Hello all.
This is the first in new series of posts highlighting some of the photography posts I’ve enjoyed from around the net each week – and perhaps one or two other things that perhaps don’t fit in to the world of cameras and lenses.
I’m calling it the Kosmo Foto Weekender. I hope you find some interesting reads out of this week’s round-up.
35mmc: Practice makes perfect
I didn’t know until I read this piece that Hamish Gill, who runs 35mmc, had failing eyesight in his right eye, which has meant he’s found it difficult to use SLRs. All that changed after he found an Olympus OM-10 at a must-buy price. But using the OM-10 reminded him of one vitally important skill that can really improve your photography – familiarity with your camera.
https://www.35mmc.com/04/02/2019/reminder-about-the-importance-of-practice-vs-upgrading-your-camera/
EMULSIVE: The three-decade review
If I have one bugbear with some of the camera reviews on the web today, it’s that cameras are reviewed too quickly; sometimes just with a single roll run through them. You’re unlikely to really to get to know a camera from 24 or 36 frames. This review of the Nikon FG-20 from Richard Kowalski is full of fantastic photos and acres of experience.
https://emulsive.org/reviews/camera-reviews/nikon-camera-reviews/camera-review-30-years-with-the-nikon-fg-20
Casual Photophile: Life is a camera
James Tocchio’s Casual Photophile is one of the most popular film photography blogs around, thanks to some great writing and its attractive, magazine style. Nothing on it has been as personal as this, a recounting of just what made him into the photographer and blogger he is today. You might be expecting some recollection of a camera shop as a kid; it’s altogether deeper than that.
https://www.casualphotophile.com/2019/02/06/how-i-improved-my-photography-with-these-five-simple-steps/
Down the Road: 12 Years a Blogger
Jim Grey’s Down the Road is a little different to most of the film photography blogs out there (if you’re not already following it, give it a look). It’s not just reviews and experience with old film cameras, but also more personal stuff about life, family, and the little bit of Indiana he calls home. This is an anniversary piece marking his 12th year blogging, and it’s a great read – partly because of his honesty about feeling like a smaller voice compared to flashier rivals. There’s a place for blogs like Down the Road; variety and a range of voices is only a good thing.
https://blog.jimgrey.net/2019/02/07/twelve-years-of-down-the-road/
Mike Eckman Dot Com: A Chinese puzzle
I’m a sucker for Soviet cameras and think my knowledge is pretty comprehensive; but when it comes to Chinese cameras, I’m a bit of a newb. Mike Eckman here reviews a curious compact/SLR hybrid, the Continental TXL.
http://www.mikeeckman.com/2019/02/continental-txl/
And finally…
Pitchfork: The Dinosaur cometh
When I started writing about music in the early 1990s, it was a world of word-of mouth and sometimes strangely parochial scenes; some bands and records would resonate in strange places. Nowadays, with apps like Spotify and Pandora, bands successes are measured in real-time, and there are no surprises. Except this week. A mid-90s Dinosaur Jr song that was never a single – and never a hit – has become a YouTube sensation in Japan. And no-one can understand why.
https://pitchfork.com/news/a-25-year-old-dinosaur-jr-song-is-a-hit-in-japan-nobody-knows-why/
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
