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  • My Olympus XA2 doesnt see in color!

    and it was all yellow

    Photography can be very expensive. Whether its buying the latest and greatest camera, the best lenses or the cost of film and processing it. It all costs money, lots of money…lots of money I don’t have.

    To combat the costs I buy used, I sell used, I trade in cameras I want to upgrade. Basically do anything to get those costs down to continue to enjoy taking pictures without turning my credit card into molten plastic. That led me to EBAY a few weeks back to purchase this beauty an Olympus XA2:

    Top view of an Olympus camera resting on a wooden surface.
    OLYMPUS XA2, its so pretty

    I had been looking for a pocketable film camera after trading in a different Olympus a few months back to get a small digital camera. This was the model I had been looking for exclusively as it has good reviews, its stylish as hell and its small enough to fit in a pocket. Wins all around! Plus I had an EBAY coupon so bonus victory!

    The day after I got it I put in a fresh roll of Kodak pro image 100, fresh batteries and I blew that roll as quickly as possible to make sure everything was ok, and the results?

    A blurred photograph of a building with arches and a parked car in the foreground, suggesting motion due to the lack of sharpness.
    A hazy shot of a building with arched windows, showcasing an out-of-focus street scene.

    Fart noise! Yellow clouded, fart noise!

    Things like this happen when buying used. I had another used camera die mid roll and I was given one with a dead LCD screen i couldnt replace. These are old and intricate machines, they die, thats what they do. Thankfully the seller offered to refund my purchase so the stor has a happy ending and I have these yellow pictures to figure out some way to convert them into something better.

  • Harman Phoenix, my entry to experimental film stock

    non edited straight from the scanner

    For the first year or two of my film Journey I used basic 200/400 Iso color film and the same for my Black and Whites. I just wanted to get something I liked with some Kodak gold and then try and get comfortable shooting people in public.

    That’s what I am still shooting, and mostly failing, to do but I heard about this film called Harman Phoenix through many, many, oh so many youtubers and webpages that I decided to take a dive into the waters and escape the old that Kodak had on me.

    I was ok with the results but editing them proved to be difficult so I left them untouched.

    A cityscape at dusk, featuring tall buildings reflecting warm light, with a darkened street and trees in the foreground.

    I think they came out ok, I love the grain (why else would I shoot film?) but the contrast is at an 11 and my amateur decisions adding to that contrast leave some images looking kind of muddy. I mean look at that building scene? Kind of a mess but in a good way.

    Fast forward to early this summer I went to a photography Expo and learned from Harman that they had a sequel coming up to resolve these issues. I was intrigued and when I saw it at a shop I decided to take the leap!

    The results?

    These are some untouched images and they are a little flatter than the original Phoenix with a twinge of green to them. Some of that is the film and some of it is the cloudy day I shot them in. Still I think they look better and less muddy which is nice.

    I edited up a few others and

    I mean, I am speaking for myself here but these look great and the grain goes for days on these!

    I think I am going to try another roll, wait for a nice bright sunny day and see what results I can get but I think Harman knocked it out of the park with Phoenix 2 an improvement in every way.

  • My Experience with the Olympus OM10 and 100MM Lens

    OM10 w/50mm on and 100MM to left
    My Olympus OM 10 w/50mm lens on, 100MM on its left

    Sometimes when people hear you like to take pictures they pawn off their old cameras on you. I don’t know if it is to clear out the closet or they like you and want to foster your hobbies but either way I am extremely appreciative when it happens.

    Sometime last summer I was given a beautiful Olympus OM10 with a 50MM lens on it. The lens is super sharp but sometimes you want to get up close and personal so I hit the old Ebay machine a few weeks back and picked up an absurdly small and powerful 100MM lens for it.

    This was a new focal length for me in general and I wasn’t sure what to expect so I did what I had to do and I put a fresh roll of Kodak Pro Image 100 and I hit the streets…lets see what I got!

    So a few things I noticed is that:

    1. I love this camera. Its really easy to use, its a great size for shooting on the street.
    2. I love pro image 100 colors and grain. It really feels like I am in the past looking at these.
    3. I have more to learn when it comes to the camera and this lens. I’m very inconsistent with what’s in focus and while I don’t expect perfection and I still love these I think some adjustments can go a long way.

    Ill do more story based stuff and less testing soon. Just getting started here and I hope you enjoy!