Analog.Cafe

635 Reviews, Guides, and Essays

An Experiment in Pushing Boundaries
A Monthly Newsletter for GOLD Members
December 20, 2024
This month’s “How to Make Sharper Photos on Film” has the most lessons I wish I’d learned earlier. In fact, there are 23. That’s a lot — good thing they’re ranked by importance. I explain how I did that below. This year’s last newsletter also covers a few blog updates and an Easter egg that’s a clue to the next month’s film experiment.
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Film Photography News — December 2024 Recap
A Year-End Special 🥳
December 17, 2024
We have a winner! I speculate about the future of film photography. Three new film camera accessories launch this month, each discussed in the new “News” page. Plus, what’s your holiday project?
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How to Make Sharper Photos on Film
23 Ranked Tools and Techniques for All Skills and Budgets
December 10, 2024
Photographs that show great detail, even when examined up close, can enhance the viewing experience. Images shot on film with vintage cameras can produce enormous amounts of sharpness and resolution — but that’s not necessarily the default, even if you’re wielding a premium point-and-shoot. These 23 tools and techniques summarize some of the most effective ways to improve sharpness and resolution in your film photography. They’re ranked based on their potential and include practical advice with appropriate references.
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How to Service the Nikon F2 Photomic Metered Prisms
A Simple Way to Fix Inacurate Meters
December 5, 2024
Nikon F2 Photomic metered prisms are beautiful and sturdy like the rest of the camera but are prone to issues. Perhaps the most common fault on the nearly indestructible Nikon F2 cameras is a malfunctioning metered prism. I’ve seen many copies sold with the readings off by a few stops. In this short guide, I’ll explain what may be causing this problem and how to fix this issue at home.
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Nikon F2 Film Camera Review
Nikon’s Last (Maybe Best) Mechanical SLR
December 3, 2024
Nikon F2 (i.e., Nikon F2 Photomoic with the Photomic DP-1 viewfinder prism) is a burly, pro-level SLR with an impressive history of being one of the most trusted cameras of its time. It is a sequel to Nikon’s iconic design, which went to space and deflected a bullet, saving a war reporter’s life. In this review, I’ll explain what makes this camera so good (and not so good), outline its historical context, and talk about shooting the F2 fifty-three years past its release.
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Film Photography News — November 2024 Recap
Kodak Pauses Film Production, Polaroid Puppet Show, Camera Giveaway, and More!
November 26, 2024
Kodak pauses film production, Polaroid puppet show, new apps for film photographers, a camera + film giveaway, and other deals. Plus: What’s the best glue for replacing leatherettes? And a new Valoi digital camera scanning rig.
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Best Film Camera Finder
Web App 📱
November 25, 2024
Photography was invented around the 1830s. Since then, we’ve built over a billion cameras, which can make picking one seem overwhelming. Best Film Camera Finder helps you discover film cameras suitable for your needs based on answers to these five questions.
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Film and Lab Tools
A Monthly Newsletter for GOLD Members
November 22, 2024
Keeping diligent notes helps avoid disasters and improve image quality, but it can be burdensome (who wants another chore?) Film Log & Chem Log are the two sister apps that make the job easier. In this letter, I’ll introduce and explain how those apps work. Subsequent posts will explore various flows and use cases for those apps.
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A Unique Look? Harman Phoenix 200 in E-6 With Flash

November 21, 2024
Typically, Harman Phoenix is processed with C-41 chemistry, but I decided to go a different route and try E-6. Why? I was after something perhaps more unique — a shift in colour that would add extra character and depth to a project I was working on (more about that later). The idea was to use the film to make it feel less like a straightforward documentary and more like a visual statement.
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Chem Log
Web App 📱
November 19, 2024
Improve image quality and avoid mistakes when developing film at home. Chem Log keeps a record of all the mixing dates for your chemicals. This will help you avoid using expired chemicals. Chem Log keeps a record of films that were processed in each of your chemicals. This will help you avoid or compensate for exhausted chemicals.
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Giveaway: A Holiday Film & Camera Pack
Ends on December 16, 2024 ☝️
November 14, 2024
I’m giving away a half-frame camera and three rolls of film to one lucky winner! Subscribe to Analog.Cafe GOLD membership before December 16 and you’ll be entered into the draw. If you are already a subscriber, you will be entered into the draw automatically. I’ll announce the winner on December 17, 2024.
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Kodak Vision 3 50D 5203/7203 Film Review
Shot as Stills and Developed in C-41
November 12, 2024
Kodak Vision 3 50D 5203/7203 colour negative film was designed for movie cameras. But in the mid-2010s, CineStill popularized its use in SLRs and rangefinders with a remjet-less version, the 50D. As the availability of ECN-2 developers increased, the original Kodak (non-CineStill) version of this film also began to gain popularity amongst us still photographers. In this review, I’ll cover all the technical specifications, share samples, and review the various ways of getting hold of and developing this film.
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Nikon Nikkor 28mm 𝒇3.5 AI-S Lens Review
A Sharp, Well-Made Wide-Angle Lens for Under $100
November 7, 2024
The 28mm Nikkor AI-S is sharp, relatively distortion-free, it’s a pleasure to use, and it features a close focus of .3m/1’. In this review, I’ll cover the specifics of this 28mm wide-angle lens, retell its brief history, and share plenty of high-res scans, including an image (with an enlargement) shot on the highest-resolving photographic medium ever created.
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Film Ferrania Orto 50 Film Review
High-Contrast and Orthochromaticism (With and Without a Green Filter)
November 5, 2024
Film Ferrania’s Orto 50 is a newly reissued (2023)¹ orthochromatic black-and-white film by the famous Italian film factory. It features fine grain, high contrast, and blue light sensitivity (which makes it blind to the red colours). Orto 50 shares its fine grain, strong contrast, and some development times with Film Ferrania’s first product, P30 — but it’s not the same film.
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Minolta MD Zoom 35-70mm 1:3.5-4.8 Macro Lens Review
October 30, 2024
This zoom glass caught my attention for its incredibly light 189g/6.7oz frame and the apparent fact that it’s optically the same as the Leica Vario-Elmar-R 35-70mm 1:3.5. There’s also a version of this lens with macro capabilities that weighs a bit more but can focus at 33cm/13” with a 0.25x magnification factor.
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Film Photography News — October 2024 Recap
No More Vision 3 Film Reels, All B&W Films Look the Same, Lomo’Instant Wide Glass, and More!
October 29, 2024
Kodak is no longer selling Vision 3 film reels for bulk loading, photographers are terrible at telling which black-and-white film a photo was shot on but we can expose it with LEGOs — which is pretty cool. Lomography released Lomo’Instant Wide Glass, “the world’s sharpest instant camera,” and a fancy version of their Lomomatic 110 camera. Jagglé’s Berlinova daylight film processing units are on Kickstarter, Polaroid’s new film is Reclaimed Green, Crown & Flint app gets an update, and Analog Sparks declares competition winners. Plus, a new guide to editing film scans.
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Photographers Are Terrible at Identifying Most B&W Films
573 Participants Guessed Correctly Just 37.6% of the Time
October 28, 2024
What guides your choice of black-and-white film? Is it the contrast, the grain, or something else? Last year, I built a game, “What The Film ?!” with Daren and Yvonne. It randomized black-and-white photos and asked players to guess what film they were shot on. This weekend, I brushed through the entries and found a few interesting stats about our understanding of black-and-white films… One of which is our apparent inability to identify most of them correctly.
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Fine-Tuning Film Photography
A Monthly Newsletter for GOLD Members
October 25, 2024
Should you edit your scans — and if so, how would you do that, if the film was exposed with a few LEGO bricks? And what about doing that for a living? In this monthly letter for GOLD members, I’m introducing a new course on editing film photos, sharing some bonus content related to the unique and rare LEGO film camera, touching on the challenges of being a full-time creative, and setting the expectations for the next month on Analog.Cafe.
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How to Edit Film Scans
Bring the Best Out of Your Film
October 24, 2024
This course will teach you the nuances of colour balance and a few simple methods for applying colour corrections. You will learn how to get the best colours and detail out of your film scans and how to draw viewer’s attention to your photos through editing without going too far.
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Accidentally Wes Anderson: Adventures
Book Review
October 22, 2024
Accidentally Wes Anderson: Adventures is the second book from the Webby Award-winning namesake team, Accidentally Wes Anderson. Like the first edition, this book contains a collection of photography created and selected for its embodiment of the filmmaker’s cinematography. Yet, I think this second book is a little better than the first.
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An Experiment in Pushing Boundaries

A Monthly Newsletter for GOLD Members

December 20, 2024

Film Photography News — December 2024 Recap

A Year-End Special 🥳

December 17, 2024

How to Make Sharper Photos on Film

23 Ranked Tools and Techniques for All Skills and Budgets

December 10, 2024

How to Service the Nikon F2 Photomic Metered Prisms

A Simple Way to Fix Inacurate Meters

December 5, 2024

Nikon F2 Film Camera Review

Nikon’s Last (Maybe Best) Mechanical SLR

December 3, 2024

Film Photography News — November 2024 Recap

Kodak Pauses Film Production, Polaroid Puppet Show, Camera Giveaway, and More!

November 26, 2024

Best Film Camera Finder

Web App 📱

November 25, 2024

Film and Lab Tools

A Monthly Newsletter for GOLD Members

November 22, 2024

A Unique Look? Harman Phoenix 200 in E-6 With Flash

November 21, 2024

Chem Log

Web App 📱

November 19, 2024

Giveaway: A Holiday Film & Camera Pack

Ends on December 16, 2024 ☝️

November 14, 2024

Kodak Vision 3 50D 5203/7203 Film Review

Shot as Stills and Developed in C-41

November 12, 2024

Nikon Nikkor 28mm 𝒇3.5 AI-S Lens Review

A Sharp, Well-Made Wide-Angle Lens for Under $100

November 7, 2024

Film Ferrania Orto 50 Film Review

High-Contrast and Orthochromaticism (With and Without a Green Filter)

November 5, 2024

Minolta MD Zoom 35-70mm 1:3.5-4.8 Macro Lens Review

October 30, 2024

Film Photography News — October 2024 Recap

No More Vision 3 Film Reels, All B&W Films Look the Same, Lomo’Instant Wide Glass, and More!

October 29, 2024

Photographers Are Terrible at Identifying Most B&W Films

573 Participants Guessed Correctly Just 37.6% of the Time

October 28, 2024

Fine-Tuning Film Photography

A Monthly Newsletter for GOLD Members

October 25, 2024

How to Edit Film Scans

Bring the Best Out of Your Film

October 24, 2024

Accidentally Wes Anderson: Adventures

Book Review

October 22, 2024