Shutterbugging dot Net – Personal ramblings on photography

RIP GoPro

GoPro is being sold for $285M to a company from the militaro-industrial-complex.

I GoPro camera seens from the back, facing the outside of an airport terminal. Visible in the background, out of focus, is the wing of a jetliner and various service vehicles.

DPReview: GoPro says its future is “defense, government, robotics and aerospace” after $285 million merger

GoPro created the action camera segment with their waterproof and shockproof video cameras. It did IPO in 2014 for $4B, in 2016 it did try to compete with DJI in the drone market it withdrew from in 2018, after which it tried to sell itself, unsuccessfully. Back in June, the writing was on the wall, now GoPro is being acquired for a fraction of this.

As for the RIP, it is the pessimism of being acquired by a company whose market isn’t what GoPro has been been doing. The question is how long it will take…

August 2026 Links

American Urban Life and the Influential Photographers Who Captured It — A documentary photography of urban life in America is hosted at Dulwich Picture Gallery in London.

Exhibition Uncovers Historical Photos From a Century of US Deportation Campaigns — at the California Museum in Sacramento will be on view through January 10, 2027.

How Nolan used a modified Pentax 67 to make IMAX history with The Odyssey — 6×7 is close to IMAX size so the viewfinder is quite close, and thus makes for a good viewfinder to block shot on set.

Film

Kodak Verita 200: No Consumer Version of This Film Exists But I Shot It Anyway — Interesting. Not sure why Kodak is protecting these motion picture stocks ; even Vision 3 is not available unless you are a movie production which makes it hard for film packagers to resell.

Kodak Ektapan 100 Is a Smooth, Sharp, and Beautifully Detailed Film — aka TMax 100. This is not a new film but it’s good to revisit what make people chose it for Black and White photography.

The Contax G2 Hype is Warranted: This Camera Rocks — A review of that modern classic of a camera, the Contax G2. On the pricey side, not helped by the fact that some pop stars were spotted using one.

DIY

This Photographer Built a Rig that Shoots Trichrome Photos Faster Than You Can Blink — Interesting rig.

How a 20-Year-Old Has Spent 3 Years Building Panoramic Cameras by Hand — Panoramic cameras are specialty, and the most advanced ones are the X-Pan and the rotating lenses model like the WideluxX. The latter is being revinvented and cost a few thousands of euros, while the former command even more on the used market and become hard to repair.

Harman Phoenix is back

Harman Phoenix is back as an 125 ISO film. Currently only in 35mm, it is just the original Harman Phoenix (not Phoenix II) in a new packaging, DX coded to 125 ISO. The new ISO is based on feedback from photographer that it looked better exposed +2/3 stop. Will also be available in 120.

Another change is that officially it can be processed in E-6 or ECN-2.

I have just gotten my only exposed roll of Phoenix back from the lab. More later.

July 2026 Links

Did you know that every Pixii camera can record B&W DNG files? (the story of how an engineering tool accidentally became Pixii’s most-loved feature) — The Pixii is an interesting camera on many aspects with some design choices I consider terrible (this is not one of them). I’d love to get my hands on one.

What Is the Difference Between F-Stops and T-Stops? — A clear explanation of T-stop vs f-stop.

The Best Tripod for Woodland Photography (Tested in Wind & Rain) — Some comparison of tripods for nature photography in the woodlands. Some applies to other uses.

The Insane Story of Nikon’s Cancelled DL Compact Cameras and Why it Deserves Another Chapter — The compact camera market got killed by the smartphones. And today smartphone image quality is junk on overall: priced to the bottom with computational-goo to fill the gaps while trying to number brag.

Film

Nikon F6: and so it goes — About the Nikon F6.

Running on Film with the Hasselblad XPan — Editorial shoot on X-Pan.

Nikon F3 – Camera Review — A 2016 review of the Nikon F3.

I Shot a Rare Film Emulsion That Sold for $5,000 — Beyond the totally clickbait headline, this is about shooting the discontinued Fujifilm FP100c peel apart on a Polaroid 180, and using the negatives.

Asahi Optical Historical Club: A brief history of the Asahi Optical Corporation — Presented without comments. A reprint of a 2002 article.

Repairs

Sigma 45mm f/2.8 Lens Repair & Analysis — Repairing a Sigma 45mm f/2.8 lens.

DIY

reFrame camera — an experimental camera with a color ePaper display. You can build one yourself.

News: Sony wants to buy Tamron

Apparently Sony wants to buy Tamron (Imaging Resource). Tamron confirmed a JP¥200 Billions offer from Sony to buy them. That’s about CA$1.76 Billions. Their statement say they are looking at it. Sony already owns about 15% of Tamron.

The question is whether this would mean the end of third-pary lenses for other than Sony. The claim is that Sony wants to protect Tamron, with whom they have a partnership, against some other investors, that have recently become a larger shareholder than Sony.

DPReview has a longer analysis, mentioning other business from Tamron that Sony competes in, and the fact that while Tamron is the OEM for some Nikon lenses, and how some lenses are only available in Sony E-mount or with better pricing. And given that Canon and Nikon have been a bit restrictive on third-party lenses (R and Z mount respectively), it wouldn’t be a surprising move post-acquisition, if it ever happened, to stop making lenses for these.

In comparison, in 2011, Hoya sold the Pentax camera business to Ricoh Imaging for about JP¥10 Billions.

Nikon F3

For a while I have been looking at which Nikon manual focus camera I should get, as I don’t own any Nikon. Turns out most filmfluencers that have one, have a Nikon F3. Here we go, I just got a Nikon F3. It feels like I got it for a good price, for what was one of the top Nikon 35mm SLR when it was released on 1979. It came with the period incorrect 2002 Nikkor AF 50mm 1.8 D which works fine with this camera. My specific camera was built in 1981.

The Nikkor AF 50mm f1.8 D that came with it is an autofocus lens with aperture ring and released in 2002 is an inexpensive but among the sharpest lenses. The nifty-fifty.

Now I need to understand what the various Nikon F lenses are. At least with Canon it’s simple. FL -> FD -> FDn. The latter two are interchangeable and FL is compatible with FD cameras using stopped down metering only (as FL doesn’t have aperture indexing), but not the other way around. The complexity of the Nikon lenses designation is also why that 2002 autofocus lens works great with the 1979 manual focus camera. Unlike Canons where EF lenses never were compatible with FD bodies (not even physically mounting).

I will talk more about it later after I shoot a roll of Kodak BW400CN that I pulled out of my freezer (bought in 2011 for U$5.25, it expired 03/2013) as it still is black & white July.

Black & White July

I have decided that this July I would shoot black & white. I consider myself a colour shooter, so I don’t black & white often. The goal is trying something different, challenge myself. With the Fujifilm, switching to black & white change also in the viewfinder so what you see is what you get, mostly. I have either shot black & white on film, or sometime “fixed” digital images that were not shot especially in black & white, but that just got converted post processing. This picture of the CN Tower that was taken on such a gray day in December 2010 that it was colour-less even in the optical viewfinder:

A black & white image.

A structure pointing up towards the top left. A donut shape interrupt the flow of the structure and the tip is partially blurred by the fog. It is the CN Tower. — The CN Tower on a cloudy overcast day of winter 2010.
Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105 f4 L IS USM — December 2010
Black & white post-processed.

So what makes shooting black & white different? First it’s about light, contrast and shapes. You can play with exposure to make the brights brighter. This will make me try something different.

On the Fujifilm X-E5 I shoot raw+JPEG with some Agfa Scala recipe, at least for now, I might change to something else. The goal is to try to use the files straight out of camera. With the Canon 5D Mark II, I’ll just post process as it doesn’t have the variety of Fujifilm film simulation. And with the Ricoh GR Digital 2, I can switch to black & white as it always have a JPEG when shooting raw.

Stay tuned.

Link: Making panoramic images

elengale wrote a long about their experience shooting panoramic: Wider horizons – making panoramic images

A great introduction to shooting panoramic on film. It’s not about stitching, it’s not about digital. It’s about 35mm film and various types of cameras. From the Fujifilm T-X1 / Hasselblad X-Pan, shooting natively 24x65mm, to the compact point and shoot Minolta P and Rioch R1, that crop inside a 24×36 frame, by way of the Horizon, Noblex and Widelux with their rotating lenses. What all these cameras have in common is that the image produced is panoramic, ie with an aspect ratio larger by 2:1, and that it is either covering the whole film, or masked ; you don’t crop in post processing.

The article goes on a complete comparison of field of view, aspect ratio, viewfinders, etc. This is all about what the writer has personally used, still favouring the Fujifilm.

June 2026 Links

Press Photographer Releases 30-Year Archive of Iconic Celebrity Images — a preview of The Big Shot: Photographs by Greg Brennan.

X-E5

Viltrox AF 75mm f1.8 EVO Review & Sample Photos — Reviewed on the Fujfilm X-E5.

Photographyblog has a triptich of reviews for the X-E5:

Fujifilm XF 23mm F2.8 R WR Review

Fujifilm X-E5 Review

Fujifilm X-E5 vs Fujifilm X-E4 – Which is Better?

Film

Film Friday: Kodak Portra 800 Is High-Speed, Color Perfection — One of the rare choices for ISO 800 film.

May 2026 Links

Photographer Spends Night on Freezing Mountain to Capture Rare Triple Galaxy Arch — Impressive images in a very unfriendly environment.

The Enduring Mystery Behind Iconic American Photograph ‘Lunch on a Beam’ — About the making of the iconic photograph, and the book written.

Reviewing the Most Beautiful Digital Camera Ever Made 22 Years Later — The Epson R-D1. A first (and last). It was the digital rangefinder M mount before Leica.

Film

Custom Camera Builder Dora Goodman Is Closing its Doors — The website doesn’t have details (yet) on the closure.

Inside Harman’s Bet on the Future of Analog Photography — Harman has a very strong role to play in the world of colour film photography.

DIY

DIY Project Turns a Panasonic GF3 and Soviet Fed 5 Into a Digital Rangefinder — another DIY project of build cameras from other camera parts.

This Photographer Built a Camera That Shoots Wider Than Any Camera You Can Buy — wider than the Fujifilm T-X1 / Hasselblad X-Pan.