reloading 126 cartridges: Kodachrome X

Given the issues I had with the Fakmatic (light leaks, inability to track progress, requirement to wind multiple times), I decided to try my luck with some 126 cartridges and ordered up a few expired rolls.

A roll of 1975 expired Kodachrome X was first to arrive. I reclaimed the film, wound it onto a 120 spool, and shot it in the Yashica-Mat 124 with near-disastrous results. The Kodak cartridge was very difficult to pop open; I ended up tearing the plastic in a few spots. But it still seemed close enough to light tight, so I carefully spooled some Fomapan 200 into the Kodachrome backing paper, loaded the pack into the camera in a dark bag, and got to shooting.

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Art Gore – ‘Speak Softly to the Echoes’

I stumbled across Speak Softly to the Echoes in a Half Price Books some years ago. It was cheap and I snatched it up for the combination of image and text more than anything. It’s given me an idea about something, reminded me of a twitter exchange (I think… I can’t find it now) some months back with Andrew Molitor that I won’t go into here…

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Kodachrome in 126: failure(s) near the end of 2020

I woke up one morning back in October with an idea to get a 126 camera and shoot some square 35mm images. I bought the Agfamatic 200 Sensor and a Fakmatic adapter, and then bought some long expired 126 film in hopes of getting better results from reclaimed cartridges.

The first to arrive was a 20 shot roll of Kodachrome X, expired in 1975. I reclaimed the film and spooled it into some 120 backing paper, shot it at EI 8 in the Yashica-Mat 124, and developed it in Ilfotec HC, 1:31 for 9.5 minutes, as I had with my earlier attempt with Kodachrome, and hoped for the best…

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(photo)book(s) of the year, 2020

I looked at and read more books in 2020 than I did in the entire decade 2010-2019. I didn’t keep count, but I averaged 1 book a day for the first half of the year, and then 2-3 a week since. I’m not proud. Most of it was virtually indistinguishable from broadcast television and the time spent reading was time I didn’t spend with my darling wife and therefore caused some tension in my marriage. Still, though, I did it.

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David Campany – ‘The Open Road’

The Open Road: Photography & The American Road Trip is a large, heavy, coffee table-type survey of major photographic projects that dealt with the United States as seen by car, from car or hotel windows, while on road trips across, back and forth, up and down, or all around the country, and it’s maybe the worst book to try to review when you’re in photobook-buying-budgeting mode…

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Chasing Pigeons with two “panoramic” cameras

I planned, or at least thought about, doing a (Photo)Book(s) of the Year post for today, but am feeling lazy and uninspired, so please enjoy this preview of some camera reviews, coming sometime in 2021, maybe…

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