Blog

• Loose notes from Konica Pearl II repair

  Posted on 24 February, 2025 / 4 min read
  

  I finally got a folder. Konica Pearl II, or going by initials to the horror of all office workers, KPI(I). Rangefinder was not accurate…

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• My frustrations with Nikon Zf

  Posted on 23 February, 2025 / 10 min read
  

  Since corporations get bigger and bigger, technical support gets abstracted away. Or offloaded. Or just doesn't exist anymore and it's a…

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• Developing film on a budget

  Posted on 08 February, 2025 / 9 min read
  

  First of all: you don't need a darkroom. And also first of all: you don't need a "kit". Developing black and white film can be very cheap…

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• Traveling to Vietnam

  Posted on 15 January, 2025 / 29 min read
  

  Still having some annual leave left, I decided to go for a weeklong trip to Vietnam. That's one destination I've heard great things about…

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• Quo vadis, Fujifilm? One month with Nikon Zf

  Posted on 26 October, 2024 / 11 min read
  

  I went to North America again. To escape work, to escape myself, my circumstances. Well, for work-related reasons first and foremost, but I…

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• One roll with... Olympus Flex 2.8A

  Posted on 23 September, 2024 / 6 min read
  

  Or when you learn that Rolleiflex was not the only TLR with a f2.8 lens. Most camera manufacturers that hung around long enough had a TLR in…

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• One roll with... Rollei 35

  Posted on 23 September, 2024 / 5 min read
  

  There's a bit of a drama recently, with the newly released Rollei 35AF; the original one came into spotlight again. It never really left it…

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• One box of Instax square with... Mamiya RB67

  Posted on 08 September, 2024 / 6 min read
  

  This is not a review of the RB67. This article is about the joys of instant photography, and exploring potential outlets of your own art…

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• One year without C41... and Harman Phoenix review

  Posted on 29 July, 2024 / 5 min read
  

  "C-41 is digital with extra steps". If you look hard enough, you'll probably see me somewhere saying that. To prove my point, I decided that…

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• One roll with... Agfa Optima 1535

  Posted on 18 June, 2024 / 6 min read
  

  Rangefinder. Red dot. Made in Germany. I present to you... the Agfa Optima 1535. The odd one out, and fairly rare camera, the advanced…

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• Traveling to Phillippines

  Posted on 01 May, 2024 / 13 min read
  

  At the end of March I have gone on a small trip to Palawan, Phillippines - a place of beautiful water, beaches, landscapes. Although it was…

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• Focus On The Negative: LLL 'Summicron' 8 element collapsible

  Posted on 25 March, 2024 / 7 min read
  

  The lens that started out Light Lens Lab. Rare 8 element Summicron. Remade by the Chinese. I'm not a huge fan of 35mm, but I decided to give…

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• Agat 18(K) English manual

  Posted on 22 March, 2024 / 1 min read
  

  Press Read More to get to the links. A while back I have translated the manual. However, Dropbox did a thing where it suddenly cut my…

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• Salt with black and white film...?

  Posted on 25 February, 2024 / 5 min read
  

  I saw a post on Facebook a while ago claiming that adding 30g/1L of salt to BW developer would help with contrast and base fog. I looked a…

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• Can you make a bracket for RX100V for DJI Osmo Mobile 6?

  Posted on 22 February, 2024 / 6 min read
  

  Osmo Mobile 6 is a light gimbal dedicated mainly for cellphones. And I got one for free. But you know what? I don't like my phone that much…

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• What I got in 2023

  Posted on 07 January, 2024 / 13 min read
  

  Like in the last year, I have decided to catalogue what I got in the last year. And there has been... Maybe less than I thought it would be…

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• One roll with... Konica Hexar RF

  Posted on 06 January, 2024 / 12 min read
  

  BRO. GET A RANGEFINDER. BRO. What for? SLRs are superior which has been proven how Lieca was begging Minolta to get them out of bankrupcy in…

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• One roll with... Konica MG/D

  Posted on 12 December, 2023 / 7 min read
  

  Run. Point. Shoot. Live. Then complain about Portra 400 prices. That's how an average film point and shooter thinks his life looks like, and…

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• One roll with... Minolta Repo

  Posted on 09 December, 2023 / 10 min read
  

  When I first heard of half frame cameras, I thought they're a great idea. 72 pictures! Can save so much on film! And the cameras are usually…

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• Focus on the negative: AstrHori vs TTArtisan light meters

  Posted on 15 July, 2023 / 8 min read
  

  As fun as fully manual cameras can be, and Sunny 16 as true as it can be (although it's more like Overcast 4 in Poland), a small and light…

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• A delayed gweilo's perspective: Double Ducks

  Posted on 22 June, 2023 / 3 min read
  

  Front page news: two massive inflated ducks, docked in front of Admiralty, for people to see. They're indeed massive - easily visible from…

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• A delayed gweilo's perspective: Nostalgia Fair in Victoria Park, early June

  Posted on 13 June, 2023 / 7 min read
  

  A bright, sunny Sunday. A welcome change of pace after a rainy week. Yes, it is hot and humid, and without sunscreen it may be dangerous to…

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• A delayed gweilo's perspective: Cheung Chau Bun Festival

  Posted on 05 June, 2023 / 10 min read
  

  After three years of Kung Flu reign, Cheung Chau Bun Festival has returned onto the regular schedule. I haven't had the opportunity to see…

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• Focus On The Negative: Light Lens Lab Elcan 50mm f/2 LTM

  Posted on 22 April, 2023 / 10 min read
  

  From China with love, without any snark. And a little middle finger towards the red dot, too. The story of the 4-element Elcan has been…

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• Loose notes from Fuji GS645S repair

  Posted on 22 April, 2023 / 6 min read
  

  As much as you say you care about your equipment, accidents may still happen. So yeah, I dropped my beloved GS645S, from about half a meter…

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• Another guide to scanning film

  Posted on 06 January, 2023 / 12 min read
  

  Nobody asked, but I'll say it anyway. And everyone has their own method, too, and frankly no method can be considered straight up bad*, as…

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• What I got in 2022 - an overview

  Posted on 06 January, 2023 / 18 min read
  

  Wow, last year was gassy. As if I had a bean soup for a week straight. Despite me writing about the void, I still was hungry for more - more…

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• TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 Fuji X pancake review

  Posted on 05 November, 2022 / 8 min read
  

  I'm cheap. I'll get it out of the way first. I'm not loyal to anyone, except for low taxes, low prices. TTArtisan did a quick release…

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• One roll with... Canon EOS 30

  Posted on 28 September, 2022 / 11 min read
  

  I mentioned something about the opportunities. Through an incredible stroke of bad and good luck, you may meet good people; and the good…

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• One roll with... Kodak Tri-X disposable

  Posted on 26 September, 2022 / 6 min read
  

  Reduce, reuse, recycle. All of that in a capitalist society, where you're constantly bombarded with advertisements; where companies with…

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• One roll with... Minolta 505si

  Posted on 05 June, 2022 / 9 min read
  

  I had an opportunity. Multiple opportunities, actually, and sometimes you just have to act on them, remembering about the risks. I've been…

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• Salt Paper Prints

  Posted on 20 September, 2021 / 11 min read
  

  Salt paper prints were discovered in 1830s, and were the method of making positive prints from negatives. The process has been widely…

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• Pergear 60mm f2.8 2:1 macro lens - review

  Posted on 03 September, 2021 / 5 min read
  

  A Chinese manufacturer releases a new, cheap lens. Their optics have been getting better and better recently, but you're still skeptical…

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• Minolta XG-1: A budget option that gets you 99% the way there

  Posted on 14 June, 2021 / 7 min read
  

  The moment I got my hands on my end-all 35mm camera, a black Minolta XD, I decided to sell off the XG-1 to a friend for a decent price. I…

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• Black and white developer recipes

  Posted on 15 April, 2021 / 24 min read
  

  The infromation is slowly disappearing from the net. The other day I realized I cannot find the recipe for D-76d I've been using! So there's…

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• Dealing with expired slide

  Posted on 09 April, 2021 / 6 min read
  

  We all know how to deal with expired color and black and white negative already. Overexpose one stop per d- I mean, bracket, test…

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• The Void

  Posted on 11 March, 2021 / 3 min read
  

  During my first steps in photography, it seemed to me like the gear used was super important. Lenses, bodies. I mean, I had a Zenit ET for…

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• Gallery launched

  Posted on 14 February, 2021 / 1 min read
  

  This was a pain. Mostly because of the technology I chose. CV-driven development requires some dedication, and sacrifice. Getting out of the…

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• Finally bought a domain!

  Posted on 23 January, 2021 / 1 min read
  

  This is it. Hello, world. (world: Helloo, spaqin) It's working, and it's quite a spectacle. But I'm sure it took less work than this…

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