julianphotoart
No likey digital-phooey
We are going to Japan and we will be traveling through Nara, Osaka and Kyoto. Please give me your advice on shops in those cities that will have a full selection of medium-format film -- preferably shops near train stations.
10gatsu ni kazoku sannin de Nara, Osaka, Kyoto ni ryokou shimasu. Film no mise ga dokoni aruka oshiete kudasai. Medium-format film wo kakushu oiteiru mise, tokuni densha no eki no chikaku ga iito omoimasu.
Also, we are staying over at Enryakuji in Kyoto on 10/23. Is there any suggestion as to where to take pictures?
Sorekara, 10gatsu 23nichi no ban wa Kyoto no Enryakuji ni ippaku shimasu. Toku ni shashin satsuei ni omoshiroi basho ha arimasuka?
Thank you very much.
Onegai shimasu.
10gatsu ni kazoku sannin de Nara, Osaka, Kyoto ni ryokou shimasu. Film no mise ga dokoni aruka oshiete kudasai. Medium-format film wo kakushu oiteiru mise, tokuni densha no eki no chikaku ga iito omoimasu.
Also, we are staying over at Enryakuji in Kyoto on 10/23. Is there any suggestion as to where to take pictures?
Sorekara, 10gatsu 23nichi no ban wa Kyoto no Enryakuji ni ippaku shimasu. Toku ni shashin satsuei ni omoshiroi basho ha arimasuka?
Thank you very much.
Onegai shimasu.
Dang romaji is so hard to read 
You should be able to find medium format film easily at any of the big chain stores (usually found in or near large train stations). Best to stock up in Osaka or Kyoto.
Have a great trip!
You should be able to find medium format film easily at any of the big chain stores (usually found in or near large train stations). Best to stock up in Osaka or Kyoto.
Have a great trip!
jan normandale
Film is the other way
have a good trip
furcafe
Veteran
Was just vacationing in that neck of the woods a couple weeks ago. As Jon wrote, the Yodobashi Camera & Bic Camera chains should have a nice selection of medium format emulsions. The Yodobashi store in Osaka (right next to the train station) also has an awesome massage chair section if you get too stressed out.
Have a great trip.
Have a great trip.
Kawabatnam
Established
Hi, I've been there last spring, a wonderful time indeed. It was my first trip to Japan but I suppose that you already the country and the culture. As in Osaka, a new bikku bikku camera store has just opened in Kyoto a few meters from the train station and I am pretty sure that you will find some 120 film there.
Compared to Nara and Kyoto, Osaka is not so nice: mainly a business and port city. I guess if you're interested by industrial/city-scapes you will find the place more interesting than I did. I spent a very little time there.
Nara. This is another story. A bit too touristic at times however you'll have to visit the great Buddha at the Todai-ji of course but do visit the very small and very charming Gango-ji: when I was there it was absolulty deserted, and the gardener told me it was like that most of the time. If I remember well, I spent 3 or 4 hours shooting almost everything, and there are only 2 very small pavillions. Also, take the train to the Horyu-ji near Nara: again almost nobody! Tourists were all piling themselves at the Todai-ji. However, climb the hill behind that temple and you'll enjoy a great panoramic spot above Nara.
Kyoto. So much to be said. Usually, the center of attraction is the East, however I did just the opposite because my relatives were in the west and that I had started to stroll at random around their place and liked it very much; this is the Arashiyama North-West side of Kyoto. If you like, as I do, how a city gently fades in the country, then in the hills and forests, this is for you. There are of course some large temple both following the dharma or the shinto faith (a special mention for those wonderful small family owned jinja with chickens running everywhere) though what I found the most interesting was the garland of small temples of Sagano where Basho spent some time.
And I will end with that, do walk from Kyotaki to Takao following the river (careful with the snakes) and enjoy all the small temples there half in ruins, half deserted; two very moving ones are the Kozan-ji and Saimyo-ji where you get the feeling that the actual temples are not what has been built by the human hand but the wilderness all around. A special place.
Also, if you climb the Atagosan above Sagano and the Katsura-gawa, you'll enjoy a very fine panoramic view of Kyoto.
Sorry for this long post, and have a nice trip!
julianphotoart
No likey digital-phooey
Thank you for your posts. I feel better about the film situation.
Away we go with at least Xpan and Mamiya 7. The debate is M7 or FM3a. I would like to have the FM3a because I can use a shift lens for architecture. I hate buildings that seem to be falling over. I also cannot justify lugging 4 cameras. On the other hand, M7 with fast lens is important for night shots without flash. What to do.
My wife wants pretty Nara and Kyoto but I like more street, gritty, industrial, post-modern, ironic, etc. photos -- or the other extreme of total landscape with no buildings, people or signs of civilization.
Away we go with at least Xpan and Mamiya 7. The debate is M7 or FM3a. I would like to have the FM3a because I can use a shift lens for architecture. I hate buildings that seem to be falling over. I also cannot justify lugging 4 cameras. On the other hand, M7 with fast lens is important for night shots without flash. What to do.
My wife wants pretty Nara and Kyoto but I like more street, gritty, industrial, post-modern, ironic, etc. photos -- or the other extreme of total landscape with no buildings, people or signs of civilization.
Hmmm, the Osaka, Kyoto, Nara region is the exact opposite. Buildings, people and signs of civilization everywhere!
M. Valdemar
Well-known
Just bring a roll of 120 film, show it to the guy at the camera store, and point to your camera. He'll know what you want.
jan normandale
Film is the other way
Julian re the 'tilt shift' for architecture... A well known British/Canadian photographer who used to live in "the beach" and I met for coffee at Balzacs and a chat on LF photography.
Him: ".. why do you want to do LF?" as he handed me a promised "loaner" Crown Graphic with several grafmatic backs, film holders and lenses in a large case.
Me: "I want to do architectural shots and I hate the distortion so I want to use the tilt shift to deal with this"
Him: " why bother when you can use photoshop?"
Me: " well ... blah, blah, blah (motherhood, purist, anti digital, etc)
Him: momentary silence, then "... oh"
I still don't have a really good answer to his "oh"
Him: ".. why do you want to do LF?" as he handed me a promised "loaner" Crown Graphic with several grafmatic backs, film holders and lenses in a large case.
Me: "I want to do architectural shots and I hate the distortion so I want to use the tilt shift to deal with this"
Him: " why bother when you can use photoshop?"
Me: " well ... blah, blah, blah (motherhood, purist, anti digital, etc)
Him: momentary silence, then "... oh"
I still don't have a really good answer to his "oh"
K14
Well-known
I am here in Okayama on vacation. I have my 6x9 folder and my Leica IIIa with me. I stopped by BIC camera next to the train station, they have several coolers on the second floor, every thing from 35mm up to 4x5 sheet film. Just for giggles, I inquired about getting 2 rolls of 120 c41 and 1 roll of Provia 120 400X developed and scanned onto CD. This would be a 5 day turnaround. They can scan slide film onto CD but they would charge 3,000 yen per slide. That could get expensive! I did get a roll of 35mm 400UC developed at BIC, that is a 1 hour turnaround.
I'm making my way up to Electric town, (Shinjuku) here in a couple of days. We'll see what Kodabashi says.
~Gary
I'm making my way up to Electric town, (Shinjuku) here in a couple of days. We'll see what Kodabashi says.
~Gary
john_s
Well-known
My answer would be that I use film and want to print on traditional paper, not scan. I spend enough time sitting on my rear end at computers. The Nikon 28mm shift lens is a delight. Sometimes not wide enough, sure, but wonderful for both architecture and landscape.
With the 24mm tilt and shift lens (Canon and now Nikon), you can do things that you can't do in Photoshop! Incredible but true!