This is the final photo post for today, but I have loads more things to catch up on. I haven't even done a 'throwback' post for ages. My site fees are due soon, so I feel like I should get my money's worth! This is another one of my favourite cameras. It was also brought back from the dead after I accidentally dropped it.

I have been using a lot of Ilford HP5 lately. I bought a bulk roll which expired in 2007 from eBay. I have been mostly shooting it at box speed or 320asa. The 139 is one of my favourite cameras; I have a few of those 😉 But this one really is. I got it for a bargain price of £5 when WYC was closing down, and it worked perfectly.

I have written before that this was my first dream camera. It was the one I wanted when I bought my first camera, a Zenit 11. I couldn't afford the OM4 at the time. Finally, in 2015, I had the money and the inclination to search for an example. I used it a lot after it arrived, but recently I stopped using it altogether.

I have just started a short teaching assignment, meaning I have a little more cash. So, I decided to go back to my roots. I didn't go mad, just this £6 camera from a local charity shop. I was surprised to see it as it is not a common brand in the UK. I have tried a couple of Goko cameras, including another…

A like-minded friend sent me some film. This is one of the nice things about having internet friends who are also into film photography. We swap things. I send them something; they send me something. In this case, I ended up trying a film I probably wouldn't have bought myself. This time it was Eastman 5360, which is a black-and-white direct positive film.

I have gone on a few camping trips this year, with various cameras...and in various weather conditions. One thing I did take with me on each trip, was a 'tiny' film camera. To me, tiny means something pocketable. For the first two trips, I took a Pentax Auto 110, loaded with Lomo Orca 110. I didn't finish it on the first trip to…

I had seen this kit in a few shops, and on one rare affluent day, I bought it. Then I left it on my desk for a few months before setting down to actually start the assembly process. I have previously made one other kit camera, the Konstructor, so I had a tiny bit of experience. That build had initial problems from springs to scanner issues, but eventually it worked.

I was given this in the surprise bag I received back in January. I saved it for a possible day at the beach during a camping trip to Scotland, but the weather had other ideas, as you will see. If you search for the camera online, it is still available to buy, and prices range from £8-25. It comes in many different colours and, if bought new, all are pre-loaded with 10 exposures of colour 35mm film.

When I was sent the Flashback by Canny Cameras, he also included this in the box. I had to send the Flashback - back, but I was allowed to keep this one. It was a nice addition to the Flashback experience, as it was an actual disposable film-camera alternative, not a digital one. I liked the look of the camera.

As I have mentioned, I recently got a 3D printer. I have already made a 35mm pinhole camera, but I decided to make a 120 example. Then I read my friend's blog, where he talked about the Scura 120. I was sure he had printed it himself from downloaded files. So off I trot to the Dora Goodman site and downloaded the same files.

Well, I have had the Creality 3D printer for 2 weeks now and have printed two pinhole cameras, among other things, of course. The first one I tried was a 35mm version, labelled simply "pinhole camera" by OPENFAB_OZU on Thingiverse. It printed easily as I used decent filament. I have quickly learnt that buying cheap or second-hand filament is a real pain in the behind.

I truly mean that title. It is the only way to describe Evelyne Dierikx. She is someone I have never met, but maybe one day I will. I first came into contact with her when I bought one of her beautiful zines; this was before COVID. Then, during the first lockdown Christmas, she sent me an enormous package of film items out of the blue.

I thought I would have more time to get some posts done, but I have been caught up in a new hobby. I have got myself a 3D printer. I had no base knowledge, so I have been on a steep learning curve with a few failed prints and filament tangles. But I have finally got things sorted and have successfully printed a basic pinhole camera.

Today was the last day of the school year, England is also out of the World Cup, so I should have a little more time to update the blog...unfortunately, for the latter reason. This camera came to me a few weeks ago when a friend got back in touch. He had decided to quit social media, so keeping in touch was a little trickier.

My good friend Holly has struggled with her love of photography of late. But luckily for me, it has returned...or maybe not lucky for me as she has nearly all of my filters and one of my cameras 🙂 I know I will get them back this summer when I force her out some more. Funnily, I was talking about her today with some non-photo friends.

Right now, I feel particularly busy due to the end of the school year, my recent hospital visit and the World Cup. I am writing this just after England narrowly beat DR Congo. Jeez, the team likes to make us sweat. Anyway, all that means I haven't prepared any new camera posts. However, I do have some photos I never got around to putting online.

This was my last outing with the OM10 before I sold it in a job lot. I realised I wasn't using it much, plus I have the OM4 and OM40, which I prefer. So I loaded it with a roll of Exeter 100 and went on a wander to Barnsley, which is becoming one of my favourite places. There was a zine festival on at one location and a great exhibit at another.

Yet again, I have no idea why I bought this folding camera. I must have read something about it online, but then forgot to save the article. I do know I got it for under £10 from the bay. Before I did anything, I checked the bellows, and I found a couple of tiny holes. I used some black fabric paint on those and let it dry for a few days.

A while back, I wandered some bluebell woods and cherry trees with a new-to-me Nikkor 24-120mm on the Nikon N90x. As you can see, I have already written about that day out. BUT that was the second film that I loaded into the camera that day. When I first got there, the camera was loaded with a roll of…

Third post in a row today. I am catching up on some of the things in my draft folder. These were all taken on one roll of Ilford XP2, one of my favourite films, in one of my favourite cameras. I went for a weekend break to Durham with my cousin. We stayed around the city, visiting the castle, the cathedral and…

If I don't have confidence in a camera, I sometimes shoot half the film and then put the rest in a half-frame camera. This is how I have this set of shots. I hadn't used the Penti for a while, so I decided to give it a run. I had half a roll of Exeter 100 and a day without anything to do.

After selling all my APS film, I was sent one for Christmas, so I had to reinvest in the format. Luckily, the cameras are now very cheap; unfortunately, the price of the film is rising. A friend and I were discussing APS cameras, and he wanted one where you could set the ISO. I suggested the EOS range, as you can use Canon lenses, change the ISO, and you can often find them at a bargain price.

Shock Horror, a digital camera on a film camera blog??!! Well, I have written about digital cameras before, for instance, converting them to infrared. This digital camera was sent to me by Alan at Canny Camera to play with after he had finished his review. He has tried a number of these types of cameras and has compared them. I would recommend reading his review if you want to know more about this style of camera.

This camera came to me via a junk box; it didn't work. The stuff in the box was gratefully received, and I have now gone through everything. I haven't kept anything, but passed on anything working to other film-loving people. The Halina was turned into a pinhole camera as the lenses had fallen off. The Ensign, which was the only working camera, was cleaned and given to a grateful recipient.

If you read the blog back in January, you will know I was gifted a bag with a surprise item in each pocket. In one of the pockets was a Nikon F90x with a Nikkor lens attached. Unfortunately, the shutter of the F90x needed replacing with a new one from a donor body. The bag giver expressed a hankering to do that.

Harman continues with their film releases with this 'switch' offering. At first it feels like "red' but then you see the blue/smurf skin and see it is completely different. I don't want to go into the technical details when Harman's own website does that. This website also shows some sample photos and explains more about using it. I loaded a roll of 120 in my friend's…

I bought this from eBay on a whim. It was mislabeled by the seller as the AF35M minus the II, but a look at the Canon Camera Museum shows it really is the II from 1983. I wasn't really bothered which version it was, as I haven't tried either, plus it was sold for parts. Given it was priced at £7, I didn't expect much from it.

I was recently given two Petri 7 cameras. After years of not owning or using one, two come along like buses. One was a swap, and one was a gift. I was told the latter did not work, but the former did. On testing, I found that information to be slightly false. Let's start with the Petri 7, which comes first in the line.

I am feeling exhausted today, so despite the sun, I am staying home and doing simple things - like working on this blog. The selection of posts below is a nice memory for me. At this point, I had just moved into a new apartment in Kenkyugakuen. It was more modern than my previous house and was closer to a train station.

I had a roll of the original Harman Phoenix left and wanted to use it up, as I much prefer the new emulsion. I took it on a few wanders around my local area, but mainly used it at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. There was a new Damien Hirst sculpture I wanted to see. It would have been nice to have a 360-degree view of it, but it was in a building with no access, only a frontal view.

I have no idea why I bought this, given my general dislike of Polaroid film and cameras. It wasn't improved by my latest foray into the format with a Onestep 2. But, I had some money in my Vinted balance and this popped up for just £20 with a film included. When the camera arrived, it turned out to have 2 films as there was one already loaded inside.

After I received this camera from the surprise bag, I loaded it with another gift, a roll of Lucky Color 200 film. I then carried it around with me for a few weeks. I ended up taking it to London a couple of times, to Ilkley and around my local area. Here are lots of my results, including a surprised father when I first tried it out...the flash works 🙂

This is the second tiny camera I have used. The other I used back in 2018 and vowed never to use one again. Well, here we are, but it isn't my fault, honest guv. I acquired this camera in a swap, as I mentioned in my last post. I sent a couple of cameras to a new friend, and he sent me a surprise 'package'.

Though this is a post about the Minolta, I have decided to start from the beginning. It will be like two posts into one. So, it all started when I signed up for a walk in Liverpool on the photowalk.me website. There were quite a few people on the walk whom I had met previously or chatted with online. It would be nice to finally meet them in person, plus Liverpool!

These photos have been stuck on my computer for a year, I know, because the bluebells are coming out again. I just haven't got around to posting them on here. I tried this experiment after reading the linked post by Christopher J Osborne. I knew I had a couple of those lenses, so why not try reversing the element, the reversing can be re-reversed after all.

I was chatting with a few female friends about how many events and competitions were aimed at students, young students. Even groups seemed to be attended by a younger crowd. And there is nothing wrong with that, but where were the events for middle-aged women? So we decided to make our own group called "Hot Flash And Focus". I made a logo, started an…

Well, this was clearly a slow month as there were only 2 posts for me to update. I must have been out playing with my new scooter or going to Hanami picnics. Boy, I loved that scooter. Riding through the fields and mountains on it was so much fun. It was a spur-of-the-moment buy. I saw it for sale on a local website and realised I had a motorbike licence; it was transferred over when I did my car licence.

This camera came to me in a box of junk. The viewfinder was hanging off, and the taking lens was damaged. I initially put it to one side, but then wondered. Could I use the main body as a light-tight box for a 6x6 pinhole camera? The lens plate, with the lens removed, should be stable enough to attach a pinhole somehow.

I was sure I had written about this camera. Then I offered it to a friend and told her to check my blog for the photos...it wasn't there. I remember writing it, I remember posting it. I definitely took the photos of the camera; they were on my phone. Maybe I dreamt it all?? I think I might be going a bit doolally.

I was browsing Facebook Marketplace for cameras on sale near me and saw this for £20, which I had just got in a card for Christmas, perfect. So I sent a message and trundled along to inspect it, but all was not well. The item had belonged to a relative of theirs, and they had left the batteries inside. Of course, they had leaked and the camera didn't respond to the new ones I had taken with me.

This is the not-so-super version of one of my favourite cameras. I bought it from Vinted as I was looking for a Pentax A lens for another camera body and noticed one attached to this camera for basically the same price, so why not? The ME non-super lacks a manual mode, so it is an aperture-priority camera. It also has a slower top speed of 1/1000th compared to the 1/2000th super version.

I have now tried the Yashica from the mystery bag, though it meant going out on a dull and cloudy day. It has rained and rained and rained and rained and rained, and very briefly sunned, and then rained and rained... All in all, it's been quite crap weather-wise so far this year. I had every confidence that the camera worked, so I recovered it straight away with a Japanese print-style fabric.

I don't even know what to call this camera, as the brand name on the box says, "Generic". Well, that will make searching for this camera easy...not. I saw it after all the fuss with the Chuzhao. That was a quirky digital camera, and this one seemed to be along the same lines. Just like the Chuzhao, it can be found on various online selling platforms.

The Barnsley Libraries, Book Festival and Fotocollective have announced their latest Zine Fair. It is taking place on Saturday, 28th February at the Barnsley Civic. There will be 60+ zinemakers, artists, illustrators, designers, writers, poets, and photographers from around the UK, under one roof. There are also free drop-in workshops and 3 photography exhibitions. It sounds amazing, and given my love for all things photographic, I thought I would trundle along.

The beginning of this year seems to be about boxes and bags. This camera came to me from a gifted box of stuff. Unlike the bag, this box really was a pile of junk cameras. The giver knew it and even said it, so I don't feel bad repeating it. The giver said he didn't have much hope for anything, but I was welcome to try.

Join this photography event in Barnsley, United Kingdom on Saturday 28 February 2026 at 11:00 AM. Photowalk photo walk for photography enthusiasts.

Here we are, the final reveal. Let's get straight to the video, as it is a little longer than the last few. I recorded it on Instagram Live. Hence the logo. As you can see from the video, the bag contained another very nice camera, A Nikon F90x with an MB-10 power grip. I said motor winder in the video as I hadn't researched it then.

We are now onto the main compartment, the biggest part of the bag. I received a message from the giver last night that said the main compartment had sections, but they had covered the top of them. If I were careful, I could reveal the sections in stages. Nice, I have tried one already, and when I looked at the camera post list, I saw I still had it.

Here we are again, this time it's the top pocket of the bag. It is long, wide and flat. So, what can it be? Well, that wasn't what I expected. To be honest, I had no expectations really, but I am very happy with this. I haven't got a Gorilla Pod at all, so this is very welcome. The phone holder makes it especially handy.

Gosh, this bag is hard work, the fifth day, the fifth post. Well, let's get to it. Here is the reveal video from this morning... An Olympus Mju 105, with a battery and a spare. I have tried the deluxe version of this camera, but to be honest, I only tried one film in it. I never really gave it a fair trial.