New York February NYC Meet-Up/ Tenth Annual Camera Beauty Contest

[Calzone]

Wow. A decade is not such a long time once you hit 50 years of age.

This will complete a decade of Camera Beauty Contests, Carnivals, Pagants...

Already people are inquiring when the next one will be.

Cal

UPDATE: THE DATE IS SUNDAY THE 23rd OF FEBRUARY. THE LOCATION WILL BE AT THE ROCHARD, LEXINGTON AND 97th STREET.

 

[Calzone]

This is a bump.

Cal

 

[LCSmith]

I have always wanted to attend but my camera detains me and, anyway, I am not cool enough. Can the cool crowd speak to coolness for the uncool?

 

[pyeh]

LC, speaking as an out-of-towner who had the great good fortune to attend one such NY Chapter ACBC I can assure you that cooltitude is not a requirement for admission, or I would have been barred. It's great fun and everyone is very welcoming. You don't even have to bring a camera really because there's so much good humoured braggadocio from those competing for the Beauty Oscar no one notices if you're without. I didn't even pull my cameras out of my bag, not that I was competing or even would have been competitive.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

You don't need to be cool because of the bribery and mob rules. Back in 2015, my girlfriend Bethanne won one of the Grand prizes be entering in her beat up Canon AE1with 50mm lens. This was competing against my combat tested Leica M4, as well as a bunch of other amazing pieces of gear. If I recall correctly, an F2 Titan was in attendance as well as a Nikon rangefinder with an extraordinarily rare RF Micro Nikkor.
Phil Forrest

 

[Calzone]

I have always wanted to attend but my camera detains me and, anyway, I am not cool enough. Can the cool crowd speak to coolness for the uncool?

LC,

It is a "Safe Place" where all are welcome.

Pretty much it is an over-the-top event with mucho crazy gear, but we make a point to make fun of ourselves, our nerdiness, and our obsessive behaviors.

Last year Chris gave me two boxes of gear that basically got recycled as prizes. This year is kinda lean, but perhaps we can also do a swap-meet of sorts.

I know I have mucho B&W filters, many in Leica sizes that I no longer need. Let's make a deal.

We have a few characters: there is my friend "Snarky Joe" who brought 4x5 Linhof Tech V that was boxed that he got for "no-money" that had "You suck factor." Boy was I green with envy.

Then there is Sam who is an unabashed camera collector who has a stash of cameras you will never-ever see in the wild.

Then there is Christian the clever devil who builds panoramic cameras, and builds one off cameras of Linhof quality scouring parts on EBAY and employing dis Cad-Cam skills having parts laser cut or 3-D printed.

These guys are creatures of the art world if you know what I mean. They are not normal people. LOL.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

"Let's Make A Deal," I say.

I have mucho B&W MRC filters, many in Leica sizes, that I no longer need. I would like to trade for something useful. Let's make a trade.

It would be really cool to make this into a rather big annual swap-meet.

Start looking through your gear, and feel free to post.

Remember our only enforced rule to our bare knuckles event: "No biting." LOL.

Also let the trash talking begin. I wonder what Snarky Joe is up to, or what crazy development "Devil Christian" will terrorize us with.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

If I make it, I will be filming the chaos with a Bell and Howell 70DR or DL which I have overhauled. Light will be passing through an Angenieux 10mm f/1.8, Angenieux 25mm f/.95 and something longer, maybe a screwmount Leica 50mm on a C mount adapter. 16 frames/second so no sound. The stock will probably be old Kodak 4X black and white or maybe the current XX. I have stuff I can donate to the prize pool to help pay back my win last year which I wasn't even present for.
Phil Forrest

 

[Calzone]

If I make it, I will be filming the chaos with a Bell and Howell 70DR or DL which I have overhauled. Light will be passing through an Angenieux 10mm f/1.8, Angenieux 25mm f/.95 and something longer, maybe a screwmount Leica 50mm on a C mount adapter. 16 frames/second so no sound. The stock will probably be old Kodak 4X black and white or maybe the current XX. I have stuff I can donate to the prize pool to help pay back my win last year which I wasn't even present for.
Phil Forrest

Phil,

I'll be looking into my bike parts to cull down further. I think I have some handlebars (Answer Taperlight) and some stems I don't need.

Unfortunately the article I published on CameraCronical.com is now a dead link. I covered the last Beauty Contest pretty well and had a lot of camera porn. What happened? I think the site got taken down. Too bad.

Cal

 

[Crazy Fedya]

I offer an M3 as a prize. It needs a little help as it is gummy.

Also, since July 2019 I have started selling/trading away my “stash”. So far, around 200 cameras and a lot of lenses have found new homes. Still have about the same amount left. These are more desirable in general. Got some cool stuff in trade, and replenished bank account somewhat. Our house needs a new roof.

 

[Particular]

I offer an M3 as a prize. It needs a little help as it is gummy.

Also, since July 2019 I have started selling/trading away my “stash”. So far, around 200 cameras and a lot of lenses have found new homes. Still have about the same amount left. These are more desirable in general. Got some cool stuff in trade, and replenished bank account somewhat. Our house needs a new roof.

WOW Sam! That is crazy!

 

[Calzone]

WOW Sam! That is crazy!

Devil Christian,

So now you coined, "Crazy Sam." LOL.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

I offer an M3 as a prize. It needs a little help as it is gummy.

Also, since July 2019 I have started selling/trading away my “stash”. So far, around 200 cameras and a lot of lenses have found new homes. Still have about the same amount left. These are more desirable in general. Got some cool stuff in trade, and replenished bank account somewhat. Our house needs a new roof.

Sam,

I'm not a professional roofer, but I can tell you from the roofs I have installed that included a tear-off of layers of shingles that it is hard and brutal work.

Those shingles weigh a lot.

Although not trained, I did lots of heavy construction when I was young. The last roof I did was in 1995. My brother and I did a tear down and installed a roof on his ranch using designer shingles that were extra heavy. A crane delivered the shingles off the truck, and we spread the load along the peak.

Cal

 

[Crazy Fedya]

Sam,

I'm not a professional roofer, but I can tell you from the roofs I have installed that included a tear-off of layers of shingles that it is hard and brutal work.

Those shingles weigh a lot.

Although not trained, I did lots of heavy construction when I was young. The last roof I did was in 1995. My brother and I did a tear down and installed a roof on his ranch using designer shingles that were extra heavy. A crane delivered the shingles off the truck, and we spread the load along the peak.

Cal

Cal,

I will have to sit this one out. I would like to replace the roof structure, and create two more bedrooms upstairs.

 

[Crazy Fedya]

WOW Sam! That is crazy!

Christian,

Yes, it is. It freed up a lot of space and funds.

 

[Crazy Fedya]

Devil Christian,

So now you coined, "Crazy Sam." LOL.

Cal

Cal,

Its all in the name. 😉

 

[Calzone]

Cal,

Its all in the name. 😉

Sam,

In my book, "Crazy is good." LOL.

Also good luck with your home expansion. Building out houses is another "crazy" endeavor.

What I like the most about my friends is that they are all kinda project oriented. They just don't talk, but they create.

I will tell you is that "Christian the Devil" is kinda like a Project Manager.

"Snarky Joe" is also full of surprises.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Our friend Jim from Philly requested Sunday the 23rd of February at the "Rochard" on Lexington and 97th Street for the Tenth Annual Camera Beauty Contest.

Save the date. Hopefully this also works out for Phil and Bethany (also from Philly).

I have an idea. Because I'm sentimental (also a jerk) how about us collaborating and celebrating the decade of this event. Since I'm a lazy slacker how about us doing a 2021 calendar?

We only need say 12-13 images; we could do mucho camera porn in our NYC style; we could feature some of us as the camera nerds and oddities that we are; and we could most of all make fun of ourselves and our shared obsessions.

Call me a big Drama Queen, and think of this big event as a performance, but I don't think it would be too hard to pull off. Perhaps we could do it as an inexpensive blurb book, and then we could raise funds to perhaps upgrade our event into a dinner or donate the funds to a charity that we agree upon.

Let's do something a bit crazy. Remember, "Crazy is good."

BTW I have some shots from last years event that captures Snarky Joe's boxed 4x5 Linhof Tech V; Christian's homebrewed camera of Linhof quality; and of course "Crazy Sam's" cameras that one would never see in the wild.

Anyways let's amass a pile of gear that shows how crazy and obsessive we are. I only have 15 cameras... LOL.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I think we should have a category for heaviest camera and heaviest collection. Maybe density should be take into account since we're nerds too.
Phil Forrest

 

[Calzone]

I think we should have a category for heaviest camera and heaviest collection. Maybe density should be take into account since we're nerds too.
Phil Forrest

Phil,

Don't get Christian started.

Last year you won a cool prize (thanks to Chris and his donations) for the largest rangefinder.

What are you going to do this year. BTW last year Christian was a little annoyed that you won.

Let the trash talking begin. LOL.

Cal