Due to unforeseen and foreseen family circumstances, there will be a slowdown of turnaround effective immediately until the middle of May. Existing orders are unaffected. Thank you for your understanding.
UPDATE May 3rd: all paid pending orders have been sent out yesterday. I am on the way to business as usual, but need just a little more time. Also we have a week of public national holidays in Japan where many shops and post offices are closed, so please bear with me a little while longer.
Yes, it is the first of April, the day when life begins – or ends, depending on your viewpoint.Today we will see tens of thousands of innocent graduates entering the process of becoming a full member of Japanese society. Shedding their last visible signs of individuality, they put on the obligatory black suit, make their first commute (åˆé€šå‹¤ / hatsutsuukin in Japanese) and spend their first day at their new company, hopefully a prestigous Japanese company.
All what was learnt can now be forgotten, as your school or university knowledge is usually irrelevant to your work and more senior people will know a lot better – because they are older and been with the company longer. The company will teach you all you need to know. At a minimum, these new starters will go through several months of company training, which will include language to address customers, dress code, bowing.
Whatever you feel about what is ahead of them, envy it is probably not.
Spring is coming and days are getting brighter. After using 400 speed films almost exclusively I have made the switch to 100, to see what it’s like. Not only that, I am trying out the Neopan SS film, which is only sold in Japan. After a raving review by a top Hawaiian wedding photographer, I thought I should test it out and see what comes out.
Anyone else with experience with that film?
 |
Welcome, influx from photo.net. Feel free to browse the galleries.
If you are looking for film & more, please go here.
Q: Do you find that you are putting less in the frame now, with the new lens?
GW: I don’t really know; I just take pictures, and they look almost the same to me. I really don’t know how to answer that question. The only real difference is, with a 28, racking it out as far as it’ll go, let’s say in terms of a face, there’s a lot less space, with a 35mm, left. It’s an interesting little difference. The minute you back up a little, then it becomes a question of how far you’ve got to back up. So with a 35 you’re probably going to back up more, usually. Or you’ll do things without feet… I really don’t want to look at contact sheets that are going to look the same as a 28. Even if I could do that with a 35, by changing the distance or whatever. It’s all about not being bored.
Q: Again, just to keep the problems interesting…
GW: Yeah. And the only way you can do that is finding out how much you can get away with, you know? It’s true.
“An interview with Garry Winogrand” (By Charles Hagen, published in Afterimage, Dec. 1977)
One of the things that I like about Garry Winogrand and makes me revisit him again and again are his plain and simple truths. No attempts to promote photography into the realms of philosophy and studied intellectuals, just plain observations accessible to anyone who can spare a few thoughts on the matter. A lot of people would disagree, of course, but I find this is rather suitable to certain types of photography and in a way to the mass-appeal of photography itself.
Before I bought my new lens I was struggling with the idea whether or not I should add another variable element to my way of working. I had a set of lenses for my Canon, and just sold most of them. More lenses, more choices… less simplicity, greater confusion and loss of focus on the task at hand. Then I realised that my considerations towards lens choice were not based on the right assumptions. A few days later I came across the above quote and it all made sense to me again.
In the past I based my choice of lens on something external – the subject. For example, the kind of subject, its size would dictate what equipment I would need to capture it. I started to really dislike changing lenses while facing a situation. It felt like an inappropriate burden, chasing after something, although I am not sure what. Standing there and trying to accommodate what is in front of the lens while juggling focal lengths does not seem the right thing to do. Unless you are a professional on an assignment of course, but that is a completely different set of deliverables compared to the amateur or artist.
So he is right: it is just about keeping things interesting, for yourself. It is a mind game after all, and this is just one of the cheap tricks. So what I do now is to pick a lens that I feel like working with for the day or so and let me work the situations I encounter with that setup. This is completely different, and surprisingly liberating.
svgallery=zeissplanar50ZM
 |
Entrance to Udon noodle shop, Kashiwa [ Leica M6, Zeiss Planar 2.0/50 ZM ]
The above was a comment on a French site linking to the last set of pictures I had here. Not that it changes the validity of that statement, but I have redone things and properly scanned a series of shots taken with the new 50mm last Saturday. Obviously the scans come out a lot better when you do things properly. Click here or on the picture above to see the whole set.
Looking good so far. Surprised about the number of what I think are decent “keepers†from just two rolls. Maybe the choice of film and developer is not right for the people who want to assess the lens. This is 2 years or more outdated Agfapan APX 400 in either Xtol 1:2 or Rodinal.
First time I used Rodinal. They’re not wrong when they say grain comes out with it, especially since APX 400 is known for that already as it is. I think there are some sharpening artifacts in the grain, even though I only applied 20% USM in PhotoShop and have the scanner (Epson 3200) set to medium.
Most of those were taken on a dull, overcast day, mostly at f5.6 and 1/250 or so. Those that have some sun sparkle quite nicely but are stopped down to f8 or f11. Overall, I am pleased.
 |
Broken toys of small and big boys
My matey Gary is a pretty sharp guy and always knows when there’s a bargain available. He sees things long term and seeks value for money. So I was quite surprised when he told me that his Sony digital camera broke after three years and he bought the follow-on model, an exact lookalike, but with updated innards.
Personally I find three years not a very long time. My Canon G2 is also starting to get a little funny after three years (original cost 75.000 yen). Me, I would have reservations buying the same manufacturer again after only three years. Then Gary says:
you’re right about the memory stick lock-in. Not sure about ‘only’ 3 years. I think that most consumer electronics are built for a shorter span than that. I was pretty happy to get 3 years use out of it, really…
Another surprise: low expectations! Then it dawned on me: digital cameras are no longer cameras, they are consumer electronics. Wow. So a whole generation of snappers, who probably never experienced a traditional, and usually well-built, camera may feel completely different about their digital kit.
No, this is not going to be another Red L reference; just think about other, relatively contemporary cameras. I bought my Canon EOS 5 in 1996 for around 400 pounds – used. It still works the same today. And isn’t it ironic that in the much praised age of “no moving parts†such a device breaks down even faster?
Puzzled I am!