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New blog for alternative cameras


DWScott

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<p>Hi folks,<br /> <br /> I thought you all might be interested in different "alt" cameras. I've started a blog, which is really an excuse for me to ramble on about all of those cameras which don't get covered in most parts of the web. I call them "alt" cameras, which these days means everything from <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Short_Dated_Out_Dated_Film/ci/16028/N/4287966881/BI/5981/KBID/6867/kwid/000/DFF/d30-v1-t3-x3496/DFFInline=cat3" target="_blank">film</a> cameras (gasp, yes, film is now alternative) to sterographic cameras, <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/panoramic+cameras/Ntt/panoramic+cameras/N/0/BI/5981/KBID/6867/DFF/d30-v1-t3/DFFInline=cat" target="_blank">panoramic cameras</a>, oddball and historical designs, even unique and intriguing <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/digital+cameras/Ntt/digital+cameras/N/0/BI/5981/KBID/6867/DFF/d30-v1-t3/DFFInline=cat" target="_blank">digital cameras</a>.<br>

<br /> My latest post is a beginner's introduction to medium format film - old hat to most people here, but I hope it's useful for folks new to MF.</p>

<p>If any of this sounds interesting, please stop by. I will keep writing and hopefully collect some useful and entertaining info on these great cameras.<br>

<br />Dave<br /> www.altcameras.com<br /> <a href="http://altcameras.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alt Cameras | Welcome to AltCameras.com, the Journal of Alternative Cameras.</a></p>

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<p>Good catch Uncle Goose! I'll add it. Please chime in if I've missed any others.<br>

When I made the list, I surprised myself with how many <em>brand new</em> medium format cameras are available off the shelf. Some of them very recent introductions too, like the new wide Voigtlander.<br>

Like any niche market I think film and film cameras suffer from potential customers being confused or simply not knowing that the products exist. I want to help with the learning curve and encourage folks to try out new and old cameras, products, methods, etc.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I will add photo.net. I was purposely avoiding brand-specific sites, and sites that focus on "new releases" (i.e. dpreview) and I was thinking of PN in the same way. But it seems in the last year photo.net has LOTS of activity in the film and classics areas. Definitely a good resource.</p>
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<blockquote>

<p>... I was thinking of PN in the same way. But it seems in the last year photo.net has LOTS of activity in the film and classics areas.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>You can't have spent much time here if you believed that. It's never been a "new releases" site in the 8 (eight) years I've been here. You might also want to note that there has long been a forum here for alternative cameras, etc. http://www.photo.net/alternative-cameras-forum/</p>

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<p>You know, I had to click on my own name to remember when I joined this site! (2007, so only five years.)</p>

<p>It's all subjective, but when I first came to photo.net, there was a huge wealth of info on film and film cameras - naturally, because serious photography did not equal digital photography until the 2000's. My perception was that traffic moved more and more to the digital and brand-specific forums on PN, but that recently the "traditional" forums have picked up with a new fervour. It's all just my perception, frankly I'd be fascinated to know what the real numbers are.</p>

<p>Whatever the case, I was wrong to not include photo.net because it is a huge community that I've been happy to be part of. I've added the link.</p>

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<p>Nice information and thoughts. It's too bad though that you have to scroll all the way to the bottom to see an index. I would find it more helpful if the index were always available, like in the left column or something. Most blog sites let you have static pages as well, which might be a solution.</p>
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<p>Thanks Starvy!<br>

Jim, good ideas. This is my first blog and I wasn't sure how this template would work out. There's also a rendering bug on iPhones and Androids, so I think I will need to keep looking for a good template. I will look for one with those features.</p>

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<p>I just went to you blog, David. I haven't read much yet. Because I gut hung up in the quality of your photos of the cameras. If you want my honest opinion, I think that many of them are underexposed, too small, not showing the front of the cameras (shot from above) and some of them are out of focus. I like to see the details of the cameras. From some of the photos I can hardly tell what the cameras look like.</p>

<p>Just as an example, Ken R. has good photos of the cameras. He even has a page where he explaines his lighting set up. It is very simple. And I think you can also get good enough lighting just by a couple of flashes bounced from white surfaces.</p>

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<p>Thanks Ann. Improving the lighting for camera shots is one of the things I'm working on. Right now it's just a little bounce flash in the kitchen :-)<br>

<br />I've tried to make the photos a reasonable size so that they load quickly. Maybe I'll default to a larger size. For now, you can click on the smaller photos to get a larger version (in case there was something you wanted to look at a little closer.)</p>

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I've got a new post -- results of shooting the Lomo Belair X 6-12 with the included plastic lenses.

 

Ann, I've defaulted to a larger image size, and if you click through you can get even bigger pictures.

 

I'm also trying a new format/template. Hopefully it will make it easier to find earlier posts.

 

Take a look and let me know what you think! :)

 

www.altcameras.com

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  • 1 month later...

<p>After quite a bit of experimenting, I think I found a site template that works for me. All of the posts are available from a list on the top-right.<br>

The latest article is my collected thoughts on the Fuji X Series (X100, X-Pro1, etc) cameras. These cameras seem like a perfect "alt" topic, and I admit to admiring them ever since they started arriving on the scene. The article isn't a review, because I don't actually have any of these cameras. But I suspect I will add one to the collection. That X-E1 seems like a perfect way to digitally shoot my Takumar and Pentax-M glass...<br>

<a href="http://altcameras.com/">http://altcameras.com/</a></p>

 

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  • 1 month later...

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