Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 8, 2012 11:47:15 GMT -5
The original thread from May ? I must have missed it somehow. Beautiful camera. I'll go and try to check out more information at the Fuji HQ here in Roppongi. The museum staff are mostly retired Fuji engineers, always happy to have a good chat with people, interested in cameras.
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 8, 2012 11:37:36 GMT -5
Don't get me wrong ... both are fantastic pictures ... but I never felt any attraction to this kind of place. We have to be there early ... and long enough  |
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 8, 2012 10:38:24 GMT -5
Went to Shibuya for dinner with my wife and her friend yesterday. Both girls wanted to have a "girl's talk" while having a coffee after that ... so what else can I do than spending some time in my favorite 2nd camera shop in the neighborhood ? ;D A dangerous place  Nothing interesting, I thought first, when two new entries caught my eye. Not rare, more classics, but considering the cheap price (I paid less than $20 for both), I became interested  A Mamiya Six (Model IV) from 1947 ... interesting technology. Back focussing system ( the lens doesn't move, but the film will be adjusted to the distance instead ), rangefinder ... and as I can say until now, everything seems to work ( even the shutter at all speeds and I couldn't detect any light leaks yet ). So ... why it has been so cheap ? The second one, a Petri V6. I am usually not collecting SLRs but ... don't ask me why ... I always wanted to have a Petri camera. Seems to work perfectly too and lucky ... it came with the ( very clear ) f:1.8 lens. Two cameras for the price of a lunch in Tokyo  ;D Something must be wrong with this shop. I think, the older and experienced guy is on a holiday ... or retired ? Just the Petri usually starts at $80 ( body only ) at domestic auctions. But ... who cares ? Lucky days are always welcome, aren't they   Mamiya Six Model IV by bokuwanihongasuki, on Flickr  Petri V6 by bokuwanihongasuki, on Flickr |
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 7, 2012 2:28:11 GMT -5
Wayne is absolutely right. I commented on this topic just recently in another thread. My personal opinion would be: Play nice, be polite and ask people, if you can photograph them. I made good experiences with that and got better pictures than with the nasty "paparazzi-style". And if somebody refuses, just respect it. Until you are not a pro, making a living with hunting celebrities, you can live with that, I think. My personal recommendation in this case: use a camera as old and exotic as possible ( better is even older than 35 mm ). You will see, that people will get interested in you and your art and most will let you take a picture later. And ... there are a few other psychological effects. Film looks valuable and expensive. So many people worried about "waisting a frame" if taking a picture of them. You basically turn the situation around ... from "invading private space" to "granting the honor of being captured by an old and rare camera". It's all about, how you sell it  This japanese street photographer for example uses mainly a TLR and I like his work very much: www.flickr.com/photos/55411539@N04/And there is another famous photographer. I forgot his name, but I saw an interesting documentary about him about a year ago or so. He wanted to take pictures in the slums of a big city in the states ( also forgot which though ). He tried several times and always became beaten up by the locals ... until he had an idea. He came with a huge large format camera and could slowly earn the respect and interest of the people living there. His pictures are truly amazing !!! Poor people, gangsters, whores, gangs and just normal people. Nobody could ever get that close and get such amazing pictures. He would never have got so far with just a spy camera ... or maybe just to the next hospital |
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 6, 2012 12:01:26 GMT -5
Could you specify your idea of "stealth photography" ? If you would want to take pictures from far, you would need a SLR and something like a telephoto lens, if you would want to take pictures from close distances, your equipment would need to be completely different.
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 5, 2012 5:45:15 GMT -5
From all I experienced in six years of living here, I would definitely agree with that. A very safe and peaceful country, where people become trained, educated (and drilled ?) from their early childhood on. I talked to some young people, who start missing things like individuality and personal freedom, as they said. I answered: The freedom of one person is ending where the freedom of another person begins. Considering that, life is pretty well organized here and especially in Tokyo. I can not imagine any other city on this world, where so many people can live on such a narrow space without crime and violence. It is indeed amazing.
But Mickey, I also heard a lot of good things about Canada. I know a lot of canadian people, living here in Tokyo. All very nice people, well educated, trustful and having good manners. Most of them said, that there are only two countries for them, where they can imagine to live: Japan or Canada and many of them go back to their home country sometimes, two of my friends even forever recently.
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 4, 2012 8:44:45 GMT -5
Or just because you have been a tourist. Tourists take photographs and guard men are usually not capable of speaking English. It's still a nice trick, even for me ( not necessarily limited to photography ) ... playing the tourist and pretending, that I can't speak Japanese. Sometimes useful to avoid a few of those million stupid rules here in Tokyo In civilized countries, it's mostly the fear of the internet, I guess ... and it all became so bad, because so many people forgot about manners and etiquettes ... or ... people just don't think about or can't imagine, what can be caused. The picture of a dead drunk friend posted on Facebook ... funny ? Maybe ... or not, if his boss or other business partners are on his friend list as well. 20 years ago, a picture just landed in the own photo album and has been shown to not more than a handful people. Times changed and things can become annoying and sometimes even worse. Just a recent story of a friend, who had a nice and well paid job as a wedding minister in the country side for years. What he has totally forgotten, a friend recorded just some stupid talking a few years before, which has been part of a video on YouTube. So many pictures and video clips nowadays ... who can remember them all ? However, one of the clients found it accidentally ... and that was it. He lost his job and has been just lucky, that he didn't need to pay a penalty on top of that. Not everybody has been that unlucky in his life, but most people made similar experiences meanwhile. I think, it's noticeable ... people are more afraid and nervous about cameras than in the past. Sometimes for good reasons, even not being a Hollywood star or other VIP. Hahaha ... Mickey, Dave ... you are underestimating the capability of using a narrow space here in Tokyo Absolutely not related to the original topic anymore, but let me introduce you to one of the most popular sports here in Japan, synchronized walking: Something, every school is training here to prepare their students for the ultimate challenge ... the real life here in Tokyo Dave, if you have been here, you might have seen something like that during the rush hour at one of the main stations like Shinjuku or Ikebukuro. About 4 Mio. people changing their train there every day. First I thought, how can I cross this masses of rushing people without getting trampled ... but it works ... if you don't hesitate and start thinking |
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Post by Berndt on Sept 3, 2012 21:06:27 GMT -5
Oh ... and I have a nice snapshot, taken last weekend ... watching the watchers ;D The typical digital "camera nerd", a common species here in Japan. A few underaged girls on a dancing festival and they line up with their equipment. Disgusting  So I thought, I'd better take a shot of them than of some kids with make up ... but being fare, just from the back. Still a funny shot, I think |
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 3, 2012 20:52:28 GMT -5
True ... but most people are especially afraid of the capabilities of digital cameras and cellphones. Candid cellphone shots all the time and everywhere, having a good chance to find yourself on FB, YouTube, etc. later. People know that. Of course, you can get everything on film digitized too, but people are not so much aware of it, I think. And the settings on old cameras takes time ... so nobody is really expecting a quick Paparazzi shot. Sometimes, I already feel like in a gangster movie if am using my own cellphone for just making a phone call Something like: Take your hands slowly out of your pockets and show them to me ;D That happened just recently to me while being in a public pool. It's of course forbidden to take pictures there - so you better take your phone out of your pocket very obviously, so that everybody can see, that you are just picking up your phone. Same on some beaches or festivals here. But the feedback on vintage cameras is much better ... from my experience. It usually just takes a few minutes and some beautiful girls come and ask, what is that  Many young people have never seen a film camera in their life and especially TLRs seem to look so weird and exotic to them, that they can't believe, that it is possible to take pictures with such a device. My favorite quote is: Live every day of your life as if it would be your last and learn as if you could live forever. There is basically nothing, what we should postpone, because we can not expect our condition getting any better , starting from being 20 years old ( as scientists say ). I always lived like that and can't say, that I missed anything in life yet. That's the best attitude while getting old ... and that's what we all do  |
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 3, 2012 9:53:42 GMT -5
Definitely. Especially, when it comes to catch fast action ( sports, animals, etc. ), we do have a problem with old fellows like the Vest Pocket. However ... those situations are actually not appearing so often. In most daily life situations, those vintage cameras are still doing a good job ... and often a better job than what people are mostly using today ... cellphones ( or other cameras in "intelligent" auto mode ). If wanting to take pictures of wild birds, fast moving soccer players in a stadium or racing cars, the Vest Pocket Camera would be the wrong tool and not in my vest, but I also made positive experiences with vintage cameras, getting shots, I would have never got with a digital one. The feedback on vintage cameras is very different. People are suddenly willing to pose, asking questions instead of getting angry if some kind "paparazzi zoom" is pointing on them. It's a little bit of a "take a walk with your dog" effect. It works even better with old cameras Also ... just speaking of me here ... I think, my pictures are often better, if taken with one of those ancient babies. Why ? Because I put more effort in framing, thinking about what I want to photograph and what not. This process of selection can have a positive effect, not related to the camera technology at all. And last but not least ... the fun. Getting an old camera repaired and working again, sometimes modifying a film like Col did here and getting results like this after that. That's like christmas |
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 2, 2012 20:59:24 GMT -5
Wouldn't say "just" |
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 2, 2012 20:53:52 GMT -5
Could have been my words |
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Sept 2, 2012 4:28:48 GMT -5
Nice Col. The pictures are excellent. It seems, that this old baby can already do the trick Thanks for sharing. I am always interested in how pictures taken with vintage cameras look like. |
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Aug 31, 2012 21:54:42 GMT -5
Interesting camera and very nice looking pictures. The scan quality is better than of many shop services. If you want to buy a scanner, which can do even better then that, it'll become expensive indeed. But that's the old story ... I am fighting with myself on the same object: Buying a scanner or always relying on the often random quality of shop services ... difficult decision.
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Berndt
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Post by Berndt on Aug 31, 2012 21:48:49 GMT -5
Really nice and interesting find. Looking forward to seeing the pictures, taken with this camera !!!
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;D Something must be wrong with this shop. I think, the older and experienced guy is on a holiday ... or retired ? Just the Petri usually starts at $80 ( body only ) at domestic auctions. 
So I thought, I'd better take a shot of them than of some kids with make up ... but being fare, just from the back. Still a funny shot, I think 
Many young people have never seen a film camera in their life and especially TLRs seem to look so weird and exotic to them, that they can't believe, that it is possible to take pictures with such a device.