The XE-5 and XE-7 intrigued me because they were part of the Minolta-Leica collaboration, and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. My first XE-5 was a Goodwill buy. It arrived with a good 50mm f2 lens, but the film advance was stuck. Fortunately, a little tinkering resultedContinue Reading
Folding cameras were not supposed to be part of the VMLP. I was drawn to SLRs and was quite happy limiting my photography journey to them. That feeling held until I used an Autocord. Yes, the Autocord is a TLR, but the 6×6 negative yielded such clear,Continue Reading
This was my first roll of Lomography Potsdam Kino. All winter, I’d been looking forward to shooting it. Opening the development tank, I was upset to find the negatives festooned with these odd patterns. I should have known better. While loading the film on the developing reel, it stuck,Continue Reading
As someone who got into photography for the pratical purpose of documenting my garden from year to year, I have no photographic home, so to speak. That is, there is no style or school of photography I gravitate to and no particular photographer whose style I admire. It is notContinue Reading
Film prices are skyrocketing, which is news to no one. On one hand, I hate this. On the other hand, looking back, perhaps I’m overreacting. Consider this: In June 1976, I bought my first Minolta, an SR-T 101. It was the bicentennial year, and I spent the summer in Washington,Continue Reading
I would wager that anyone serious about 35mm photography wants to try medium format at some point. A point-and-shoot plastic camera can do 35mm, but medium and large format—those are strictly big league. Medium format is not cheap, nor is it easy to get into. There are tons of booksContinue Reading
Last fall, I planned for a big 2022 garden season. New colors and groupings had captured my imagination; of course, I had a few potential floral images in mind. None of that panned out. Gardening season is past, and it is too early for me to consider next April. InContinue Reading
My journey in photography started a little more than three years ago. During that time, I have taken a darkroom class, read numerous blogs, sat for a family portrait, written a blog, participated in forums and discussion groups, read reviews, watched videos, and read multiple photography books. As someone whoContinue Reading
My first eBay purchase was a Maxxum 7000i with two lenses: a Minolta 35-80mm and a Minolta 75-300mm from the last generations of Minolta’s AF lenses. At 42.00 for the set, which included a flash, I thought I had done quite well. Generally, I was happy with my purchase, andContinue Reading
After buying my Pentax 645, the first lens I purchased was the 120mm f4 macro, which I intended for studio work. But soon, the desire to go outside took over. For over a year, I would pour over lens listings, develop a wishlist, consider the prices, then delete the wishlist.Continue Reading
