Bill Smith's Photography

I studied history in university many moons ago, never thought a year ago I would be witnessing it in 2020, what a year that was. Nobody thought a global pandemic would hit us by mid March and change everybody's life forever. I'm not sorry to see the backside of this tire fire of a year but if there is any silver lining I grew a lot as a human and renewed some friendships from my teens I value deeply.  What will 2021 bring? I know better than to make predictions, I just want to be outside as much as possible if it's walking around my part of town or out on a hiking trail. With the Covid vaccine, maybe photowalks with friends will be a thing again. In the meantime, Happy New Year, stay safe because we're not out of the woods yet! Camera: Canon EF, FD lenses.  Film: Kentmere 400, HC 110 B. 

 Kentmere 400 is a cheap and cheerful film you can find pretty much anywhere and it's made by the same people who make Ilford products, Harmon. I found a time for HC110 B and it the results are quite nice. Nice to have in your back pocket as a lower cost alternative to Ilford HP5 and Kodak Tri-X and you can't find Ultrafine Extreme 400. Do I love shooting with it? Kentmere 400 is nice, I don't know, I've shot enough UFX 400 to know its strengthes and weaknesses. I actually prefer shooting with Fomapan 400 which has a bit more of a 1970s Kodak Tri-X character, and I look forward to shooting with more of that.  I'm not damning Kentmere 400, it's a nice film to shoot with for photowalks and you just want to bang some frames off, you'll get great results every time.  Camera: Canon EF, FD lenses.  Film: Kentmere 400, HC110 B. 

The Canon EF is a one of those below the radar cameras that deliver. Long overshadowed by the AE-1 and A-1 in the back half of the 1970s, the EF was a technology testbed for later innovations, like using a hybrid mechanical/electronic copal shutter, shutter priority. In some ways the EF, was Canon's answer to the likes of the Nikkormat EL and the Asahi Pentax ES(II), advanced cameras filled with technology for advanced amateurs. There's much to love with this camera in terms of ergonomics, and the fact with the bridge circuits you can use modern voltage batteries.  In terms of winter photography, it has been all over the place, we have been getting some snow, then it melts. In terms of the classic white Canadian winter  I haven't seen one of those in a while in Southern Ontario. I like winter photography but the really cool stuff will happen once I start skiing for the season and get out of Oakville, if there's a ski season.  Canon EF, FD 50 f1.4 and 28 f2 SSC lenses. 

 I have a weak spot for Canon FTBn's, I re-homed one to my friend Alyssa of a Aly's Vintage Camera Alley, and I plan to re-home another soon to another friend in the film photography community  It still leaves me with a chrome FTBn and now this lovely black example I purchased recently in fit of gear acquisition syndrome. If you're looking for an altrenative to the AE-1(P) and the A-1, and you don't have the budget for an F-1, this is the camera you want to look at and are still accessable price wise, for now.  This was a Christmas present to myself as the test roll results show below, no issues with the shutter, the meter however, while responsive, one of the parts is broken from a hack repair job. No big deal, I use a hand held meter instead. The meter will get fixed some day, I have a parts body, that will be a post pandemic thing, but then, the hand held meter works just fine.  Another fun tip to prevent dreaded water spots on Ultrafine Extreme 400 which is prevelen