Olympus XA

New Toy
Originally uploaded by Chris Bloom

It took a month for this camera to get here. Mainly due to a post office strike. The XA was a camera I was keen of getting my hands on due to the fact that it's so compact but also offers manual rangefinder focusing and aperture priority. An ideal camera for street photography and any other occasion when you want to travel light.

Overdue Update

I've been a bit slack with this blog lately. I will try and catch up in the next week or so.

More shots from the Scott Kelby Photowalk on 18 July. Canon AE1 loaded with Fuji Superia 400.




Canon AE1 shooting on Kodak CN400.




Umgeni Bird Park a few weeks before it closes. Fuji Superia 200 loaded in my Nikon F70.




Fuji Proplus 100.

Scott Kelby Photowalk - July 18

The Durban leg of the Scott Kelby Photowalk was held in the harbour area. Here are a few shots I got with my 'New' Canon AE-1. All shot on Fuji Superia 400.

Me & My Kiev 4

Kiev 4
Originally uploaded by Chris Bloom

Shamefully taken with my Webcam!

Official 'International Film Buying Day' Blog

It now has it's own Blog

International Film Buying Day Update

I'm quite surprised by the popularity of my idea (see somewhere below for more details or click on the title above). So far the Flickr group has almost 150 members and most of the feedback has been positive. I wonder if the growth of the group will accelerate, how many people do we need and how many rolls do they need to buy to really make an impact? I'm trying to find some sort of sales figures for film but none seem to be readily available or I'm just not searching for the right thing. If for instance we could find out that 10,000 rolls of film are sold on average every day. If we can get 20,000 participants we know that on average each person must buy 5 rolls of film to make a significant difference in sales for that day. Maybe if it looks like we can't make an overall impact, we could just single out retailers in particular towns or on-line and see if we can cause them to sell out on that particular day.

Kiev Pictures From Durban Beachfront

Some shots I took last weekend on the beachfront.

International Film Buying Day Facebook Group

I've created a Facebook group now for the project. Click here to go visit.

Flickr Group For International Film Buying Day

There has been a great deal of support over on Flickr for my idea of an 'International Film Buying Day'. I have set up a seperate group. Click on the title above to take a look.

International Film Buying Day?

I was thinking, that in a World with an ever decreasing supply of photographic film and film processing, we could somehow find a way of showing our support for those manufacturers and retailers who still continue to offer these services.

I propose we set a date, October 1, when we all go out and buy a roll (or rolls) of film on the same day. I'm sure the sudden spike in film sales would be noticed and the industry will realise there is still quite a considerable sized market for film.

I've posted this as a new topic on the "I Shoot Film" group over on Flickr. Click on the title above to check out any reaction to that.

Interview with Mauro Restiffe: "My participation in PHotoEspaña Involves the Largest Exhibition I have had to Date."

An interview with this Brazilian photographer who solely shoots film.

Artdaily.org - The First Art Newspaper on the Net

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Unfaded memories of old film

One of the attractions of film is that you can change the look and feel of a photograph just by dropping a different type of film emulsion in the back of your camera. This aspect is one of the many things the author laments about in the following article once again inspired by the death notice of Kodachrome.

Columnists - newsjournalonline.com

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Kodachrome Project Aims to Preserve Era of Film Photography

Anyone who has Kodachrome slides from thirty or fourty years ago will know the colours of those slides are as vibrant and bright today as they were the day they came back from the lab. As many will alrady know, Kodachrome is to be discontinued. Is this really progress?

Kodachrome Project Aims to Preserve Era of Film Photography

Scott Kelby Photowalk | Durban, NL ZA

I've signed up for the second Scott Kelby Photowalk. The Durban walk will be around the Harbour region. I haven't decided what camera I will be taking with me. The Kiev 4 is my current fave. I do have a Canon AE1 on its way from the states though and if it is here by then I fancy giving it a good workout.

I've stocked up on a couple of rolls of Kodak CN400 and Fuji Sensia 100. I'm just waiting for the right moment to load them in a camera. Maybe the photowalk will be the time.

About Your Photowalk | Durban, NL ZA

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In India, film is capturing some final moments - The National Newspaper

In India, film is capturing some final moments - The National Newspaper

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More Kiev Shots From The Point

A few more shots from the Flickr Meetup on June 21. All shot with the Kiev 4 and Fuji Proplus 100.

Durban Flickr Meetup

On Sunday 21 June we had the first Durban Flickr Meetup at the Durban Point area. Here are a few of my shots all taken with the Kiev 4 and Fuji Proplus 100.









More to come once I've finished scanning.

Kiev Pano

Champagne Valley
Originally uploaded by Chris Bloom

While in the Drakensberg I took a series of shots from outside the chalet with the intent of creating a panorama at a later date. Using Panorama Maker 4 I stitched six of them together and then cropped out about a third of the final image to get this result.

Kiev 4 Shots From The Drakensberg

Here are a few pictures I took with the Kiev 4 while in the Drakensberg. All were taken with Fuji Proplus 100 film.

Weekend In The Drakensberg (Minolta Hi-Matic E)

Last weekend we spent a weekend in the Drakensberg Mountains. I took both my Minolta Hi-Matic E and the Kiev 4. Here are some of the pics from the Minolta.


Tracy outside the chalet we stayed in (Fuji Superia 200)


Zulu singer/dancer at one of the many art and craft markets in the area (Fuji Superia 200)


The road to the chalet (Fuji Proplus 100)


Late afternoon outside the chalet (Fuji Proplus 100)


The sun just about to dissapear for the day (Fuji Proplus 100)


The chalet owners dog helping to clean the grill (Fuji Proplus 100)


Hiking at Cathedral Peak (Fuji Proplus 100)


More of Cathedral Peak (Fuji Proplus 100)


Tracy climbing a hill at Cathedral Peak with the car in the background (Fuji Proplus 100)


At Midway Services on the way home (Fuji Proplus 100)

35mm SLR - YASHICA MINISTER 35mm RANGE FINDER for sale in Pennington

35mm SLR - YASHICA MINISTER 35mm RANGE FINDER for sale in Pennington

My latest acquisition. I guess it should be arriving in a few days. Meanwhile the Kiev 4 I won on Ebay has arrived from the Ukraine. Busy with my first test roll at present.

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Some Samples From The Fed 5

Rushed a roll of Fuji Superia 200 through my 'New' Fed 5 on Sunday. Tried to see how well it worked in different lighting conditions. The only problems I encountered were not being able to see the full frame in the viewfinder due to wearing spectacles and the tendancy for the light meter to give too low a reading in bright sunlight resulting in overexposed shots. I will maybe under expose by a stop or two when I encounter those conditions in future.

Back In The CCCP

Fed 5
Originally uploaded by Chris Bloom

Today the Fed 5, I bought on Ebay from a chap in the Ukraine, arrived in the post. The Fed 5 was produced in the Ukraine from 1977 until 1997. So far I have familiarised myself with the controls and I've taken one or two shots indoors with and without flash. Hopefully tomorrow morning I'll be able to go out and really test out this green machine.

Alan Smiths pinhole photography Culture Culture | Click Liverpool

Alan Smiths pinhole photography Culture Culture | Click Liverpool

If you're in or around Liverpool, this exhibition of analogue photography looks like it might be worth checking out.

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Polaroid 'Instant' Film Could Be Back, Thanks to Retro-Loving Chemists

Polaroid 'Instant' Film Could Be Back, Thanks to Retro-Loving Chemists

A private enterprise in Holland is trying to resurrect a Polaroid factory and start producing instant film once again. I think they may be onto something as we still get quite a few enquiries for Polaroid in our shop.

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Replacement Battery Arrangement For Minolta Hi-Matic E

Replacement Battery Arrangement For Minolta Hi-Matic E
Originally uploaded by Chris Bloom

Unfortunately the original PX640 batteries that powered the Minolta Hi-Matic E, that I recently purchased, are no longer readily available. When I received my Hi-Matic a week ago the batteries it came with were dead so I had to look for another power solution. After doing a bit of research on the web I discovered people were using the cheap and plentiful LR44 batteries to power their Hi-Matic E's. The problem is the LR44 cells are like half the size of the PX640's. The way I overcame this problem was to take one of the battery contacts out of a disposable camera and as shown in the picture use it to make a bridge between the two LR44 cells. This arrangement seems to be working fine with my first roll of film coming out with correct and even exposures.

Hands-on: Vivitar V3800N 35mm manual film SLR [Update]

Hands-on: Vivitar V3800N 35mm manual film SLR [Update]



Vivitar have just brought a fully manual 35mm SLR to the market. At $170 it has a lot of stiff competition from the deluge of good second hand equipment available at the moment. It's good to see Vivitar still believe there is still a big enough base of film users in 2009 to warrant a new analogue product.

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Think film photography is dead? Think again... | WFTS-TV

Think film photography is dead? Think again... | WFTS-TV

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Go Grab A Bargain

The Obligatary New Camera Shot
Originally uploaded by Chris Bloom

For the film photographer there is at the moment a huge variety of cameras to be had at next to nothing prices. On Ebay there are thousands of analogue cameras for sale and if you are prepared to spend some time feeling out the market and picking out the reputable sellers, there are some amazing good deals to be had.

I picked up the Minolta Hi-Matic E on a local auction site for R200 (less than $20). It's in mint condition and performs as well as I'm sure it did when it was new some (approx) 35 years ago. It seems possible to pick up a good copy on Ebay for about the same price. For those of you with this camera or potental buyers of this camera, the full user manual is on-line
here.