Most of the articles on this blog take hours, days, or weeks to create. But the news of a new film, a new camera, or something else happens much faster than that.
This is why I started sharing time-sensitive write-ups and shorter pieces as comments (rather than full articles) and tagged them as #editorial🔥.
Editorial comments are part of this blog’s RSS feed, and I also share them on Mastodon, Bluesky, and Threads to inform the community. But until today, they were off to the side of the main blog content if you visited the website.
This new update (v3.25.76) adds the top three newest Editorial pieces at the top of the News page (analog.cafe/news). You can now get a glance at what’s new in the world of film photography just by visiting that page.
I try not to bother readers who come here for film photography-related stuff with software updates. This one, however, took days to get just right (animation, data transforms, layout) — which is why I wanted to flaunt it a little.
Better support for international readers on Analog.Cafe.
Even though I mostly read, write, and speak English here, film photographers are an international community. This blog was developed and first published out of Chiang Mai (Thailand), a small city with perhaps the most labs per capita in the world (see analog.cafe/r/where-to-dev…). I also get comments and emails in other languages, which is easy as translation tools are pretty good these days.
But because I still live in my anglophone bubble, some international readers (about 1% of you) have had a bad experience on this blog. It blew up with an error message suddenly and unexpectely, simply because of a translation plugin.
The issue is finally fixed. It was a challenging bug to track down and rectify (if you’re technical, you may find this github.com/vercel/next.js/… and this martijnhols.nl/gists/every… helpful). And it would’ve never gotten fixed if no one had told me it was happening (since I don’t use translation tools for English pages).
So thank you all for giving me feedback and reporting bugs over the years!
Please let me know if you ever have issues on this blog, would like to chat about film, or would like to submit an article of your own — nearly half of the submissions I publish here are written by non-native English speakers!
Paname Paper is a Parisian street photography print newspaper — shot entirely on film.
Photography books are tons of fun to explore. I reviewed a few of them here (analog.cafe/books-zines) and even made a couple. But a newspaper feels new.
My high school and early college days involved daily subway travel, where there was no reception. Lots of people, including me, read local papers on the train. I miss the feeling of thin, crispy pages.
I’ve seen and read a few thin magazines about photography, but I don’t think I’ve held a newspaper that featured a topic I care about a lot — film photography — so prominently on every page.
Grégoire Huret’s new project is just that:
“Paname Paper, produced and entirely photographed by Grégoire Huret, explores a theme deeply rooted in Parisian identity: “Modes de Vie”. The name Paname Paper—combining Paname, the slang term for Paris, and Paper, symbolizing the journal—perfectly reflects the spirit of this visual project. It captures urban life in all its diversity, in a style that navigates between street photography and documentary photography.”
The first issue is 10€, 36 pages, and 260 x 370 mm. It’s printed in France on 60 g/m² newsprint sustainable paper and solvent-free ink. It’s available on Grégoire’s website:
This week, I spent some time improving the “guts” of the Analog.Cafe website. One (small) update I’m particularly proud of is the GOLD member’s homepage, which now features the list of my best picks for Analog.Cafe articles, apps, and features.
You can also sort the list by “All,” which will show you all of my recommendations AND the exclusive content; “Exclusives,” which will show you all the special articles and apps only members have access to; and “Announcements,” which will show you the monthly member letters.
If you’d like to take full advantage of this new design and support Analog.Cafe (and aren’t yet a member), consider subscribing at analog.cafe/gold/get — the memberships are now on sale!
Your first two months are FREE. This month, I am also giving away a camera and a bunch of film to all members (including new members).
Kosmo Foto just shared price updates from Kodak — some of it is good news!
Stephen writes, “Kodak Alaris has announced a price increase to its range of films and single-use cameras which will take effect on 1 January 2025” (kosmofoto.com/2024/11/koda…)
These announcements happen every year, which makes film photography consumption feel different. In a healthy economy, the force of inflation raises prices of all goods by about 3%, but sellers and retailers do their darndest to hide those increases. Yet, Kodak (and Ilford) tell us exactly how much we could expect to pay more next year.
Of course, the trick is that these price increases are not for the consumer — they are for the retailers and distributors. Unless you’re a motion picture studio, there’s no way to buy film directly from Kodak (see: analog.cafe/comments/up67) — thus, those price fluctuations won’t affect you directly. Some sellers and distributors will eat the price difference or improve their tactics, while others will update the prices significantly.
Lomourette is Lomography’s new half-frame camera with a flash that looks like Diana Mini.
Diana Mini was my second film camera (the first one was Super Sampler). I took that little green plastic box with me on many trips; I loved its look and how light it was. It could switch between a half-frame and a square exposure format mid-roll!
Lomography’s new Lomourette resembles Diana Mini in looks and functionality. While Lomourette can not switch the format mid-roll, it comes with a mountable flash (my Diana Mini did not, although newer versions did, too).
My Diana died after about two years of use (the shutter ceased when I was hiking up Huangshan). It’s possible that the added complexity of switching the frame mask and film advance steps accelerated its demise. Presumably, decades of additional production experience and simplified design make Lomourette a more reliable camera. Lomography sells its new cameras with a two-year limited warranty.
The new Lomourette uses a zone-focused 𝒇8 24mm plastic lens (.6m/2’ closest focus) with a fixed 1/60th shutter (no cable release). It’s available in three colours on Lomography’s website: shop.lomography.com/ca/cat…
I’ve got three new curated film packs on sale at the Analog.Cafe’s Etsy shop, FilmBase: filmbase.etsy.com
There’s a four-pack of Lomography films, including their wild Turquoise and Purple emulsions. A two-pack of Polaroid film, including a Round Frame edition pack and a brand-new Black and White pack that features major improvements to the film’s dynamic range. And an Ilford medium format 4-pack with two rolls of Harman Phoenix and rolls of their professional Delta films.
All prices include free shipping to the US & Canada.
Thanks so much for your support and happy Wednesday!
How the Canada Post strike is affecting Analog.Cafe and other small Canadian businesses: update.
Canada Post isn’t the only courier service available here. Of course, there is DHL, UPS, and FedEx, all of which are significantly more expensive than EMS (and not necessarily better). There are also smaller, localized couriers, like Chit Chats, which I’ve been using to fulfill orders at my Etsy store (FilmBase).
Unfortunately, shipments via EMS that started before the strike are in limbo.
(This includes my customers expecting a film camera in the mail… My apologies, and thank you so much for your patience! This will eventually be resolved, but please feel free to contact me regarding your order anytime at [email protected].)
EMS is a network of local mail services, such as Canada Post, USPS, and Royal Mail, that allows us to ship using cheap, reliable, and familiar services. ems.post/en
Many shipments can’t come to Canada because the seller is shipping via EMS, blocked by Canada Post, where I live.
This means I may not get new cameras and gear for review for a long time. I’m also waiting for a component for making an instant film camera from scratch — which is suck in EMS as well. Similar issues may affect others like Flic Film, Camera Traders, Downtown Camera, and Beau.
But the good news is that there are no problems with outgoing shipments or returns. A whole bunch of gear is on sale at FilmBase until December 3: filmbase.etsy.com/ 😉
Polaroid’s new YouTube video features Fred, the puppet who freaks out when the film is about to go through an X-ray machine.
The instant film factory and brand Polaroid (a.k.a., The Impossible Project analog.cafe/r/a-brief-hist…) likes to keep its YouTube channel diverse. Every couple of months, there’s a new video that seems to have been made by a different team. They’re all pretty good.
Three new videos dropped this month. They feature a puppet character named Fred, who has a thick French accent (which sounds like “Friend” when he says it). He sings and talks about Polaroid cameras. I think it has Sesame Street vibes.
The second video of the series (youtube.com/watch?v=rmHPnE…) has Fried freak out at the airport customs when he finds out that the film is about to go through an X-ray.
X-ray exposure can damage film, depending on the type of X-ray machine used, the sensitivity of the film, and how the machine was set up. But, generally, it should be OK to send Polaroid through X-ray once or twice (as long as it’s not a CT scanner; see analog.cafe/r/air-travel-w…).
The puppet’s freakouts looked comical, perhaps in an attempt to soften the fact that Polaroid film is difficult to shoot (it has just 3.5 stops of dynamic range analog.cafe/r/polaroid-600…). Or to poke fun at pedantic photographers. WNB?
During an earning call, Eastman Kodak’s CEO Jim Continenza said, “So on film, right, we’re doing a shutdown in November, total shutdown.” (finance.yahoo.com/news/q3-…)
Jim states the “shutdown” is necessary for the factory upgrades: “…in November, we will be modernizing the plant, putting more investment within that.”
Film demand was the first item the CEO listed as a key growing product at Kodak: “As we continue to grow the different initiatives… which really comprises of film, chemicals, substrate coating for EVs…”
This summer, I estimated that film production (for still photographers alone) is a $7.2B market (analog.cafe/r/how-big-is-f…), in which Kodak is a dominant player, at least when it comes to colour.
This grabby news item generated many positive comments from the community, who were excited about an upcoming improvement to Kodak film (maybe it’ll be cheaper?) and a nice +5% bump to Kodak stock.
The Canada Post strike is delaying product shipments — including ones from Flic Film, Reveni Labs, Camera Traders, and Analog.Cafe.
Canada Post is part of an EMS system that coordinates shipments via various countries’ domestic/government mail services. It’s often the cheapest, safest, and easiest way for small businesses and individuals to ship goods. This is what I use when I ship film, cameras, books and accessories from the Analog.Cafe-associated Etsy shop, FilmBase: filmbase.etsy.com
Canadian film photography businesses you may’ve heard of that rely on EMS include Flic Film, Reveni Labs, Camera Traders, and Analog.Cafe. If you plan to shop at any of those places in the next few weeks, double-check the shipping times!
What is the best glue for fixing a leatherette on a film camera?
Pliobond 25 is highly recommended thanks to its excellent gripping power, flexibility, drying time, and solvability in rubbing alcohol for easy removal.
These properties are very important for sticking a piece of leather, which may need to be removed a few months/years later without damage. (Since leatherettes often cover screws that block repair and maintenance access — and they can also deteriorate, thus needing replacement).
However, Pliobond 25 is hard to find and expensive to ship. According to @the120ist on YouTube, the best alternative is either E6000 or a specific double-sided tape: youtube.com/watch?v=cBM0dH…
I’ve used tape before, though it seems that E6000 is easy to find in North America — plus, there’s just one kind — instead of the vast variety of double-sided tapes on the market. For consistency’s sake, this sounds like the best option.
A quick search confirms that E6000 will soften when soaked in rubbing alcohol (although it’s fully dissolvable in acetone). I think this will be my leatherette glue of choice.
Update: I’ve been working on the gingerbread camera article for the past few weeks, and it looks like I’ll need to push it until December.
Since I started writing it, I’ve decided to remake it to be more helpful. So, instead of just describing how the gingerbread camera was made, the article will show practical designs for creating a simple instant camera using sugar lens optics and an advanced version with instant film.
Unfortunately, the materials needed to build the above new cameras for this article will come too late for me to finish it in time.
Instead, I’ll release an app this November for better tracking of development chemicals. This member-only feature will help you calculate chemical exhaustion more accurately.
Amateur Photographer opens Inaugural Film Photographer of the Year competition for UK residents.
The UK’s biggest-selling photography magazine is now taking free entries to their first analogue-centric competition, sponsored by Kodak, Analogue Wonderland, and Ricoh Imaging.
Deadline: 5th January 2025, 11:59 pm GMT.
Submission: 5 images shot on film in 2024 (some editing allowed).
Prizes: the winner will get a brand new Pentax 17 film camera, a year’s supply of Kodak film (I’m curious to see what they consider a year’s supply, given that we all shoot at different rates), a year’s supply of film developing and scanning with the Analogue Wonderland lab, and a limited edition Pentax t-shirt and baseball cap. There will also be two runner-ups with smaller prizes.
Another chance to get free gear and film is great news for everyone in the UK.
For everyone else, this can be read as a sign of the continuing growth of analogue photography’s popularity — an offline craft advanced by the extremely online generation of photographers. Film has been in resurgence for over a decade — almost immediately after crashing in the early 2020s — yet I don’t think its new popularity has peaked.
Dmitri Dec 7, ‘24
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Dmitri Dec 2, ‘24 edit
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Stephen Dowling Dec 1, ‘24
Dmitri Dec 1, ‘24
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vladimir.zhurnalist… Nov 5, ‘24