1970s Ricoh Compacts, part 1: the Ricoh 35 ZF

The Ricoh 35 ZF is a zone focus, shutter priority (and full manual) 35mm camera from 1976. With a 40mm f/2.8 lens, shutter speeds from 1/500 to 1/8 (plus B), and an ISO range of 25-800, there isn’t too much to worry about: set the shutter speed (1/250 or 1/500 in daylight), put the aperture …

Enter the Konica Wai Wai

Somehow, I’ve managed to be on Twitter at just the right time, twice, to catch generous offers from Dan K: first for a giveaway, through which I scored a bunch of different black & white films, some disposables, and some other stuff; the second to score 1 of 4 reloaded Konica Wai Wai disposables… I …

Rollei RPX 100 – a review in 3 parts

Back in October 2017, I was blessed to take part in one of Dan K’s generous giveaways over on Twitter. It consisted of a gift certificate to Camera Film Photo and shipping, and I picked up a bunch of black & white film that I hadn’t tried before, including 5 rolls of Rollei RPX 100 in …

Kosmo Foto Mono at the Neighborhood Picnic

The weekend before Ramadan, the neighborhood got together for a picnic. Fun! About 5 minutes after it was supposed to start, I received a frantic call from brother Riyaz, one of the organizers. He was breathless. “Brother James… we need a photographer here… hurry.” I was happy to oblige, and, interestingly, I had just received …