Bill Smith's Photography

 It's been a study of contrasts in September weather, when I shot this, I was wearing shorts and a polo shirt. Today as of publishing, it's jeans, long sleave shirt and dressed for fall.  It was midtown wander with Jo-Anne going south along Yonge for some Gelato, then cutting through Mt. Pleasant West to Mt Pleasant Avenue to stop in for an afternoon pint at the Granite Brewery (love that place).  I chose to travel only with a 50 F1.4 prime lens on the Canon New F-1, just didn't feel like lugging a camera bag around with me. The end results capture a late summer afternoon post Labour Day weekend.  Canon New F-1AE, FDn 50 F1.4 lens.  Film: Fomapan 400, Ilfotec HC 1+31. 

 I got one of my dream cameras, the Nikon FM3a, the last manual focus camera Nikon made in house (the FM10 was made by Cosina). My brother and I are both camera collectors and film shooters, he bought this FM3a about a year or so ago, and wound up selling it to me as he just wasn't using it enough. I was on the lookout for a chrome FM3a and things just came togther.  Nikon only made the FM3a for a few short years before culling their film camera line down to just two skus, the F6 sort of pro body and the FM10 for the student market. I remember the camera being discontinued and thought it was a dumb move because you want o keep a legacy camera in the line up. Discontinuing the F60, F80, F100, that wasn't a surprise, the world was going pixels at the time.  So, how is the FM3a in the hand. Think a more refined FE2 but while that camera had one mechanical speed. All the shutter speeds on the FM3a are mechanical if the batteries die, you can go Sunny 16 in a pinch. The other bonus

 I wandered west from the Beaches for a change, and Queen St. is evolving, gastropub Murphy's Law is closed for renovation and immediately to the west the old Day's Inn is being torn down for a future condo development.  Turning North on Greenwood, doubling back a bit along Dundas, I headed north again along Craven Road and documented the folk art installation along the backyard fences along the street and finally looping it back to Sarah Ashbridge Ave via Gerrard St. and the Upper Beaches.  The film of choice for this walk was Fujifilm Superia 200, I never really shot with this film before, using Superia 400 as my go to film. I have no idea if this was the Japanese or "Made in America" Superia 200. I was shooting with my Canon EF with a 50 F1.4 lens on shutter priority. Don't know what to think about Superia 200, I do love KodakGold 200 however, when you can find it.  Camera: Canon EF, FDn 50 f1.4 lens.  Film: Fujifilm Superia 200.