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Dustin Vaughn-Luma

Dustin Vaughn-Luma

An experience designer, freelance photographer, and competitive cyclist living in San Jose, California with his wife, three sons, and neurotic bernese mountain dog. The majority of his personal work is shot on 35mm and 120 film, and is developed and scanned at home.

Olympus Zuiko 40mm F/2 Lens Review – Maitani’s Smallest Zuiko

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I’ve spent the past few months shooting a rare and interesting lens from Olympus’ glory days, the Olympus Zuiko 40mm F/2 in OM mount. This lens combines many of the things that photo geeks (past…

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Plustek OpticFilm 120 Scanner Review – Premium Scans, but at What Cost?

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By the time I’d tested the Plustek OpticFilm 120 scanner, I’d tried plenty of scanners and was pretty worn out. Let’s face it – scanning sucks. It’s time consuming, and confers the same level of enjoyment…

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Rollei RPX 400 Black and White Film Profile – Is It Worth a Shot?

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In a vast sea of similarly-specced black-and-white mid-speed films, finding a stock that speaks the right language can be frustrating. This is especially true for those of us who develop our own film. The seemingly…

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Ilford Delta 400 Film Profile – a Vintage Look with Modern Quality

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Mention the name “Ilford” to any film photographer and chances are high they’ll be able to name at least one film in the brand’s lineup. While many shooters know and love HP5 Plus, a film made popular…

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Olympus 35 RD – Olympus’ Final 40mm Rangefinder

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It was 1975 when Olympus made the call to launch their final Hail Mary in the competitive 40mm fixed-lens rangefinder game. Olympus engineers aimed to better the already well-received Olympus 35 SP and replace it…

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Five Favorite Photos – Jeff Mermelstein

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Street photography is profoundly weird. It’s a type of photography without a specific definition. It can be the antithesis of perfection. It can be unvarnished and raw. To become adept at street photography takes years…

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Ricoh 500 G – A Dark Horse Compact Rangefinder Film Camera

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Have you ever taken a trip to a distant city and deliberately avoided the favored tourist destinations in exchange for quaint alleyways and lesser-known pathways? If so, you’ve probably come away with some of the…

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Zeiss Ikon ZM 35mm Rangefinder Review – Everything a Rangefinder Should Be

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A few months ago, I sang the praises of the Zeiss C Biogon 35/2.8 M mount lens. In that earlier review, I spoke to my wife’s sixth sense and how she dealt me a whopper…

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Zeiss 50mm F/1.5 Sonnar versus F/2 Planar – a Film Shooter’s Opinion

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When it comes to M mount 50mm lenses the choices are plentiful, and quite often the costs are high. Single coat, multi coat, ‘crons, ‘nars – the overwhelming abundance of choice is enough to send…

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Minolta Hi-matic 7sII – 35mm Film Rangefinder Camera Review

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We review Minolta’s final fixed lens 35mm film rangefinder camera, and it’s a real beauty – the Minolta Hi-Matic 7SII.

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Zeiss 35mm F/2.8 C Biogon ZM – Lens Review

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In the early days of Instagram I had the opportunity to work with some amazing brands using my telephone camera as a primary shooter. During these projects I felt a deep sense of pride knowing…

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Japan Camera Hunter Street Pan 400 – Six Months In

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It’s been more than six months since Bellamy Hunt (a.k.a. Japan Camera Hunter) brought a new black-and-white film stock to market, and while snide comments about Bellamy’s motives have popped up here and there, it appears that the film…

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The Family That Shoots Together… Street Photography With Kids

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As a young man, I occasionally engaged with photography with just a general interest. In the mid-1980s, point & shoot and instant cameras were plentiful, and I can’t recall a time growing up where we didn’t…

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