In case you missed it, I posted part one of my new video series last week on my YouTube channel, Cameras & Cats!
In this video, we travel from Italy to Paris and check into our cute hotel (Hôtel Le Pavillon), eat lots of macarons, walk to the Eiffel Tower, visit the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de l'Orangerie and take a sunset boat ride along the Seine! And of course, I share all of my favorite photos I took along the way. :)
Part Two coming later this week!
<3 Myles Katherine
This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.
I feel like I say this a lot, but I’m obsessed with the Canon Rebel K2. So much so that when my sister asked if she could borrow mine for our family trip to Italy, I had a brief freak out and then somehow convinced her to buy her own instead! It’s only $30-60 so it didn’t really make sense that I was stressing out so much about something happening to mine, except for the fact that it was my very first film camera and changed the whole trajectory of my life (no big deal). The first photographs I ever developed in the darkroom were taken with my Canon Rebel K2 and I’ve been a photographer ever since! I suppose I have quite the sentimental attachment to it that I wasn’t fully aware of until my sister’s inquiry.
I don’t typically bring my Canon Rebel K2 with me on trips because I have so many other cameras that are technically “better”, but I recently took it with me to Italy and France. On my first trip to Paris in 2010, I used my Canon Rebel K2 and Neopan Acros 100 film. I’m still in love with those photos so I decided to recreate that same camera set-up during my recent trip. I brought a few rolls of Neopan Acros 100 (version II - they don’t make the original version of this film anymore) and once again, this camera delivered. I think it’s going to be hard to leave this camera at home when I go on future trips - there’s just something special about it.
The Canon Rebel K2 has all of the features you’d want in a travel camera: a SUPER lightweight body, automatic and manual settings, a flash, a multiple exposure feature and an option for a zoom lens ( I use the 28-90mm f/5.6 kit lens). It’s also incredibly inconspicuous and is great for street photography. I’m quite a shy person, so the idea of bothering someone or making them upset with me if I took their photo would be my nightmare, so the fact that this camera doesn’t stand out or look expensive or distracting is a positive feature in my book.
I’ve included a few of my favorite photographs from 2010, followed by a few of my favorites from my recent trip. I still think that there’s something beautiful about the original version of the Neopan Acros 100 film - it seems sharper and better at capturing detail in the highlights and shadows. The new version of the film is still beautiful but just doesn’t seem to bring that same moodiness that I loved so much in the original version. I’d love to know your thoughts and if you notice a difference in the two films!
If you love this camera as much as I do, make sure to check out my YouTube video and review for the Canon Rebel K2 below, or you can purchase your own:
Purchase a Canon Rebel K2 on KEH Camera
Purchase a Canon Rebel K2 on eBay!
Purchase a Canon Rebel K2 on Amazon!
FILM RECOMMENDATIONS:
Neopan Acros 100 35mm B&W film
If you found this post helpful or if you’d like to see more of my work, I’d love it if you considered signing up for my Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you’ll get early access to all of my YouTube videos, plus tons of photos that I don’t post anywhere else. Depending on which tier you choose, you could also receive seasonal prints and/or discounts! I always use all of the proceeds towards cameras, film & processing. Find out more here!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
<3 Myles Katherine
Thanks so much for stopping by! Feel free to leave any questions or comments below!
<3 Myles Katherine
This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.
Over the years, I’ve somehow acquired quite a few Brownie cameras. One of my favorite things about being a photographer is that people just (literally) drop old cameras off at my doorstep because they don’t know what to do with them. My camera collection is so large now that I’m contemplating building shelves in every room in my house just to display them!
Specifically, the Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash Model has always stood out to me because the one I received is in great condition. It almost looked like a new camera, even though it’s from the 1950s! So for years, it was calling my name to try it out. I’m not going to lie though, it was intimidating. I thought there was no way I’d be able to figure out how to use it. It turns out, it’s one of the EASIEST cameras to use EVER. It’s essentially a pinhole camera mixed with a Holga. There aren’t any crazy settings or knobs and buttons to deal with. You just look down into the viewfinder, compose your shot, hold as still as possible and click the shutter. It’s that easy. However, there is a lever that you can pull up if you’d like to use the “bulb” setting. Personally, I don’t feel there is a reason to use the bulb setting because the shutter is already quite slow, around 1/30th to 1/60th of a second. That’s why it’s so important to hold the camera as still as possible when taking your photo - to avoid motion blur. If you’re interested in shooting in lower light situations, you could always add the flash, which I haven’t tried yet but plan to!
The first time I used my Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, I was headed to Kauai for vacation and decided to just toss it in my bag and try it out when I got there. I purchased two rolls of 620 on our 2-day stopover in Portland, Oregon from Blue Moon Camera. I watched a quick YouTube video on how to load the film and then just went for it. The film was actually surprisingly easy to load because the inside of the camera has guide-marks for loading. I nervously shot my first roll of film, feeling like there was NO way the images were turning out because of how easy it seemed to just point and shoot. After I returned home, I mailed my film off to Citizens Photo and was SO EXCITED when my film came back, perfectly exposed and beautiful. There is truly no better feeling than getting my film back in the mail.
Recently, I purchased a few more rolls of 620 film from The Film Photography Project and Film For Classics (it’s not cheap, just FYI) and took the film with me to Italy and France! I’m obsessed with the vintage, foggy style of the images. Lately, I’ve been craving images that are less perfect and the Hawkeye helps to quench that thirst. If you have a Hawkeye lying around, try it out! It’s so fun. I definitely plan on trying it out with the flash next. :)
Purchase a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye on eBay!
Purchase a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye on Amazon!
I’ve included some of my favorite images I’ve taken with the Hawkeye so far. You can also check out my YouTube video about the camera!
If you found this post helpful or if you’d like to see more of my work, I’d love it if you considered signing up for my Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you’ll get early access to all of my YouTube videos, plus tons of photos that I don’t post anywhere else. Depending on which tier you choose, you could also receive seasonal prints and/or discounts! I always use all of the proceeds towards cameras, film & processing. Find out more here!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Feel free to leave any questions or comments below. Have a lovely day!
<3 Myles Katherine
