So far this review has focused on the Belair’s features and how it handles, but of course it’s the results that matter most. This is where the rubber meets the road, or to put it in photographic terms, where the photons meet the emulsion. It doesn’t take much to see that all the features, attractive pricing, and marketing hype don’t amount to a hill of beans if the resulting photos aren’t good. Continue reading
(Camera: Olympus XA; Film: Kodak T-Max 100)
Getting to know a new camera is always fun and full of interesting little surprises. The Belair Cityslicker is no exception. Indeed, given its expansive feature set, surprises are almost guaranteed. For example, to my surprise, I found the Belair has something in common with another medium-format camera: the legendary Hasselblad. Continue reading
(Camera: Olympus XA; Film: Kodak T-Max 100)
826 Yates Street, Victoria, B.C.
(Camera: Olympus XA; Film: Kodak T-Max 100)
With film photography now largely a niche pursuit, the announcement of a new film camera is usually met with a mix of surprise and excitement. But even still, the unexpected arrival of the Lomography Belair X 6-12 sent tremors through the film community. Within days of its unveiling, the “I Shoot Film” Flickr forum spawned a thread jammed with several hundred messages expressing reactions that ranged from unbridled delight to cynical condemnation. Clearly the Lomography people had struck a nerve. And it’s easy to see why. Even after you strip away the layers of seductive hype and hyperbole that seem to cling to every Lomography product, the Belair is potentially a remarkable photographic instrument.
Greater Victoria Public Library, Victoria, BC.
(Camera: Yashica 35MF; Film: Ilford XP2 Super 400 chromogenic)
(Camera: Olympus OM-PC; Lens: Zuiko 50mm f/1.8; Film: Fuji Acros 100)
(Camera: Olympus OM-PC; Lens: Zuiko 24mm f/2.8; Film: Kodak Ektar 100)
The new Hosaqami totem pole is located on the grounds of Government House, Victoria, BC. This replica was carved by Chief Tony Hunt and installed in September 2012. The original Hosaqami was carved by Chief Mungo Martin, Hunt’s grandfather, and was displayed on Whale Island in Portsmouth, England, from 1959 until the late 1980s when the ravages of English Channel weather eventually damaged it beyond repair. The remains of this pole are now slowly “returning to the Earth” at Government House, in back of the Cary Castle Mews.
I have dozens of cameras in my collection. Some are simple point-and-shoot models, there’s a slew of fixed-lens rangefinders, a few medium-format folders and TLRs, a couple of half-frame oldies in the mix, and I have several complete 35mm SLR systems. Yet all this gear has one thing in common: I’ve been able to learn a great deal about it on the internet with a quick Google search. Indeed, these days, it’s rare to find a camera that doesn’t have devoted following and its own Flickr group. However, I recently acquired a Yashica 35MF — a camera that seems to be virtually unknown. Continue reading
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