Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Apr 11, 2013 7:29:26 GMT -5
Stephen, you are always a fountain of knowledge. That's what I always wanted to do. We do have some kind of national library in Tokyo, where all magazines are available to read. That can be. For me it became some kind of challenge, finding and getting some of the ultra rare ones The thing is, we can't collect everything and there are still tons of japanese film cameras in second hand shops and on auctions available ... but watching the market here for a few years I would say, TLRs are getting rare. Each shop has mostly just 2-3 and only very common brands like Ricoh or Yashica and even on auctions, you will basically just find the usual suspects. From the rarer named TLRs the Beautyflex, Alpenflex or Wagoflex, which you mentioned. Beyound that, it is getting thin. Watching all domestic auctions and visiting 2nd camera shops here in Tokyo regularly, it is still like christmas, finding one of those rare named TLRs a year. But if not, it wouldn't be interesting, wouldn't it.
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Apr 10, 2013 22:50:47 GMT -5
My wife would probably never ever send me for doing the shopping again ... hahaha ...
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Apr 10, 2013 21:52:48 GMT -5
I always wanted to visit the state library here in Tokyo to check old camera magazines from the 50s. Maybe there have been adverts, showing the maker and other information. Regarding names, the japanese language has a special problem with that anyway. Foreign words are always written in Katakana ( basically a sound imitation, transformed into the japanese syllable alphabet ). As for an example, the famous food chain McDonalds is written as マクドナルド and if we would transfer that back into our alphabet, it would be "makudonarudo", which doesn't really sound much like McDonalds anymore ... or the good old Beatles become "bituresu" I am just lucky, that my family name is so simple, that it can be easily transferred back and forward between both alphabets. It can come to ridiculous issues, if a foreigner marries a Japanese lady and she likes to use her husbands name, because here in Japan we HAVE to write our western names in Katakana BUT if the wife gets a new passport after marriage and changing her name, they DO NOT use the original western writing of the name ( like McDonalds ). No, they transform the name from the Katakana writing into our alphabet ( like Makudonarudo ). Absolutely meaningless and ridiculous. In the end, couples do often have problem at the airport, because the officer does not believe them to be married and carrying the same name. Katakana are also reducing the amount of sounds. For example, the words "very" and belly" would become the same But ... aside from the stubborn habit of writing all foreign words in Katakana, it is also considered as "cool" to write some (brand) names using our alphabet, especially if an export of those brands is intended. It requires quite some imagination to guess the origin of some of those names though. Famous example is the camera brand "Aires", which is built from the words "Eye" and "Rescue". Writing the short form "Eye-Res" in Katakana and transforming it back into our alphabet, we will get "Aires". I am still puzzled with the word "Hoker" though. Question to the native English speakers: Are there similar words in English ( which sound similar, but which are not necessarily spelled like that ), which might have some kind of cool meaning ? The japanese pronunciation of the word Hoker would be an "o" like in "go" and the "ker" would sound like "car".
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Apr 7, 2013 7:32:59 GMT -5
As I said, I wander in both worlds. It took me a while to get myself organized though. My main digital camera is a simple Casio Exilim at the moment. It covers mainly all situations, where a film camera would give me a hard time. As those are: Instant upload to Facebook, HDR, night- and low light snapshots without tripod, high speed shooting ( 30fps@full resolution - sweet for animal and sports photography for example ), movie functions, panorama, zoom in my pocket and a few more. Things, I can't do with a classic analog film camera. However, when it comes to take a good photograph, my choice is clearly film - mostly transparency film in combination with medium format cameras, but I also just like to play around with other films and/or the "new" cameras, I found and repaired. It's like christmas for me, seeing those old mechanical beauties to purpose again. The thing is just ... we humans are tending to comfort and convenience. Once having a digital Suisse pocket knife in our pocket, we use it and then ... and that's what I wanted to say ... I often regret, that I didn't put more effort in the one or other picture, because yes - I truly believe, that film still has its advantages also regarding the visual quality. Even risking to become tarred and feathered, I still think, that people should be photographed on film ( looking much younger and the skin more beautiful ) and there are also other situations ( like sunsets for example ), where no digital camera I know can match a film camera, having a mechanical aperture and a decent transparency film loaded. But I personally also hate the design of digital cameras. Hundreds of modes and settings. For what ? I just need aperture and shutter speed ... and only that gives me the control, I want to have. So, talking about comfort and convenience before, I took a lot of pictures, which would have definitely looked better, taken with a TLR for example than with a digital P&S or my cellphone. That's simply sad, I think. Wanting the best of both worlds, we do have another problem though: We can not always carry the half of our collection with us. Here, everybody needs to find his own way, I think. That would make a nice new thread BTW. I would like to see every member having his bag packed ( a bag of an acceptable size though - not a truck ). Would be interesting
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Apr 7, 2013 4:32:03 GMT -5
Truls, without wanting to start the everlasting discussion film VS digital again, just let me tell you my personal conclusion as somebody, who took a lot of pictures ( and is still taking ) using both medias: There are a lot of situations, where it is easier, more convenient or only possible to take a picture with a modern digital camera, but in many situations, when that is not the case, I had regrets later, that I didn't use film instead. Do you understand, what I mean ?
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Apr 6, 2013 19:51:04 GMT -5
Stephen, Genazzano, thanks so much for the feedback !!!
I have to correct myself here. The still existing company Shoei Seiki is a different one ( different Kanji writing as my wife said ) and founded in the 60s. I just found one line in a list of a japanese camera collectors club, where the Hoker-Flex is mentioned. According to this, it is manufactured in 1954 by Shoei Seki ... but no further information and the list seems to be very old.
What puzzles me is the fact, that a company, which is capable of developing and manufacturing an own shutter, does not leave any trace. There have been many small camera makers in the 50s, but most of them used shutters like Seikosha or NKK ... they didn't produce own ones ( at least not on that level ). Also irritating though, that the lens and camera name is the same. That would speak more for a maker, called "Hoker" and not Shoei Seiki. And last but not least, as Stephen spotted well, the quality of this camera isn't that bad. I haven't taken pictures with it yet though, but I certainly will. The shutter ( and even the self timer ) is still perfectly working at all shutter speeds, which is luck, because the camera wasn't really in very good condition, when I got it. I bought it from an auction BTW, but the seller was an antique shop ( not specialized on cameras though ). So, I couldn't ask the former owner for some more information.
Always interesting, that even the almighty internet can be just silent on something, which is just laying 60 years in the past.
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Apr 6, 2013 1:16:14 GMT -5
Today, I am happy to present a new entry to my little collection of rare japanese early post war TLRs - a Hoker-Flex ( with just one "o", gentlemen ) I couldn't find anything about this camera, neither in the the English not Japanese speaking internet - so it seems to be quite rare and any information are much appreciated. What maker this camera ever made ( Hoker ? ), it seemed to use own lenses and the shutter is made by Shoei Seiki, which is still manufacturing high precision technologies. The shutter is still working at all speeds, but the lenses might need a little cleaning. Did I discover a "new" or forgotten TLR maker ? Cheers from Tokyo, Berndt Hoker-Flex by bokuwanihongasuki, on Flickr
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Mar 30, 2013 11:23:34 GMT -5
Very interesting find !!! 110 film is available again, but I also wouldn't really trust on the flight performance of this rocket ;-)) What do you think, was the purpose of this rocket camera or how does it suppose to work ? Automatically taking pictures from the sky ?
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Berndt
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Posts: 751
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Post by Berndt on Mar 29, 2013 7:24:09 GMT -5
You found that film in your camera ? And the pictures do still look that good ... from 1933 ? Wow
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Mar 29, 2013 7:19:17 GMT -5
No, but it does look beautiful !!!
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Berndt
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Posts: 751
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Post by Berndt on Mar 24, 2013 1:23:48 GMT -5
I haven't been brave enough for buying a scanner yet. Main reason, my wife, who is working as a graphic designer for more than 20 years and always talking those flatbed scanner down. Waste of money, they can't match the quality of professional film scanners ( which her former company used for print works, catalogues and stuff ).
Still I feel uncertain and don't know, what to believe. Also some photographer friends are using flatbed scanners but mostly with medium or large format films and for some technical reasons, a lot of post production ( especially sharpening ) seems to be necessary.
The thing is, I use film for a certain reason ( among many others ). It's the brilliant tonality, which I believe is still better than on digital ( especially for portraits, skin but also sky pictures ). So, the goal is not just to preserve slides or negatives as memories from the past, I still use the workflow "film + scanning" for taking actual photos. Would a flatbed scanner be good enough for that and is it really capable of getting all the colors, shades and tonality out of the slide/negative ? What do you think ?
What I do until now is taking my films to a lab for scanning, but also here ... from my experience, the quality is quite random and wanting a really exact copy of a good slide for example, my expectations have been mostly disappointed yet.
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Mar 18, 2013 20:47:27 GMT -5
I think the actual reason for backbiting ( if that's the right English word ) is not the camera itself, it's the price, it is usually sold at. The photographs are on the level of an ordinary disposable camera, which are still successfully sold and popular ( at least here in Asia ), just with the difference, that you can exchange films on the Holga. Considering, that the prices of those disposable cameras ( incl. film ) are strangely often lower than the price of the inserted film, we can now estimate the price of a Holga. Hups ... now I am starting to talk like everybody else here ... aaaaaaah ...
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Berndt
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Posts: 751
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Post by Berndt on Mar 8, 2013 21:35:17 GMT -5
Today, I thought, I introduce an interesting application, I found this week: photoephemeris.comIt's available for iOS, Android or MAC/Windows even for free. It allows you to simulate/calculate outdoor light conditions ( light, shadows, sunrises, sunsets,etc. ) or the position of sun and moon at and from any position in the world and at any time. This app is just brilliant, I think. For example, I can easily calculate the day and minute, when the sun will go down exactly in the center of Mt. Fuji, seen from the roof of my house. I have been searching for such an app for quite a while and thought, others might be interested in it as well. Cheers from Tokyo, Berndt
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Berndt
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Posts: 751
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Post by Berndt on Mar 4, 2013 7:14:35 GMT -5
Enjoyed those comments. This new forum design has a Facebook-like "Like-Button" now ... did you notice that ? Typing these lines, I am drinking a cup of instant coffee. I use to drink caffein free instant coffee in the evening, because I can't sleep all night if it would be real one.
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Berndt
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Posts: 751
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Post by Berndt on Mar 3, 2013 2:55:29 GMT -5
33dollars, thanks for the link. I might try it some day.
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