Film on Almost in focus

The burning tool is a game-changer for darkroom printing

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0100

From my experience, photos of unevenly lit scenes are usually the most difficult to print in the darkroom due to the significant differences in the negative’s density between highlights and shadows. In film photography, as opposed to a digital workflow, one needs to preserve shadows instead of highlights. When approaching an unevenly lit scene, it’s better to adjust the exposure for the shadows to make them denser on the negative; otherwise, the shadow areas will be transparent and lack detail.

I photographed the concert of Ano-chan’s guitarist and producer without realizing it

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0100

About six months ago, my wife discovered a Japanese indie band called 超☆社会的サンダル (Chō shakai-teki sandaru) and became obsessed with them. We thought it would be cool to see them live while we were in Tokyo this winter. Unfortunately, the band didn’t have any scheduled gigs, but their vocalist, Onizawa Mashiro, suddenly announced an acoustic solo concert. We were supposed to meet a friend that day who coincidentally lives in the same district where the venue is, so we invited him to join us. This entire story almost didn’t happen because all the tickets were booked immediately. Our friend only managed to book a single ticket for himself, and he hasn’t even received a confirmation for it.

Read the data sheet carefully!

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0100

When I first started developing black and white film at home, I got a starter kit with all the necessary chemicals and tools. It came with Rodinal and a brochure that guided me through the development process, including an explanation of agitation method used by Ansel Adams. The instructions suggested agitating the tank for 10 seconds every minute by twisting the tank around its axis while turning it upside down. This method worked perfectly for me with Rodinal and, later, with HC-110.

Lessons from printing a big photo project in the darkroom

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0100

In January, I published a virtual photo album with photos from Kyushu, Chūgoku, and Kansai that I shot entirely on black and white film. While the digital album is convenient for sharing, I wanted to have physical prints as well. This project became my main motivation for building a darkroom at home. After eight months of occasional darkroom sessions, I’m sitting with a stack of 104 gelatin silver prints on my table and a strong feeling of accomplishment. It was my first long printing project, so I wanted to share a few things I learned.

Analog photography + 3D printing = ❤️

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Once, I wanted to buy a lens hood for a 55-year-old Yashica Mat-124G. To my surprise, an original hood cost half as much as I paid for the camera body. Maintaining analog camera gear can be tricky, as parts are no longer produced and often have to be salvaged from donor cameras. This is where 3D printing becomes especially useful. It also allows you to design entirely new tools that were never available in the first place.

Harman Phoenix 2 is actually great!

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0200

On July 16, Harman released their new film stock, Phoenix 2. I was lucky to get a voucher for a photo walk organized by our local photography store, where I had the chance to try out the new film. They even invited an employee from Harman to give a short presentation about the film’s characteristics. He told us that, despite the name, Phoenix 2 is not based on the same emulsion as the original.

Building a teeny tiny darkroom

Mon, 19 May 2025 00:00:00 +0200

While I was happy with my hybrid approach to film photography, scanning negatives, editing them in Negative Lab Pro, and printing on an inkjet printer, the idea of wet printing in a darkroom was always tempting. The problem is, I live in an apartment and don’t have a spare room to dedicate to a darkroom. At one point, I searched for community darkrooms around and even found a hackerspace that had recently built one. But either my unwillingness to commute or the social anxiety of joining a group of strangers kept me from going.

Shooting Kodak Vision 500T (Marix 800T) at night

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0100

Trying tungsten-balanced film had been on my list of experiments for a while, and staying in Osaka felt like the perfect opportunity to shoot it. The city is incredibly bright at night, with neon lights everywhere, making it an ideal setting for a film that thrives in artificial lighting.

The tungsten-balanced film is designed for artificial lighting, and if you use it during the day, your photos will have a strong blue cast. This happens because the film is balanced for 3200K tungsten light, which is much warmer than daylight. Without a corrective filter, daylight will shift photos toward blue tones.

How to tame Fomapan 400

Mon, 25 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0100

Fomapan 400 in 35mm is known for the classic, bold grain, which can give photos a vintage feel. While some photographers love it for these qualities, others see it as nothing more than a cheap test roll for trying out a new camera. In this post, I’ll share my experience from shooting and developing over 15 rolls of Fomapan 400 in 35mm, and what I’ve learned about getting the best results from it.

Optimizing film scanning workflow with Plustek OpticFilm 8200i

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0200

When I developed my first roll of film at a drugstore, I received both printed photos and a CD with digital scans of my images. While the prints turned out beautifully, the scans’ quality was awful: low resolution, and the colors were off. They charged me extra for those ugly scans.

Shortly after buying my first non-disposable film camera, I ordered a dedicated film scanner, an Epson V600. Luckily, I received a faulty unit and was able to return it within a week, as I didn’t like it at all. Being a flatbed scanner, its optical resolution isn’t high enough for 35mm film. While it might work well with 120 film, the 35mm images came out soft and lacked details. Additionally, the scanner is huge, taking up about a quarter of my desk.

How to photograph concerts

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0200

While I always go to a concert if a band that I like is in town, I’m also happy to check out how my friends play when they invite me. Not long after getting the X-Pro 3 with a little 23mm F2 lens, a friend of mine invited me to a gig of the band he joined. I thought that it would be cool to document this event, despite them playing in a small bar that fits only about 40 people.

A journey from the broken Olympus 35SP to developing my own film

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0200

Back in 2020, during the pandemic, I learned about Mortimer (keirinberlin), who travels around the world on a fixed-gear bike, documenting his journey with a film camera. Some of his photos were taken on disposable cameras. Until then, I hadn’t realized that disposable cameras were still a thing.

I went to a drugstore and bought a Kodak disposable camera to give it a try. It was my first time shooting film. I was impressed by the prints I received, especially considering they came from a 10-euro camera with a plastic lens. Curious about analog photography, I started reading about different types of cameras and discovered rangefinders. Their compact size and unique focusing technique intrigued me. After some research, I purchased an Olympus 35RC on eBay. Unfortunately, it arrived with a smudge on the lens, but aside from that, it was in fully working condition. I shot a couple of rolls with it, but whenever the sun was bright, the smudge caused a dark spot on the photos. After unsuccessfully trying to clean it, I decided to order another camera, its big brother, the Olympus 35SP.