Retrospective November 2025

Every time I sit down and write one of these newsletters I always feel like the month has raced away and I can’t believe I am writing the next one. This project has been a lot of fun and I can’t believe that I have nearly completed an entire year of the monthly recap.

This months has been incredibly busy and there has been a lot of running around a lot of changes going on in my life. There have been a few new additions to the bag thanks to a couple of very nice deals from eBay.

My new 50mm

I have been looking at the Nikkor 5cm LTM lenses for a few months now as they offer an f2 and an f1.4 aperture version originally designed for the S mount Nikon but they we’re also made in LTM mount.

One benefit of the LTM mount on the M system is the close focus going all the way down to 0.5m which is very handy when paired with the Visoflex I have on the M10 or filming on the Lumix S1 I have.

Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm f4

Adding another focal length to my bag through this little gem of a lens. While a maximum aperture is ‘only’ f4 I don’t see that as a problem considering my main bodies this lens will be used on is the Leica M10 and Lumix S1 which both have brilliant low light performance so the f4 from a low light perspective is not a worry.

I only received this lens in the last couple of days so haven’t had a chance to properly test it out and get some nice images but from a physical perspective this lens is nice and compact so very easy to carry with me along side the 35mm or 50mm.

West Journal App Preview

I got an invited to get a preview of the work being done by the team at the West Journal on the app they have been working on and I can’t wait for it to be released. I have loved seeing the content from the team at West Journal so seeing a more interactive platform to show off great venues in the are was very cool.

As an aside I think I am due for a new laptop as this video took an hour to export and probably nearly melted my laptop…

Process Sydney 001

I went along to the first Process event hosted in Sydney with a friend who is a graphic designer. Branching out from its origins in the UK and success in Melbourne the Process team already have event number 2 in the works which will be a lot of fun based on how good the first event was.

Lumix S1

I have had my Panasonic S1 for 5+ years now and it has been an absolute work horse for me. Ever since getting my M10 though it has become very much a home body I usually only bring out for macro work. I really want to change that and use the S1 a lot more for video because it still creates such an incredible image. Expect to see more from this camera in 2026.

Captured my interest

Book: How they get you - I have followed Chris Kohler on Instagram for a while and enjoyed his reels talking mainly about how companies take advantage to extract money from our pockets. His book is a great read and a longer form rants about different subjects.

Pixeltools blog post - Colour grading is something I want to improve in my own work and I think my understanding of it on a deeper level than what just looks good is where I want to head with my learning. This article from Pixeltools is a great deep dive into power grades in DaVinci Resolve. They also have some very nice tools I plan on working with so I will have some thoughts in a future edition of the newsletter I am sure.

Very Good Co Rebrand + Expansion - Formerly Very Good Presets has now renamed to Very Good Co which greater expands the aspirations of Dave Herring and the team to expand from just presets for Lightroom and Capture one. Part of the refresh brings new products like the VG400 Lut created with Kyle Meshna and also the Bison leather camera strap which looks brilliant.

Best of November 2025 Gallery

That wraps up November

November has been a wild one with a lot of things happening as well as decisions being made which will bring some big changes as we hurtle through December and head first into 2026. I am very excited for all of these things and I think that 2026 will be a huge year for me and my family.

Bye for now,

Tom