Tag: Amateur Photography
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It’s a Minolta, but is it any good? The Minolta AF-E II
A while back, before the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, I had been popping into charity shops on the lookout for old cameras, and this is one I think I bought towards the start of this year. To be honest I’d forgotten all about it, and indeed the roll of film I managed to get…
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The Zenit 11: A Very Satisfying Soviet era SLR
My journey into film photography started off with a few simple point-and-shoot cameras, with next to no manual control. I wasn’t really sure that I was ready to try anything much more complicated than that, and I was definitely keeping to a strict budget. But when I came across this hefty SLR, complete with case…
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Two rolls of film with the Kodak Colorsnap 35 Model 2
Produced between 1964 and 1967, the Kodak Colorsnap 35 Model 2 retains many of the aesthetics of its 1950s predecessor. With an Anaston f/3.9 43.9mm lens allowing manual focus between 2.5 feet to infinity and an aperture scale marked in weather symbols and Exposure Value (EV) numbers, there’s certainly more to work with than my…
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Exposing myself to film photography.
Franka AF-300 Last summer I spent a few weeks hunting around charity shops for old cameras, and it can be pretty disheartening; people have realised that their old cameras are actually in demand, so they’re more likely to end up on eBay. Those that do make it onto the shelves of your local charity shops…
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The Mindful Photographer.
I’m an amateur photographer, one of many millions out there, each of us with varying degrees of knowledge not just about the technicalities of capturing images but also with vastly different reasons for wanting to take pictures in the first place. We all see the world differently, and some of us feel an innate need…
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Analogue dreams in a digital world.
Film photography, despite the dominance of digital cameras and of course the ubiquitous smartphone, has remained reasonably popular, not just with creatives and enthusiasts but also with amateur snappers like myself. If anything it has had a resurgence in the last few years, with many specialist film companies reporting a growth in interest from both…
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The best camera? It’s probably the one you already have.
Didn’t receive a snazzy new camera for Christmas? Don’t worry, you probably have all you need to start taking great photos. Low-cost, mass-market photography has existed for well over a hundred years. From Kodak’s Brownie to a plethora of 35mm cameras, the instant Polaroid and the emergence of digital imaging, photography has always been something…
The Erratic Pen 