The three-eyed monster that is the iPhone 12 Pro Max seems to pack incredible punch power for serious photography. But as usual, we need to go beyond the sole technological specifications and see how it handles real life. Apple boasts about its incredible night shots, so, as a fan of sensor noise and compression patterns (yes, there can be beauty in modern noise and artifacts, like film grain or VHS / NTSC video artifacts).

blackbox: version 2 Saturday 28th of November (will regularly update this article — in a somewhat disorderly order…)

The phone includes three cameras, each with a specific lens coupled to dedicated 12-megapixel sensors. They range from ultra-wide with a 13mm f2.4 full-frame equivalent, wide with a 26mm f1.6 as the primary camera, to a 65mm f2.2 tele-lens. There is optical image stabilization, and focus is supposed to be improved thanks to an integrated LiDAR (an independent depth sensor). …

The Polaroid Mint is a plastic instant camera without a screen. Hello optical viewfinder.

It prints using a thermal color process and saves pictures as JPEGs — almost no settings. Five press-buttons (one to trigger), a slightly hidden reset one, and one high-power LED flash.

It also has a micro SD card slot to store the photos you take and look at them on a screen or work on them later.

It is an interesting beast in these times of touch-screens everywhere. Feels rugged and reliable (and I did let it fall a few times).

Instant photography has invariably brought magic to the photographic process. You snap, and boom, there, you get a printed version from that moment you shot. It is always a fun experience to see that instant take shape as a physical representation you can look at and share. And we almost forgot how looking at a reflective surface is so much different from a bright luminous screen. …

Let us focus once again on an old legendary lens with a story; let me try the Jupiter 3 50mm f1.5.

Those of us who know these old lenses already know they are usually exciting artistically and pack a lot for the price. This one is the wider-opened sibling of the Jupiter 6 50mm f2.0, with an optical construction based on the Zeiss Sonar 50mm f1.5.

The one I am trying here is from 1962. Its body is of robust aluminum, and both the focusing and aperture ring, while feeling a bit lose, move precisely and with ease. …

For those of us still using film, or for you out there who are ready to come to it, Ferrania is again offering its ‘original’ film formula in 135 or 120 film formats.

Ferrania is an Italian film company named after the city where it was born in 1938. Its operations dated from the end of the 19th century but produced photographic material, including cameras and films since the second world war.

It mainly offered ‘Ferraniacolo’ and ‘Pancro 30’ films, and the later was famously used by cinematographers for classic masterpieces (e.g., Fellini, Pasolini, De Sica, …). It stopped making films in 2012, but in 2013 the film making part of the company was bought (thanks to a Kickstarter), and ‘Film Ferrania SRL’ was created, reinstating the famous P30 in 2017. …

The Ricoh 35 Flex is a fixed lens 35mm reflex manual focus camera from 1963 with automatic or manual controls. The camera I tested is the first model and doesn’t need batteries (thanks to its Selenium light sensor) and can be enhanced by wide-angle and telephoto screw add-ons to screw upfront.

There is a second version of this particular camera with a Cadmium Sulfide light sensor (see photo at bottom) with more precise measurement but requires a battery.

It is a 35mm camera, with a base lens of 50mm and f2.8, with a leaf shutter. The viewfinder is simple but leasable and surprisingly comfortable. On the left, the red circle indicates that you need to wind your film to the next frame. On the right, a black rod shows you the light intensity with red zones at both ends for over or underexposure. …

Everyone has the best tips. They’ve already posted them online. Here my three more, probably good-enough random tips for model photography.

1 — Make things comfortable with essential goods.

While your model may work for free, cash, or prints, providing essential comfort is always a plus. Having water to drink (preferably an unopened bottle or two, or some tea/coffee — depending on the shooting site temperature), something sugary to eat (e.g., chocolate, cookies, or an energy bar) to compensate for the effort or the temperature loss if the model stays immobile for a long time are a good start. Also, think about having a plaid or cover at hand (your model will probably not want to catch a cold, or cancel her upcoming professional schedule because of a runny nose). Disposable slip-on shoes for in between shots are a nice touch too; they can make a cold-floor or weird surface situation feel way better regardless of air temperature. …

Everyone has the best tips. They’ve already posted them online. Here my three more, probably good-enough random tips for concert photography.

1 — Don’t stand in the eyesight of the public.

If people come to see a live event, it is usually not to experience the photographer’s lens and butt. Imagine that you are in the audience, and therefore care for how the musical experience would be without you. Be as invisible as a ninja on the job. Not much is worse than having the experience of beautiful music with beautiful musicians with beautiful lights, and a beautiful scene ruined by a jumping figure with a big lens continuously cramping the view. …

The Helios 44 is one of the legends because of its swirly bokeh and affordability. It is a Carl Zeiss 58mm f2.0 lens copy made initially in the USSR as the default lens for many popular Soviet cameras. Again being made in Russia since 2016, you can usually find it as an m42 mount. There have been many versions through the years, but the optical formula is the same, with only lens coatings and enclosure being different.

Very affordable and very widely distributed since the 1950s, this lens has an original character usually described by its swirly bokeh. It can indeed be quite intrusive, but in my shooting style, it isn’t that prominent. …