Episode 77: Camerosity Blogging

Episode 77 of the Camerosity Podcast picks up where Episode 76 left off, continuing a two-part exploration of "stuff we know," this time turning the focus to photography blogging. Hosts Theo, Mike, and Paul—all bloggers themselves before becoming podcasters—invite a group of fellow camera and film bloggers to share their behind-the-scenes stories: Peggy Marsh of Camera Go Camera, Alex Luyckx, Eric Jason of Aperture Preview, Dan Cuny, and Jim Grey of Down the Road. Also joining are non-bloggers A.J. Gentile and Will Pinkham, who find themselves inspired to consider starting their own blogs after hearing the discussion.

The conversation covers each guest's origin story, how they choose topics, and what's next for their sites, alongside broader reflections on the current state of blogging versus the rise of short-form content like TikTok and Instagram Reels. Specific hands-on topics include Alex's experiences developing Adox Scala and black-and-white reversal film, Dan Cuny's hobby of scanning and posting vintage film negatives and plates he's collected, and Paul's discovery of a source in China who can modify standard Hasselblad backs into Hasselblad XPan-sized panoramic backs. Other tangents include Eric Jason's work repairing Polaroids for Retrospekt, cameras like the Argus C3, Purma Special, Samoca 35 II, and Clarus MS-35, and practical tips for aspiring bloggers—do what you love, develop a thick skin, reply to comments, and just start.

The episode also notes some behind-the-scenes production chaos, including a two-week delay and a laptop crash that forced the episode to be edited twice from scratch, resulting in Episode 78 (covering medium format shooting with guests Johnny Martyr, A.J. Gentile, and Miles Libak) being recorded before this one was released. Looking ahead, Episode 79 will focus on medium format SLRs from brands like Bronica, Mamiya, Kowa, Norita, and Praktisix (excluding Hasselblad). Overall, the episode serves as a nostalgic and practical love letter to long-form blogging, arguing that despite the rise of bite-sized social content, blogs retain unique value—particularly their searchability and staying power as "sticky content" compared to fleeting social media posts.

AI-generated summary. May not capture every detail — read the full article below for the complete picture.

In what is a record for the longest time between recording and release, Episode 77 is finally here! Recorded more than 2 weeks ago, in this episode we follow up Episode 76 with a second episode about “stuff we know”. Before they were podcast superstars, Theo, Mike, and Paul have blogs and we wanted to share some behind the scenes secrets of the wonderful world of blogging.

Joining us are fellow bloggers, Peggy Marsh, Alex Luyckx, Eric Jason, Dan Cuny, and Jim Grey who tell us their origin stories, what their process is for how they choose what to write about, and what’s next for their blogs. Joining us are non bloggers, A.J. Gentile and Will Pinkham who get inspired and consider making their own blog!

As a group, we also discuss the state of blogging, has the luster of long form reviews been replaced by byte sized content from TikTok and Instagram Reels? Alex discusses his experiences with Adox Scala and black and white reversal developers, Dan Cuny talks about his collection of vintage film negatives that he scans and posts online, and Paul reveals a guy he found in China that can modify standard Hasselblad backs, turning them into Hasselblad XPan sized panoramic backs.

Because of a combination of regular delays along with a laptop crash which required this episode to be edited from beginning to end twice, Episode 78 has already been recorded before Episode 77 was ready for release. Paul, Theo, and Mike had an intimate discussion with Johnny Martyr, A.J. Gentile, and Miles Libak about shooting medium format, Mike’s favorite Japanese 4.5×6 folding camera, and how the process of professionally shooting film in the digital age has changed from before.

Episode 79 will be all about medium format SLRs. If you’re interested in Bronica, Mamiya, Kowa, Norita, Praktisix, (but hot Hasselblad) SLRs, this is the episode for you! We will record on Monday, October 14th at 7pm Central Daylight Time and 8pm Eastern Daylight Time.

The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance.

In This Episode

How Blogging Relates to This Podcast / A Private Blogger Facebook Chat Has Improve All Our Sites
Will There Ever Be a Video Version of the Camerosity Podcast?
Peggy Marsh from Camera Go Camera / Do Not Reverse Her Blog’s Name / Argus C3 / Purma Special / Photavit 828 / Agilux Agimatic
Alex Luyckx and His Origin Story / Alex Loves Seeing How Different Developers Can Change How a Film Looks
Developing Adox Scala Film / Black & White Reversal
Set a Realistic Time Table for New Articles to Maintain Excitement and Quality
Paul Has a Blog and He Reviews One Camera Every Decade!
Eric Jason from Aperture Preview / Samoca 35 II / Perfex Cameras / Radio Companies That Also Made Cameras / Clarus MS-35
Eric Works for Retrospekt Repairing Polaroids
Has Blogging Lost Its Luster? / How Much Readership Is There? / TikTok and Reels Byte Sized Content / Mr. Beast
Dan Cuny Gives Mike a Run for His Rare Camera Review Money / Inoca Six Stereo Camera
Mike Has No Idea How Many Cameras He Has / Cornu Ontoflex TLR
Dan Loves to Digitize Old Negatives and Plates / Old Images Tell A Great Story / Mike Doesn’t Like Ansel Adams
Jim Grey Joins the Show and Talks about Down the Road / Operation Thin the Herd
Reply to Every Comment / Jim Acquires a Camera For the Purpose of Reviewing It
AJ Started a Youtube Channel During the Pandemic to Stay Busy
Tips For Starting a Photo Blog or Podcast / Do What You Love / Your Voice Matters / Have a Thick Skin / If You Want to Make a Blog, Do It!
Perhaps the Greatest Thing About Blogging is the Content is Searchable / Sticky Content
The Wayback Machine is Great for Web 1.0, But Not So Much for Current Gen Blogs
Paul Found a Guy in China Who Can Modify Hasselblad Backs to Shoot XPan Format
Theo’s Mamiya 7 Habit is Driving Mike to Drink / Extinct Blogs
Mike is Sending Anthony a Leonardo Pinhole Camera

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm.

If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server.

The Official Camerosity Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast

Camerosity Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/

Peggy Marsh – Camera Go Camera – https://cameragocamera.com/

Alex Luyckx – https://www.alexluyckx.com/blog/

Eric Jason – Aperture Preview – https://www.aperturepreview.com/

Dan Cuny – https://www.dancuny.com/camera-collecting-blog

Jim Grey – Down the Road – https://blog.jimgrey.net/

Theo Panagopoulos – https://www.photothinking.com/

Paul Rybolt – https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris – https://thisoldcamera.net/

Anthony Rue – https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

Camerosity can also be heard on the following services:

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@camerositypodcast