Thursday, March 24, 2005
Professional Photographer
I am officially a professional photographer. That is, if your definition of a professional photographer is that it is a photographer who has sold a picture. I recently uploaded some of my pictures onto a stock photo sales web site called shutterstock.com, and just this morning have discovered that I have had my first download from that site, resulting in a payment to me of ..... drum roll please.... 20 cents. I know it is miniscule, and doesn't begin to cover the time and energy I took to take the pictures and upload them to the site, but it is fun, and it is just the beginning (I hope).
Monday, March 21, 2005
Self Healing Kiev
As I have written about before, I recently purchased a Soviet Made medium format camera called a Kiev 60 (made by Zaphod Arsenal, located in the Former Soviet Republic of Ukraine). When I purchased it, it had one problem, the film advance counter did not function properly. It worked fine with no film loaded, but with film loaded, it would count up to "1", and then stop, just staying on "1" for the entire roll of film. The problems were: 1) You never knew what picture you were on, so you weren't sure when you had taken the last picture, and 2) since the camera mechanist always thought it was on picture "1", it didn't advance the film properly (the Kiev 60 advances each picture a little less than the last, to make up for the fact that as the film winds onto the takeup spool, the diameter increases, so by rotating a little less, the pictures are all evenly spaced), so I only got 11 pictures instead of 12 on a roll of 120 film.
Well, part way through my third roll of film, the film advance counter up and started to work. Now, I have put in my fourth roll of film, and the counter is working just fine. I have read that the Kievs like to be used, and that quite a few of the problems they have miraculously disappear after some usage, but I never really believed it until now...
Well, part way through my third roll of film, the film advance counter up and started to work. Now, I have put in my fourth roll of film, and the counter is working just fine. I have read that the Kievs like to be used, and that quite a few of the problems they have miraculously disappear after some usage, but I never really believed it until now...
Friday, March 18, 2005
Imperial Escort
I had a meeting in Tokyo the other day with the Ministry of the Environment. As we were driving toward the expressway, we were stopped by the passing of the Emperor's motorcade. We then followed them onto the expressway, and all the way into Tokyo. It was kind of like having the Emperor escorting us to our meeting...
The meeting itself was one of the most frustrating meetings I have ever had. We were trying to get them to define one of their laws, but the law is not adequately defined, so they couldn't do it. All in all, very frustrating.
On the up side, I have gotten back more Medium Format pictures from the photo lab. I got the first roll of black and white I shot with my Ricohflex VI, and the first roll of color I shot with my Kiev. Both are viewable at http://eljusto.smugmug.com/Medium+Format, if you are interested. I am still shooting my first roll with the Moskba 5.
I am having a party this evening to celebrate my passing the PE exam. I know I found out about in almost two months ago, but this is the first date that enough people have been available to make a go of it. I am taking everyone out to Izikaya, which is Japanese for "eat and drink", mostly drink. We will probably go out for Karaoke after.
The meeting itself was one of the most frustrating meetings I have ever had. We were trying to get them to define one of their laws, but the law is not adequately defined, so they couldn't do it. All in all, very frustrating.
On the up side, I have gotten back more Medium Format pictures from the photo lab. I got the first roll of black and white I shot with my Ricohflex VI, and the first roll of color I shot with my Kiev. Both are viewable at http://eljusto.smugmug.com/Medium+Format, if you are interested. I am still shooting my first roll with the Moskba 5.
I am having a party this evening to celebrate my passing the PE exam. I know I found out about in almost two months ago, but this is the first date that enough people have been available to make a go of it. I am taking everyone out to Izikaya, which is Japanese for "eat and drink", mostly drink. We will probably go out for Karaoke after.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Russian Medium Format
I have been into photography ever since I took a photography class at a local junior college one summer when I was about 15. I still remember that dark room chemical smell.... I love it. Well, I don't develop my own film anymore, but I still love photography. I had been shooting strictly digital for some time, on roughly 3 megapixel fairly compact cameras, and having a good time doing it.
I briefly considered getting the new Canon 20D, but the $1500 price tag stopped me (barely). Instead, I decided to break out my old Pentax K1000 that I hadn't shot a roll with in probably 5 years, and put a few rolls through it. This got me reinfected with the SLR bug, and I have recently purchased several more Pentax cameras of the same era (a Pentax ME, two ME Supers, and a KM). The lenses are all interchangeable, and I love cameras of that era.
In talking to a friend of min e who is also into photography, he recommended that I give medium format photography a shot (no pun intended). For those not familiar with this, it is film which is about twice as wide as 35mm film (it is 60mm wide), with pictures usually either 45mm, 60mm, 70mm or 90mm wide (depending on the camera). Because of these large negatives, the resolution is much higher (exactly like having a digital camera with a higher megapixel count), and this gives the possibility of larger blow-ups.
Because of the new digital cameras with extremely high resolution (above 10 megapixels), a fair number of professional photographers are abandoning film for digital cameras. As these photographers are the main users of medium format, used medium format cameras can be had for less money then ever before. However, for the well known namebrands (Pentax, Hasselblad, Bronica, Miyama, etc...), the prices are still well above my price range. A simple set up with only a single normal lens can easily be over $1000, and often well more, and the lenses can be even more for each one.
In looking on the web, I noticed that several people were talking about relatively inexpensive cameras made in the Ukraine (and Soviet Union before that) that had very good lenses available. These cameras are the Kiev 60 and Kiev 88. The Kiev 88 is a very attractive camera, and is an almost exact copy of a Hasselblad (so much so that some of the accessories are interchangeable). The Kiev 60, on the other hand is...... not attractive. It has been described as a 35mm SLR, greatly enlarged, and then hit with an ugly stick. I find the camera attractive, as it looks a lot like the Pentax cameras I own. But I admit it IS BIG (a Pentax K1000 weighs 1 lb 12 oz, and a Kiev 60 weighs 4 lbs 6 oz).
The problem with the Kiev 88 is that it is more complicated, and has more problems. I therefore decided to get the Kiev 60, which I purchased off of eBay for about $150, including shipping. Since it arrived, I have had a blast using it, and have actually purchased two other medium format cameras. One is another Soviet camera, called the Moskba 5, which was made in 1959. The other is a Ricohflex TLR (Twin lens Reflex) camera. So far, all are working well, and the pictures they create are incredible. The totally manual nature of these three cameras makes you take more time taking pictures, but I love that. If I want to shoot off a bunch of pictures quickly, I'll just use the digital, or 35mm, but when I shoot medium format, I want to take my time.
To see the results, you can go to http://eljusto.smugmug.com/Medium+Format
I briefly considered getting the new Canon 20D, but the $1500 price tag stopped me (barely). Instead, I decided to break out my old Pentax K1000 that I hadn't shot a roll with in probably 5 years, and put a few rolls through it. This got me reinfected with the SLR bug, and I have recently purchased several more Pentax cameras of the same era (a Pentax ME, two ME Supers, and a KM). The lenses are all interchangeable, and I love cameras of that era.
In talking to a friend of min e who is also into photography, he recommended that I give medium format photography a shot (no pun intended). For those not familiar with this, it is film which is about twice as wide as 35mm film (it is 60mm wide), with pictures usually either 45mm, 60mm, 70mm or 90mm wide (depending on the camera). Because of these large negatives, the resolution is much higher (exactly like having a digital camera with a higher megapixel count), and this gives the possibility of larger blow-ups.
Because of the new digital cameras with extremely high resolution (above 10 megapixels), a fair number of professional photographers are abandoning film for digital cameras. As these photographers are the main users of medium format, used medium format cameras can be had for less money then ever before. However, for the well known namebrands (Pentax, Hasselblad, Bronica, Miyama, etc...), the prices are still well above my price range. A simple set up with only a single normal lens can easily be over $1000, and often well more, and the lenses can be even more for each one.
In looking on the web, I noticed that several people were talking about relatively inexpensive cameras made in the Ukraine (and Soviet Union before that) that had very good lenses available. These cameras are the Kiev 60 and Kiev 88. The Kiev 88 is a very attractive camera, and is an almost exact copy of a Hasselblad (so much so that some of the accessories are interchangeable). The Kiev 60, on the other hand is...... not attractive. It has been described as a 35mm SLR, greatly enlarged, and then hit with an ugly stick. I find the camera attractive, as it looks a lot like the Pentax cameras I own. But I admit it IS BIG (a Pentax K1000 weighs 1 lb 12 oz, and a Kiev 60 weighs 4 lbs 6 oz).
The problem with the Kiev 88 is that it is more complicated, and has more problems. I therefore decided to get the Kiev 60, which I purchased off of eBay for about $150, including shipping. Since it arrived, I have had a blast using it, and have actually purchased two other medium format cameras. One is another Soviet camera, called the Moskba 5, which was made in 1959. The other is a Ricohflex TLR (Twin lens Reflex) camera. So far, all are working well, and the pictures they create are incredible. The totally manual nature of these three cameras makes you take more time taking pictures, but I love that. If I want to shoot off a bunch of pictures quickly, I'll just use the digital, or 35mm, but when I shoot medium format, I want to take my time.
To see the results, you can go to http://eljusto.smugmug.com/Medium+Format
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