Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Well, this is an odd one. Instead of continuing their full-frame lineup and adding to their existing range of 11mm, 15mm, 45mm and 150mm lenses, it appears that lens manufacturer IRIX has decided to take a break and has chosen to pursue medium format.
A new teaser video was posted to the Irix YouTube channel, and while there isn’t really that much info there, the GFX logo is pretty unmistakable.
I still shoot quite a bit of film when the opportunity allows, and when I do, I still primarily tend to reach for a 35mm. It’s not that it’s the best, or even just the best suited to what I want to shoot, but it’s convenient. The 35mm film SLRs I use the most are all Nikon F mount bodies, letting me use most of the lenses I also own for my DSLRs. But medium format definitely has it’s benefits.
In this video, photographer Kyle McDougall looks at the overall thought process behind using 645 medium format instead of your standard 3:2 ratio 35mm film, as well as some of the objective benefits and drawbacks to the larger format.
You might remember Chroma from a couple of years ago when they launched the Chroma 4×5 large format camera through Kickstarter. It’s since grown into a family that includes a 4×5 handheld camera and now the new 679 modular medium format camera. It’s designed to allow photographers to shoot medium format film using a camera tailored to their own needs.
Although it’s a completely new design, the Chroma 679 inherits a number of features from its large-format siblings, including a removable lens board and a pinhole lens board. The main body of the camera is 3D printed, available in any depth you wish to account for flange distance and it’s available with four different film back mounting options.
Fujifilm has just expanded its line-up of medium format lenses. The Fujinon GF 30mm f/3.5 R WR is a wide-angle prime designed for the G-mount GFX medium format camera system, and it’s a pretty compact and versatile lens.
When the Lomomod No. 1 was first announced, I had the honor of covering the news for DIYP and I thought to myself: “Man, would I like to try this out!” Fast forward four months, and I’ve had the chance to play with this DIY medium format camera and do a thorough review.
The Lomomod No. 1 is a camera like no other I’ve seen or used. It comes in pre-cut pieces and you’re supposed to build it yourself, which is interesting on its own. It’s paired with a liquid-filled 80mm Sutton lens, which lets you change the tint of your images depending on the liquid you use. Sounds pretty cool, right?
In this article, I’ll share my impressions of the Lomomod No. 1. From initially opening the box to seeing my images for the first time, I’ll write about everything I liked and didn’t like about it. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
Hasselblad has today announced the new XCD 45P; a 45mm f/4 lens for the Hasselblad X medium format mirrorless system. Officially, the “P” stands for portable, but a lot of people will likely automatically think “pancake”. It’s not, but in comparison to the size of your typical digital medium format lenses, you could be forgiven for thinking that.
This is the smallest and lightest medium format lens that Hasselblad has ever released, although Hasselblad still guarantees the image quality and clarity you’d expect from a lens for this format.
Understandably, I was very excited to hear the news of Fujifilm bringing back NEOPAN 100 ACROS in the form of ACROS II earlier this year. So, when a second announcement came with details of a November 22nd Japanese release date, I started making calls to see if I could buy some. I got lucky and $190 dollars and a week later, I received my shipment; a brick each of 35mm and 120 ACROS II.
Fujifilm’s recently released Acros II starts shipping in Japan this month, but it looks like it’s possibly being manufactured by Ilford, and not Fujifilm themselves. The big clue comes via the Twitter feed of eto_silversalt who posted photos of Fuji’s new Acros II box in 120 format roll film, which clearly bears the mark “Made in UK”.
Well, the only commercial film manufacturer in the UK is Ilford. We’re not suggesting it’s any kind of rebranded Ilford film, something which Ilford categorically denies they do, but it is certainly possible that they might be manufacturing Acros II for Fuji. And it’s not like the two companies haven’t worked together before.
Fujifilm Acros 100 was pronounced pretty much dead in March of last year, during what appears to have been a mass cull of their film over the last few years. But then, just a few short months after its demise, the announcement came that Fujifilm was going to reintroduce some of their black and white films, due to an overwhelming demand from film photographers.
In June of this year, Fujifilm announced that the first black and white film to come back was going to be Fujifilm Across 100II. Technically, it’s not a rerelease, but a new version, to get around the availability (or a lack thereof) of raw materials in the original. Now, it’s set for release later this month.
Fujifilm showed off a concept prototype for what appears to be called the “GFX-X Omega” back in February during Gulf Photo Plus 2019. Now, it looks like Fujifilm has registered designs for the camera, although reports say that the camera is currently on hold.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube.
His videos have over a hundred million views, have been extensively published by news outlets, and has even received recognition from a few film festivals, such as International Ocean Festival
FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!