March Break

I have nothing to post this week, stay tuned for next week where I have lots of fresh material. 
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Some Thoughts on the Asahi Pentax K2

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Mid 1970s, Pentax was getting a little concerned, sales of its screw mount camera line were dropping off, M-42 was a great mount circa 1958, held its own in the mid 1960s but by 1975 was getting long in the tooth. Pentax collaborated with of all companies Zeiss Ikon to design the K mount in the late 1960s to come up with a joint lens mount The German partners decided to get out of the camera business altogether by the mid-1970s and Pentax made the K mount an open source technology. In an alternate universe if Zeiss Ikon kept making cameras, they would have K mounts but I digress.

Pentax dropped onto the market three cameras, the entry level KM which was a Spotmatic F with a K-mount for all intents and purposes (want to get one at some point), the KX which had a much better meter and the top of the line K2 which had a Seiko vertical Copal shutter which was electronically controlled with the ability to do aperture priority like the Nikkormat EL Minolta XE-7 and the Olympus OM-2, Canon …
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New Film Alert Kosmo Mono 100

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There's a flood of new photographic film out there over the past few years, like Bergger Pancro 400 (still have to figure that film out), Ferrania P30 black and white film and Kosmo Mono 100. Steven Dowling is the brains behind this film. I would call this a traditional emulsion along the lines of Kentmere 100, Rollei RPX 100 on an acetate base. When the film was launched last year I placed my $75 CAD down seeing only one sample image and waited. Once the film was ready for delivery, it became the Holiday postal rush, where Canada Post becomes even more inefficient with international packages and I got it two days before Christmas after notifying Steven.





I packed the film with me for my annual NewYears house and dog sitting stretch at my brother's place in Toronto. Daylight is short this time of year so I needed a super sunny day if I want some usable images and I had a couple of days of that with one caveat a record-setting polar vortex cold snap where daytime temperatures h…
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New Camera: Minolta XD-11 and The Beaches Art Instalation

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I always wanted a Minolta XD-11, this camera was part of the great engineering partnership between Minolta and Leica. If you look carefully, you can see the basic layout for the Leica R4, R5, R6 and R7. For longtime readers you know I borrowed my brother's Leica R4 and lenses, the XD-11 feels the exact same way in your hands. In fact some Minolta lenses were also used as Leica R lenses. The mount is different. What's sad is Leica R bodies are going for a song these days because everyone wants the R lenses on their full frame cameras.

Getting back to the XD-11, it is a very intuitive camera to use if you know your way around Minolta. My lens kit is mostly MC Rokkor, and since I'm not a shutter priority kind of guy, no big deal. Size wise, this camera is around the same size and weight of Nikon FM/FE having a just right feeling in our hands.

As you can see, I got the black one courtesy Burlington Camera, now I hope a chrome one crosses their path at some point.

I usually s…
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