Algonquin Park - Pog Lake

In 2015, for Labour Day, which just so happens that it corresponds with my anniversary with my beautiful wife +Donna Bitaxi, we took our family to Algonquin Park, which is absolutely stunning. The sights, the smell and the sounds of this place is incredible. The silence can be breathtaking, but the hiking, swimming and canoeing here is another life worth living.

When we were there I took a few photos with my lovely vintage Miranda Sensorex EE 35mm SLR that I got from friend and fellow photographer, +Alex Luyckx. He is also co-host and founder of the +Classic Camera Revival Podcast and blog. Loaded with Fujichrome Provia 100F I was shooting very carefully to try not to lose a single image to carelessness. Granted I did lose a few here and there, just because I was a bit too excited to shoot it.  Not 100% sure the camera was working quite up to snuff, but knowing that the light seals were solid (replaced them before taking it away with me) I figured Slide Film was the best choice.  However the film was left in my fridge after exposing since Labour Day (It's now May 20th, 2016) and it has just been processed.
They are like lost little treasures, like the rekindling of memories forgotten.
One of the biggest reasons not having instant gratification is good. Because when the memories are just golden moments in your life and you see them again for the first time in front of you, it is like reliving that moment all over again and getting the rush of emotions with them.

This is a trip we hope to repeat again.  There is no feeling like the feeling of being in the great outdoors.. Just you and nature. It just feels so good.

There was great swimming there, as can be seen in the above image. My two boys, not seen here, were racing on ahead to get beside the lake. Although the light waa fading fast, we still wanting a moment or three out by the water. There was expected to be a bit of a meteor shower.  However, as fate would have it, the sky clouded over and we got a rain shower instead.  That put a damper on the evening, so we spent the rest of the time relaxing in our tent until sleep overtook us.

Until next time we get up there to take a few more shots of the splendor of Algonquin.

Keep those shutters firing!

Svema Photo-125 C-41

This is not the first post I have done on the Svema 125ASA C41 film.  It's fantastic!

I can easily compare it to Portra 160 for smoothness and grain structure.  But for colour palette, it is in a league of its own.  Portra 160 is wonderful, absolutely, but I will have to say that this Svema film makes it look pale in comparison.

After seeing the way it renders landscapes, I will never shoot Portra 160 again!  It just seems to be missing that little bit of something for it.
Portraits? Well, I cannot compare.  Sadly I haven't seen how this Svema 125 works with portraits under proper controlled light, but I'm sure it probably does very well.

The first roll I shot was in my T90, and I gave it as much of a fighting chance to prove itself as I could. Rated +1EV and slapped a very damn good (and sharp) lens in front of it (Vivitar 28mm ƒ/2.5).  The images were nothing short of stunning.

However, I loaded roll #2 in my Ricoh Mirai 35-135 camera.  This thing is bizarre!  Looking more like a weapon from the future, it is very well designed. The lens is one of the best lenses I've used as a Zoom!

So using the funniest looking camera in my collection, I have captured one of the best images I've taken of a flower, or any other kind of plant life..

There's a reason I rarely take out this camera.. I'm scared that one day I'll have an accident with it and be left without it.

It's just such a damn good camera!  Optically, and functionally...

Until next time.. Keep those shutters firing!

First post of 2015 - Stay Tuned.. More are coming!!

Three Stops of the Yashica Electro M5

I got my hands on a rare camera. Rare, as in to common, but not Rare as in "sought after". In fact, this camera isn't highly sought after, even though it is, perhaps, one of the rarest of the Yashica Electro series cameras. Then again, many of the Yashica Electro cameras aren't really sought after, but they do have very nice lenses. That said, there isn't anything special about this rangefinder, except for the three-stops of depth. ƒ/2.8 (Wide open/Indoor setting) ƒ/8 at the "cloudy" setting, and finally at around ƒ/16 for the, yup.. you guessed it, "Sunny" setting. So here are how the three stops affect the depth of field and sharpness..

So, using some Fuji Superia 200 film, I popped into my back yard to test out the camera's settings.  So here is a great and simple way to see how the stops are.

At the INDOOR setting (Wide open at ƒ/2.8)

At the "Cloudy" setting (around ƒ/8)

At the "Sunny" setting, or around ƒ/16

So that's it.  The three stops of the Yashica Electro M5.  As you can see, the bokeh is pleasant for the most part when it is wide open, and sharpness doesn't increase much at ƒ/8.  All that ƒ/16 does is give it more depth of field.  But aside from that, you are pretty much as sharp as it'll get at the Cloudy setting.  So long as you aren't using anything faster than 200 or 400 speed film, you can pretty much get away with the Cloudy setting for just the right amount of depth.

And since it meters through the lens mount (CdS cell is right above the lens), it'll also meter through any filters.

All in all, it isn't a bad camera, but I can clearly see why it is not a highly sought after camera, except by hard-core Yashica Electro collectors.

Until next time, keep those shutters firing!