To that end we have put a number of books on sale from now until August 31st — although the pessimist in us worries the heat may last longer! While not all titles can claim anything but a slim connection with summer, we did try to cater to vicariousness in our selection, so if you’re looking to experience summer from afar, you might be interested in some of these:

Cell, by Taiji Matsue ￥4,990 ￥4590. Truth be told, while there are no doubt shots in this 2008 AKAAKA-published book taken in summer, it’s the book’s cover featuring a swimming pool that gets us in the summer mood. Good thing then that this sampling shows that indeed, there are more pools to dive into.

Hawaii, by Daido Moriyama ￥8,990 ￥7,990. What says “summer” more than Hawaii, where it is basically summer all year round? This large tome has plenty of suntan-oiled bodies and floral print wraparounds, not to mention plenty of sand, er, grain. Ample samples here (not all from “Hawaii” though). Bonus points for Moriyama’s high contrast b/w making the surf and sand seem cooler than it probably is.

The Long Vacation, by Mitsugu Onishi ￥3,990 ￥3,490. The English title of this work is somewhat misleading. A more accurate translation of the Japanese title might be “The Distant Summer”, and this book has a somewhat “Summer of ’42″ feel to it although it is Tokyo in the 1990s, with enough summer festivals, embarrassing hairstyles and stonewashed jeans to have you glad we now live in 2010, although the heat has probably only gotten worse.

There are more deals from where these came from, and while we can’t claim all will cool you down, they might provide some small protection from this summer’s other burning topic, the strengthening yen.

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Premier quality lens adapter manufacturer Rayqual have today released the first version of their range of lens mount adapters for Sony E-mount cameras, such as the Sony NEX3 and NEX5. The adapter for Leica M mount rangefinder lenses is available as of today, with other manual focus mount versions (Nikon F, Canon FD and Contax/Yashica) and adapters for autofocus lenses (Nikon FG, Pentax DA) including an aperture control ring following in due course (please see the product pages for produc trelease schedule).

The new Sony E-Mount is an exciting addition to the growing variety of small mirrorless SLR cameras allowing flexible use of contemporary and classic lenses. While there are a wide variety of adapters on the market, Rayqual adapters are MADE IN JAPAN to the highest quality standards allowing photographers and cinematographers to reliably and precisely mount alternative lenses on their cameras.

A customer in the video/motion picture industry who tried their luck with the cheaper alternatives comments: “We already have adaptors for all our Nikon lenses and they work, it’s just that the tolerances are no good resulting in the lenses rotating which is a problem when trying use a follow focus shooting video.” The issues were resolved after switching to the equivalent Rayqual products.

You can find the Rayqual Sony E-Mount lens adapters and other Rayqual products in our web shop.

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We are pleased to announce an addition of a Olympus E-PL1 and and Leica X1 versions to our popular range of hand-made leather camera cases.

It is good to see that the trend towards high performance and presentably stylish camera continues as more and more people seem to appreciate this type of camera.

A quality camera case will make these high-tech, yet elegant looking cameras even more presentable and also protect them from external knocks while at the same time be smooth in the hands when using it. A detachable back cover protecting the LCD display is available as an option.

These camera cases handmade by an artisan, one by one, in the old center of Tokyo. Their quality and feel are extraordinary; “Perfume of REAL leather, high quality finish and stitching” writes one satisfied customer.

A unique feature of this case is that the strap attaches to the case, not to the camera as with most other cases. This case effectively cradles your valuable camera safely and gently, safeguarding your investment.

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We are pleased to announce an addition of a Ricoh GXR version to our popular range of hand-made leather camera cases. The Ricoh GXR is yet another stylish and high-performing camera, similar to the Olympus E-P1/2 and the Panasonic Lumix GF-1. The GXR takes the concept of exchangeable lenses one step further by incorporating exchangeable sensors! A quality camera case will make this high-tech, yet elegant looking camera even more presentable and also protect this valuable camera from external knocks while at the same time be smooth in the hands when using it. A detachable back cover protecting the LCD display is available as an option.

These camera cases handmade by an artisan, one by one, in the old center of Tokyo. Their quality and feel are extraordinary; “Perfume of REAL leather, high quality finish and stitching” writes one satisfied customer.

A unique feature of this case is that the strap attaches to the case, not to the camera as with most other cases. This case effectively cradles your GXR safely and gently, safeguarding your investment.

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This is an interesting new lens mount adapter from Rayqual, which allows mounting of various SLR mount lenses on Leica M or Leica Screw Mount (LTM) mount rangefinder cameras.

While the adapter is not fully rangefinder coupled, it will facilitate focussing much more than any other adapter. It will set the camera’s rangefinder to a fixed distance of three meters. You will not be able to focus variably by means of the rangefinder patch, but the 3m setting and usual distance scale-based focussing should help a great deal.

Recommended for lenses up to 50mm focal length. Price ¥18.900.

The following lens mounts are available:

• Nikon F
• Contax/Yashica
• Pentax K
• Olympus OM
• Leica R
• Minolta MD
• Exakta/Topcor
• M42 (Price ¥13.900)

As usual MADE IN JAPAN quality. Rayqual mount adapters consistently get positive feedback from our customers. Here is a recent comment: This is one well-built little adapter. No rotational slop, very solid; it’s very smooth mounting the lens. Glad I didn’t try the cheapos from eBay… (Texas, USA, on the Rayqual C/Y to EOS adapter)

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Seventeen (17歳), by George Hashiguchi
Pub. by Kadokawa Shoten, 1998
ISBN: 404851122X
Original Cost: ¥2,800
Japan Exposures Price: ¥1,490 SOLD

Photographer
George Hashiguchi’s portrait collections are so ubiquitous to the point where you may actually be inclined to think he was a hack, churning out book after book like he was a professional cat photographer. It must be said that Hashiguchi hasn’t necessarily helped himself in this regard, since most of his portrait projects — senior citizens, couples, fathers, workers, and 17-year olds like we have here — all follow roughly the same formula: a very specific group of people, full body portraits in black and white, an accompanying page of text featuring the same type of questionairre presentation (eg. the subject’s favorite music, what they ate for breakfast, how much their monthly allowance is) along with a paragraph or two of commentary from each subject. However, like more famous typologists, this standardization goes a long way toward highlighting the individual idiosyncracies of the subjects and countering what could be mistaken for homogeneity.

Description
Portraits done across Japan of 17-year olds, this is a republished version of Hashiguchi’s “Seventeen’s Map” which was published in 1988 (cue obligatory Parr/Badger reference — Volume 2, p. 300), with all the same portraits and text but different sequencing. Hashiguchi traveled throughout Japan with the very specific intention of taking portraits of people who were 17 years old at the time of shooting. According to Hashiguchi, he didn’t care who his models were, as long as they were 17. He also included in the book every single person he photographed, choosing not to edit out any of the subjects.

Hashiguchi (writing 20 years later) says, “These 17 year olds were all reall very different. These were ordinary high school students, and students whose hearts were engaged in activities outside school. There were 17-year olds who were already working, and those who were devoting themselves to art. All sharing this space of “Japan today,” all breathing the same air, these 17-year olds were yet so different, thinking such various thoughts.”

Condition
No problems at all, some minor sunning of dust cover and page edges is about all one can say bad about this copy. A good, used copy.

Valuation
Well, the original 1988 publication can go anywhere from $200 to $750 depending on condition and whether it’s signed or not, no doubt because it was included in you-know-what.

Goes well with…
If you’re intrigued by this book, you might be interested in the other Hashiguchi books we have in the bookstore, including a completely new book on 17-year olds, 17: 2001-2006, which has the added benefit of accompanying English text.

If you’re interested in obtaining a reasonably-priced copy of the original 1988 “Seventeen’s Map”, please get in touch and we’ll see what we can do for you.

Details
Hardcover. 22cm x 15cm. 1st edition, 1st printing (1998 version). 200 pages, approx. 95 b/w photos. Available here SOLD.

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“The case looks absolutely fantastic!!”

Customer who purchased the TX-1 case, from Hong Kong

The irreplaceable aspect of a skilled craftsman is that unlike a machine in a factory, he can do things for you that are special and usually not available. Mr Hirano, the manufacturer of our range of beautiful handmade camera cases, is able to design a camera case for a classic camera even though it is not usually in the range of products. For that however, we need a sample camera to model the case so we are always on the lookout for new cameras that would benefit from a case.

These camera cases handmade by an artisan, one by one, in the old center of Tokyo. Their quality and feel are extraordinary; “Perfume of REAL leather, high quality finish and stitching” writes one satisfied customer.

A unique feature of this case is that the strap attaches to the case, not to the camera as with most other cases. This case effectively cradles your camera safely and gently, safeguarding your investment.

Enjoy. Camera.

PS: Our online stores now have an RSS Feed for latest additions to the product catalogue. Please find it here for the Shop and here for the Book Store.

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So, taking a page from Japan Exposures Exotica, where we sell different cameras and such that we pick up here and there, we’re going to start doing something similar with books. On a regular basis we’ll be putting up a book or two in the store. These books will be — as the saying goes — priced to sell. Think of them as “real books for real people at real prices” or something like that.

We’re starting off with one of Nobuyoshi Araki’s 450 (or whatever it’s up to now) photo books, published in 1995 and in very nice condition, the obi intact, etc.

“A” Diary (A日記), by Nobuyoshi Araki
Pub. by Libroport, 1995
ISBN: 484570997X
Original Cost: ¥4,944
Japan Exposures Price: ¥3,990  SOLD

Description
A diaristic record of 1995, in chronological order — or so you would think (more on that in a moment). Photos are in panoramic format, and all are taken with date imprinting. Most pages feature two photos on a page, so this book is jam-packed with candid photos from just about every day of the year. All photos are in color, and every page is full bleed. Robert Frank and Nan Goldin put in appearances, as does Araki himself. And many, many models. Many of those models are, surprise, naked, but this is not one of those books. There is a short essay — Japanese only — by someone with the last name of Ito at the back of the book.

The book was published in March of 1995, leading quickly to the WTF? realization that your looking at a record of 1995 that was published at the beginning of 1995. The essay in the back explains that from 1981 to 1995, using a camera that had a date imprinting back, Araki would play with the dial while shooting, so that pictures even on the same roll might have wildly varying dates imprinted on them. (In his first book to feature photos with date imprinting, Pseudo Diary (1980), Araki used dates like April 1 (April Fools Day) and August 6 and 9 (the days the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively) to highlight the pseudo-ness of the diary.)

According to the book’s essay, from the massive collection of date-imprinted photos, Araki and his editors assembled a seemingly chronological record of 1995, and that is what A Diary is. To be perfectly honest, it’s a great story but we’re not buying it. It has an apocryphal — or April Fools — ring to it. Was there a panoramic camera with date imprinting in the early 80′s?. We think it’s more likely the book was shot in 1994 — after all, that’s when Goldin was in Japan working on Tokyo Love, Spring Fever 1994 with Araki — with the concept already decided upon.

This is not a much sought after or rare Araki, as far as we know, so no need to rush to the Buy Now button just for collecting’s sake. And if you are more into the not-safe-for-work Araki, you may be disappointed. Nevertheless, we like it because it seems to have the right balance of “take a picture of anything that moves” and Sentimental Journey intimacy. We’re selling it because it’s chunky and stylistically overlaps other Araki books we have.

Condition
Some surface scratches and wear to obi and dust jacket, but very minimal.

Valuation
Haven’t searched this one on the web recently, but when I did I saw one copy for $80, and another for $350 (admittedly that one is signed, but still…).

Details
Hardcover, with obi. 26cm x 19cm. 1st printing, 1st edition. 200 pages, approx. 375 color photos. Available here. SOLD

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UPDATED 7 Mar 2010 (see below)

Fujifilm has announced some changes in their product line affecting the following film products:

• Neopan 400 (Presto) 120 size is discontinued with immediate effect (does not affect availability in 135 format)
• 12 and 24 exposure rolls for 35mm film will be gradually phased out
• Acros 100 in 11×14 size (special order) discontinued
• Provia 100 F 11×14 (special order) discontinued
• Pro 160 NC 120 discontinued
• T64 reversal 4×5 sheet film, T64 reversal 4×5 Quickload and T64 reversal 8×10 sheet film discontinued

There will be some gradual changes in the packaged quantities of some films, for example single packs will become 3 packs or 5 packs; in the case of 120 format the 20-packs will be withdrawn and only 5-packs remain. We will reflect these changes in our web shop over time as appropriate and where applicable.

In the meantime, the best way to ensure long-term availability of film is to continue shooting it!

Update 7 Mar 2010:

It appears that retailers in the US have received the following notice:

OK…here’s the official Fuji list:
The following are now gone, with no replacement:
Color 160s and160c in 35, 120, 220, 4×5, 8×10, and 4×5 quickload
Color 800z in 35mm 5pack, 120 and 220
Velvia 50 4×5 quickload
Velvia 100 4×5 quickload
Velvia 100F 4×5 quickload
Astia 100F 4×5 quickload
Provia 100F 4×5 quickload
T64 in all formats
Neopan 400 120
CDUII in all formats

The following have had package changes:
Velvia 50, 100, 100F 4×5 and 8×10 are now in 20 sheet boxes
Velvia 50, 100, 100F are now in 5-packs

Astia 100F 4×5 now in 20 sheet boxes, 120 now in 5-packs.
Provia 100F 4×5 and 8×10 now in 20 sheet boxes; 120 now in 5-packs

Arcos 100 120 now in 5-packs, 4×5 now in 20 sheet boxes.

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Cosmicar 12.5mm/1.4 Television lens adapted for Micro 4/3

We are pleased to announce the addition of Micro Four-Thirds (M4/3) T mount/C mount lens connector S in addition to last year’s Micro Four-Thirds (M4/3) T mount/C mount lens connector L, both made by MS Optical.

Using C mount lenses on Micro Four-Thirds digital camera bodies has become widespread and an enjoyable exploration of lens history. Adapters like these are widely available but MS Optical’s connector kit is somewhat unique – a smartly designed device, not just a piece of metal.

Not only is it made to usual MADE IN JAPAN precision, also unlike other cheaper adapters available it consists of two finely machined parts: an outer ring with a T-Mount (M42, 0.75) screw mount hole, and a smaller removable step-down ring to C-Mount.

The two-part design of this adapter is helpful in cases where, for some reason, a lens cannot be screwed into the adapter as-is or where the aperture or depth of field scales may end up in the place where you cannot see them. The screws can be loosened and the assembly turned to a position you like.

The new S version is a very slim adapter without a surrounding rim to accommodate lenses with larger diameter. However do take care not to overload this adapter. Click on the image to see side-by-side large. Price for each adapter is ¥10,900 plus shipping.

Please pay particular attention to the instructions and warnings accompanying this device as improper use may damage your lens or camera. As in the case of the Cosmicar above, we are happy to accept your C mount lens and have it fitted to the adapter professionally by Mr Miyazaki. Please contact us for details.

Important note: Note that no matter what adapter you use, the image circle of the large majority of C-mount lenses (including the Cosmicar shown here) isn’t large enough to cover the full micro Four-Thirds frame. Instead, there’ll be more or less vignetting.

Neither Japan Exposures nor MS Optical can give you advice on which lens to use. Please research this carefully on the web and note too that manufacturers often put out very different lenses with the same brand name, focal length and aperture; these may have different image circles.) (Thanks Peter)

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