Photo Fair

10/13/2026

The Olympus XA did something in 1979 that modern digital still hasn’t matched

In 1979 I was a teenager running amok, working on my 1968 Chevy Impala waiting for that 16th birthday that was just a couple of months away. Well besides me jonesing for my driver's license there was Olympus introducing the XA camera. This was the smallest rangefinder full-frame 35mm camera in the world. It is smaller than any full-frame digital camera thus far....

09/08/2026

The Three Modern Dream Lenses I’d Love to Have

There are many dream lenses I would love to have but a only a few that are both exotic and to me still practical. Sure there are some vintage lenses like the Canon LTM 50mm f/0.95 and the Leica Noctilux 50mm f/1.0, The famous Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7 used by Stanley Kubrick in Barry Lyndon back int he 70s. These are awesome along with so many more but they are not actually practical....

08/11/2026

Why the Olympus OM-1 is still a killer 35mm Camera

The Olympus OM-1 camera came out in the 1970s and like the Pentax MX it was smaller than most Canon or Nikon cameras. However some felt the Pentax MX was too small and the OM-1 seemed to fit nicely between the bulkier Nikons and the tiny Pentax. The OM-1 however offered allot of genuinely professional caliber features that deserve to be mentioned and looked at for anyone thinking abut buying a classic mechanical 35mm film camera....

The Olympus OM-1 camera came out in the 1970s and like the Pentax MX it was smaller than most Canon or Nikon cameras. However some felt the Pentax MX was too small and the OM-1 seemed to fit nicely…

07/15/2026

Why I am Sticking with EF Lenses on my R5

I bought my EOS R5 at launch in 2020. It has been the best brand new camera I have ever owned. I have owned a great many brand new cameras. In 1979 I bought a Canon AE-1 new, then in 1983 I bought a brand new Canon A-1, then in 1985 I bought a brand new Canon New F1, in 1986 I bought a Canon T90 brand new, the list goes on......

I bought my EOS R5 at launch in 2020. It has been the best brand new camera I have ever owned. I have owned a great many brand new cameras. In 1979 I bought a Canon AE-1 new, then in 1983 I bought …

06/14/2026

Heres a video announcing scheduled show changes for 2026

Rod discusses the reasons behind the cancellation of the Seawood Sh...

05/12/2026

Clinically Perfect or Classically Flawed?

Throughout the history of optical design we have been chasing perfection. Centuries ago designs were based on optical theory with no computers to aid in design, no modeling in advance of production, none of that. By the 19th Century we at least had a test medium in the form of film. This no doubt helped push design implementation into a much faster production window....

Throughout the history of optical design we have been chasing perfection. Centuries ago designs were based on optical theory with no computers to aid in design, no modeling in advance of production…