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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jul 24, 2012 2:50:49 GMT -5
Randy,
not nosy at all. We are looking at the medium term - 5 to 10 years. I lived in China before (2001-4), and my wife was born in Jiangxi Province.
We plan to return to New Zealand after that.
Ron, some of the photoswere taken here in Guangdong Province, in Macau and in Hong Kong. The skyline shot of the apartment towers in the distance is Shanghai, however.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jul 23, 2012 21:03:41 GMT -5
Thanks for the extra info Hye.
I know first hand about the Hakka population in Singapore through friends here in Zhuhai. My wife is of Hakka decent, and fostering and kinship ties through regular group activities (usually eating and drinking) remains a strong Hakka trait, even today. I understand that the Hakka in Singapore maintain ties in a similar way. Important for a people who've long been prepared to move and survive. My wife's family moved inland from Guangdong and established themselves in Neighbouring Jiangxi province. Now, as the east has grown prosperous, they've come back to the coast, still maintaining their Hakka cultural identity. Most are doing very well.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jul 23, 2012 9:41:19 GMT -5
Berndnt, that's a nice TLR. Congrats on a rare find. Don't be too sure that Dave is the only one looking for Five Goats: (Not my photo, grabbed off the net) Yes, there is a more-than-spurious connection - the elusive Five Goats TLR was made in Guangzhou, home of the legendary 5 Goats: Legend has it that 5 celestial beings brought 5 goats into Guangzhou. The goats were all carrying rice, which symbolized that they would make sure that the area would always be free of famine. Guangzhou has paid tribute to these benevolent goats by making them the symbol of the city. There are many goat statues in the "Goat City" and the Statue of the Five Goats is the most impressive. And yes, I'd like a Five Goats TLR too. By the way, do you know the story behind the "Middl Flex" name or is it another Japanese camera mystery lost in the sands of time?
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jul 21, 2012 19:13:58 GMT -5
Ron, though I'm too much of a small-town boy to want to live in Shanghai, I love it every time I visit. This time we stayed in a darned nice hotel in Old Town (courtesy of my sister who was visiting from Kuwait) and the concession-era architecture around us really shone. Very different to the blocky, tiled, universal Asian buildings which are spreading like an algal bloom over so many Chinese cities. The original Chinese population in California, Australia and NZ were also Cantonese, as are most of South East Asia's traditional Chinese communities. New Chinese migrants are likely to be middle-class and from anywhere, including the PRC and the ROC. There was a large exodus from Hong Kong 15 years ago, but now many migrants from HK are heading the other way, across the border and into Mainland China. Funny how things work out. I'm enjoying photographing China, but must admit that in big cities glossy cities such as HK & Shanghai, I get overwhelmed by the speed and crush. I do very little true street photography and end up seduced by mirror glass. Anyway, for those who are interested, I post a few of my personal favourites here: paxette.tumblr.com/Michael.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jul 20, 2012 23:06:37 GMT -5
Welcome Egmond. That 130mm must be a rare beast. I've owned various 135mm lenses for Braun Paxettes, they are not for action-freaks that's for sure! I'd hazard a guess, however, that the Ambi Silette will be somewhat easier to use with a longer lens due to its superior rangefinder.
Mickey, though I'm right-handed, I'm left eyed, so the Exacta would probably suit me.
Not like my old BRNO .22 rifle when I was a kid. I must've looked funny reaching over the breech to work the bolt with my left hand. never did get a proper left handed gun, though I owned a Winchester '94 for a while. Not the most accurate of weapons, but near ambidextrous.
Some people learn to shoot, both cameras and guns, with their non-leading eye. I tried it, but it doesn't work if I use the approved, both eyes open method of shooting. As soon as one opens the leading eye (left in my case) it takes over and the viewfinder/gun sight just disappears.
Totally OT, but I'm useless at sequencing things and constantly transpose numbers. Apparently, this is a common trait amongst people who's dominant eye is opposite to their dominant hand (left eyed/right handed or vice versa).
back on topic, my problem with the Agfa is achieving the downward pressure required to start the wind. Away from the eye - no problem, but at the eye it's quite awkward for me.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jul 20, 2012 20:28:05 GMT -5
Thanks for the kind comments. Sometime in the future I will try to pick up a few more Chinese classics - making it to Shanghai & Beijing flea markets is probably the best way for me or, indeed from the Camera Plaza next time I'm in Shanghai. The big 3 for me will be a Shanghai 58, A Seagull 203-I medium format (120) folder and the Seagull DF SLR (or one of its numerous descendants) - a licensed copy of a Minolta SR-3. The last two should be easy to pick up - it's the Leica copies which seem to capture the bigger money here. Yes, I know I must improve my poor Chinese. Not being able to converse fluently means living a half life. Next semester I'll have formal lessons given by some of the teaching-Chinese-as-a-second-language students here. They leap at the chance to teach a real laowai (foreigner). In Shanghai, true locals speak Shanghanese - a language in its own right (though always called a dialect for obvious political reasons). All educated people speak Putonghua - Standard Chinese, which we in the West still call Mandarin. Here in Zhuhai, the local language is Cantonese, but since almost everyone here is from somewhere else, most people are trilingual, speaking Putonghua and Guandonghua (Cantonese) and their local dielect from their hometown. All school children in China are taught in Putonghua, so the language is near universally understood. Wayne, I wish you'd seen the Plaza too. It is in downtown Shanghai (or on its edge) and is a short walk from a Metro station. The official name is: Xing Guang Photography Equipment Center. For those who are contemplating a trip to the PRC, here's the best info I've found on camera shops, new and 2nd hand: www.cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai/articles/blogs-shanghai/cw-radar/how-to-take-amazing-photos-in-shanghai/The 2nd hand centre near the railway station sounds interesting. Missed it on my last visit. Julio - thanks for the heads-up about the museum. Cheers, Michael.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jul 20, 2012 1:25:27 GMT -5
As you'll have noticed, other than posting the odd digital photo, I've been fairly quiet on this forum of late. The problem is, for all intents I've given up actively collecting for the duration of my stay in China. My inability to read Chinese and my pretty lousy spoken Chinese make it not-that-much-fun to pursue my hobby. The dearth of film processors in my locality has added to the problem and the final blow was dropping my favourite rangefinder (an AGFA Ambi-Silette) - I didn't destroy it totally, but the damage was traumatic to my collector's soul. I did have a wonderful half hour on the top floor of the Camera Plaza in Shanghai worth a visit for any camera buff. Slide past the flashy booths on the ground floor and you soon enter an enthusiast's heaven. Lots of local and imported collectibles in the 2nd hand shops on (I think) the 5th floor. On the floor below, new accessories are often very well priced. I bought a "Natural" brand (well thought of locally) 52 mm circular polarizing filter for well under 100RMB (US$15) off a very nice woman who will receive further business from me. Similarly, an MD to Micro 4/3 adapter was cheap enough at 150RMB. A couple of Nikon-toting locals assured me that the shop was honest, and the adapter works just fine. These places all display prices, which is reassuring. It doesn't mean you can't haggle, but you at least know where you are starting at. I didn't bother bargaining for either of the above purchases. But the real hub of camera purchasing in modern China is Taobao, the local internet marketplace. For collectors, I have to say, the prices aren't cheap. Want a Shanghai 58II (Leica IIC copy) in OK condition? Be prepared to shell out real money in the People's Republic. here are a couple of shops which may help you get an idea of prices. I HAVE been tempted but, probably fortunately, I have to include my wife in the deal as she is the only one in this house who reads Chinese properly. Thus I have a useful handbrake on further GAS. Anyway, here are the shops, the 1st is a bit more expensive than the 2nd. I hope you find them interesting. kkxj.taobao.com/search.htm?search=y&viewType=grid&orderType=_hotsell&pageNum=1#anchorshop36062873.taobao.com/search.htm?spm=2013.1.6-1_eBgJ.1Oh, and here is a very top-dollar Shanghai 58II item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.10.117&id=12443810596Perhaps the prices result from a mixture of nostalgia and national pride, added to which is the growing middle-class ready and able to splash the cash. Cheers, Michael in China.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jul 19, 2012 3:50:33 GMT -5
Mickey, you got it right. I had the Oly's ISIS switched for panning (IS2, it is called on the E-M5 menu). I'm working up to becoming a blurmaster, I must say that so far, my studies have been excellent! Soon I'll achieve full blurrdom.
Dave, thanks for the kind words once again. I noodled around trying to fix the grey porridge shots, but even the sharp ones (I did get a few) never had the impact of the well-lit ones. As an ex-E6 (colour reversal) shooter back in the olden days, I sometimes get annoyed with myself when I get too distracted by the digital darkroom and start trying to rescue rubbish photos for no real purpose.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jul 18, 2012 9:47:30 GMT -5
Vito BL - my first "serious" camera. It's exactly 10 years older than I am, and inherited from my uncle via my mother. 3rd hand! Lovely build quality (superior to paxettes), but I could never get on with the very vague viewfinder. Not good for a left-eyed shooter. Have you started in on the shutter yet?
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jul 18, 2012 9:36:09 GMT -5
My good friend Roy Sinclair, travel writer and photographer, has written of the frustration involved with capturing trains in action. You're in the right place, the lighting is spectacular, your camera is on the tripod and the railfan's special, pulled by the first steam loco to travel on this line for 40 years is still 30 minutes away. Today I got a sense of that frustration when I headed out to photograph a Bombardier-Sifang CRH1 high-speed EMU: Train: check, camera: check, lighting: Blah! Foreground interest: check, afternoon front-lighting: check, train: missing. But trains run frequently on the Guangzhou-Zhuhai line, and my patience was, I think, well rewarded: All the above were made with a plain-vanilla digital-Zuiko 12-50-3.5-6.3 kit zoom on an OM-D E-M1. The below photo of CRH-095A was taken from roughly the same position as the previous, using a Tele-Rokkor 135/f2.8 adapted to the E-M5. Compositionally, I think I'd have been better with the zoom, with the front-lighting finally good, but it was pleasant to get a sharp image of the cab via the Tele-Rokkor set at f8 (iso320, 1/200 sec.): Finally, proof that I suffer for my art. I'll leave it to your imagination how this came about, but needless to say, both I and my bike needed a good hose down after that trip (and yes, that barked shin still hurts).
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jul 5, 2012 22:30:54 GMT -5
Yes, the Paxettes' shutter releases were always "hair triggers". I have plenty of nice "full bokeh" shots to prove it. My method with later Paxettes, all of which had idiosyncratic winding levers which needed to be thrown twice, was to throw the lever once after taking a picture and once again before taking the next. The short throw could be accomplished as the camera was coming up to my eye. It got to be habit quite quickly. Even more strange was the rewind lever, which seemed to require an age of ratcheting to rewind a film.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on May 31, 2012 10:17:00 GMT -5
Dave, this illustrates the problem of historical texts, including photographs. One has to account for the bias of the person doing the recording. After a lifetime of cycling and motorcycling, my own bias is towards two wheels good, four wheels bad. There are plenty of cars in China and the burgeoning middle-class has a love-affair with them. Many of my colleagues drive across campus and view my wife and I as eccentric for not owning a car (the students, on the other hand, mostly approve of our "strength"). A shiny Buick, Chevrolet, Audi, VW, Merc, Rover or even Porsche (Cayennes are the model of choice) is now the choice for many. So which is the "real" China, 1, 2 or 3? All were taken within about 10 km of one another.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on May 28, 2012 9:37:17 GMT -5
The wiring is, indeed, anarchic. Partially this was why I chose that particular corner to set up camp and take photos. There probably are wiring codes, but in a country with a weak rule of law, the above mess is the outcome. The domestic voltage in China is 220, by the way - more than enough to kill you. A yuan coin is far to precious to use as a fuse when there are plenty of old nails, screws & scraps of wire lying about! Domestic fires are fairly rare due to the construction methods here - concrete fame, brick fill, plastered and limed. Nothing to burn but the furniture. The black is indeed fungus - mildew rather than mould. It is very humid here, & lime render (used indoors and out) makes a good culture for fungi it seems. A sealed camera case is mandatory here. Yes, the quality of components (and complete cameras, etc.) is excellent. This village is flanked by modern electronics factories featuring internally controlled environments. Some have as many as 30,000 employees. To illustrate the contrast, I took these photos about 500 metres from those above. The senior gentlemen are either professors or the parents of teachers (extended families are common on campus). They are going to or from market in the village. The ladies are returning from "playing T'ai Chi" on the steps of the university library. That's a factory you can see behind the school's side gate in the second photo.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on May 27, 2012 17:35:40 GMT -5
Thanks for the kind words, Dave and Hye. The old buildings are being replaced, but by equally chaotic ' blocky east-Asian architecture'. The maze-like street-plan remains intact. This happens as the villagers become temporarily wealthy from land sales to factories and other developments. We are in the hi-tech manufacturing heartland of modern China. Chances are, a component for your latest digital camera was made somewhere nearby.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on May 27, 2012 4:26:31 GMT -5
This stylish number is from the halcyon days of Japanese design: Beam me up Scottie! p.s. - I've since given it to my daughter (who tutors in industrial design). She loves it.
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