New York February NYC Camera Convention/6th Annual Camera Beauty Contest

[Calzone]

Currently KEH is offering a 40% discount and free shipping on accessories. Now is the time to take advantage of the deals to pimp out your cameras for next years February gala event.

Understand that I have secretely built a miniture LTM kit. And many who know me understand that I have a strong fetish for the rare, the odd, the unusual, the strage, and the bizarre; and I have projected some of my wierd asthetics in accumulating more gear after some day trading of cameras, trading, and downsizing; but somehow I now own 5 Leicas. Also I will mention some past rivilrys to add to this competitive event and mention that my favorite camera at last years whatever we called the February event was Jim's LTM that was full acessorized and featurte a heart warming trigger winder a peroscope like VF'er.

The 6th Annual Camera Beauty Contest I'm also calling a Camera Convention because all cameras are welcome, and because I expect a big turn out.

In the warm part of the fall I saw Christian newest creation which is an ambitious project (building a camera) but on a rather extream level. Last year we saw this camera as a work in progress, but not it has matured into a refined and specialized camera that is rather impressive.

One new catagory I want to add because I have an entry is the best cheap camera deal. I don't want to be a luxury camera slob even though I am one. I believe every one needs a cheap camera that is a good deal weather they shoot it or not just so you don't get called names. I say just having one inexpensive camera buys you some "reasonable doubt" so one can get away with a lot of outragious behavior.

Let the rich-u-will banter begin. You know the rules: No biting. Let the trash talking begin.

Currently I'm looking around for prizes. Last year's trophy was a Tilt-All Leitz Tripod that I found laying on the curb with garbage on Broadway right by the Leica Gallery I found in my wanderings.

Also need a safe and secure place. It would be great if we could control the traffic and have controled entry for security purposes.

I know I have been absent (due to personal and health reasons) but I think this event is mucho important.

Cal

 

[jsrockit]

I'm sure I can find some prizes too Cal (i.e. books, magazines, straps, etc.). I'll dig around...

 

[Calzone]

I'm sure I can find some prizes too Cal (i.e. books, magazines, straps, etc.). I'll dig around...

John,

Thanks. That's a big help.

Interesting when you have some much gear how justifications get created. I think you will like some of the small compact lenses I somehow collected over time. For film everything has become more specialized.

I finally got a writen quote from Digital Silver Imaging for the 10 files I sent them. My 20x30 inch prints first get proofed as 16x20's, all on fiber paper. While the pricing is expensive I'm finding that considering that the proofs are rather large themselves the cost really isn't that expensive.

I should have proofs before the holidays. I'll likely bring them to the Puck Fair Farewell party in January.

For printing larger than my Epson's 17x22 it seems like a great solution. Also know that even though I can print 17x22 I think most of my printing will likely be 13x19.

Cal

 

[B-9]

Cal, do you have a solid date planned?

I've been seriously thinking about taking a trip out your way, what better excuse.

I'm working on a LTM kit of my own, I had a great start yesterday when I picked up some really nice accessories for chump change! Not to mention a III build I just started a few days ago.

Can we get some rules on the "best cheap camera" category, like max budget.
I think my kit would better fit this category, if it was say 250$ tops, which by RFF standards is nothing.

Ide also be willing to sew up a few custom straps as prizes. Shoot me a pm, and we can talk style/colors for different categories. I'll even make up a few gift cards if that would help get this thing going good!

Count me in!

 

[Particular]

This February will nicely coincide with the 25th anniversary of my M3 being in my possession. It was offered to me by the original owner for silly money with a 90mm Elmar. I sold my Canon AE-1, which I up until then thought was the best camera in the world. It was my first rangefinder, and, well, it has been all down hill from there. I should still have the original 1955 sales receipt. Unfortunately the red velvet box died in a flood. I'll have to clean out the haze in the Elmar, as it has been unloved and under utilized. I'll bring them in as a set, the way I got them.

That 4x5 project is sitting in parts on my desk for now.
If $250 is the upper limit for the budget competition, then the Technika IV I got for $200 qualifies, right? I did just spend $100 on a tiny Rodenstock 135mm lens, for which I am making a cam to couple it to the RF. I'm sure I can pick up a cheaper lens also...

 

[B-9]

I feel there are tons of ways to get a really usable kit for under 250$

I'm running with,
Leica III (50$)
Leica Summar (60$)
Voigtlander Doble shoe adapter (20$)
Olive Kid skin leather (5$)

If we are not counting my labor, I've got plenty of wiggle room to add more!

 

[Calzone]

Cal, do you have a solid date planned?

I've been seriously thinking about taking a trip out your way, what better excuse.

I'm working on a LTM kit of my own, I had a great start yesterday when I picked up some really nice accessories for chump change! Not to mention a III build I just started a few days ago.

Can we get some rules on the "best cheap camera" category, like max budget.
I think my kit would better fit this category, if it was say 250$ tops, which by RFF standards is nothing.

Ide also be willing to sew up a few custom straps as prizes. Shoot me a pm, and we can talk style/colors for different categories. I'll even make up a few gift cards if that would help get this thing going good!

Count me in!

B-9,

Our culture at the NYC Meet-Up is that we make it easy for guests and offer our visitors flexability. It is really amazing at all the people from all over the world come to the NYC meet-up. For a while our group kinda adopted ItsOnlyDarren for a a few months while he was working temporarily in NYC. We tried to keep him safe, and we toughened him up to prevent him from getting mugged. LOL. Since Darren was such a laid back guy from California we had to show him how to be aggresssive. LOL.

Make a date that is good for you. Typically we meet up on a Sunday. As Puck Fair is closing down at the end of January (due to demolition and redevelopement into luxury condos) we so far have not come up yet with a new location, although some have been tabled in other threads.

BTW this is also an opportunity to trade and sell gear. I for one have a chrome Canon 28mm VF'er that is vintage correct for the early chrome Canon 28/3.5 and Canon 28/2.8 (Garry Winnogran's favorite). I have no need for this 28mm VF'er because I own a Zeiss 25/28. If you are interested PM me. Also have an extra CV 50mm LTM to M adapter.

As far as prizes: I'll dig up some of my "Prada" leather (thin Italian goat leather) and make up some kits that will enable to make any camera into a true luxury product as prizes.

Not sure if you know the tradition of these annual events: first off they are kinda crazy; then there is a spirit of making fun of ourselves and camera culture; then there is this display of gear, some rare, some odd, some weird, some historical.

At one event we had two M9's when the M9 was first released. Jeff's M9 was dissed because it had a higher serial number. John's older M9 that had the lower serial number was deemed the "Vintage" M9 and was judged as being vastly superior.

At another event we had seven M9's including Kristien Dowling's chrom M9-P. Litterally had perhaps $300K laying around on a bar table.

Then there was one Meet-Up where some drunk girls took exception that we all were self absorbed and obsessed by our cameras. One drunk girl came over to our table and asked, "Don't tou think I'm pretty?"

I said, "My girlfriend definately won't like you," was my reply; and then I asked, "Do you think a bunch of old guys with expensive cameras is sexy?"

"Yes," she said, "And why don't you take my picture?" Then all hell broke loose. In the end Scot a M9 owner had three drunk girls hanging on his back.

I'm hoping that Jim from Philly comes back with his remarkable LTM. It was too much like a LTM camera that James Bond would shoot. It was fully loaded, even had a trigger winder. Would also be good to see Jim again also.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

I feel there are tons of ways to get a really usable kit for under 250$

I'm running with,
Leica III (50$)
Leica Summar (60$)
Voigtlander Doble shoe adapter (20$)
Olive Kid skin leather (5$)

If we are not counting my labor, I've got plenty of wiggle room to add more!

B9,

Save the peel off from you Olive Kid skin. I'll give you some "Prada" leather for another camera. The peel-off makes for a template. Somehow I found a square yard of some of the finest kid leather I have ever felt at a sample sale in the fashion district.

I took a Nikon F3 HP that I bought for no money ($150.00 in LN cond) and recovered it with this leather. Someone from the meet-up said that I converted my F3 HP into a F3P, and that in this case the "P" stood fro "Prada."

Bob (RangeRover) has a Contax that he just recovered that I haven't see yet. Hopefully Bo brings his new Contax to the Beauty Contest.

Cal

 

[jsrockit]

Make a date that is good for you. Typically we meet up on a Sunday. As Puck Fair is closing down at the end of January (due to demolition and redevelopement into luxury condos) we so far have not come up yet with a new location, although some have been tabled in other threads.

We haven't verified if this is still the case. Perhaps we need to make a phone call to them...

 

[Calzone]

BTW this Camera Beauty Pagent really has only one real rule: No Biting. LOL

The rest is all kinda one big improv. One of the things I like the most about these competitive events is all the trash talking that gets really funny.

Another aspect I love is the narritives and all the stories.

So that others can beat me up and make fun of my cameras for entertainment purposes understand that I found my entrent for the cheap camera contest right across the street from Puck Fair at Housing Works. With the tax I paid around $27.00.

Also know that we love accessories. One year Christian made a crazy entry that he endup putting up on EBAY. Now that was funny, but this year Christian has made an impressive camera that is very serious. Since I gave him some hardware from my Cyclotron lab, I can say that he used Cyclotron parts to build his camera.

Hopefully Pro-Mone does not shoot Christian's film testing Christian's film advance on his M3. LOL. The film advance is so smooth from age, use and wear that it is hard to tell. BTW I day traded my M3-DS after recovering it from an art dealer in a loan sharking deal. I'll try to get Brian to bring his new M3-DS to the Pagent.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

We haven't verified if this is still the case. Perhaps we need to make a phone call to them...

John,

If we can get the demolition postponed a month that would be great. The balconey for both crowd control and security that Puck Fair provides would be a great thing.

Seems like a leather fetish is kinda happening with B-9's offer of making some straps, Bob's new Contax, and my prize offerings of recovering kits. Perhaps I'll wear these vintage Iessy Miyakee brown leather pants I bought recently. You know what they say, "Artists by definition are exhibitionists." LOL.

Cal

 

[Particular]

John, If we can get the demolition postponed a month that would be great.

Perhaps we should file complaints at the building department against the developer to slow things down a bit.

 

[stompyq]

Cal, do you have a solid date planned?

I've been seriously thinking about taking a trip out your way, what better excuse.

I'm working on a LTM kit of my own, I had a great start yesterday when I picked up some really nice accessories for chump change! Not to mention a III build I just started a few days ago.

Can we get some rules on the "best cheap camera" category, like max budget.
I think my kit would better fit this category, if it was say 250$ tops, which by RFF standards is nothing.

Ide also be willing to sew up a few custom straps as prizes. Shoot me a pm, and we can talk style/colors for different categories. I'll even make up a few gift cards if that would help get this thing going good!

Count me in!

Seriously?? Since when did $250 become cheap camera territory?? I say under $100 (I would say under $50 but then no one would participate)

 

[Calzone]

I say we make up a new catagory: biz-ZAR camera related stuff. This is more or less just a show and tell like regressing back to first grade.

I just got delivery of a Leitz ASPUL. What's that you might ask: it is a Leica cassette loader for bulk loading film that I mined from one of KEH's accessory sales. Then I have what every maniac that wants to bulk load Kodak 5222 needs: a Topcon 250 exposure bulk loader to respool 400 foot rolls into 100 foot rolls for daylight loading (also mined from KEH for only $27.00. Then I found a bakelight bulk loader for $20.00 in some Brooklyn flea market. It had film, but I would later learn that it was exposed.

This show and tell is for those of use who want to do a demo or explain something crazy in a rational manner. BTW the ASPUL and Topcon 250 exposure bulk loader are very cool objects.

Cal

 

[B-9]

I can make my schedule liquid for Feb.

I mostly buy-sell camera items to pay my bills, I am a carpenter by profession, and I moonlight doing snow removal while all the other wood bugs are hibernating for the Michigan Winter. Which usually isn't here until Feb!

Having never been to NY, what should I expect? Is the traffic really as bad as you guys make it out to be? I should probably start planning, it will be a long drive!

Edit: most importantly, how much is a draft in the city!? I must plan for my habits!

 

[Calzone]

Seriously?? Since when did $250 become cheap camera territory?? I say under $100 (I would say under $50 but then no one would participate)

Pro-Mone,

I have a $27.00 entrant.

I say under $250.00 is still a camera for "No-Money." LOL

My Nikon F3 that I recovered in leather only cost $150.00, but that means I can only spend $100.00 on a lens.

I think the spirit is kinda anti Luxury by going with a cheap camera catagory.

Also Ari's kid's camera that he "recycled" from his neice fits the spirit. I thought it was funny seeing Ari doing some street shooting on Houston with a kid's toy camera. Some of his subjects thought he was crazy, and it was good for a laugh.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

I can make my schedule liquid for Feb.

I mostly buy-sell camera items to pay my bills, I am a carpenter by profession, and I moonlight doing snow removal while all the other wood bugs are hibernating for the Michigan Winter. Which usually isn't here until Feb!

Having never been to NY, what should I expect? Is the traffic really as bad as you guys make it out to be? I should probably start planning, it will be a long drive!

Edit: most importantly, how much is a draft in the city!? I must plan for my habits!

B-9,

First off the person to consult about beer is John. I'm one of those 30% of Asians who has a body chemistry that cannot break down alcohol. I basically can get high on an O'duals or an Excalibre.

Traffic lately has been bad due to protesting. Also you could be efected by the UN being in session or a visit by President Obama which only can make things worse. You will be coming when it is still cold out so hotel rates should be a lot lower than now, the holiday season or in the spring.

I more or less am uneffected by traffic because I live in Madhattan and use mass transit. I'll check by me: there's a secure parking lot where I live (Spanish Harlem, AKA Spa-Ha) that has low rates for parking. I would secure my vehical and then use mass transit. The traffic and parking on the weekends is not so bad but perhaps no difference downtown.

How long do you plan on staying after a thousand mile drive? The cost of living here is mucho, but there is so much to do that does not require money to spend. Expect to get gouged on a hotel, unless you can find a reasonable place to stay. Food can be as cheap or expensive as you want to spend. Lots of variety.

Along the Williamsburg/Greenpoint border which is off the beaten path I met a German tourist at the Dew Tour, a pop-up skatbording and BMX event that I happened to stumble into in my wanderings. I asked him what he thought of New York, and he said it was overwhelming in every manor: so many people; so much going on and so much bigger than where he was from, meaning Berlin. He engaged with me because I was shooting my Monochrom. He had a point and shoot and left his MM at home.

I told him that for the most part the city is safe, and that you can walk any part of the city during the day, but some neighborhoods make a change for the worse as the day goes on, especially close to dusk and at night. I doubt anyone would want to mess with a guy like you who swings a hammer for a living.

Cal

 

[Crazy Fedya]

I think, I should be able to make The Convention again. This year was very fruitful in regard of strange and unusual cameras, mostly under $250. Now I have to decide which ones to pick. 😉
But I promise they will be interesting.

 

[stompyq]

I can make my schedule liquid for Feb.

I mostly buy-sell camera items to pay my bills, I am a carpenter by profession, and I moonlight doing snow removal while all the other wood bugs are hibernating for the Michigan Winter. Which usually isn't here until Feb!

Having never been to NY, what should I expect? Is the traffic really as bad as you guys make it out to be? I should probably start planning, it will be a long drive!

Edit: most importantly, how much is a draft in the city!? I must plan for my habits!

Traffics really not as bad as people say. I had a harder time driving in New Jersey than in the city. The protests won't disrupt traffic too much as time goes on. The UN general assembly is also over so you won't have any issues associated with that either. My advice though is to find somewhere cheap to stay outside the city and commute in. Probably somewhere in New Jersey along the PATH line where you can park and ride the train in to the city. Because parking is the real nightmare and not driving. I used to drive 5 hrs from Rochester to NYC and spend 2 hours in the city looking for street parking

 

[JMQ]

B-9, I agree totally with Pramodh if you are driving from Michigan to NYC. Free parking is available, but difficult to find, and the signs are very confusing, even for locals. Yes, I had my car towed because there were 3 signs, and I missed the 3rd one. However, if you are not driving, consider staying in Manhattan for the ultimate city experience.