Author: Ken

I’m always interested when a new color film hits the market. It doesn’t happen often anymore, and when it does, it’s usually a rebrand or a repackage of something we’ve seen before. So when I heard about OptiColour 200 from Optik Oldschool — a genuinely new color negative emulsion in 120 format — I had...

Today I took a hike with the 55mm f4 adapted to the GFX 100s. I continue to be pleasantly surprised by this lens. There’s a certain organic quality to the images. It resolves detail exceptionally well without feeling clinical. The above image was shot at 120/sec, iso 100, @f8. My review of this lens can...

The Complete Guide to Scanning Medium Format 120 Film The Epson Perfection V850 Pro is widely regarded as the gold standard among flatbed film scanners for serious photographers. While drum scanners and dedicated film scanners like the Hasselblad Flextight exist at higher price points, the V850 occupies a sweet spot where exceptional quality meets practical...

A Wide-Angle Legend That Refuses to Retire Three optical redesigns, four decades of service, and a second life on digital medium format — the Pentax 67 55mm f/4 might be the most underappreciated wide-angle in the entire 6×7 system. Above image taken with the Pentax SMC 55mm f4 and Kodak Gold 200 A Lens Born...

The Case Against Wet Scanning: Why Mounting Fluid Might Not Be Worth the Trouble After years of experimenting with wet-mount scanning, I’ve come to a conclusion that might be controversial in film photography circles: for most of us, anti-Newton ring glass is the better path. Here’s why. The Promise of Wet Scanning If you’ve spent...

I’ve been into photography for over thirty years. I’ve owned more cameras than I care to admit — from early Nikons to the latest mirrorless systems, from 35mm to 8×10 large format. I’ve watched this industry evolve through every major shift: autofocus, digital sensors, mirrorless bodies, computational photography. I’ve embraced most of it. I shoot...

If there’s one black and white film stock that has earned its place in nearly every film photographer’s bag, it’s Ilford HP5 Plus. It’s not the sharpest. It’s not the finest grained. It’s not even the most visually striking at box speed. But HP5 is the film you reach for when you need to get...

The Best-Kept Secret in Medium Format Photography If you shoot Fuji GFX and you’re not exploring adapted Pentax 67 glass, you’re leaving some of the best optics in medium format history sitting on the shelf. The Pentax 6×7 system produced some of the finest medium format lenses ever made — lenses that were designed to...

If you shoot medium format film, you’ve probably wrestled with this question: should you scan your negatives with a flatbed scanner or use a digital camera? I’ve been going back and forth on this for a while now, so I decided to put my Epson V850 head-to-head against my Fuji GFX 100s in a real-world...

One of the most common questions I get from people getting into medium format film photography is some version of “how do I keep the costs down?” It’s a fair question. Between the camera, the film, and getting everything developed and scanned, the per-frame cost of shooting 120 film can add up quickly — especially...

Kodak Ektar 100 holds a unique position in the medium format world. Marketed by Kodak as the finest grain color negative film ever made, it delivers a look that no other C-41 emulsion can quite replicate — hyper-saturated colors, razor-sharp detail, and an almost transparency-like rendering that sets it apart from the Portra family and...

If you have ever talked yourself out of developing color film at home, the reason was almost certainly temperature. The standard C-41 process calls for developer at 102°F, held within a degree or two for the duration of the development step. That requirement sends people shopping for sous vide machines, foot spas, immersion circulators, and...

There are lenses that photographers recommend, and then there are lenses that sell entire camera systems. The Pentax 67 105mm f/2.4 belongs firmly in the second category. For decades, this unassuming standard prime has been the single biggest reason photographers buy into the Pentax 67 system — a camera that is itself enormous, heavy, and...

Hard Water Spots on Film Negatives: Causes, Prevention, and Fixes Few things are more deflating than pulling a freshly developed roll of 120 film from the drying line and discovering a constellation of white spots and mineral deposits scattered across your negatives. You nailed the exposure. You got the development right. And now there are...

Your film is holding more information than you think. If your scanned negatives look flat, lack shadow detail, or feel like they can’t compete with digital captures, the problem almost certainly isn’t the film — it’s the digitization process. A well-exposed color negative on modern film stock can record 12 to 14 stops of scene...

Film Fogging: How to Identify and Prevent Light Leaks in Your Photographs If you’ve ever pulled a roll of freshly developed film from the tank — or received scans back from your lab — only to find mysterious glows, color shifts, or washed-out areas creeping into your frames, you’ve encountered fogging. It’s one of the...

One of the most significant differences between medium format film and digital is the actual imaging area. Traditional 120 film cameras capture images at various sizes depending on the format: 6×4.5cm (645): Actual frame size approximately 56×41.5mm (2,324 sq mm) 6x6cm: Actual frame size approximately 56x56mm (3,136 sq mm) 6x7cm: Actual frame size approximately 56x70mm...

The Giant SLR That Changed Medium Format The Pentax 67 system needs no introduction to film photographers, but it does deserve a proper deep dive. In this Pentax 67 review, I’ll share everything I’ve learned about the camera since adding one to my kit, combined with the history, quirks, and practical knowledge that every owner...

I shot this image with the GFX 50s and Fujifilm GF 23mm f4 Below is a crop of the image above. Even the older 50s has an impressive level of resolution. Purchasing gear from the above link helps me keep the site going!

Moore State Park in Winter — Hasselblad 500cm / Ilford HP5 I took this image on Ilford HP5 120 film with the Hasselblad 500cm and the 80mm f/2.8 C lens. The negative was developed in Rodinal, and the enlargement was developed in EcoPro Paper Developer. What drew me to this scene was the scale —...

The Early Era: Box Cameras and Folding Designs (1901-1928) The first decades of medium format photography were dominated by simple, affordable cameras designed for amateur photographers. The Kodak Brownie No. 2 (1901-1935) was produced in several versions, all featuring the characteristic box design with a simple meniscus lens and rotary shutter. These cameras produced 6x9cm...

I chose the Hasselblad 500cm to begin my medium format film journey for several compelling reasons: Complete modularity. The 500cm separates into distinct components—body, lens, viewfinder, and film back—each of which can be swapped independently. This design allows you to carry multiple loaded backs for fast film changes in the field, switch between waist-level and...

This is question I’ve always pondered. I’ll never stop shooting film, but do I need to enlarge in a darkroom as well? Is scanning and printing a better option? A scanned negative can retain the total gradations and colors I get from film, but also gives me a digital master that can’t be lost, scratched,...

Shooting medium format film is one of the most rewarding experiences in photography. The massive negatives, the shallow depth of field, the tonal richness — there’s nothing quite like it. But let’s not sugarcoat it: medium format film is expensive to shoot, and the costs have only gone up in recent years. Whether you’re considering...

I’ve started a new website to host my large format journey @ LargeFormatFilm.com The site is brand new, so the content is admittedly thin at the moment — but that’s about to change. My goal is to use both of these websites as a comprehensive home for everything I’ve learned shooting film over the years,...

There’s something unmistakable about a well-exposed medium format negative. When you hold a 6×6 or 6×7 transparency up to the light, or pull a contact print from the wash, you’re looking at something digital simply cannot replicate. It’s not nostalgia talking—there are real, measurable reasons why medium format film produces images with a distinct aesthetic...

I just purchased the Omega C-700 dichroic enlarger and have started enlarging a few b&w 6×6 negatives this weekend. I also bought a Rodenstock 80mm f5.6 enlarging lens to go with it. All-in-all, I’m very happy with the setup. I still need to get an enlarger timer to trigger the enlarger lamp for specific lengths...

The image below demonstrates several problems that can occur during home development. Dust, fibers, and processing errors are all common hazards. This test shot shows what happens when chemistry goes wrong. My best guess is that the blix solution (combined bleach and fixer) was exhausted and failed to fully process the emulsion. There’s also a...

These streaks can be surge marks from overly vigorous agitation, bromide drag, or a combination of the two. Bromide Drag: Diagnosing Vertical Banding in 120 Film Development If you’ve ever pulled a roll of 120 film from your development tank only to find mysterious vertical streaks running through your highlights, you’ve encountered one of the...

Kodak Portra has become something of a legend in the film photography world, and for good reason. Here’s the story: Origins and Evolution Portra launched in 1998 as a replacement for Kodak’s Vericolor line of professional portrait films. The name itself is a portmanteau of “portrait” and “Kodak” — it was purpose-built for skin tones...

The Hasselblad 500 series represents one of the most celebrated camera systems in photographic history. Introduced in 1957, this modular 6×6 medium format system became the gold standard for professional photography, famously accompanying NASA astronauts to the moon. Today, these cameras remain beloved by film photographers for their exceptional build quality, stunning image rendition, and...

Search GFX Cameras at KEH.com Making the jump to the GFX 100S is exciting—and if you’re coming from Canon, Nikon, or Sony, potentially disorienting. Fujifilm has its own control philosophy, menu structure, and terminology that can feel foreign at first. This guide will walk you through the camera’s key settings, explain how it differs from...

The above image is my Leica M11-p next to the GFX 100s Search Fujifilm GFX Cameras at KEH.com How I got here is an interesting journey. I confess that some of it was gear acquisition syndrome. This desire of always chasing the highest image quality I could find. Originally, when I was primarily a Nikon...

This image was shot on Kodak Gold 200 with the Pentax 6×7. I also took a similar pic with the GFX 100s, but like this image more. There’s just something about film. Larger image below: Below is the similar image shot with the Fujifilm GFX 100s and GF 63mm f2.8. I prefer the film colors...

Wachusett Mountain, shot with the Pentax 6×7 and 55mm f4, @f4 and 1/500s. Kodak Gold 200. Shot on Memorial day on the way to the summit. Larger image below. The image below is resized for the web. The original image scan is 400mb. There’s something about this image which is so much more pleasing than...

Search Fujifilm GFX Cameras at KEH.com The above shot was taken with the Fujifilm GFX 100s. The lake was entirely frozen, even waves froze before they could crash. Looking at the cropped overlay I added, you really get a sense of the amount of detail you get from 102mp. My wife and I took a...

How 120 Camera Film Is Made: Inside the Craft of Medium Format Photography In a world increasingly dominated by digital photography, medium format film—especially 120 film—retains a loyal following among enthusiasts, professionals, and artists who appreciate its fine detail, wide dynamic range, and immersive aesthetic. But have you ever wondered how this iconic format is...

Here’s an image of me taken by my wife. If you don’t have a medium format camera, or large format 8×10, you can still create images that don’t look like they were shot on smaller formats. In fact, I doubt this image could have even been created on 8×10 and would have actually needed a...

While not medium format, I really enjoy contact printing with my 8×10 view camera. There’s something special about making a direct print without any kind of enlarging, nor scanning process, and the level of detail is astonishing! This is a portrait my wife took of me. I often use the quality of an 8×10 print...

These are 100% crops. The image on the left was shot with the Hasselblad 500cm with Kodak Portra 400 film. The image on the right was shot with the Fujifilm GFX 100s. Lenses were the Zeiss 80mm f2.8 on the Hasselblad, and GF 63mm f2.8 on the GFX 100s. These images were shot on two...

A test image of Kodak Gold 200 taken with the Hasselblad 500cm. Anna took this shot. I’m loving the colors of this film. I noticed there’s a straight line on the photograph. Possibly an issue with scanning. Not really sure. The grain of this film looks great on 120 film. The History of Kodak Gold...

If you’re struggling with dust and newton rings scanning images with your Epson, This may be the solution for you. I find myself preferring this method even over wet mounting. Simply take the 120 frame that comes with the scanner, and remove the clear plastic window. Next, lay the frame upside down on a clean...

I’m really enjoying Kodak Gold 200. The colors are great and the film has just the right amount of grain. Anna took this pic of me. Shot on the Hasselblad 500cm with the Zeiss 80mm f2.8. I can see why Hasselblad made so many f4 lenses. This 80mm is not easy to nail focus at...

Here is a lake shot I took today with the Hasselblad 500cm. Film was Kodak Portra 400. This scan was wet mounted on the Epson V850 and scanned at 1600 ppi. I missed a small bubble in the top right-hand corner of the photo. This was taken at Wachusett’s Reservoir. Link to larger image below:...

I’ve taken a few test shots with the Pentax 6×7. The feel is completely different than my Hasselblad 500cm. Not worse or better, just different. It took me a bit of time to get the film loaded properly. Once loaded I didn’t have the counter all the way to number 1, and thought the camera...

Today’s not a great day for photography as it’s raining and my Hasselblad has no weather sealing of any sort. I really enjoy photographing in the rain but need to find ways of keeping the camera dry. I also have some b&w developer trying to expire so I need to get out and shoot regardless....

I’m currently using the CineStill kit below to develop color medium format film. This kit is easy to use and fairly inexpensive, around $30 and will develop about 8 roles of 120 film. Your results may vary. Temperature is more important when developing color film, lower temps will require increased development times. The instructions are...