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Olympus XA film camera review

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The shirt pocketable Olympus XA rangefinder is a popular favorite among the 'cool little film camera' crowd.  I was looking to purchase a small pocketable camera too; and I read the hype, then bought one.  I should have looked at all the pictures on Flickr and the likes, that would've saved me a lot of time and money.

It's not that I don't like the Olympus XA, it really does have a lot going for it, like coincidence coupled rangefinder focusing, excellent exposure metering, manual aperture control, illegal long exposure mode, user selectable ASA settings, exposure compensation, and a self timer.

The Olympus XA is feature rich for being so small, but it has one big flaw, so read below to find out what it is!  Be sure and scroll down to the full size test pictures to see it this camera will meet your printing or projection requirements.

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Kodak Moment #9, Boulder Manor

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Here’s another addition to our Earl Young Storybook homes series from Charlevoix Michigan; this time we visit Boulder Manor, located on Lakeshore Drive, right across the street from Lake Michigan.  Earl Young, a Realtor who enjoyed photography and architecture, designed this, and many other nearby homes mainly during the 1920s through the 50s in the storybook style, using curved …

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Kodak No. 1 Green Pocket Camera review

Posted in Blog, Film Cameras Tagged with

Check out the little No.1 Pocket Kodak, this model is triple green; metal trim, bellows, and outer cover.  Not only is the camera green, so is the box and carrying case!  If you don't fancy this John Deere green hue, you could also choose brown, blue or gray.   This camera was marketed towards people that wanted a bit more than the mundane black on black camera that millions of others already had, but didn't want to spend a lot of money, and had little experience in taking pictures.

Our colorful review camera for today was manufactured around 1930, give or take a year, during the waning period of the 'Autographic' Kodak film era that ended about 1934.  It's a small camera, but not really lightweight, and certainly not something that you would but in your shirt pocket.  Kodak made 'pocket' cameras that were quite a bit smaller than this one, and others that were huge, and would not fit in any clothing pocket that I've ever seen!

The old No. 1 Kodak takes 120 film, which is still widely available today.  Other features include adjustable aperture and shutter speeds, thumb screw focusing and 'time' and 'bulb' mode.

Due to the bad bellows on this camera, I only was able to take a couple of shots by bagging it, (see picture below); so I'm short on actual test shots. I could replace the bellows, but it would destroy the look of the camera, and lower the value too.  BTW, if you see one of these colored cameras with a black bellows, it means it has been replaced.

Would you like to see what's possible with a camera manufactured during the era of prohibition?  Read on!

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The ‘Lookout’

Posted in Blog, Film Negative Tagged with

Let’s step back once again into the Photojottings time machine, and head over to the south rim of the magnificent Grand Canyon, where we’ll find the ‘Lookout’ (now called Lookout Studio) during a late phase of construction.  In this literal glass plate window in time, we can observe Mary Colter’s vision of a structure designed to emulate the natural scenery …

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Nikon 35Ti review

Posted in Blog, Film Cameras Tagged with

The diminutive Nikon 35Ti was one of the very best pocket cameras that came out in the 1990s, and continues to be impressive even in the age of digital; with their massive megapixels that use complex and very expensive lens designs to work well with a sensor instead of film.  Ironically, the now 25+ year old Nikon 35Ti has one of the sharpest lenses I've ever come across; it just seems much sharper with more contrast along the sides than the newer lenses designed for digital cameras; which oddly are much larger and heavier, see the image with the Sony A7R and Sony FE Zeiss 35mm F/2.8 lens inside.

I've had this camera since about 2014 and use it quite often when traveling; it's small and never gets in the way, plus I know all the pics will come out good, and I won't need to waste time checking out my pictures when I get back to the hotel room at night like we all do with digital, right?

For those of you that want a pocket point and shoot camera capable of taking razor sharp pictures, and getting properly exposed slide film; this is your dream come true!!

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Cameo Cream Kodachome

Posted in Blog, Film Negative Tagged with

Ding ding, hey pal, fill ‘er up, but before you do, take a picture of me and my gal!  I was photographing a home a few years ago, and noticed a large tray of slides on a table in the hobby room.  I asked the homeowner if she took them, and she didn’t really say, but offered them to me …

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West Roxbury Massachusetts time machine.

Posted in Blog, Film Negative Tagged with

Let's fasten our seat belts, and get ready for a ride in the photojottings time machine!  Oh, and bring your jacket, it's late October and a bit chilly!

For the journey today, we'll head back about a hundred years and visit a quite, leafy neighborhood in West Roxbury, Mass.  Henry A Stanley photographed the scene somewhere around 1910-1920.  Detail in this century old (undated) 5x7" glass plate negative is stunning, (click image for larger size, shown here at 7000 pixels wide).  Check out the gas street lights, especially the close one in the upper extreme left side; the unique street sign to the right, and what looks like an early automobile way down the road.  The white blotches on the right are from the paper sleeve that stuck to the emulsion side over the years; I may try to remove it at some point, but I don't have the skill and nerve to try it right now.

The address for the house on the right is 218 Park St...

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