I've been going through my archives and I found this image of Ben destroying a fruit danish in the studio. Black and white still looks better from film.

This was taken 18 years ago with a film camera. You can see the edge print along the top of the frame. I shot the photo with a Pentax 645n and a 150mm lens. The distribution of tones seems just right to me. So much better than I am usually able to get no matter which software program I use to try to squeeze pretty black and white images out of any number of digital cameras, across a wide range of digital formats.

I have a stack of about 100 11x14 inch prints sitting on my desk that need to be scanned. Just thinking about preserving the tonal ranges.

Having a short re-romance with black and white film tonight as I try to find the box filled with old negatives from St. Petersburg, Russia.

As we get closer to the end of the year I keep talking myself out of driving up to Precision Camera to see just what they have in the way of medium format film cameras. I hope someone talks me out of it before I stick my foot back into the tar patch of film...

Medium Format Digital from the Middle Ages of the Industry. A Portrait of Amy.

Amy. ©Kirk Tuck 2010.

In 2010 I tested the three most popular medium format digital camera systems for a magazine called, "Studio Photography." Of the three I tested I was most pleased with the handling of the Phase One camera and back. It boasted a 40 megapixel, CCD sensored back and was built around a Mamiya 645D body. It also took Mamiya 645 lenses. While the bigger file was more detailed when used for big enlargements, and clearly had more dynamic range than the 35mm frame sized digital cameras the system with a complement of three lenses tipped the scales at about $50,000 at the time. And you might remember that we were just starting to come off a vicious recession.  

Had some of these cameras been launched in the middle of a boom period I wonder if they would have been accepted and employed by a much, much bigger segment of the market. We'll never know now that they've been largely replaced by the newest generations of Nikon and Sony full frame cameras...

The Camera Store (you know, Chris and Jordan...) got robbed over the weekend.

One of our readers just sent me this posting:

It would help our local camera store a lot if you could pass this on.

The Camera Store had a break and enter early in the morning on December 16th, 2017. A selection of high-end specialty cameras and lenses were stolen including: 

Hasselblad X1D camera body silver #UQ27014288

Hasselblad XC 30mm F3.5 lens #2WV10784

Hasselblad XC 45mm F3.5 lens #2UVT10447

Hasselblad XC 90mm F3.5 lens #2VVT10265

Leica MP Safari Edition #09008593

This theft seems very targeted since specific items were taken. We hope that someone in the local photo community will hear something about this.

We are offering a $5000 TCS shopping spree for any information that leads to a conviction.

Please call police at 403-266-1234 or if you wish to remain anonymous call crime stoppers at 1-800-222-8477

Police case #17539052

The store is located (I think) in Calgary, Canada. 

If someone offers you some mint in box used Hasselblad or Leica gear you might want to ask for the serial numbers before before you crack open your vault and drag out your credit card...

See their really, really good videos here:

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqpOf_Nl5F4tjwlxOVS6h8A

A different sort of Christmas Tree from the Stage Set of "A Tuna Christmas." A play set in the small Texas town of Tuna. By Jaston Williams.

The Christmas Tree at Didi's Used Weapons Store.

Part of the stage set for "A Tuna Christmas" at ZACH Theatre.

Camera: Panasonic GH5

Lens: Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 Pro

Marketing Still from "A Tuna Christmas."

Marketing Still from "A Tuna Christmas."