Ilford XP2

5 frames of Berlin with my Ricoh 500G and Ilford HP5, Ilford FP4, Ilford XP2 and Fomapan 400

Yes, the title is long, but for a good reason. This trip to Berlin was my third or fourth photo expedition with the Ricoh 500G. I’m still getting used to this lovely little camera, which I bought three months ago. This 40€ purchase was in excellent condition, apart from the light seals, which I had to replace. After shooting a few initial rolls of film, I was keen to find out which film would be best for a given subject and lighting situation. So I packed my bag for Berlin with the following mix of films: Ilford HP5, Ilford FP4, Ilford XP2 and Fomapan 400.

Ilford XP2 – High Street Superhero – Film Review – By Ted Ayre

I like knowing how things work. This is partly why I took up film photography in the first place, because I wanted to understand how pictures could be made. However, I’m not in a position to have a darkroom setup, and at the moment I’m more interested in the results of using film photography as a medium. That means I love seeing my scans come through to my email, trying out different film stocks, and being present with my camera in that moment. For me, the development process is something I’m happy to leave to professionals for now.

Zeiss Contaflex Super BC

5 Frames with a Zeiss Contaflex Super BC & XP2 in ID-11 – By Peter Kay

The Zeiss Ikon Contaflex is an over engineered and overly complicated leaf shutter SLR. They were manufactured from 1953 to 1974 and went through several iterations, each more complicated than the last. Most used synchro compur shutters and tessar lenses (bar a couple of cheaper models) so they were decent performers. Max shutter speed was 1/500 and maximum aperture was f2.8. The Contaflex iii brought swappable front elements, these included a 35mm, an 85mm and a 115mm. These were beautifully sharp but prone to delamination, especially in the Pro Tessar 35mm f4.

5 frames with Olympus XA2 and Ilford XP2 Super (and the wistful nostalgia of goodbyes) – By Mel

I was introduced to analog photography last Christmas with a Polaroid One Step camera and a handwritten note saying something like “this is another attempt to see the world through your eyes”. Besides loving taking polaroids of small details mainly from seaside locations, I knew I had to find a more powerful way to convey my feelings through pictures. It is always a matter of how sincerely and truly I am able to tell the world about my soul even without shedding too many words. The person behind the handwritten note knew that too, and as soon as another occasion appeared – my birthday, an oddly grey and rainy day of May – I was gifted a precious 35mm camera: a shimmering, perfectly preserved Olympus XA2, older than me.

Rollei 35S

5 Frames with Rollei 35S and Ilford XP2 – Bike Trips Around Singapore – By Tsang Tsang

The COVID pandemic has changed the way we work and play. I picked up shooting film again last year after a 20+ years of hiatus. I stumbled across the 35mmc website and was inspired by the articles here where hobbyists shared their experience in shooting different cameras with different films. What caught my interest were the articles on the Rollei 35 family of cameras, a tiny camera is much more than the point and shoot cameras of the late 80’s and 90’s. I was able to purchase a good condition Rollei 35S last year and have been learning about zone focus shooting. The size of this camera makes it a perfect companion for travel.

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