Tom A
RFF Sponsor
Well, it is a new year - and a good time to muse over things that was. There are some highlights in my book, the key one being that I survived another one. At my age, each new year is a bonus and not to be wasted on stupid things like politics and economic disasters (I think the two are closely related anyway). As I get older, I am less flexible about "our" elected officials, be they Canadian or Foreign. Government is supposed to work for us and in so doing leave us in peace for everything else. "nuff said" about that.
There were some really nice times, a three day trip around the west coast of Japan with Mr Kobayashi and his wife. They showed us an area of Japan that we had never seen. Dramatic landscapes and interesting historical sites.
The Photokina 2008. We go there to meet friends, more than looking for the latest gadgets. This year was particularly good as I had a chance to meet Roger Hicks and Frances Schultz "face to face" after years of communicating with e-mails and phone calls.
The LHSA meeting in Louisville. Kentucky. Always a treat, but in this case. particularly so as I a/ discovered Bourbon Barrel Stout and b/ had a chance to try out the new Leica 24f3.8 Asph for a day and a bit. There was also a great day in Chicago, seeing "The Bean" and, of course The Art Institute" - guided by Richard Wasserman.
This was also the year when Nikon Historical Society came to Vancouver. Lots of interesting subjects - and a "freak" snowstorm provided much comic relief!
New stuff: It was a good year for Rangefinder shooters - the new Ultron 28mm f2.0 from Voigtlander - great lens and it has become my favorite 28.
The new Zeiss C Biogon 35mm f2.8: another lens in the ZM arsenal. Small and very good. The slower speed has put it on the shelf for the moment as Vancouver is going through its winter phase. Grey and gloomy. Eagerly awaiting spring and summer and slow film and some more shooting with it.
The C Sonnar 50mm f1.5 in Nikon Rf mount. In M-mount it has become my preferred "fast" 50 mm and the SC version is getting to be the same on the Nikon's.
New "old" stuff: A clean Nikkor 25f4 Rf lens. Picked up at the NHS Convention here in April. Wonderful vintage look to the images. Corner fall off etc.
Through Stephen Gandy I also got a couple of more Nikon RF lenses. A replacement for my Nikkor 28f3.5 - this time in black. I foolishly sold my chrome one some years ago and quickly regretted it!
Also, a lens that always intriqued me: The rather elusive 105f4.0 in RF mount - light and small. Actually much better than its reputation.
The NHS convention also got me an old F-style 21f4 Nikkor and with the F-SC adapter it now resides on a Bd S2 with a weak rangefinder patch ( and that doesn't matter as the lens does not couple anyway).
All of these lenses are of no importance - if they are not being used. All in all I shot about 600 rolls this year. Some good shots, some indifferent and some bad - as per usual.
Film has been mostly Kodak Tri X/Double X and Arista Premium 400 (thinly disquised Tri X!). The other good thing about 2008 - there is a definite resurgence of film as a medium for photography. It will never attain the status it has in the past - but it is far from "dead" as some pundits have declared.
In spite of some of the doom and gloom forecasts - let's hope that 2009 will be a better year and all your pictures turn out as you envisaged them.
Happy New Year.
There were some really nice times, a three day trip around the west coast of Japan with Mr Kobayashi and his wife. They showed us an area of Japan that we had never seen. Dramatic landscapes and interesting historical sites.
The Photokina 2008. We go there to meet friends, more than looking for the latest gadgets. This year was particularly good as I had a chance to meet Roger Hicks and Frances Schultz "face to face" after years of communicating with e-mails and phone calls.
The LHSA meeting in Louisville. Kentucky. Always a treat, but in this case. particularly so as I a/ discovered Bourbon Barrel Stout and b/ had a chance to try out the new Leica 24f3.8 Asph for a day and a bit. There was also a great day in Chicago, seeing "The Bean" and, of course The Art Institute" - guided by Richard Wasserman.
This was also the year when Nikon Historical Society came to Vancouver. Lots of interesting subjects - and a "freak" snowstorm provided much comic relief!
New stuff: It was a good year for Rangefinder shooters - the new Ultron 28mm f2.0 from Voigtlander - great lens and it has become my favorite 28.
The new Zeiss C Biogon 35mm f2.8: another lens in the ZM arsenal. Small and very good. The slower speed has put it on the shelf for the moment as Vancouver is going through its winter phase. Grey and gloomy. Eagerly awaiting spring and summer and slow film and some more shooting with it.
The C Sonnar 50mm f1.5 in Nikon Rf mount. In M-mount it has become my preferred "fast" 50 mm and the SC version is getting to be the same on the Nikon's.
New "old" stuff: A clean Nikkor 25f4 Rf lens. Picked up at the NHS Convention here in April. Wonderful vintage look to the images. Corner fall off etc.
Through Stephen Gandy I also got a couple of more Nikon RF lenses. A replacement for my Nikkor 28f3.5 - this time in black. I foolishly sold my chrome one some years ago and quickly regretted it!
Also, a lens that always intriqued me: The rather elusive 105f4.0 in RF mount - light and small. Actually much better than its reputation.
The NHS convention also got me an old F-style 21f4 Nikkor and with the F-SC adapter it now resides on a Bd S2 with a weak rangefinder patch ( and that doesn't matter as the lens does not couple anyway).
All of these lenses are of no importance - if they are not being used. All in all I shot about 600 rolls this year. Some good shots, some indifferent and some bad - as per usual.
Film has been mostly Kodak Tri X/Double X and Arista Premium 400 (thinly disquised Tri X!). The other good thing about 2008 - there is a definite resurgence of film as a medium for photography. It will never attain the status it has in the past - but it is far from "dead" as some pundits have declared.
In spite of some of the doom and gloom forecasts - let's hope that 2009 will be a better year and all your pictures turn out as you envisaged them.
Happy New Year.
