Bill Smith's Photography

 I was in Toronto for a meeting at my condo thst got cancelled due to my paint contractor getting sick, not to waste a day, I decided to play tourist in the city and head to the Distillery District. I picked up at Canon 7sZ from my birth year and test the Elcan 50 f2 lens (in LTM mount) with colour film in this case, Gold 200.  The Light Lens Lab Elcan 50 f2 lens (a bit of a mouthful), is a faithful copy of a 54 year old Leica Canada made lens that was coupled with a beefed up M-4 for a US Department of Defence contract specifically the US Army. The KE-7A as a set goes for a well equipped brand new VW Golf GTI, that is if you can find one. In the end, the Elcan 50 is a four element in four groups not of which are cemented, like civilian lenses. In the end the LHSA (Leica Historical/Hysterical Society of America) went gaga for this lens. In reality with lanthanite glass, we have a brand new 54 year old lens made with 21 century manufacturing techniques.  Does it replace th...

The Distillery District mid week during a February in a by Toronto standards snowstorm is quiet taking on a very different vibe than in high season. There were more people clearing snow than visiting, and a good 60% of the boutiques were closed. I know Mark O'Brien had a ball with his visit. Getting here is less painful than it used to be with the Cherry St.-Dufferin 514 streetcar. As a place to live, the Distillery-Canary-West Donlands is still off the beaten track a bit. Granted I visited in the middle of by Toronto standards snowstorm (yes Southern Ontario residents are weather wimps). I'll have to come back mid week during the spring to see what the difference is. Camera: Nikon FM, Nikkor Ai 50 f1.4 lens. Film: Kodak Tri-X 400 pushed to 1600, Xtol stock.

What do you do when you have a fellow photography podcaster roll into town for a few days? Head out for a photowalk. Mark, Nancy and I rolled east on a diverted 504 King St. (thank you sub trerranian electrical vault fire). I haven't been to the Distillery District in ages, it would be interesting to explore it during a snowstorm (by Toronto standards). I chose my combination of pushed to 1600 ISO Kodak Tri-X processed in Xtol stock and I got fabulous results. The camera of choice was my black Nikon FM, my chrome FM developed a shutter issue and needs a date with the repair tech. What ever you do when shooting in the snow, don't meter on the snow unless you like it to turn out grey. Always aim for a wall, a car, someone's jacket for a meter reading.