My response to “photography isn’t real”¹ takes² in the context of generative AI:
I am not convinced.
A photograph is a direct effect of photons hitting film and altering its physics. A photograph is a photograph even if it’s never been seen or even developed. It exists on the surface of film as a latent image, and only after some processing can it become an image. We may choose to alter it in various ways, but the material we work with exists because of the photons that landed on film.
An “AI-generated” image (ex., something made with DALL·E) is a direct effect of millions of images/creative works/photographs which were copied without consent to train machine learning models. It exists on servers in large warehouses somewhere, and only after a short *prompt* can it become an image. We may choose to alter it in various ways, but the material we work with exists because of the images copied without consent to train machine learning models.
This is very helpful and well written, Thank you! I recently got a hand me down camera bag with 6 rolls of Ektachrome 200 in one of the pockets, did you stop up your ISO at all when shooting or stay at 200? Thanks again!
Wonderful review! The Ricoh Caddy is becoming one of my more sought-after half frame cameras. Wide-angle half frames are a bit more rare, but this one also has a selenium cell and manual controls. Sounds like a hidden gem! (a bit hard to find on ebay though)
I review lots of lovely gear on the blog, but unfortunately, I can not keep it all.
Today, I’ve updated FilmBase (my Etsy shop) with some of the nicest gear that came across my desk:
The most prized camera in this lot is the only Mamiya U with a fully intact shutter button. Though you may find this strangely designed ‘80s chic camera elsewhere, it never comes with its beautiful yet brittle yellow button. This is the rarest camera I’ve ever owned.
A pancake lens for Olympus PEN film cameras is very convenient. It turns an already small half-frame SLR into a pocketable one. It comes with genuine lens caps that are difficult and often expensive to find.
In case Bob won’t have a chance to answer this, I’ve had pretty decent results with Tiffen Yellow (analog.cafe/r/developing-c…) — which appears slightly redder than the images here. However, that may be due to the exposure differences.
In general, denser yellow filters should give you more “pink” tones, whereas thin filters (like 85C) will give you a more deep, “meaty” reds.
How many photos can you get out of your 35mm film?
Typically, you’d expect 36 frames. But that’s just an estimate: depending on how you load your camera and its width, you may get anywhere between 34 and 42 frames out of a 36exp. roll.
Cameras with motorized film transport usually wind/“burn” a few frames to ensure it’s loaded securely. Wide cameras will require you to stretch a long leader out of the canister, which will cost you more frames than shorter, manually loaded cameras like the Rollei 35S (analog.cafe/r/rollei-35s-c…).
Manufacturers don’t want complaints about missing frames, thus 36exp. is a safe estimate on their side.
But then there’s the 27exp., which you may see on new films like Amber T800 (analog.cafe/r/amber-t800-f…). Though it sounds almost as long as 36exp., it’s virtually the same length as 24exp. film with (maybe) a little extra, or about 33% less film than 36exp.
12exp. films may also be sold at a store near you. There’s a lot less film here but it can be useful to test lenses and cameras on film. This makes sense if you develop your own film at home.
Chad had recently posted on Mastodon (mastodon.art/@ChadHillPhot…) about rolls of 8exp., which sold for as much as a typical 36exp. film — now that’s a bad deal!
One more thing to watch out for: the labs will typically charge you same price, regardless of how many frames your roll of film has.
I’ve added new spaces on Analog.Cafe, where I’ll be organizing some of my thoughts on film photography.
You’ll probably notice #editorial🔥 the most since it’s where I write about product launches and share announcements like this. Comments under this tag may end up in your RSS feed, Community Letters¹, or you may hear about them from me on Mastodon and Bluesky.
A #video tag lists all the comments with a YouTube link. I’ve added a whole bunch of these, including this epic trilogy of Kodak factory tours: analog.cafe/comments/tnq0.
This week, Polaroid updated their “world’s smallest instant camera.”
Polaroid Go Gen 2 focuses on improving the exposures with the aperture range of 𝒇9-42, up from the previous version’s 𝒇12-56 on its plastic lens. Its max shutter speed has also got faster: 1/300s.
Perhaps most importantly, Polaroid updated the autoexposure system on the Go:
“Our team redesigned the light sensor’s positioning and field-of-view, so whatever you’re pointing at is exactly what the camera is picking up. And if you’re pointing at a wider scene, your camera’s wider metering coverage will have it literally looking at the bigger picture.”
The cameras are made with 30% recycled materials.
You can pick one up via the affiliate link (where I may make a small commission at no cost to you) directly from Polaroid: polaroid.prf.hn/l/y8QGWpn
Fujifilm’s new Instax Mini 99 is a fully analogue instant film camera that uses LEDs for in-camera special effects.
We’ve seen instant film printers with tiny digital sensors before from Fujifilm, Leica (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…) and others. Though these cameras have their advantages like special in-camera effects, many film photographers just want a camera that shoots film.
Well, it appears that Fujifilm has just delivered the analogue process we crave *with* special in-camera effects. All that at an affordable price point ($200) in a package that looks nice.
The new Instax Mini 99 is an updated version of the Instax Mini 90 (analog.cafe/r/instax-mini-…) with novel exposure and focus controls.
The camera also features physical vignetting control (a mask in front of the lens). But the most interesting in-camera effect is the in-house LEDs that project colours onto film to simulate warm/cool tones, light leaks, and various colour casts.
There’s no digital processing of any kind in this camera!
Instax Mini 99 is expected to arrive in stores in mid-April.
Fujifilm is famously opaque when it comes to communicating its work on film production. Though a former rival of Kodak for the top spot in emulsion sales worldwide, the Japanese brand of today makes the most money in makeup, drugs, digital cameras, and other chemical products. Film is far down the “todo” list for Fujifilm, which you can also gleam from the great number of emulsions they discontinued over the years: analog.cafe/search?for=fuj…
The latest in Fujifilm’s apparent lags in film production was “Fujifilm 400” colour film for their lower tier of emulsions that replaced Fuji Superia X-Tra (analog.cafe/r/fujifilm-sup…) and has been theorized to be just rebranded Kodak Ultramax film (analog.cafe/r/kodak-ultram…).
The Good News. Though Fujifilm doesn’t open its factory doors like Kodak (analog.cafe/comments/tnq0) or Polaroid, the company did say that the film production delays should be temporary: kosmofoto.com/2021/11/fuji…
You may’ve seen some Fuji stocks reappear in your local store already, but that probably won’t compare to how things going in Japan, where Yvonne found fresh Fujicolor and, 200/400 ISO Superia Fujifilm stocks: youtube.com/watch?v=vwQ6Wj…
MiNT shared a little more today about their new premium 35mm film point-and-shoot that’s coming this year.
Looks like the Rollei 35AF will look nearly identical to the original Rollei 35 — in more ways than some of us may’ve thought.
Back in January (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…), Gary Ho confirmed what was already evident from his earlier assembly images (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…): his new premium point-and-shoot camera will be based on the Rollei 35 body.
MiNT, known for refurbishing and modifying Polaroid SX-70 cameras, uses the Rollei name on some of its instant film SLRs, but it had not designed something that resembles an iconic Rollei product so closely. But now we know: the new Rollei 35 will be a faithful modernized classic with some of the same materials as the original, including a metal body construction:
- It’ll have the same form factor and a very similar appearance to the Rollei 35 S (analog.cafe/r/rollei-35s-c…)
- Its body will be made of metal, like the original
- It’ll feature an 𝒇2.8 lens with coated glass elements
- It’ll be a full-frame 35mm film camera
- It’ll have a lidar autofocus, presumably autoexposure as well
- It’ll have aperture controls
- It’ll cost 650-800USD
No release date yet, but you can enter the waitlist here: rollei35af.com/
I developed & fixed film using nothing but edible ingredients from a grocery store. It’s been over twelve months, and it’s time to re-scan to see how the picture holds up.
Developing black and white film with coffee is a well-known trick. Many photographers tried this method and its edible variations. However, the last step usually involves industrial chemicals.
The Caffenol film development experiment I tried last year used an unproven substitute for the last step (fixer): table salt. It got results, but I wasn’t sure if the film would fade over time.
Something reminded me of this experiment today, and I decided to scan the film again to see how well it held up.
Turns out it held up well. I see no significant difference between today’s scan (attached) and the results I got in December 2022 (see the article ☝️).
The salt fixer works!
My fixer recipe used 300g of iodized salt with 1L water (or as much as could dissolve). After some agitation, the film was soaked in salt overnight.
I can confirm this works, but could this recipe be altered to be more practical? Would an hour or even less time in salt still work?
Update: In An Instant has a video overview of this camera, which is particularly informative about the format itself. You can watch it here: youtube.com/watch?v=pGEU5N…
I am also attaching one of the sample images Lomography sent me with their press package. A significant downside of this type of camera is the challenge of scanning such a small film. It’s smaller than a half-frame format and, as a result, makes less detailed images.
However, that doesn’t have to be a bad thing; simply something to consider when picking up one of these cameras for your project.
I’ve added the new Editorial Comments section to Analog.Cafe, where I plan to publish timely announcements (like the one above) and opinion pieces.
Editorial comments will be short, with a maximum of one image per post (some will also have video). There won’t be any fancy formatting or beautiful display like on the main article posts.
Editorials will be distributed alongside the articles on the RSS feed and a few other places like Flipboard (flipboard.com/@analog_cafe). You may now see something new from me daily (sometimes less, sometimes more — I promise not to spam).
One more thing: you can now add #tags to comments on Analog.Cafe. I’ll feature the best ones at the top of analog.cafe/comments
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