{"id":48308,"date":"2025-12-10T00:52:59","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T16:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/blog\/48308"},"modified":"2026-04-05T08:32:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T00:32:58","slug":"ep276-%e9%82%84%e6%9c%89%e4%ba%94%e5%8d%b7%ef%bd%9ckonica-big-mini-hg-bm-300-35mm-f3-5-%e8%88%87-kodak-ultramax-400-%e5%bd%a9%e8%89%b2%e8%b2%a0%e7%89%87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/blog\/48308","title":{"rendered":"EP276: Five Rolls to Go \u2014 Konica Big mini HG BM-300 35mm f3.5 with Kodak UltraMax 400"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nRoll 276<\/p>\n

Film: Kodak UltraMax 400
\nDeveloped & scanned by Li-lai Photo 2025\/8\/7
\nCamera: Konica Big mini HG BM-300 35mm f3.5<\/p>\n

-<\/p>\n

I flew to Chicago at the end of July 2025, and writing these entries has been overwhelming. Work has been incredibly busy. Counting from here, not including this one, there are still five rolls left in the Chicago series to write (up to EP281).<\/p>\n

At some point today, I decided I just have to push through and keep writing. Otherwise, with a trip to Hokkaido coming up next year, I will only fall further behind. I do not want to keep stacking this kind of \u201cfilm debt.\u201d<\/p>\n

-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#1
\nDuring our time in Chicago, we drove my brother\u2019s car the whole time. It saved us a lot of money. Thanks, brother.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#2
\nAn incredible steak. Both the food itself and the experience at Smith & Wollensky were unforgettable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#3
\nLooking at this photo, I can almost smell the steak again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#4
\nFor many modern APS-C cameras, an f2.8 lens produces a depth of field roughly equivalent to f4.2 on full frame. For example, the Ricoh GR IIIx is often described as having a 40mm f2.8 lens, but in full-frame terms, it is closer to 40mm f4.2 or f4.3.<\/p>\n

If there were a compact camera marketed as 40mm f4.2, most people probably would not be interested. But if you reverse the thinking, a 35mm f3.5 lens on a point-and-shoot translates to around f2.3 in APS-C terms, which suddenly sounds much more appealing. In practice, many 35mm f3.5 compact cameras produce very satisfying depth of field.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#5
\nThe restaurant was located right by the river.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#6
\nThe restroom at the restaurant. What stood out was the stack of disposable hand towels placed right on the counter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#7
\nMidway through the meal, I noticed the light changing and instinctively took a photo. Film captures this kind of moment in a way that feels both beautiful and elusive, something that is difficult to recreate in post-processing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#8
\nI really like this kind of deep gradient in color.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#9
\nThe next morning, we visited a nearby fast food chain called White Castle. It is the first fast food chain in the US, founded in 1921. We went there for breakfast, which felt like a very local experience.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#10
\nMe, not quite used to having a sugary drink with breakfast.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#11
\nIf I ever return to the US, I would like to have White Castle again. Their portions are small, which makes it easy to order a variety of items at once.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#12
\nToday, I took my son on Chicago\u2019s city transit system.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#13
\nOne of the things I love most about Chicago is its transit system. Every ride feels a bit like stepping into uncertainty, or perhaps, a small adventure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#14
\nRoad construction in Chicago feels somewhat casual, especially compared to Japan, where everything is extremely structured.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#15
\nWe bought a Starbucks drink just to use the restroom. The staff even wrote \u201cCheers!\u201d on the cup.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#16
\nStreet percussion performances like this are something I really enjoy in the US. Locals, however, often find them too loud. While we were watching, I saw more than one person walk by covering their ears with a look of clear discomfort. It says something about the openness of American society, where people freely express how they feel.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#17
\nAn articulated bus in Chicago. My son had been curious about it for a while, so we decided to take a ride.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#18
\nChicago sits right by Lake Michigan, so the weather changes frequently. That day, we were heading to the city\u2019s tallest building, the Willis Tower, the fourth tallest in the world. The visibility did not look promising. The building has 108 floors and was completed in 1973.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#19
\nA photo of typography.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#20
\nA genuinely happy moment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#21
\nVisiting the Willis Tower Skydeck.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#22
\nAs expected, the visibility from the top was not great. Still, seeing the buildings emerge through the haze had its own kind of beauty.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#23
\nA horizontal version.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#24
\nA photo spot that makes your legs feel weak.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#25
\nA bit scary.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#26
\nTrying not to move too much.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#27
\nMy son playing in a nearby interactive area.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#28
\nThe final shot of this roll, taken at Willis Tower. The next roll continues.<\/p>\n

This is the full set from this roll, shot with the Konica Big mini HG BM-300 and Kodak UltraMax 400. Thank you for viewing.<\/p>\n

A side note, do Kodak color tones ever start to feel a bit repetitive to you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roll 276 Film: Kodak UltraMax 400 Developed & scanned by Li-lai Photo 2025\/8\/7 Camera: Konica Big mini HG BM-300 35mm f3.5 - I flew to Chicago at the end of...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1875,1932],"tags":[1795,1797,2024],"class_list":{"0":"post-48308","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kodak-ultramax-400","8":"category-konica-big-mini-hg-bm-300","9":"tag-35mm-fixed-focus-point-and-shoot-camera","10":"tag-lilai-photo","11":"tag-iso-400-color-film"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/87080016.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48308"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48310,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48308\/revisions\/48310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}