I have a reasonable collection of vintage cameras, so I can see the allure of them, and particularly a rare one. However, if you wanted to win an auction of the rare 1923 Leica that recently went up for sale, you needed the deepest of pockets.
Coming in from Devin Graham and the talented crew over at Devin Super Tramp, this massive gear envy video lets us see what it looks like to purchase $221,000 of Leica Summilux-C glass.
Even today's most beastly medium format cameras top out at 100 megapixels, and the size of their sensors pale in comparison to the behemoth footprint of an 8x10 film sheet. Check out this awesome video that examines just how much detail large format photography can provide.
Film is enjoying quite the resurgence in popularity right now, and with the used market flooded with affordable camera bodies and lenses, it's a great time to try it out for yourself. This great video will give you some practical tips to get you up and running shooting film.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Ilford Photo released a video on how to develop your own black and white film. Now, they've followed it up by giving you everything you need to know in order to turn those negatives into beautiful, tangible prints.
If you've ever wanted a film that you can shoot the way you can shoot with your digital camera in the dark, you'd normally be looking for the discontinued Kodak T-Max P3200. But now, thanks to a few coy teasers on Instagram, Kodak is telling us we're getting it very, very soon.
If you're just starting with film photography or are interested in it, processing your own film can seem a bit daunting, but it's really not that hard, especially with black and white film. Furthermore, it can be immensely satisfying. This great video will show you everything you need to get up and running as well as the entire procedure.
We often draw inspiration from several mediums; art, music, and film to name a few. These inspirations are blended together and found within our work. This article digs deeper into what may give our work moody undertones and makes us feel exactly how we feel when looking at it.
Sometimes, photography is too easy. After churning out perfect images left and right, I really felt I like I needed a challenge that would put my God-like skills to the test. Of course, that’s complete crap, but occasionally I do see the need to challenge myself and alternative processes are a great way to learn about the craft of photography while having a bit of fun floundering in failure. To that end, I’ve learned my first alternative process: the kallitype.
Kendall Jenner is being credited for a surge of sales in film cameras after she beamed about her Contax T2 during a TV chat show appearance.
Digital sensors have come a long way in the past 15 years or so, but even so, pushing a shot four stops is getting close to the limit of file latitude in most situations. So, how well can film hold up when you do the same? The answer is very well.
Film lovers and analog purists are not-so-patiently awaiting the release of Kodak's new Super 8 camera, which should finally come out sometime this year at a cost of $2,500-$3,000. In the meantime, Kodak took CES as an opportunity to release some new test footage that looks rather incredible. At times, the reel displays a properly vintage look reminiscent of 1960s French films. Yet, in other sequences, the footage looks much more updated. It's sharper and boasts much higher contrast, which gives hope to directors that this will be a very flexible, very capable setup.
There's a lot said about film versus digital, and a lot of it tends to be one extreme or the other, but like most things in life, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. This great video takes a very balanced and honest look at the merits and drawbacks of each when used in a fashion shoot.
In this beautiful short video, photographer and filmmaker Ian Wong discusses the work of legendary photographer Wing Shya and how making mistakes can give you creative freedom and innovation.
Stefano Carnelli is an Italian photographer living in London and Berlin, shooting socially-engaged, documentary images on medium-format film with a particular interest in the relationship between people and landscapes. His recent project, “Transumanza,” explores the lives of shepherds and their flocks in the Po Valley of northern Italy, examining how their historic traditions have changed in response to globalization and an ever-shifting landscape.
I'm no cinematographer. I mean I dabble, like a lot of still shooters do, but I wouldn't put myself under the category of video expert by any means. That being said, I do know what I like and what I think looks good. What I've always really liked is the depth and feel of large format in still photography and, now finally, in video. You don't need to spend a $100,000-plus to do it either. See for yourself how Zev Hoover from Massachusetts accomplished it.
Filmmaker Matt Mangham has been working on an ongoing series entitled “Analog: Stories of Film Photography,” and I’m very excited to share episode four with the Fstoppers community. In this episode, Mangham explores creativity through the eyes of San Diego native, Matthew Lawless.
In a world where flipping our images between color and black and white is as simple as the click of the mouse, photographers and cinematographers today aren’t often tasked with knowing the complexity of how those vibrant colors actually come into existence. But in the early days of cinema, when competing processes for color reproduction took turns as the next best innovation, one name reigned supreme: Technicolor.
Shooting film is a lot of fun, but part of what pushes photographers away from it is the cost, a lot of which is tied up in developing. This awesome video will show you how to develop your own black and white film in your bathroom with a minimal kit and much lower costs than sending it out.
What's the biggest camera you've shot with? If you're like most of us, you might have dabbled with medium format or if you're really passionate, maybe even a 4x5 or 8x10 large format camera. This photographer is putting all of us to shame with his camper that he converted into a giant functioning camera and darkroom.
"Instant Dreams" is a feature-length film about Polaroid that explores the magic of this defunct format, the pioneer of instant imagery, and documents the search for the lost chemical formula. Premiering at the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam a few days ago, the film discusses what it meant to produce imagery that is physical, unique, and, as one of the subjects puts it, "an artifact of time."
Creating beautiful and compelling imagery through the medium of photography is a difficult challenge. Capturing a scene as it unfolds is both art and truth in storytelling. Today, digital photography presents the effortless platform for image capture. Excelling technology allows anyone to pick up a camera and take excellent photographs. One might say the ease of digital imagery has opened doors across platforms. We’ve seen this paradigm before; we witnessed the introduction of gateway tools in the world of photography since the dawn of the medium, each time bringing in new and excited enthusiasts who will go on to redefine what it is to be a photographer. In 1981, well before the surge of digital technology, there was a camera that similarly ushered in a generation of photographers: the Canon AE-1 Program.
If you’ve ever been to a photo event in New York City or taken a pilgrimage to B&H Photo, chances are you’ve noticed the man in the trench coat with the old news photographer’s camera – bellows, big flash, and all.
Lenses are obviously some of the most talked about pieces of photography equipment out there. However, there's one type of photography that requires no lens at all. This neat video follows a photographer as he spends a day shooting landscapes with a pinhole camera.
Reflex is a new brand aiming to give 35mm film photographers a new camera option instead of going with a dated SLR design (the 13-year-old Nikon F6) or buying in the used market. But it’s not just a rehash of the classic film SLR design. Users can change film using a special “I-Back” system, and even change out the lens mount quickly and easily.
Fstoppers Analog Review is a quick throw down on some of photography’s greatest equipment. In a world where we are constantly defined by the rapid progression of technology, these posts are intended to remind us about our love for the fundamentality of capturing life in silver and light. Each week we’ll review another piece of pivotal photography equipment, discuss the history, review its capabilities, and share our results! This review will go to the fabulous Nikonos V, a waterproof 35mm camera with a history as deep as diving itself. This handy sidekick will blow you away with its capability!
Decades ago, instant film was one of the most popular mediums for photography. Though camera technology has significantly advanced since instant cameras were in their prime, there are still many valid reasons for experimenting with them from time to time.
Large format photography is its own beast, with all sorts of considerations and technical know-how needed to pull it off successfully, not the least of which being that the equipment is often simply unwieldy. Nonetheless, that extra work is not without a payoff, as the resultant images can be full of gorgeous detail. This neat video takes a look at a different way of going about landscape images.
I still try to learn, as much as I can, as often as I can, especially in the world of photography. No matter how much more experience I manage to gain or how many people I get lucky enough to work with, I think I will always still feel like a beginner who is just learning the craft. I was fortunate enough to begin my adventures into photography with a great darkroom class. My experience behind the camera quite literally started with black and white film and using enlargers to bring my images to life.
Large format cameras are easily the most technical of their kind, but they reward the photographer with extra capabilities and stunning resolution. This video takes another look at some of those capabilities.
