fixer, which expressly specifies that you should Not use a stop. So that drives the decision for me.
- I generally use stand development for 1h so I don't need the development to stop right away. That's why I just use water.
- It preserves the life of the fixer so that you can use it again. I use the fixer after in the paper trays.
- Stopped using it since the discussion here a couple of weeks ago. And am using the amalco Max mentioned. No difference yet.
- I mixed up 4 litres of Kodak fixer in August last year. Have processed over 100 films in it. Still going strong thanks to acid stop bath.
- Never used a stop bath in my life :-)- good quick rinse...
Photostream
Finally, here's how our photostream shaped up this week with great photography by Colton Allen, William Wheeler, Max Glatzhofer, Amy Jasek, Roger Harrison, and Garrick Fujii.
Southern California photographer, Cameron Kline, photographs people in San Diego. Connect with him on Google+.