Redemption

Sometimes I Feel like James Whitmore in the Shawshank Redemption especially now that I’ve retired and left the establishment at which I was employed for over 36 years. If you recall, Mr. Whitmore played a character named Brooks Hatlen in the well known prison movie. He was the old guy who had been imprisoned most of his life, had done his time and now was free to go. Free to go into the outside world. A world full of noise, cars, buses and people who always seemed to be in such a hurry. And most of them were unkind or at best indifferent and selfish.

I felt like Mr. Whitmore today when I went into our local office supply store.  I felt like him not only because I’m old (albeit not as old as he was in the movie) but because many times the world and the people in it seem so indifferent and selfish. Just drive or better yet walk down the street and notice how fast and careless people drive. The speed limit is merely another useless road sign the seems to go unnoticed. Anyway when I walked into the store to return some used printer cartridges for recycling the door alarm went off! That was only a signal of what was to follow. Mind you I was ENTERING the store not walking out with stolen merchandise. I guess I was stealing stuff INTO the store. What?! I then proceeded to the “courtesy” desk which is not really ironic since the employees actually are very courteous. It’s the stupid store policy that I have a problem with which is now why I remember I don’t shop there anymore.

I then placed the used ink cartridges on the “courtesy” desk and asked if the store accepts them for recycling. The lady said yes and that not only would they take them but I could get $2 in credit for them if I took them to the cash register. Now I was excited….well not excited but surprised. Surprised because I did not expect to get anything for them, which IS as you shall soon see quite ironic. I simply wanted to be a good citizen and not pollute the environment and making sure that the little cartridges found a good home and a new life. (Actually I just wanted to get rid of them properly.) 

So now I’m looking around in the store for something I could maybe use and apply my $2 refund. I seriously considered everything from a set of pens for $4 to an iPad for $699.  After what seemed like about a half hour I decided on a $5 roll of white duct tape. I felt this could come in quite handy around the house.

I then proceeded to the check out with my white duct tape in one hand and a bag of ink cartridges in the other. After entering my phone number into their computer / cash register system the cashier rang up $2 worth of ink cartridge credit. She then rang up $5.31 for the roll of white duct tape for a grand total of $5.31. I then asked her “Where’s my $2 credit?” She politely answered “That goes into your rewards”. “OK” I said reluctantly and I paid the $5.31 for the roll of white duct tape all the while vowing to myself never to enter that store again.

So as you can see I not only did not receive my reward but I never even got any form of redemption.

Minox DCC Leica M3

Here is a nice photo I took of a Minox DCC M3 5MP camera I recently purchased. Interestingly the camera does not use the brand name “Leica” on the top as did the earlier 2.1MP miniature M3 replica (which I also have). Instead the classic Minox logo takes the place of the Leica logo. I’m guessing all this has to do with copyright laws and time frames during which the cameras were made while Minox was and was not owned by Leica.  I could of course be wrong about copyright issues but Minox was owned by Leica from 1996 to 2001 when it became an independent company again. Anyway I thought it was a rather dramatic picture. Note the similar “orange peel” texture on the camera as well as the table top. This was completely unintentional. In spite of all the cameras I have this photo was taken with my iPhone 5C because it is the only digital camera I have which always has the battery charged!

The Minolta Vectis 300

Do you remember the APS format?  It was around for a short time in the 1990s and quickly followed the way of disc film as well as disco of the 1980s.  In retrospect it seemed like a last gasp of air for point and shoot film cameras before they pretty much went under.  And yes there even were underwater APS cameras as well (i.e. Canon Elph Sport, Minolta Vectis Weathermatic).

Some APS cameras were quite sleek and stylish such as the Canon stainless steel clad Elph series. (Visit the Canon Camera Museum). Minolta jumped on the stainless steel APS band wagon with the Vectis 300 in 1998.  I remember looking at one of these when they first came out at my local camera store (remember those?).  I kind of toyed with the idea of buying one but I wasn’t impressed with it overall. The Vectis 300 that I remember being on sale was silver in color and virtually all of the printed references to the camera such as magazine reviews (December 1998 Popular Photography) and advertisements portrayed this same silver colored stainless steel camera. So when I found one of these stylishly dressed up in black at a used goods discount store I was intrigued.  I don’t know if this is really a “collectible” but it does seem to be obscure if not rare. At a ridiculously low price of five dollars here it is alongside a banged up Canon Elph 2 ($3)!!!  (Shown in closed lens / off position because batteries are dead or cameras don’t work or both!)

 

Bronica Blog

It’s been over 5 years since the “visitors” who landed in my back yard took me captive and now that I have finally been set free It’s time to return to my blog. If you believe that then you are at the wrong web post. I like the Twilight Zone too but mostly because it was such a brilliantly written, directed, cinema-graphed and produced show.  And it was in black and white, which is a good segue into my first photo topic in 5 years: big old camera and black & white film.

I recently picked up a used circa 1970s Zenza Bronica EC square medium format SLR. It has the standard 75mm Nikkor 2.8 lens and weighs a tad under 5 pounds with the lens. After walking around with just an iPhone in my pocket as my everyday camera which as a camera / photography enthusiast I am somewhat embarrassed to admit the Bronica which felt more like a brontosaur reminded me of what it was like to walk around with a real camera. For starters I just shot a 12 exposure roll of Ilford HP5 Plus 400 speed black and white film. I basically took some typical nature shots in the back yard and surrounding woods. This was mostly a test roll to find out if the camera had any problems such as light leaks, streaks or film scratches, the kind of things only a film run can show. Prior to actually using the camera I spent a good deal of time checking it out, taking it apart - removing the film back, lens, focusing ring and hood. I even practiced running an old roll of 220 film through it just to make sure I’d know how to load the film. Although the EC model of the Bronica does not have a built in light meter (a rather large external one that fit over the focusing screen was sold separately) it does have an electronically controlled focal plane shutter which is powered by a PX28 battery which is still available. I was surprised that the battery test light still worked!

I could go into a lot of boring detail about all the aspects of this marvelous piece of engineering but I’ll just say that it’s an interesting, fun, sometimes challenging way to take photographs compared to using a digital camera. It’s also more expensive shooting film in general and does not provide the instant gratification that one gets when using a digital camera.  And that can sometimes be a good thing!

For more information and pictures of this camera you can go to this link:

https://cameraquest.com/bron3c.htm 

So for now here are a few of my own pictures - - developed and scanned by  https://thedarkroom.com :

Same as the photo above but flipped, cropped and adjusted in DxO Film Pack 4

Visitors From Above

These people landed in our backyard early Sunday morning. Which is just as well, or I probably would have over slept.

Honey, I Shrunk The Pentax

or Back To The Future

Pentax istDs on left and Optio I-10 on right

Optio I-10 on left and Auto 110 on right

Pick which ever movie metaphor you like but Pentax has taken a small (no pun intended, really!) detour from the ubiquitous digital camera clones with its uniquely styled Optio I-10. The camera looks like a tiny SLR and is reminiscent of the Auto 110 camera from the 1970s. There is the small bump where the SLR viewfinder would normally be which instead of supporting an optical finder houses the flash on its front side and a speaker on the back.

Other than its clever styling the Optio I-10 does not offer much more than many of the other point and shoot digital cameras in its 12MP class. It sports a 5X zoom lens (28 - 140 35mm equivalent) which is much better, optically, at the long end and a bit blurry around the edges at the “28mm” setting. It also has SR or shake reduction as one of its main features as well as HD video. The HD video actually performs better on my aging iMac G5 than the HD video on my Canon SD780. The Canon HD video seems to require more memory to run smoothly and ironically, I’m forced to reduce the clips to standard video. The LCD screen on the Optio is 2.7” widescreen or 16:9 format. I kind of like the 16:9 format and usually use that as my normal setting. I figure I can always crop the photos later if I want. Compared to the Canon SD780 it seems a bit slower although I never checked any stats. And, although the SD780 is only a 3X (33 - 100 35mm equivalent), the photos seem a tad sharper especially at the short “33mm” end. Also, the "Delete All" function was not obvious to find. I had to actually consult the manual!

Choosing quality over quantity I left the Optio at home and took the Canon SD780 to San Francisco. I really didn’t miss the 5X zoom, although the longer “140mm” might have been nice on occasion. The wide angle “28mm” can actually be annoying since it is the default setting every time you turn the Optio I-10 on. If you like a slightly longer “normal” lens setting like “35mm” you have to zoom in every time you turn the camera on. Instead, I can live with a “normal” default “33mm” on the Canon SD780. The SD780 is also a little smaller and fits very nicely in a pocket.

To sum up the Optio I-10, on the plus side I would have to say I personally like the widescreen LCD, the HD video, the 5X zoom lens and the clever retro styling. The only real negative factor would be the less than acceptable optical quality at the wide, “28mm” setting.

For more details on the specifications of the Pentax Optio I-10 go to:

http://www.pentaximaging.com/digital-camera/Optio_I-10_Black/

All focal length settings are expressed in 35mm equivalents. Sorry, I’m still old school.

Macro mode at aprox “35mm”

wide angle aprox “28mm”

Alex Rodriguez NOT getting his

600th home run on July 25th, 2010.

“140mm”

Robbie Cano at Yankee Stadium.

Sometimes 16:9 widescreen just isn’t wide enough.

“140mm” widescreen cropped even wider

Red Tail hawk perched on our studio.

“140mm” cropped a bit as well.

The Beatles with their Pentax cameras (1965?)

San Francisco

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

Mark Twain

Day 1

At Hotel ......Finally.

Day 2

We just got up. Haven't really done anything yet. Last night I took a quick walk down the street around 10 PM here time. Things were pretty much closed up. I got a burger at In N Out, a fast food joint. Joe was in the room & pretty well wiped out for the 1st long day. See you later.

Saw lots of stuff today - Fishermen's Wharf, crookedest street (Lombard St). Did a lot of walking, talking & photographing. Having fun. Take good care of Dexter.

Day 3

Today ended up being do your own thing day for the most part. I headed off to City Lights Bookstore and the Beat Museum as well a couple of art galleries, etc. It was a kind of bohemian day for me as I chatted with a few people along the way and spent quite a while in the museum learning about some of the Beat poets. Joe and I met up later for beer, wine, fried calamari and chowder at the Wharf.

Day 4

We just got up now (7:30 here). I think we both needed a good rest. I think if you were here for any longer than a few days you adjust to the pace. People here don't seem to be very rushed and no one expects anyone to rush. Maybe it's because they're already 3 hrs behind their big brother city on the east coast (NYC). See you later.

We went to Muir Woods today. It was nice to get out of the city and back to nature for a while. Dexter would have liked it. The weather was nice and cool and only one bug! From there we went to Sausalito which was OK but I think it is a bit overrated. On the advice of our bus driver I had a delicious salmon sandwich while we were there. Not sure what we are doing tomorrow. See you in a few days.

Day 5

Went out for breakfast in / near Chinatown. I had a California omelette. It was delicious with fresh tomatoes, onions and on the top....avocados. Then we went across the street for a cappuccino. That gave us enough energy to hike up to the top of Telegraph Hill to Coit tower. Next we walked downhill to the extremely touristy Pier 39 where we went to the aquarium. We then bummed our way back through crowded Jefferson St. to our hotel to relax a bit and contemplate dinner for the evening. See you soon.