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Death of a Nikon F3
Yesterday, my Nikon F3 died. It was an honest mistake. I was practicing bass for an upcoming gig, whipped around, and knocked it off the table. It landed square on the HP prism, shattering the...
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The Three Fs of Polaroid Photography
During a televised comedy special in the 1980s, a once-beloved comedian famously spoke the old witticism that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different...
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A Vest Pocket Kodak Camera Retrospective
In 1912, Kodak released the Vest Pocket Kodak, a camera that would not only bring with it a new type of film, but an entirely new way of life for countless people. Suddenly, photography was accessible,...
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Featured Photographer – Jenna (Jae) Williams
Hi Jenna! Can you start out by telling us a little bit about yourself? I’m a 27-year-old queer, non-binary film photographer. I am born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area and currently reside in...
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Nikon Nikkor Z MC 105mm F/2.8 VR S Macro Lens Review
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time reviewing macro lenses it’s that eyeballs are gross. Red capillaries wriggling through the sclera? Hideous. The fibrous stroma of the iris? Gag-inducing....
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5 Color Films That Cost Less Than Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is the most popular color film on the market today, so popular that it’s become near synonymous with modern color film photography – and for good reason. It’s a highly versatile,...
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Kodak VR35 K12 Review – Grandma Knows Best
In 1986, Kodak began production on a series of new point and shoot 35mm film cameras, the first Kodak-branded cameras in over 17 years. This model range was called VR35, and they were...
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Voigtlander Nokton 40mm F/1.2 Aspherical Lens Review – Nikon Z Mount
I twisted the focus ring of the brand new Voigtlander Nokton 40mm F/1.2 and squinted through the electronic viewfinder of my Nikon Z. I watched as the petrified teeth and tongue of a Bengal tiger, dead...
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Japan’s “Bloody May Day” and the Pistol Cameras That It Created
On May 1, 1952, a violent conflict between protestors and police officers exploded on the grounds surrounding the Japanese Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan. Towers of smoke reached into the sky above...
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Nikon F5 Long Term User Review
The Nikon F5 was Nikon’s flagship camera in 1996, and arguably the most advanced 35mm film camera designed up to that time. It’s big, heavy, and was very expensive brand new. I didn’t get my copy until...
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Fujifilm X-E4 and the Paradox of Minimalism
A third-century AD book about the lives of philosophers contains this anecdote about Socrates: “And often when he beheld the multitude of wares exposed for sale, he would say to himself, ‘How many...
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What’s That Camera in Wes Anderson’s Latest Film, Asteroid City?
The trailer for Wes Anderson’s latest twee epic Asteroid City contains an almost absurd amount of hallmarks of the iconic director’s style. Meticulously arranged wide shots, special effects out of a...
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Opinion – What is going on with Ferrania’s new film Orto?
In an age when every price increase or film cancellation sparks fear that our beloved medium, film, is going away, I should be nothing but elated whenever a film company announces a new film stock....
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Shooting a 100-Year-Old Camera – the Contessa Nettel / Zeiss Piccolette
The Contessa Nettel Piccolette, a 127 format, compact, strut-and-bellows folding camera, was first made in 1919. If that doesn’t seem all that long ago, perhaps recall that Penicillin wasn’t discovered...
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The Dubious Origin and Uncertain Future of the “Standard” 50mm Lens
When Oskar Barnack needed a lens for the first Leica camera in 1923, he chose a 50mm. When Robert Capa shot the D-Day invasion of Omaha Beach in 1944, he did so with a 50mm. When Canon sold...
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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let My Kindergartner Use My DSLR
Picture it: springtime in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, a stone’s throw from the Berkshire Mountains on the western border of Massachusetts and New York. Now, picture a family of six. Two adults in...
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Baby’s First Photo – One of the Last Surprises
Back in the early days of Casual Photophile, a part of my weekly routine included a stop at the local thrift store to look for cameras. This was how I found a considerable number of cameras and lenses...
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Interview with Film Photographer Taylor
Hi Taylor! Can you start out by telling us a little bit about yourself? My name is Taylor and I am a film photographer based in Minnesota. My forever “photography home” is in the un-decorated prairie...
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I Shot Wolfen NC500, a New Color Film from ORWO
In May 2022, the German film manufacturer ORWO launched their first new film in over fifty years. The new film, ORWO Wolfen NP100, is a fine-grained 100 ISO black-and-white 35mm film. Neat! But what we...
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Olympus XA2 – Point and Shoot 35mm Film Camera Review
I was only a month into my re-introduction to film photography, and I already wanted another camera. I had been shooting a Minolta Hi-Matic 7s, a perfectly lovely 1960s Japanese fixed lens rangefinder...
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