Matt Loves Cameras Matt Murray

I was nervous about taking the Olympus Stylus Epic to China.
Not because I thought I would lose it or have it stolen, but because I was worried that I wouldn’t take any decent pictures with it.
My February roll for the Frugal Film Project had problems with underexposure - so how would I go in China in early Spring? A 200 speed film wasn’t ideal, would there be enough light for my photos?
As you can see from these images, I needn’t have worried. Most days we had glorious bright weather, although it was a little chilly.
I was careful about taking images on this roll. I only pressed the shutter button when I thought I had a guaranteed banger. I love this shot of two young ladies in the Forbidden City.
You might remember this image from China (People) Substack. By the time I got my Stylus Epic out, I had to go for a tighter shot and one of the 3 hula hoopers is out of frame, though you can still see her shadow on the right.
I’m really pleased by how this whole roll came out. I didn’t use the ‘flash off’ function once. Clearly the issues with the February roll were my fault.
Kodak ColorPlus 200 is such a good film, I prefer it over Gold and UltraMax.
This shot in the Lingering Garden in Suzhou looks lovely. The roses are in focus but the pot plants in the background have a soft out-of-focus blur.
Looking at these images, I can see why the Stylus Epic has a good reputation. The lens is sharp. Almost like digital.
Yet its compact size makes it perfect to fit in your pocket and whip out at a moment’s notice.
Maybe I’ll grow to love the Stylus Epic after all.
Watch on YouTube
Take a look at over 20 images from this roll in my latest YouTube video.
Also check out my first China video, there’s 100 images shot on the Fujifilm X100VI comparing 5 different film simulations.
That’s it for this time, more China photos soon!
Cheers
Matt
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Which 10 photography items would you take to a desert island? This is the second episode of a new interview segment - Desert Island Cameras!
My guest is the amazing Molly Kate, talented photographer, writer with 35mmc, and popular film photography YouTuber @Eclectachrome Desert Island Cameras is of course a rip off of the very long running BBC radio show Desert Island Discs.
Here are the rules:
* You can bring 10 items to the island.
* The first 8 items you can either be cameras or films. You could choose 4 cameras and 4 films, or 7 cameras and 1 film, or 1 camera and 7 films, or any other combination, it's up to you. However there are a couple of catches...
* For every camera you bring, you must also bring film for it. So if you bring an SX-70 as item 1, you will also need to bring SX-70 film as item 2.
* You must have owned or used all cameras and films you mention.
The 9th item is your favourite photography-related book.
The 10th and final slot is a luxury photography item not covered by the above.



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Which 10 photography-related items would you take to a desert island? This is the question I asked Theo Panagopoulos recently.
Theo is a talented Sydney photographer, one of the hosts of the Camerosity podcast, and also has his own excellent camera review blog photothinking.com. It was wonderful to hear his 10 items as we progressed through our chat - not surpisingly his Mamiya 7 featured heavily in the mix!
Of course my idea for Desert Island Cameras is a rip off of the long running BBC radio Desert Island Discs.
Desert Island Camera rules
Here are the rules for this segment:
* You can bring 10 items to the island.
* The first 8 items you can either be cameras or films. You could choose 4 cameras and 4 films, 7 camerass and 1 film, 1 camera and 7 films, or any other combination.
* For every camera you bring, you must also bring film for it. That is, if you bring an SX-70 as item 1, you will also need to bring SX-70 film as item 2.
* You must have owned or used all cameras and films you mention. No dream or white whale cameras here.
* The 9th slot is for a photography-related book.
* The 10th and final slot is a luxury photography item not covered by the above.
Watch on YouTube
You can also watch this episode on YouTube.



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What's the best brand new bang for buck film camera you can buy today?
This was just one of many questions I had the pleasure of asking Dave Mihaly The Old Camera Guy.
We start off by discussing how Dave's film photography channel has grown - almost 300 videos and over 1 million views!
We then talk about best frugal choices in 2024 including:
* Best bang for your buck brand new camera you can buy today
* Best value film you can buy today
* Second hand - best P&S recommend
* Second hand - SLR recommend.
Other topics we talk about include the Frugal Film Project, the new Pentax camera, family in photography, shooting digital and drones, and Super 8.
To finish off, I quiz Dave to see if he can recognise film he's shot from his YouTube thumbnails. If you’d like to play along for that segment, check out the YouTube version of this conversation.




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In recent months I’ve become more interested in art. I’ve bought a gouache set, some watercolour pencils, and found a few ‘how to draw’ books we had at home. So far there’s very little art being produced. Needing inspiration, I turned to 3 photography friends who are also talented artists.
Matt Jones, Matthew Joseph, and Bill Thoo often share their artwork with others in a photography group chat. I’ve been amazed and inspired by their art this year. Matthew and Bill have produced beautiful works based on their travels. Matt is a prolific artist in his home studio in Thailand, often creating works from photos others post in the chat.
Some of the topics of our conversation include:
* Which came first for you? Art or photography?* Show and tell 2-3 pieces of art you're proud of* How has art affected or enhanced your photography?* Does making art come at the expense of photography?
I hope you find this conversation as interesting as I did. It has renewed my interest in pursuing some form of art - if for no other reason than to get Mrs Murray off my back about my new found supply of neglected art materials!
As well as listening to this conversation through your usual podcast app or on Substack, you can also listen / watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpkvnbYZPQwMatt Jones [SOCIAL LINKS REDACTED] Matthew Josepeh instagram.com/fotodudenz Bill Thoo instagram.com/billthoo MY SUBSTACK NEWSLETTER Sign up for my FREE Substack photography newsletter: https://mattlovescameras.substack.com/


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MATT LOVES CAMERAS


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