Gear Talk Archives - Luigi Barbano Photography

May 26

by Barbano Luigi in BlogUpdates, Gear Talk, News, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: #Fowa, #Kimono, #monochrome, #Pentax, #Ricoh, #Ricohimaging, Black and White, K3Monochrome, Luigi Barbano, photography

Pentax K3 Monochrome, full review.

Introduction Thanks to Fowa, the Italian Pentax importer, I had the Pentax K3 MkIII monochrome to test for some weeks. There is only one way to describe my feelings for this camera: I’m in love with it. I like to do black and white photography, both in film and digital, and it’s the first time using a digital camera I feel the camera is just a tool to realize my vision and not something that will be in my way and I will have to figure out how to not let it influence my vision. . The camera The Pentax K3 MkIII, in its normal color version, had been on the market for a while. It’s a beautifully built 26 Megapixels Aps-C reflex camera that had great reviews from many photographers. The body is solid, weather sealed, very easy to use and has a beautiful viewfinder. In the era of mirrorless Pentax decided to continue to produce reflex cameras. If you like optical viewfinders as much as I do, you will really like the quality of the Pentax viewfinders. I tested the K1 MkII, a full frame camera, and the K3 mkIII and also if the K3 has a smaller […]

Apr 06

by Barbano Luigi in BlogUpdates, Gear Talk, News, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: aviation, Castelleto Stura, Fowa, Luigi Barbano, Pentax, photography, Ricoh, Ricohimaging, Tecnam

A tale of two passions and a beautiful Sunday morning

Whoever knows me knows I have two great passions in life: photography and aviation. Both of them started early in my life, photography when I was 8 years old during a darkroom class at the elementary school and aviation with my first flight when I was turning 6 and my father, a private pilot, brought me up for my birthday. A lot of water passed under the bridges since then and life decided photography had to become my job and aviation an hobby I had to dream about more than practicing it. I tempted many times to bring the two passions together but I was able to do it just for a little while when I lived in Florida and you can see here a peak moment of that union. In Italy it’s not that simple and when the unexpected opportunity of last Sunday arrived I jumped on it. . . Sadly Italy is not offering the same opportunities in aviation. General Aviation in Italy was annihilated by years of excessive taxes, absurd bureaucracy and socialist rhetoric. The story of aviation in Italy was great at the beginning, the development of aviation was fast and strong around the World Ward […]

Feb 10

by Barbano Luigi in BlogUpdates, Film photography, FineArt, Gear Talk, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: Carbon, Cianotype, film, filmisalive, fineart, Luigi Barbano, old techniques, palladium, photography, Platinum, printing, UV, UV BOX, Van Dyke

Luigi’s Drunk UV Box!

I was always told: if you have to do something, do it with your own style! So here my Italian style UV box to expose the papers coated with antique photographic processes. At the origin of photography many technologies of printing required the exposure in UV light. At those time sun was the perfect source and the exposure was usually made outdoor. The quantity of UV light from the sun can vary a lot in different seasons or with different weather, plus, baby it’s cold outside now in winter! For this reason I decided to build a UV Box. I was inspired by some similar projects videos on YouTube but I added a personal touch. First of all I used an old wood box for wine bottles instead of a modern plastic box. The wood box was in my cellar, free, and wood looks better and more coherent than plastic with old techniques. Second I decided to add a timer for a precise exposure instead of counting the seconds with an external timer and manually switch the lights on and off. . . Check out the video to know more about the UV Box and see how it works. . […]

Jun 04

by Barbano Luigi in Gear Talk, BlogUpdates, Film photography, News, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: film, Filmcamera, filmisalive, Luigi Barbano, MX

Gear Talk: Pentax MX

There are cameras that remained the preferred, no matter if other cameras were better with more options. For me the Pentax MX is that camera.I used many cameras and some of them gave the possibility to do more things than the MX, but still, when I take the MX in my hands and I hear the click, something gives me the desire to take pictures. . . See you soon with the Pentax LX!

May 08

by Barbano Luigi in Gear Talk, BlogUpdates, Film photography, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: Film camera, film photography, filmisalive, Luigi Barbano, Pentax, Pentax ME Super, photography

Gear Talk: Pentax ME Super

Since I published my book “Photography: The F Manual” I received many questions about what equipment to use. I decided to make a series of video about cameras, lenses and other tools I used and still use for film and digital photography. First review, my first camera: Pentax ME Super. Enjoy the video! . .