New York March NYC Meet-Up

Hard to sit back and wait when things have to get done.

One thing I can't get around is the length of my property (two building lots or 200 feet) is the width of a city block.

In the meantime I'm on a learning curve on how insulated roofs are designed and installed. Very different that an unheated garage roof or vented attic roof which I know and have done in the past.

Learning about "Ice Dams" and "Ice Guards" as well as terms like "Thermal Bridging."

Looking into buying a Millwaukee M18 kit of cordless tools since I already own the cordless drill. The kit includes a hammer drill, sawzall, worklight, and a 6 1/2 inch circular saw. No need for a 28 volt system since I have running capacity covered via mucho spare batteries.

Today I will be looking into a Powermatic 10 inch table saw. "Don't tell Maggie."

This is an example what I'm trying to preach to Jorde: buy once; and get the best. Also think long-long term. I figure owning a rather serious tool will enable me to set up a framing shop to subsidize my printing. Could be a side business. Also I can build other things.

This leads to getting a router, bandsaw, floor standing disc sander for mitering corners, and a drill press.

My ploy here is for "Maggie" to make me build a barn or shed. Don't forget I have a free/spare building lot. "Don't tell Maggie."

So you can see the seeds of where this is going when I get a Millwaukee kit of cordless tools.

Kinda funny how during the Vietnam era how my oldest brother was a Buck Sargent Army Engineer building bunkers in the south. He looked like the enemy, and I figure racist stereo type figured in since the Chinese built the cross continental railroad and the Great Wall and the higher ups thought that this was where he belonged in 1967.

Anyways it kept him from getting killed by friendly fire. Part of physical hard labor, building and construction has a historical legacy, and perhaps is in my genes, but I would like to re-frame history and make it an asset rather that a limitation.

So here I am building out my own bunker of sorts. "Creature Junior" the granddaughter, asked, "Is your house a castle?" when she first saw it. "Creature Junior's" mom is known as "The Creature" because when I first met her over 20 years ago she was an out of control 15 year old. The term I became familiar with by reading Jane Austin novels of the Victorian era.

So I am no longer a Welter Weight, and I dropped down a weight class to a "Super Light Weight" (under 140 pounds 5'10"). Yesterday did 3 sets of 10 chin-ups. Kinda strange and odd to see a body of a high school kid on a 62 1/2 year old man.

Today will be push ups. Will do 5 sets till exhaustion, so the number of reps will taper. I expect the first set though to be at least 70 and I want to see if I can hit 80 today. Lots of rest inbetween, I'll still be pumped up tomorrow I expect.

I'm getting in shape and training for the biking that lays ahead. In my planning ahead it was so wise to load up on XTR on clearance/closeout. All I need are rear wheels to get built to update my two IBIS Mountain Trials bikes. These two bikes are ultimized for technical single track and for climbing.

Now I have regressed to the body I had in my 20's with the UBER high strength to weight ratio. Lots of regression going on here. I feel like I'm back in Art School. Lots of possibilities.

Calvin-August
 
Range-rover said:
There's a lot of things you can do with that big backyard, barn cool or a shack.
Hope you leave enough space for other stuff.
Click to expand...

Bob,

My camera, guitar, amps, and stereo are banished from our living space.

One bedroom will basically be Maggie's closet, and a second bedroom her office.

I think the basement, being dry, has lots of possibilities, but for the eventual workshop/studio I really want might have to be rather big. I don't know if I want to go into cars again because that gets really-really crazy.

The Powermatic table saw is only 10 inch. This has a cast iron base so it is not like a 10 inch contractor's saw. This is more for an artist or cabinet or furniture maker.

I can see plenty of use to justify the costs, but a rather large space would be required.

"Don't tell Maggie." LOL.

Cal
 
Range-rover said:
I hope everything works out for you, it's going to be a lot different
than N.Y.C.
Click to expand...

Bob,

Different is good. Looking to relax more, focus and concentrate on myself.

To be honest, I don't think I will miss the city all that much, and if I do I'm only an hour's train ride to Grand Central.

One thing for sure is that I won't miss the crowds, traffic, noise and pollution that basically is an assault on the senses.

Certainly I will enjoy biking more and will not be breathing smog, car exhaust and be is such danger of getting "Pancaked."

I will have a darkroom, and more room to print big using my Jersey Barrier.

I'll have a sound room that will be built out and optimized for my 300B tube stereo that I will soundproof. This will also allow me to plug in and woodshed on the guitar without disturbing anyone.

Growing up I never really had a home, and in a ways I endured a different kind of homelessness. Home is a place where you can feel safe and secure that does not go away. Most of all it is sustainable and enduring.

Anyways I'm over NYC. NYC does not make me happy. It was a means to an end to work brutally hard to change class and become somewhat wealthy. It was a path to retirement, and I paid a price.

I put off my artistic pursuits, got a day-job, sacrificed and saved. I expect the next 40-45 years to be less stressful and mucho more happier.

I'll have a humble life, but I'll be even happier.

BTW not looking to be famous, exhibit, or make mucho money. I do photography partly as an identity and a sense of purpose, but all I have to do is please myself. No need to impress anyone but myself.

Cal
 
Cal,
I have a small drill press, small scroll saw, small band saw, chop saw 10" and a good heavy bench grinder. I can build just about anything I desire with all this, and it dosen't take up my whole garage area. I've used it quite a bit in the past twenty years. For camera building and hacking it works great. If you need something big for a particular project you can rent it. Is there a Lowes or Home Depot around you?

I'm out to please myself (get that) and occasionally whomever sees what I am doing.
In the past sometimes I find money has a way of coming along out of what I am doing.
 
Nokton48 said:
Cal,
I have a small drill press, small scroll saw, small band saw, chop saw 10" and a good heavy bench grinder. I can build just about anything I desire with all this, and it dosen't take up my whole garage area. I've used it quite a bit in the past twenty years. For camera building and hacking it works great. If you need something big for a particular project you can rent it. Is there a Lowes or Home Depot around you?

I'm out to please myself (get that) and occasionally whomever sees what I am doing.
In the past sometimes I find money has a way of coming along out of what I am doing.
Click to expand...

Dan,

I have a bit of the "Little-Man" complex. Growing up it was a bit rough, even though it was the Long Island suburbs. During the Vietnam era I looked like the enemy, and pretty much I grew up in "Lilly-White" communities where I was the only minority.

First thing I learned in kindergarden was how to fight, and by third grade I was good at it.

I was always a lanky, but strong kid for my size. I like playing violent sports like football and Lacross. I used my speed and agility to win in fights and in playing sports. In Lacross when we did "ball-man" drills I always took the man to take him out of play. In these close quarters I only needed a step or two to have physics on my side against bigger boys.

So in art school we had a 3000 square foot studio space that was made of various studios that were all open. When I worked at a guitar shop it was a huge cluttered mess, and at Grumman it was a 500 acre complex with plants 1/4 mile long and 1/8 mile wide.

So I'm used to working in large spaces, I tend to stockpile materials, and I also collect used stuff to recycle in clever manners. After living for more than a decade in Madhattan in a 650 square foot one bedroom apartment with a woman who is a fashion blogger and her clothes, shoes, and bags, I can't imagine myself being constrained or limited for space.

The bedroom is partly my gal's closet, and it is also my printing studio. Devil Christian says I basically built a highrise in the bedroom going vertical to store everything. Going into that room is claustraphobic and is not so different than boarding a nuclear submarine that is leaving for a six month tour that is loaded with six months of food. My second oldest brother revealed to me that the hallways are not tall because of all the cases of gallon cans of food that you walk on top of.

There is no Lowes or Home Depo within walking distance, but I'm sure there is one not far away. I can imagine creating a stand to hold one of my gigantic books of prints. Also using cabinet making skills to make a print file to store my prints. Then I can see me branching into guitar building because I have a serious guitar fetish.

"Don't tell Maggie."

Of course all this stuff will be quite useful if say I want to build a timber frame home or barn.

So growing up everyone kinda knew me or knew of me. I always had a reputation for being a bit crazy, being bold, and doing ambitious things.

I do know that something one day will be built on that second building lot. Perhaps my version of a "Crazy-Dan."

BTW my research reveals that Powermatic makes also a 12 inch and even a 14 inch table saw. Could be handy.

A guy at Grumman I worked with every weekend worked on this tall ship that was being restored in the South Street Seaport in Madhattan, the "Waver Tree." Bill was an engineer, and he devised some gantry our of pipe that stabilized a large gas chain saw that was rigged to shape a large oak pole into a mast.

So if you saw the pictures Bill showed me, not only was it mighty clever, but it would scare you because it was so crazy. He secured a handle onto the chainsaw blade that an "Assistant" would walk down the pipes that acted like rails on a railroad.

Masts are tapered, and Bill actually used this chainsaw lathe, operating it in Madhattan. How crazy is that?

Also I remember this episode of Saturday Night Live. One guest they had was a CorY-more-Off Brother. The Cor-More-OFF Brothers are a bunch of performance artists who are jugglers. Just know that they have a warped sense of humor. These are guys that juggle running chainsaws.

So this one Cory-More-OFF Brother comes out to the end of the stage carrying a hatchet, a large chef's knife, and a meat clever. He introduces them as "Max the Ax," "Mac the Knife," and "Beaver the Clever" and says, "For the entertainment of the rear audience I'm going to juggle these very shap objects over these people sitting right below me."

He takes a carrot and slices off into the front to indicate that all are sharp. Then he shuffles them on the floor.

The audience laughs thinking that this is the skit, but then he says the hard part is getting started, so he places the hatchet on his foot and picks up the knife and meat clever.

"Can someone throw me the ax he says," but before someone volenteers he is juggling all three right over the front row of the audience. Some guy grabs his girlfriend and basically is using her as a shield. The front audience is terrified, but the rest of the audience is laughing. Some yell out "Faster" others say "Go higher." Meanwhile a camera zooms in on the guy using his gal as a shield.

This goes on for a while. Know that the hatchet, chef's knife, and clever are twirling as they are being juggled.

"The hard part is stopping" he says, and then he asks for someone to just grab the ax.

Anyways this kinda stuff is kinda beyond belief. My friends who know me were fooling around when they mentioned a barn, who says that won't happen. Before that post I already had looked into a timber frame barn kits from Montana.

Calvin-August
 
SL Revisited: I have been evaluating how to best utilize my old SL now that I own a SL2.

The SL2 kinda crushes the SL in that it is faster, more advanced in big ways, and has the best ergonomics and layout of any camera. The SL2 is kinda brutal because it is mucho overkill.

So I tried to love my old SL with MF glass like the 58/1.2 Noct-Nikkor and 50 Lux-R "E60," but the native AF glass has me spoiled dispite the extra weight and size.

I only own two Native AF Leica lenses in L-mount: the gigantic 50 Lux-L and the APO 35 Cron.

I tend to favor the 50 Lux on the SL2, but the APO 35 Cron is a rather savage lens that loves to be shot at F2.0. The huge thing is that 47.3 MP is mucho data, and along with IBIS and because of IBIS the resolution gets kinda crazy, but the rendering with this native glass is mucho smooth.

The APO 35 Cron is remarkably sharp wide open, it focuses faster than the huge 50 Lux, and is smaller, but because the files have so much overkill I like/love shooting the square and using the aspect ratio of 1:1.

Know that I shoot holding the SL2 vertical so in LR5 it is a just a matter of dragging the vertical for perspective control and all the data for a 2x3 frame is there if you want to use the entire frame. In other words you have the full frame and all the data if you want it on top of perspective control.

So on the SL the cropping to square is not the same due to less pixels and lack of IBIS, but for street and urban landscape shooting the SL with the APO 35 Cron is kinda great. Also having a second body to have two fully rigged cameras is a great-great asset.

I love it.

It seems to get the most out of my SL and SL2 I learned that native AF glass is best. Also know I don't see me needing more expensive AF glass.

Also I can see getting another 21 SEM or 24/3.8 to use on the SL as a compact point and shoot. No AF required with ultrawides.

Nice thing is that the batteries and chargers are all the same on the SL and SL2. Batteries are $300.00. Ouch.

Don't tell "Maggie" but I'm in love. LOL.

BTW a SL3 would kinda be un-needed. The SL2 already has more resolution than I need.

So in the realm of high ISO the SL with its larger pixel holds it's own against the SL2 even without IBIS. Sometimes a larger pixel is an asset so not having IBIS is not a big deal. The SL remains a great camera.

I can tell you that using the SL2 with the APO 35 Cron for shooting the square is mucho great. I use the 3x3 grid for rule of thirds and to maintain verticals and horizontals. The perspective control allows for easy perspective correction without adding noise in post.

I'm kinda spoiled by the movable single point spot metering and focus with a joystick control. On the SL2 I have more control of the displays and can cull down all the stuff I don't want to streamline the camera.

Cal
 
Back in 2013, when Bergen County Camera was dubbed a "Leica Boutique", they had a photo opening and among the work, showed one of the images I took in Iraq, using an M2 and 90mm Elmarit. At that event, I was carrying my Nikon D3 and was introduced to Leica's Dr. Kauffman in front of my image. He said it was nice and "perhaps next time you will use a Leica S" to which I replied with my matter-of-fact snark something to the effect of "I sold my M9 last year and I'll never buy a new Leica again" to which he smirked, shook my hand, and walked on. If I could have sat down with him for a real discussion, I would have explained my dissatisfaction, but it was a busy gathering, with far richer people he needed to rub elbows with, not working journalists.
Phil Forrest
 
This past weekend I was slaved by "Maggie" as her photographer. We shot several "looks" Saturday and Sunday to get ahead of ourselves.

Anyways it was a bit of hammering even though we shot pretty local. We did full days of shooting that was pretty exhausting, but I'm impressed with the work.

As of the past 2 weeks a lot of jobs came in, and it also seems that some work because of Covid is being differed till a better time that are big contracts.

So it seems like a tale of two economies.

BTW "Maggie" says this new work will go into our home "Slush Fund" to pay for home improvements like a kitchen Island, a tin ceiling for the foyer, furnishings and beds, landscaping, and of course building out the garage.

So we indirectly are working on the house that we don't own yet. Today we will do a zoom-cal with our lawyer to go over the contract.

I get tested yet again for Covid-19 today.

Cal
 
Phil_F_NM said:
Back in 2013, when Bergen County Camera was dubbed a "Leica Boutique", they had a photo opening and among the work, showed one of the images I took in Iraq, using an M2 and 90mm Elmarit. At that event, I was carrying my Nikon D3 and was introduced to Leica's Dr. Kauffman in front of my image. He said it was nice and "perhaps next time you will use a Leica S" to which I replied with my matter-of-fact snark something to the effect of "I sold my M9 last year and I'll never buy a new Leica again" to which he smirked, shook my hand, and walked on. If I could have sat down with him for a real discussion, I would have explained my dissatisfaction, but it was a busy gathering, with far richer people he needed to rub elbows with, not working journalists.
Phil Forrest
Click to expand...

Phil,

I was part of a "Focus Group" that helped design the SL2 about 4 years ago.

Pretty much Leica built me the camera I asked for. I had to keep the GAS under control for several years, I had inside information, and I knew well a head of time what was being planned.

Cal
 
MrFujicaman said:
Cal, an ad for this popped up on a page I was looking at. www.surfacingsolutions.com/tinceiling.com.

It's plastic reproductions of tin ceilings
Click to expand...

MFM,

Metal reproductions are available. For safety I prefer metal in case of fire. Dripping plastic verses metal with a much higher melting temp.

Also for being green we are cutting down our use of plastics.

There is a pretty big aftermarket for this stuff.

Cal
 
**Gear Alert**
I finally found a nice one, so much so I decided to sell my Leica M2.
I thought that getting back to Leica would click like I used to but no,
oh what I got is a Nikon SP, really nice with a 50mm f1.4 black later
lens (not 2000 series) but nice none the less.
 
Range-rover said:
**Gear Alert**
I finally found a nice one, so much so I decided to sell my Leica M2.
I thought that getting back to Leica would click like I used to but no,
oh what I got is a Nikon SP, really nice with a 50mm f1.4 black later
lens (not 2000 series) but nice none the less.
Click to expand...

Bob,

Nikon rangefinders are nice. For me since I have Leica I will avoid Nikon RF disease.

Since I own a 35/1.8 Nikkor in LTM already I don't need a Nikon RF body. I could use a Nikon 50/1.4 or Nikon 50/2.0 in LTM though because that would build out my Tower 45.

Cal
 
Thanks Cal, I'm really liking this camera, a lot of people say the rangefinder
in not as good as the Leica but I was lucky and after a bit of cleaning (of course)
it's pretty bright and the focus snaps into focus. Good luck with the house.
 
Range-rover said:
Thanks Cal, I'm really liking this camera, a lot of people say the rangefinder
in not as good as the Leica but I was lucky and after a bit of cleaning (of course)
it's pretty bright and the focus snaps into focus. Good luck with the house.
Click to expand...

Bob,

The Leica rangefinder is said to be brighter, but the Nikon rangefinder is said to be sturdier and durable.

Not sure about the base lengths for accuracy.

I can see a film-reno-sance with the house. I won't have to have "Maggie" traveling or being away to do film. Will be really great to wet print again. It has been 4 decades since I left art school I use to be a really-really good printer, but I think my eyes have improved over the decades.

John I think has it right when he said the best tool for printing is a trained eye.

Cal
 
jszokoli said:
Bob,

How did you clean the viewfinder??

Joe
Click to expand...

Hi joe,

I had to make a screw driver to fit the four screws in
the front panel from there I removed the large section
glass and once that's removed I was able to clean the
main rangefinder glass window. the other small window
the same way, I was also able to clean the small window
side they get pretty dirty as well with a tooth pick and
cleaning paper wrapped at one end it's a small space
to work but very lightly went up and down and it cleaned
good.
 
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