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The lineys are out kicking the tyres and checking the fuel, ground power is on standby and we’re readying the inputs for the NAVWAS.  Volume 2 is scheduled for July.  Hallelujah.

Consequently I’ve been through my ramblings again, especially the captions for each image as quite surprisingly there’s been more movement of aircraft exhibits recently than you might think, and it’s not all good news.  Lots of talk about “making it relevant” and “non-core exhibits” basically means we’ve had funding to make it “educational” so all the aircraft beloved of those who know what they’re looking at is getting marginalised,  placed in storage or offered to other museums. Worse still, when covered storage isn’t available, they’re being dragged outside, necessitating emergency waterproofing in a number of cases, which is simply asking for trouble.  Definitely not good news when you’re one of only two surviving Avro York, the only one in civilian colours, a Berlin Airlift survivor to boot and have been under cover since renovation decades ago.

From a photography aspect, it also most likely means another hanger that looks like the Cold War exhibition at the RAF Museum in Cosford; interesting, but a nightmare to get site lines in because everything is crammed in on top of one another and to a large extent dark in terms of adequate light for non-flash photography, which when use of a flash is banned, makes life awkward.   Hence the arrival of my full-frame Nikon to finish off what was needed last time around, simply so I could up the ISO without grainy images, whilst keeping the shutter speed high enough to stop the wobbles.  Before anyone says, tripod, they’re banned too!

Now I’ve a fairly definite publishing date and been told the copyeditors will start the correction tennis game next month possibly, I’m off next week to grab my extra Folland Gnat photos from the Midland Air Museum at Coventry and hopefully their Fairey Ultralight is easier to access than last time I visited as well.

Meanwhile, first visit in a long time to the Photography Show at the Birmingham NEC last weekend with one of my fellow photographers.  I admit, I did have a small shopping list,  along with the usual prices, but I stuck to it!  So I saved a few quid,  changed my mind about getting a couple of items, so nice when you can actually have a good look at things and then ordered what was dearer on the day from elsewhere when I got home.  Better still, for my wallet at least, I had a chance to have a look at the mark two version of the Nikon Z5, only to discover that the grip with the usual lens on is no better on that than my Zf, much to my surprise, so there will be no swapping.  Mind you, the Fujifilm X-T5 is nice….

As well as the big boys at the NEC, there’s always lots of smaller stands with interesting kit on; a rather tempting little drone, with the chaps from the ministry next door explaining where you can and can’t fly them, which made me chuckle, numerous sellers of tripods, printing services and other stuff that if you stopped long enough to work out what it did, you were liable to get accosted for a demonstration.  The renewed love of all things analog saw a dedicated corner of Hall 5 allocated to those selling film, old cameras, new film cameras and related gadgetry.  We managed a quick chat with the people from Analog Wonderland who ran the film photo shoot in Sheffield and elsewhere last year.  They confirmed similar events will occur this year around the end of June,  so that’s been pencilled in, but we might try to venture further afield this time for somewhere more photogenic than Sheffield city centre.

For a number of years, the show itself has alternated between the NEC and ExCel in London, but with a ticket and parking costing more than £30 for the NEC,  the odds of forking out for a train ticket and return visit next year in London, are slim.

Our four-legged friend and myself made the most of some sun the other day and ventured out with a camera (or two).  Things were OK until I released the bag I’d swapped my Fuji into didn’t have extra batteries in after all (as it turned out, none of my bags did, they’d been packed in a dedicated pouch ready for stowing in my cabin luggage…) so further digital photography was somewhat curtailed.  But I’m loving using the film recipes on the E-X5, and much will be made of them when we’re off on our jollies in May.

Both the above taken with the Fuji X-E5 and a 10-16mm wide-angle zoom,  hence the two lens flare spots despite having the lens hood attached, so something I’ll need to watch out for.   The other cure for lens flare is holding one hand up to stop the light hitting the lens at the angle causing the flare, but that’s awkward when you’re attached to 30Kg of fur who’s just seen the nearby sheep!

I’m off on a bit of a tangent this time, mainly because there’s no news on all fronts, I’m yet to arrange a trip to Coventry to take extra photos for Volume 2 and I’ve not chased Key up about a publishing timescale either.  I have however booked a holiday and as a result,  the logistics of transporting cameras, lenses, filters and all the rest of the paraphernalia has loomed large in the thought process.

A common problem many photographers have is commonly known as GAS, no not that sort, but Gear Acquisition Syndrome, buying new (or used) kit because they think it will make life easier or help them take better photos; musicians are also know to suffer the same problem.  Too a point I’m guilty of this at times, swapping the Z5 for the Zf a prime example, not because it was massively better, but because after loving using the lighter, classically styled Zfc, it seemed a reasonable thing to do. Selling the Z5 covered the cost (roughly) for a Zf which has the same 35mm styling as a 35mm Nikon F3, only to find the Z5’s ergonomics to be better than the Zf, mainly due to the weight of the Zf camera body and 35-70mm lens as a unit and a grip that doesn’t seem big enough.  Let’s say that’s a situation yet to be resolved.  On the other hand, I appear to have another problem, BAS, Bag Aquisition Syndrome!

Camera gadget bags are a bit of a personal thing with photographers, some like backpacks, others messenger type bags and more recently, sling bags have become popular.  For years I used a set of pouches attached to a dedicated belt from a UK company called Camera Care Systems, CCS for short, but sadly for a number of reasons, they fell into administration in the late 1990s and as pouch systems also fell out of favour, I moved on.  Then there’s what they’re made of.  Billingham have made what I suppose could be called “old school” canvas bags for decades, they have a reputation for wearing well (they cost enough, so they should do!), and usually gain a nice patina in the process.  Ballistic nylon, recycled plastics, aluminium cases, leather, the choice is huge.

Other than the obvious, securely carrying or storing your kit, as well as keeping the elements out, sometimes you want a specific style of bag for a specific task.  For street or travel photography, having a bag that doesn’t shout “Expensive Camera” is generally advisable, whilst those  heading out into the wilds usually need a backpack, preferably with space to store non-photographic essentials, like food or dry clothes.  However, it’s possible I’ve adopted a scatter gun approach…

So why so many?  Having a full frame camera plus lenses, new APS-C travel camera and lenses, as well as a couple of old 35mm camera and a few lenses, doesn’t help. But storing them all safely is the top priority, with silica sachets in all the bags to help keep moisture out and reduce the chances of lens fungus amongst other things, is a must, as well as having the space for the other bits and pieces you collect.  Everything in its place and its own bag means it’s all kept relatively tidy.

Going clockwise from the blue Think Tank sling bag in the bottom left, which houses my new Fujifilm kit, the black Kata backpack is empty and its the only backpack I have;  swapping whatever kit I want to use into there on demand.  The bottom section accepts any of my cameras and lenses, whilst the top half has enough space for nourishment, etc, plus side pouches take a water bottle and a trippod. Top middle, that’s a Nikon bag which is home to my 35mm Nikon FG and lenses, plus a couple of Tamron Adaptall lenses I can use on the Nikon or the Olympus OM40 (stored elsewhere).  Top right, the nice and anonymous grey bag is my Think Tank Retrospective 5 which has the Nikon Zf and lenses in, ,it’s also got plenty of room for a laptop if needed and any other bits.

Bottom right, an Ona “The Bowrey”, which is a lovely bag, expensive when new (which it wasn’t) but its the least used and its the bag which might depart; its not as efficient(?) storage wise as the others, plus the strap has a habit of falling off my shoulder regardless of what I try.  The small rectangular cube centre bottom, is a Tenba BYOB bag whose role in life it simply to keep your camera kit safe within another bag, usually within whatever my cabin luggage is, while the daily driver gadget bag is in the main luggage.  Finally, in the centre, is a Manfrotto bag that’s usually used to store everything else, straps, inserts, filter adaptors, etc, etc, but it’s a really good bag to use as well,  some nice features like a zip in the main flap for easy access.

Can you guess which of these are going on holiday?  Ok, fair cop, you’re right, none of them.   I may finally have found a travel bag that’s big enough to take the new small Fuji X-E5  plus lenses, be sufficiently incognito around the streets of wherever once I get there,  as well have space for cabin essentials like an iPad or MacBook, Kobo eReader (less fussy than a Kindle…), my noise cancelling Sennheiser headphones (which have a battery life vastly better than AirPods, about 70 hours!) and other odds and sods.  Emptied of cabin essentials also means I’ve space for a jacket if needed on my travels, or purchases along the way, with the jacket relegated to being secured to straps on the outside.  It’s waterproof, so no separate cover needed and so many other neat little tricks to it that it makes you smile. Better still, this was a nearly new bargain off eBay that saved me £150!

 

 

First post of 2026 and January is nearly done, but photography wise, not a deal to report, mainly due to Mother Nature!  The UK is three storms in, we’ve had snow, sun and torrents of rain, but at least the hose pipe ban has been lifted….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This retirement lark still feels a little odd at times, mainly because after logging on to a PC at work in a morning for the last 35 years or so, and knowing you’ve jobs to do, you can feel a bit lost.  But at least my “office” has become my study and had a coat of paint and some new flooring, the dog is getting walked whilst its still daylight and further.   This state of mind is not greatly helped by the alarm still gong off at the same time, as the wife is still logging on for a few more years.

On the book front, I’ve been reduced in the January Sales, which probably says a lot, but its allowed me to buy cheap copies that I’ll take to give to some the museums whose aircraft feature.

One museum in particular features in both volumes.  The Wings Museum had just started work on renovating a Hawker-Siddeley Kestrel when Volume 1 was being assembled.  The Kestrel is the immediate predecessor to the Harrier, so a project close to my heart, as I’ve first hand knowledge of this amazing aircraft.  Only 8 Kestrels were built, just enough to form a dedicated trials unit funded by the UK, USA and West Germany, all wanting to find out how vertical take off and landing could be applied to the modern battlefield; the rest they say is history.  When the trials unit disbanded, one aircraft had already been written off after an accident, the UK kept two, one of which later crashed, the USA took six aircraft back across the Atlantic for more trials to work out how they wanted to use a production model, and some were assigned to NASA for scientific flying duties.  The West Germans were more interested in how  V/STOL could be used and the flying characteristics, as at the time they were developing their own aircraft, the VFW 191B, but this was cancelled in 1971 and only the RAF Harriers were eventually permanently stationed in Germany.

Fast forward fifty-odd years and surprisingly, the remaining six machines are still around in various forms, as is the wing from the first to be written off!   The RAF Museum Midlands fully restored XS695 (which during a previous restoration, used the wing from the first accident loss, XS696),  and this at present is housed at RAF Cosford, four others sit in museums on the USA.

The Wings Museum managed to acquire XS694 from America and are a good way into restoring it to exhibition  standard, with the ultimate aim of the aircraft becoming a prime exhibit in a new museum at Dunsfold, the birth place of every P.1127, Kestrel and UK Harrier; it’s going to be a long job!  The airframe spent some years as part of a paintball range, so as you might expect, is looking the worse for wear.  The RAF Museum kindly donated their excess parts once their renovation had been completed, especially the main undercarriage components, but the people at Wings will still need to shape a deal of the aircraft panels from scratch to replace those lost or corroded.

Longer term and to finish the project, they need to buy the missing components to finish work on the cockpit, the assorted gauges and dials to display air speed, altitude, fuel levels, etc, plus a host of other spares they can’t replicate, and they need some help.

 

Please donate at the Wings Museum GofundMe page.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/hawker-kestrel-xs694-restoration-wings-museum

 

Last post of the year probably, but some major news on a personal front to finish off with; I’m retiring!  From the day job that is.  This year’s been a tough one on the mind and heart strings more than anything else, too many people departing this life, both family and friends,  one very close to home and many of them not that many years older than myself.  It really sets you thinking “how long do I have?”.

So after a few months with my head in a spreadsheet of pension figures, tax allowances  and expenses,  I decided to take my chances.  I’m not of pensionable age according to the government, that set of moving goalposts is a few years away, so its possible I might need to pick up a little job beforehand, but we shall see.

Post Christmas, I’ll have time to do things I’ve not managed to do at home,  unwind a bit (if only I could do a brain defrag…), maybe find a couple of new project to start, but mainly,  I’ll have more opportunity to venture out with a camera(s), which will be nice, or I will do when the weather is kind.  No more sat at my desk, staring through the window at blue skies even on a chilly day, and thinking about all that wasted light.  No doubt the dog will also appreciate it as well!

I’ve also discovered some extra material for Vol.2 to shoot and fill in a bit of a blank for the Folland Gnat in the process, so that’s a day out at the Midland Air Museum near Coventry early next year.

If you’ve looked at the gig photos I posted the other week, “Dare” crop up on a number of occasions.  Aside from loving their music, their end of year show is brilliant and is at the Holmfirth Picturedrome, which is only a short trip up the road from me.  It’s a small, wonderful, if slightly quirky venue, but with decent acoustics and being largely standing only, arrive early and you can get close enough to take decent photos with your phone.  It’s also got a lot of family feel to it, mostly Dare fan club members many who know one another, even if only from gigs, or last night, went to school with the Darren Wharton who’s band it is and gets a shout out mid gig!

Meanwhile, this was also the first chance to use my new iPhone 17 ProMax and at one point I got a tap on my shoulder from a woman who turned out to be Darren’s schoolmate’s daughter with “what is that?”, I think she was impressed.  She must have been, as later on a pair of hands appeared over my head and decided to help take more photos!  A quick chat after the gig led to a promise to send them copies of the photos.  It’s nice when you meet lovely people.

Happy Christmas everyone and have a healthy and prosperous 2026.

 

As I mentioned in my review of the Nikon Z f, one of the drawbacks to me for this otherwise great camera is weight, the body alone tips the scales at 700g, add anything more than either of the small Z mount 28mm or 40mm prime lenses, and you soon learn possibly the biggest drawback to full-frame; a big sensor means heavy glass.  After using the Z f for a while now, and despite buying two add-on grips, I’m also still not totally enamoured with the general ergonomics either.  Yes, the retro styling looks great and I love some of the features, plus using dials for ISO, shutter speed and exposure compensation is second nature, but the complete package still somehow feels awkward compared to the Z5.

It’s largely the weight problem that’s been playing on my mind recently, as the opportunity has arisen to be able to acquire one, if not a pair of additional lenses. This is mainly to have next year to get used to any peculiarities they  might posses, as well as how they handle on the Z f, ready for a much anticipated cruise to Hawaii from San Francisco in 2027.  With the Z f, and standard Nikon 24-70 zoom I already have, plus definitely a wide angle zoom and maybe a telephoto zoom, I was considering buying, I’d have lost just over 1/4 of my cabin baggage allowance!  Unsurprisingly then, I’ve been poring over my options.

Having already dabbled with Nikon’s DX range in the shape of the Z fc and commented on the limited options lens wise, I’d immediately ruled them out.  After spending over ten years using Micro Four Thirds, and despite some new models arriving from OM Systems which have been very well reviewed, it doesn’t take you long to realise that, certainly in terms of sensor development, progress has stalled and it’s not recently either.  Prior to getting the Z fc that went on holiday in 2024, I briefly had a Lumix GX9.  That used a 20MP sensor and came onto the market in 2018, yet the sensor itself was at least 2 years older than that.  The latest models still use virtually the same sensor, but coupled with new processors to provide additional functions, whilst newer APS-C and full-frame sensors have all arrived in the meantime. So despite the heart saying yes to the beautiful used Olympus Pen F at a temping price in my local camera store, even knowing I’d get decent results, plus a lightweight kit and access to an excellent range of lenses, I reluctantly decided to pass.

Jotting down my criteria for what is my ideal travel camera,  the major requirements were light(er) weight, preferably a camera body that was marginally pocketable or at least would fit in a small bag or pouch as opposed to an obvious gadget bag, access to a decent range of lenses from both the camera manufacturer and third parties,  the best possible image quality I could afford and good ergonomics.  Also high on the wanted list was a viewfinder, because after using Olympus’s first m4/3 series offerings, both E-P1 and E-P2, but struggling to see the rear LCD screen to compose shots in any sort of bright sunlight, as well as now being rather short sighted, an Electronic Viewfinder or EVF of some sort, with diopter adjustment, cures both problems.

Canon, having stopped production of their M-series models, and drastically restricting third-party lens availability on their RF mount had ruled themselves out, which realistically left me with two potential candidates: Sony and Fujifilm.

Sony was the other contender when I switched to full frame, if I’d found either and A7 II or III at the right price, its very possible I’d have opted for that as opposed to the Z5.  The need for large diameter lenses for full-frame is down to basic physics,  simply to focus sufficient light onto the sensor, whilst keeping the actual camera body a reasonable size, you need a wide lens and that makes for weighty glass.  Sadly, this ruled out Sony’s rangefinder style full frame A7C and A7C II, as size wise they met my criteria, as well as having a EVF, plus a rock solid autofocus system.   As for their A6000 series APS-C models, having tried a couple at photography shows and stores, they don’t seem to handle as I like.

Naturally enough, this left me looking more and more at Fujifilm, which for me is full circle, my first 35mm SLR being a Fuji ST-605 some 45(?) years ago.  Not really wanting another SLR style body, nice though the X-T series are, and wanting the adaptability of interchangeable lenses that the best selling X100 series rangefinder style compacts can’t offer, investigations centred on the X-E, X-M and X-Pro series.  As the recently released X-M5 has no viewfinder, that was soon eliminated, plus it uses the older 26MP X-Trans sensor and lacks in body image sensor stabilisation (IBIS) which is handy to have.  Likewise, the most recently released X-Pro 3 is six years old (an X-Pro 4 is liable to arrive in 2026) and uses the older 26MP sensor,  otherwise that would have been a contender.

Lucky for me then, that Fuji launched the X-E5 back in September, using a 40MP APS-C X-Trans sensor and essentially shoehorns that with the rest of the innards of the X-T5 into a very compact rangefinder sized body, complete with the requisite EVF and IBIS.  The tilting rear LCD screen isn’t the same fully articulated affair found on both the Z f or Z fc, but it gives you sufficient options for creative angles, as well as a selfie-mode, though that does take a bit of effort to get right.  The EVF is, ok, not very large and lacks a proper eye cup, but it works fine. Plus, just as a sweetener, Fuji have given you the option to switch to an electronic implementation of a 70’s or 80’s style swinging needle exposure indicator, complete other essential info in old school red LED iconography along the bottom; it’s pretty….but I’m not convinced.

Much like its X100 siblings, the X-E5 also has plenty of functions that makes taking photos fun!  Key amongst these is the adoption of recipes to emulate the look of Fuji’s old 35mm film stock.  Better still, the dedicated selector wheel introduced on the X-E5 has three spaces marked FS1 to 3 for custom recipes, and plenty now exist online for all manner of film stock and styles, all easily programmable from within the main settings menu.  Also carried over from the X100 VI, is the multi-function and customisable lever on the camera front, adding even more useful functions at your finger tips.  Fuji also released a compact 23mm f2.8 pancake lens alongside the X-E5, the pair tip the scales at just over half the weight of the Z f body alone.

After a brief hands on in Harrison’s in Sheffield, alongside some more homework into lenses etc, and as you can already guess, this provided the impetus to splash the cash on the X-E5, its lovely little 23mm companion and an equally svelte Sigma 18-50 “standard zoom”. The whole package comes in at just over 100g more than the Z f body. Better still, with the 23mm lens attached, it’s easy to slide into a jacket pocket and even with the additional lens, plus the usual accoutrements of extra batteries, SD cards, lens cloths and a couple of filters etc. will fit in a bag that doesn’t scream “CAMERA GEAR”; which one is my next quandary.

Volume 2 will finally arrive next year, huzzah!  Email flurry with Key Publishing and my manuscript is to be in to them by the end of this year, but no definite time line yet, just; next year.  I’m already half way through yet another read through and edit, a copy has gone off to my mate to sanity check and make sure I’ve got the right captions to the aircraft, which is harder than it sounds as I don’t have images for all the archive photos I’ve selected.  This might entail another trip down to Stamford and the Key offices,  a journey I’ve done that many times over the years, I can do on autopilot.

Once they set a publishing date, it will be a month getting printed, because the finished product has to sail back to the UK from India!  Then they have to decide when to make it available, next year, obviously 🙂

Once the text is out of my hands and editing is over,  I really don’t know what’s next, if anything.  Having already canned what I fancied doing,  never easy when they were all supposed to be secret projects, was probably for the best, as trying to get images for projects that never materialised, or have all been seen before for the ones that did surface from the cloak of secrecy, may have made it rather dry reading.  Revisiting my “Seeing a City” is very much just for me, I doubt anyone would want to publish a comparison of Sheffield in 2010 to 2025, the council won’t, it’s just a bigger mess now than it was and with even fewer shops, but its not their fault, naturally.

Meanwhile,  one of the 35mm compacts has departed, the Cosina CX-2 went back on eBay after managing to produce a blank film.  Not a clue why, it certainly seemed to make all the right noises when I ran the film through it.  The roll of Fomapan B&W I put through the Chinon Bellami was..OK,  exposure was fine, but a number of frames had lines on, which makes it hard to  determine why. If they’d been on all the frames I’d say it’s something on the camera, though that feels smooth across the film runs.  I might have to put another roll through just to check, but if anyone wants to buy a neat little 35mm compact to play with, let me know.

 

Mixed results with the film cameras the last few months.  The Yashica FX-D looked fab, worked a treat and sold easily.  Even the tatty looking ones seem to be rising in price, so maybe people have realised they’re easy to overhaul if they work in the first place and an excellent camera for those new to 35mm.

The Cosina CX-2 appeared to be working fine, it certainly went through the motions when you used it and made all the right noises.  Pity then the roll of Kodacolor 200 came out blank!   So that’s going back on eBay to see if anyone who knows how to fix it wants a go at it.

The Chinon Bellami has had a roll of Fomapan 400 monochrome film through it and I’m expecting the results next week.  It was sold as a worker but untested with film, so we’ll see what comes back.  That too will likely depart either way,  it’s a nice little camera but feels odd to use, the picture quality (assuming that doesn’t come back blank too!) will likely determine it’s fate.

My Konica 35EF which provided the roll of images with the delightful blue caste due to the age of the film I used, has now turned out a rather better set of images, all taken during a film photo walk around Sheffield city centre, arranged by Analog Wonderland and sponsored by Pentax.  I took this and the Nikon FG along with me, which gave me some flexibility in lenses and a chance to ensure the Konica actually worked properly.  It also allowed some comparison in end results between the two, bearing in mind the Konica is a relatively budget end compact, whilst although the FG was Nikon’s budget end SLR, the Nikkor F mount lenses it uses, again the cheaper E series, are still good quality “glass”.

Both shots are low res scan that I’ve not touched in Lightroom or any other software.  One is taken with the Konica, the other the FG with a 28mm E Series lens.  Which is which is at the bottom of the page.

I’ve wandered around Sheffield city centre a few times with a camera, some friends and I did the first Sheffield Photo Marathon back in 2016,  a night shoot whilst at college before that, as well a lots of photos of the big wheel which stood at the top of Fargate for some time, they ended up as one big “joiner” image.  I also did quite a bit of wandering around for my Seeing A City project which became my A2 coursework in 2011.  But going around now, fourteen years later,  I realised the place had changed once again.  The empty spaces of 2011 had now mostly been filled with new buildings,  yet there was more building work in progress in general, with more apparently to come.  But, what struck me most though was the lack of people and the huge reduction in the volume of traffic, as well as the lack of “real” shops, not vape bars, pop-ups and lots of empty shells.

Fargate was one of the city centre’s busiest thoroughfares for generations, yet I stood at one and of it close to midday on a Saturday and it was virtually empty. I came back along the length about two hours later and it was just the same.  The cafes and bars around town had customers, but there was no hustle and bustle like years of old.  Later on we walked across The Moor,  yes, more people but nothing like the volume from the day of the Photo Marathon just under 10 years ago, let alone the throngs I remember way back in the 80s and 90s.

Traffic is now limited to the outside of what’s left of the shopping area, which itself has shrunk considerably with the demolition of the old Castle Market at one end, whilst even the busses have been pushed out of the main routes in favour of allowing only pedestrians and cycles.

The photo walk prompted me to dig out my Seeing A City book and compare the images I took in 2010/2011 with the two rolls of Kodak I used on the day, as well as think about the state of the city; as someone who’s lived here most of his life, it’s scary.   Consequently, I think it’s time to revisit the work I did for what in essence was my first book I suppose and do a then and now.   I might even post the result as a PDF on here.

As for Vol.2 of my actual book…who knows, still nothing from the publishers.

The first photo of the University building is taken with the Nikon FG and 28mm E series lens, the second is off the Konica 35EF with its Hexanon 38mm lens.  Both are Kodak 35mm film,  Pro Image for the Nikon, Kodacolor 200 the Konica.  I think the Konica holds up quite well and it’s nice to use too, so that will be staying; just wish I could get the flash to work.

Meanwhile,  I really do like the Deep Tone Mono preset on the Nikon Zf, as well as having a dedicated B&W mode at the flick of a switch.

 

 

As the football chant goes “it’s all gone quiet over there”.  Still no news on Volume 2, though I have once again gone through it this week and polished it a little more, if you know what I mean and yes it’s definitely feeling that way.  It’s taken 3-4 requests for info on getting more author copies of Vol.1 and the responses have being getting shorter every time, so I do wonder if they’re getting fed up of me.  Though telling my contact I know the book is available on the website, but given the problems I’ve had with that when trying to subscribe to something else, I very much doubt the thing recognises I’m the author of the book I’m trying to buy and offers me the correct price!

Out in the big wide world, one of my favourite lunchtime haunts when I worked in the centre of Sheffield is going through some changes.  Newsagent W H Smith may split up into a version on the high street under a different brand, whilst the original name will stay in the profitable locations like train stations and airports.  But it’s not just the retailer thats seeing habits alter, it’s the products that are available, especially printed media.  We lost Digital Photographer magazine last month, the two magazines dedicated to Nikon and Canon users last year, as well as a number of long standing computer publications previously.  Doubtless this is all down to people not buying physical media, which I’m guilty of as well and opting to read articles online.  Consequently, publishers are cutting back on the titles not covering their costs and you hope, focussing on those which are.

The likes of services such as Readly and even Apple News, where for a subscription you can read multiple digital copies of what are normally monthly glossies does work out a lot cheaper, to the point where if you used to buy just a couple of physical magazines a month,  the subscription cost is easily covered, plus you get access to a whole host of other titles and you save a few trees in the process.  One problem with this method though is the publishers can withdraw their products from what’s on offer at will.  Hence after using Readly for a a year or so,  when one of the aircraft magazines I like departed, along with the rest of that publisher’s material, it wasn’t worth paying for Readly.   The other thing is, after buying a subscription to a real magazine last year for the first time in ages,  of all things the now defunct Digital Photographer, it was nice hearing a thump onto the doormat every month and being able to leaf through actual pages, as well as being able to rip out and keep a few.   So this year it’s Digital Camera World’s turn and I’ll see if I can kill that off too!

The Nikon Zf is growing on me.  I still think its a tad on the heavy side, but its manageable and I’ve narrowed down the lenses I want to a couple of suspects, with the aim of covering as wide a focal range as possible, with minimum  weight to lug around in hand luggage.  I’ve also had play with the pixel shift image function and yes, it works as advertised.  The in camera process is much quicker than anticipated given that on the highest resolution it’s taking 96 images and on import into Nikon NX Studio to process it, each image is automatically recognised as part of a stacked whole.  You click on the relevant button and it dumps out one photo.  The end result?  A single uncompressed image thats 512Mb!  Even the resultant full size JPEG is 19Mb, so what you see below is set to 50% quality just to be able to upload it.  What you also see is what happens when there’s a moving “object” as you shoot your stacked collection.

 

 

I finally got hold of a copy of a book I’d been after the other day,  and after only a brief read through came to the conclusion that what I’d started working on as the next writing project is pretty much a waste of time.  Although there’s no single book covering the subject, there’s enough out there already for those  interested in what’s a rather niche subject.  Such a focussed topic  doesn’t really help sales either, whilst a dearth of source material, short of a few months in the national archives, leaves me limited in where I can cross-reference to and I’m not just going to regurgitate other people’s work.  The other issue is there’s virtually no chance of images of any of the subject matter that haven’t been seen before,  I’m definitely not getting into paying for image rights again after last time!  So after amassing a shelf of reference material, which to me will still be worth reading,  I’ve downed tools;  though  I might finish the few chapters I’d started and put them on here.

It would have been nice to write something else, but certainly when it comes to old aeroplanes, someone else got there first.   As for writing fiction, forget it!  My English vocabulary is simply not broad enough and the last time I had to write any sort of story, aside from my CV…..,  I was still at school!  So unless I discover something else that inspires me,  I’ve got to find something else to occupy my time/mind.

There’s still no update on Vol.2,  let alone any reply to my emails asking to buy more author copies!  But Vol.1 is still on their website at the launch price, so at least I’ve not been discounted, YET!

Meanwhile on the equipment front, in the year or so since I decided to swap the last Micro Four Thirds camera I had, a Lumix GX9, for the Nikon Z fc,  it’s become glaringly obvious that Nikon is primarily dedicated to its full frame camera series.  Yes, we’ve just had the Z50 II released (the Z fc is essentially the original Z50 in a different body), but it’s not a huge spec boost , there’s still no IBIS (In Body Image Stabilisation) that my old Olympus and Lumix had and all the full frame Nikons have, whilst much of what has been added is more benefit to the “creators” and videographers.  But after using the Z fc for most of the year,  a camera with dial controls and the classic SLR style, much like my Olympus OM-D, then having hold of its Zf big brother,  and reading the specs,  the seeds were sewn.  Consequently, all the Z fc and associated kit has gone, a few other bits have also departed and surprise, surprise, a Zf has appeared.

Now either there’s some sort of anti-gravity field in Harrisons Cameras, or I’d had my Weetabix the day I was handling the Zf in there, with the same lens I have for my Z5 fitted I hasten to add, but it’s a LOT heavier than I recall!  It’s not massively bigger body wise than the Z5, though it is a smidge wider.  Add the SmallRig grip that’s basically essential for easy use, but doesn’t add a deal weight wise, so why the extra mass?  It’s a combined effect of the Zf and the Nikon S line 24-70 f4 lens.  The Zf on its own is 710g, without the add-on grip, whilst the Z5’s is only 30g lighter,  but you seem to notice every gram.  It’s just a very odd feel handling wise, even with the added grip attached.  So for now and  until I’ve used the Zf in anger shall we say, I’m honestly less than 100% convinced it’s staying……

However, the first photo out of it certainly pops!  Quick grab from the garden outside my office window.

First post of 2025,  welcome to the quarter century!

Sadly no update regarding Vol.2 appearing, other than it was reconfirmed the publishers will ask for it at some point so they can fit it in the schedule.  Hopefully this time I get a photo on the front but to be honest, I just want the blessed thing done with and I’ll settle for mine on the back cover again if needs be.

With stony silence on finishing Vol.2,  there’s been more prodding and poking by myself around how to approach what’s next.  Reference material is still being amassed shall we say and the more digging I do, the longer I can see the project taking,. At the same time, the need to visit the National Archives at Kew for at least a couple of days grows, along with a few trips to odd parts of the British Isles for photos of related equipment or seemingly innocuous bits of concrete in some cases!  Still, it keeps me quiet.

Christmas saw the first get together for more years than we thought of all my friends I made doing the photography course at Sheffield College, and who did a pair of Coast to Coast photo shoots with after that.  We’ve all done bits and bats in between times, though our lecturer has now finally retired permanently and he’s now had one of his paintings permanently hung in a local gallery, which was great news.

Aside from trying to assemble material for another book, my journey back to film photography continues, with unexpected results in one instance, as can be seen if you look in Analog Days.  The latest and probably last purchase on the 35mm compact front arrived this week and I’ve finally succumbed to bringing back an old friend for I think the third time!  An Olympus XA rangefinder.  The electronics can be a little wayward, hence a profusion of them listed as “spares or repair” on eBay, which usually means stripped for spares, as there’s a couple of components which, unsurprisingly  after 40 years since they left production, are no longer available.  There’s a few other quirks too and people try selling or at least listing  XA2 or XA3 as XA, but for me the original rangefinder model with aperture control is the best.  The big draw is the lens,  it’s typical Olympus of the time, sharp, plus they’re so pocketable and better still in my case, you can’t lose the lens cap, the cover just slides across to shut down the camera and cover the lens.  Sadly despite it coming with the matching A11 flash, that doesn’t appear to work, but it was the camera itself that matters to me.  A dedicated pre-cut set of light seals are now winging their way from Japan, courtesy Aki-Ashai Camera Coverings my favourite source for seals and new skins for film and some digital bodies. Once fitted I’ll run a film through it and post the results on Analog Days.