Bill Smith's Photography

The Farmers Almanac predicted a snowy winter for my part of the world, and sorta delivered a couple of weeks ago, I even skied before Christmas which I didn't do last year. No I didn't go skiing with my Mamiya C220f. I took my shots after I packed it in. Pity temperatures spiked after Christmas. My second day on the boards won't be until after New Year's. A quick note, there will be only one post per week for the next two weeks with the holiday season. Stay tuned for my JCH400 and Rollei Retro 400S film comparison in 2017. Camera: Mamiya C220f, Sekor 80 f2.8 lens. Film: Fuji Neopan Acros 100, HC110 B.

Wishing you all the best for the Holiday Season and a happy healthy (and hopefully better) 2017!

I don't really do autofocus, but there is one camera in my current lineup that is one, the Nikon N90s (F90x for the rest of the world) and forgot how nice it is to work with. This camera is a steal, to put into current context, this was the D810 to the D5 if we're comparing Nikon FX DSLRS. Today you can grab one for about $50-75 if you shop smart. What's great: metering for starters! The N90s has a sophisticated metering that quite honestly, since I don't own any autofocus lenses am really not taking full advantage of. With centre weight and spot metering, I'm pretty much good to go, even then, I got the exposure bang on with my brother Alex's portrait. Now if I had some autofocus glass, I could take advantage of the matrix metering function. The camera also takes AA batteries which is the best thing ever, they are available anywhere on this planet without a hassle. The only weak spot is the Err message which is the camera's on board CPU telling me the

JCH Street Pan 400 is an interesting film, I ordered some Rollei Retro 400S which has similar characteristics for comparison, this particular film is a little easier on the wallet. Stay tuned...... Camera: Nikon FM2n, Nikkor Ais 50 f1.8 lens. Film: Japan Camera Hunter Street Pan 400, HC110 B.

While photographic film has become a more niche product in the photographic world, new emulsions are hitting the market every year. Some from storage others made to order. JCH Street Pan 400 falls under made to order. A British expat living Japan built quite a following online acting as concierge for those looking for a particular cameras and lenses in Japan. Along the way Japan Camera Hunter evolved into an information website as well on all things analogue photography. Along the way Bellamy Hunt reached out to Agfa Geavert in Belgium to manufacture Street Pan 400 which is a resurrected traffic surveillance film. What's so special, well for starters JCH 400 is almost a near infrared film, well very least red spectrum sensitive which makes it imperative you load and unload in subdued light so you don't fog the first three frames. Two that red spectrum sensitivity makes this film from friends' experiences using it back in the Summer too contrasty but from mid November t

From before the snow fell, you could walk the streets and not mess your boots up with slush. It's going to be a while before you can do that again. After an extended binge with Rollei RPX 400 I popped a roll of Ilford HP5 in my camera. Get hung up on a particular film you wind up rediscovering an old favourite. Next week I'm going to show off the results from my first roll of Japan Camera Hunter Street pan 400. Stay tuned for that.... Camera: Nikon FM2n, Nikkor Ais lenses. Film: Ilford HP5 400, HC110 B.

The view is different up in the clouds at City Place.... Camera: Nikon FM2n, Nikkor Ais 50 f1.8 lens. Film: Ilford HP5 400, D76 1+1.

Photographers suffer from a disease called Gear Acquisition Syndrome or GAS for short. There is no cure, only temporary remission. I like my Twin Lens Reflex cameras, owning a pair of Rolleicords, a Series E 3.5 Planar Rolleiflex and a Mamiya C220f is testament to that. Now I was always curious about Minolta Autocords because of their reputation for amazing lenses. Well, I found one at Burlington Camera, everything worked except the meter which is no surprise. Autocords are a different beast than Rollei and Mamiya TLRs. You load the film up top instead of the bottom and you don't have a focus knob on the side but a lever on the bottom. The dreaded lever, if you're to stumble across an Autocord chances are that lever is seized up, don't force it. The engineers at Minolta made the fatal mistake of using "Pot Metal" alloy which is pretty weak. There are a lot of Autocords out there with broken levers. Now I remember one photographer/tinkerer posted on his website

Waiting to go back to Billie Bear will be an eternity, but that's ok, it just makes each visit more special. Camera: Asahi Pentax KX, SMC Pentax lenses. Film: Lomo 400 C-41 and Kodak Portra 400