Albert Watson

Any work of art is a reflection of the artist himself.  I feel this is as much a portrait of Mr. Jobs as it is of Mr. Watson himself.  The analog picture was taken with a 4x5 view camera in 2006.

Picture taken from Apple's web site for illustration purpose.  Copyrights belong to its rightful owner(s).

Kodachrome

This is it.  Every good thing must come to an end.  I've never tried any Kodachrome, but what ever chromes I've tried before from Big Yellow, I am not very happy with, it could be me, the chrome or the processing or the catch all:  a combination of them.  I will still shoot film whenever I feel like it.  I still have some exposed rolls in my refrigerator and inside my cameras begging to be used and developed.  But I like to keep them waiting.

Nikon D95 in the Offing

UPDATE:  Sorry, nothing original here.  Those industry insiders won't say a thing, not here anyway.

According to Nikon Rumors, the D95 is coming, presumably soon.  It's going to support full HD, i.e. 1080P.  I hope it has a frame rate at 24p and faster so I can shoot faster and play back in slow motion.  Slow motion just makes everything so much better and cooler.  But the two digit models usually can't meter with old AI or AIS lenses.  I guess I will have to live with that.  I know I sounded like I am going to buy one to replace my D70.  My D70's LCD screen is getting smaller and fuzzier as my eyesight is getting worse.

Yes that's how I waste my time online, browsing Nikon rumors.

Need I Say More

 

via:  Tokyocamerastyle.com, sort of the camera's Sartorialist but without the irritating ellipsis abuse.

Nikon Nikkor 200 - 400 f/4

This thing weighs 118.5 oz. or more than 7 pounds.  You need to get one of this and carry it around to find out how healthy you actually are.  It has an estimated selling price of $6,999.95.  What surprises me most, and you know I am easily surprise-able given how ignorant I am, the thing takes a 52mm filter.  What?  A 52mm filter?  I thought it would take a 72mm filter at the very least (OKAY, it must be some drop-in kind of filter that is not screwed on in the front).  This monster of a lens will be available some time later in May, just don't hold your breadth.

Now all I need is a 18MP Nikon DSLR, that's simple, solidly built, and costs less than $1000 to own.  All I can do is dream on.

They are the Same

... Yet they are all different.

Photography is Not for Girly Man

If you think you are carrying too much equipments on a family trip, you are a girly man.  You shouldn't take up photography to begin with.

Take Stock

Incidentally, the upside down Chinese character rightly describes what I have been going through for the last two months.

My Beloved Canon G3

A meager 4MP camera.

Annie Lebovitz: Famed Deadbeat Photographer

Lebovitz got sued yet again for money owed.  I don't know how she got into this financial mess, but she sure does.  Most working photographers can't get the kind of money she got, in fact, on average, a photographer makes about $45,000 a year, with wedding photographer making close to $230,000 on the high end of the pay scale and children photographer trails last making less than $20,000 a year [source].  But Annie is not your average photographer, some say her gig at Vanity Fair earns her more than $2 million a year.  Apparently the money she makes is big enough to get her into financial trouble and yet too little to bail herself out.  I think Tim Geithner is her only hope now.

C9 Photographer Featured in NYT

A C9 or housewife photographer was featured in the New York Times prompting immediate indignation, mostly from guy photographers.  I remember the article says the photographer is a 40-year old mother of six and one day she took some pictures using a $99 digital camera and posted them on to flickr and the next thing she knew she was contacted by Getty and selling her jpeg's as stock photographs.  A gig that most people professional or otherwise don't have the talent or tenacity to achieve.

One less reason to get out of bed in the morning.

For Photographers, the Image of a Shrinking Path.

Canon New F-1 And Motor Drive

Here is something I discovered.  My point of reference is the Nikon FE and F5.  Though it probably isn't an apt comparison considering they are really vastly different cameras.

I think the F-1's motor drive connection is a bit convoluted.  And sort of a disaster waiting to happen.  You really have to plan ahead and decide at least a roll of film ahead whether you want to shoot with a motor drive or not because you just can't change your mind in mid-roll.  Why?  Because, at the bottom of the camera plate there are three coupling holes (what am I talking about?), you need to remove the three small coupling (love the word) covers before you can attach the motor drive to the camera.  One of those holes (love the word) provide the motor drive's access to the film cartridge for film rewind and if left exposed or un-covered it would fog the film.  Hence you really can't take out the motor drive in mid roll or attach a motor drive in mid-roll.  Not a great idea.  Those tiny covers you need to use a coin, say a quarter to screw (love the word) in and out (love the allusion), and they are prone to just disappear--of the three covers, the AE coupling cover was lost before I got the camera.  They are supposed to be screwed back in on the motor drive but if you were to lose the film rewind coupling cover, then you can't really shoot sans motor drive as the hole would expose the film--you are screwed big time.  What a stupid design.  My FE and its MD-12 don't have this problem, no small covers to remove and sure no rewind either.  But I can attach or remove the motor drive in a whim anytime I like.  The F5 comes with the the built-in motor drive.  I don't have the Nikon F3 and its massive MD-4 motor drive for comparison.  I guess the professionals always shoot the F-1 with its motor drive always attached--I know the prior owner does.  So they don't have this problem.

Notes:
Canon AE MOTOR DRIVE FN.  This guy is coin operated.  You can't attach the thingy by just turning the camera attachment knob, you really need a coin, say a quarter to screw or unscrew (especially unscrew) it.  Minor pain in the butt.
Canon BATTERY PACK FN.  Without it (or other power sources) the motor drive isn't really going to anywhere except acting as a grip.  Surprise.  Again this guy is coin operated.  You need to attach this puppy to the motor drive.  Plus this is where the vertical shutter release button is.  The chamber takes twelve AA batteries.  Twelve, that's right.  The battery compartment is unlocked by just sliding a locking lever called the battery magazine release lever, no need to use a coin, Wow.  This puppy lets you rip through a roll in 5 frames a second.  Wow.

85mm f1.4 or f1.2

The world is going crazy about Bokeh.  As if Bokeh is the be all and end all criteria for judging any pictures.
It's just fucking crazy and dare I say lazy as well.  You stick a $1000 lens and then automatically you get great pictures?  I don't think so.

PS:  OKAY, I am the first one to admit big aperture lenses are cool.  But it's just too crazy how people wow and oh whenever a picture is shot using a big glass even though the picture is downright fucking boring.  I try to talk down the price of these big glasses so I can afford one myself...  No such luck so far.

Canon New F-1

Canon can be confusing.  The F-1 went through at least three iterations, the original F-1, then F-1N and the New F-1.  But just for kicks, Canon decided to just put F-1 on the body of these three models, unless you have done some homework, you wouldn't know which is which just looking at the bodies.  And oh yeah, when you start asking people Is that a New F-1, people thought you were crazy, they would tell you once again, it's an old used camera, then you have to say OKAY I understand...

All I know is the New F-1 allows ASA 6 to 6400 and there is no big self timer lever on the body.  That's how I tell if the F-1 is New or old, sure there are other differences but I just don't bother.

It's my experience that very often some Canon gears for sale inevitably got listed as Cannon and they can't be found if you just search using the Canon keyword.  Well, see the importance of spelling?  Chances are you may be able to steal a bargain from this misspelled Canon.  If I am looking for a Canon deal I would search for Cannon as well just to make sure I don't miss anything.

I was able to spot a Canon New F-1, 50mm F1.8 with AE Finder, AE motor drive and power pack, a bunch of films and a bag to carry them all, all for a very decent price.  And yes, it's listed as Cannon.

The Merit Of Getting Old Cameras

I am very much an armchair photographer if a photographer at all.   One of the most frequent questions I've seen online is what camera one should get.  Invariably the discussion goes like the rumored new model is coming out anytime so you should wait.  Then without exception, somebody would say do not wait, just buy the current model and enjoy it.  Well both arguments are of course valid.  But if you were to buy old cameras then you don't even have this sort of what should I say "problems" because you know right from the get go, you are 51 years behind, not 5 months behind the latest full frame or what have you latest from Canon or Nikon.  But you know you are 51 years behind, period.  So you can sleep tight and stop worrying which new model to buy or future proof your purchase.  Because you just knew you are light years behind.

Just so I am clear, I will accept, without complaints, any latest DSLR from Nikon or Canon.

Chimping

One of the things about film is while taking pictures you can't chimp.  You just keep taking pictures instead of instant reviewing on the LCD monitor at the same time.  Once upon a time, it's considered a good thing to have instant feedback on the LCD, but people tend to overuse it and totally break the picture taking process.  And sometimes it just looks downright unprofessional and lacks conviction on the part of the photographer.  With film, there is nothing to chimp even if you want to.  You just have to pre visualize the picture in your head.

Pedestrians

First Roll of Black and White from P Almost Ready

My first roll coming from the P is processed and is hung up in the bathroom to air dry. I shall scan once the negative is ready. I think this time I beat my record in loading up the steel reel, it took me probably 2 minutes to load the film. I did it in one go and there was no crinkles, a very clean load. The exposure doesn't look bad either considering I was just guestimating the exposures as I shot along. The accessory meter doesn't work.

That was the good news.

Here comes the not so great news. Well it wasn't exactly bad. I found out I left the FE film advance lever open and the battery was duly drained. This had never ever happened to me in the 20 plus years that I own the camera. The battery has been in the chamber forever and it had been good for years. I remember I only changed it once all these years. And I thought it has auto power off even if I leave the lever in the open position. Oh well, you live and learn. Without battery the FE only operates at M90 and B unless I use it with my MD-12 motor drive.

Well I can always shoot my Hasselblad 500C/M and my Canon P sans battery and sans meter.

I Got My P

Canon P, probably manufactured in 1959 and the lens in 1951, finally I found some camera gears that are even older than me. Woo hoo.

Yashica Mat-124 G and Hasselblad 500C/M

Both use 120 film, but I took a measurement of the image size on the negative and the Yashica is a 56x56mm square while the Hasselblad with my C12 back produces an image size of 55x55mm.  The images from the Yashica almost always stray too close to the film edges.  When I load the film I have to make sure the top take up spool mechanism is flushed all the way in and during shooting (it has some play), otherwise the image may really go too close to one side of the edge overlapping the film code there.

UPDATE:  YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, CLICK THE LABELS BELOW TO SEE MORE.