A balanced, three course meal of photography, tech and repair
A balanced, three course meal of photography, tech and repair
By the end of the year 2000, the writing was already on the wall for film SLR’s. The launch of the insanely brilliant EOS 1v signalled the end of serious R&D spending on film cameras as attention shifted to the growing digital market. Although 35mm SLR’s would continue to sell…
Strangely, Canon didn’t launch their all new EOS line of 35mm film SLR’s with a top end professional model. Instead, they chose to break ground with the “enthusiasts level” EOS 650 and then very quickly followed this up for “higher end” enthusiasts with the 620 and 600. This apparently saw…
Many years back I was happily scanning film using a Canon 4400F flatbed and, in all fairness, I thought it was pretty good and used it well past its sell by date. When Windows 10 decided it didn’t like the scanner any more and Canon had long since made it…
Two years after the launch of the groundbreaking Dynax/Maxxum 7000i, Minolta launched a totally redesigned and upgraded range of single digit “xi” cameras. The Dynax/Maxxum 7xi was the “prosumer” or “enthusiast” model in the lineup and came second only to the professional grade 9xi. Minolta had seriously shaken up the…
A few years back I jumped on the half frame bandwagon and bought a Canon Demi EE-17. That camera is beautiful, well made and expensive and I enjoyed using it, but for one reason or another I didn’t use it much after initially writing about it and eventually sold it…
For those who lived through first the digital photography revolution and then the rise of the phone camera to being the dominant means of photograpy today, it is hard to believe that there are grown adults today who have never known a time when camera phones weren’t “a thing.” As…
I had no intention of buying a 2003, 5MP digital bridge camera, nor did I have any particular need for one but when you just happen to spot an auction ending for a bunch of camera gear and the price is still 99p with zero bids… It’s almost criminal not…
I’ve owned and reviewed every T series camera (T70, 80 and 90) in the last few years apart from the T50. With the exception of the superb, groundbreaking T90 there isn’t a great deal of love for Canon’s transitional T series SLR cameras. The T80 was a best forgotten experiment…
I finished 2023 on a real high having dug up a real piece of digital photography history and a significant part of my childhood in the Casio QV-10a and going on an absolute odyssey to get it working, talking to a period correct PC and finally extracting the images out…
Kodak sold their first disposable 35mm camera in 1988 with the slogan “It’s the film that’s a camera!” This concept of a pick up and shoot camera that came ready to use was truly unique and their popularity exploded. These Kodak cameras and their competitors were truly disposable in every…
In 2007 Steve Jobs stood on stage an introduced the first iPhone. “It’s an iPod, a phone, a mobile internet communicator,” he repeated, “are you getting it?! These are not three separate devices.” This had been coming for quite some time – convergence happens like waves in technology. When something…
I’ve written before about my camera firsts – the Casio QV10 was the first digital camera I ever used, Fujifilm’s A201 was the first digital camera I bought myself. My preference for Canon gear began with the Ixus 500 before my first ever DSLR in the form of the Canon…