New York November NYC Meet-Up

Calzone said:
A film was made about a merchant marine captain that was held captive by three Somali pirates. A SEAL Team dropped the three pirates and rescued this captain that was played by Tom Hanks.
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I remember I saw that movie! A good one! It seems you are ...getting GAS for the new SL2 :)
 
robert blu said:
I remember I saw that movie! A good one! It seems you are ...getting GAS for the new SL2 :)
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Robert,

All I can say is about three years ago I signed a non-disclosure agreement...

I have had GAS for the SL2 for many years before it's recent release.

More smut is I met someone who somehow was aquainted with some of the crew. The report suggested that the Captain was not such a nice guy like Tom Hanks in the movie. Oh-well. LOL. That's Hollywood...

Cal
 
Tonight I'm going to a "closed opening." Pretty much a gallery show that you have to be invited to attend.

I only got in because of "Maggie" because she got the "A-list" invite, and then asked if she could do a "plus-one." so I could be her ontourage.

Sometime these kinds of events are great shooting opportunities. Although I'm an outsider, somehow I wormed myself into these events where I definitely don't belong. Pretty much a case of mistaken identity. LOL.

Cal
 
I'm such a socialite. I just had a long lunch with Bernard. Now that I think of it I have had a few RFF member come to my lab: Ellen from Portland, Joe, Christian, Pro-Mone, Landrew, and Brian.

I think John also, but I don't remember.

With Ellen I used a heat gun to remove the broken protective Gorilla Glass on a M9 I believe.

With Christian it was scrounging through my assortment of parts and o-rings.

With Landrew it was for chemically pure HPLC water that has a resistivity abouve 18 megaohms.

Cal
 
To enhance the retro vibe of Sharlene's I think I will rig out my baby Linhof Tech V with my 53/4.5 Zeiss Biogon and the Polaroid back that Christian 3-D printed.

I bring a pack or 2 of Fuji FP-100 to test this lens. Christian's Polaroid back prints the full size of the paper and is not cropped to 2x3. Pretty much I expect to see the corners soften because this is not a 4x5 lens.

Also know that my Linhof is a prototype that lacks a serial number. It also has no movements, except for rise. 24mm is it's FOV for 6x9, 28mm for 6x7, and 35mm for 645. Yes I have a 645 CINE back that loads 15 feet of 70mm film so I could shoot about 120 645's without reloading.

What is even crazier is that I have a 70 Linhof bulk loader, Mucho Nikkor 15 foot reels, and a JOBO tank to go really crazy and shoot a baby Linhof like a Leica.

I like to think of this baby Linhof as like a SWC, but with 6x7 and 6x9 capabilities.

Cal
 
Pentode said:
Is there a time these gatherings usually get rolling? You mentioned Sharlene’s opens at 1:00. Is that when we’re meeting? I’m the new guy; I need these things spelled out for me!
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P,

I'll be there before one, because I'm the host.

Generally it is pretty casual and people come and go.

Christian for one kinda generally drifts in late.

Meet-Ups are unpredictable. One time we decided to try Harlem Public which just opened, and pretty much it was a bit of a flash mob of close to 50 people. People from New Jersey outnumbered the New Yorkers, or it was pretty close to half and half.

We tried a second Meet-Up at Harlem Public, and it was a small gathering. Also the place got too crowded.

In January or February we have basically a vintage camera show where we kinda make fun of ourselves, our obsessive behaviors, our hoarding tendencies, and camera culture. It all started nine years ago when I sponsored a "Leica Camera Beauty Contest."

I played it up like Don King, trash talking and all. I offered lots of free gear as prizes, I encouraged bare knuckle aggressive fighting, and the only rule strictly enforced was "no biting." LOL.

It ended up being rather funny and rowdy.

At one of the later camera competitions we had two M9's present at a time when M9's were unobtainable. The M9 with the lower serial number won because it was deemed the better camera because it was "vintage."

Witnessed Carl Merkin put a vintage black paint M2R with Leicavit on the floor and stand on the toplate.

Had a table of drunk girls one year taking exception of why we were so absorbed with ourselves and our cameras. One girl came over to our table and ask, "Don't you think I'm pretty?"

"My girlfriend definitely won't like you," was my reply.

"So why don't you take my picture?" Then all hell broke loose.

At these annual events it is like a camera parade. In fact one year we called the event a "Camera Parade." All kinds of crazy vintage gear comes out.

Check out www.CameraChronicle.com for an article that was published about last years event.

Cal
 
Calzone said:
P,

Christian for one kinda generally drifts in late.

Cal
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I should be able to be reasonably on time given that we are meeting in my hood. Perhaps I'll bring my Technika with Wista stereo lens contraption. It'll be fun to test it out on a portrait session.
 
CNNY said:
I should be able to be reasonably on time given that we are meeting in my hood. Perhaps I'll bring my Technika with Wista stereo lens contraption. It'll be fun to test it out on a portrait session.
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Christian,

Should I bring the 4x5 Polaroid back you gifted me? I still have the FP-3000 loaded in it. Could be good for testing. Perhaps I'll bring a pack of FP-100 to gift you.

The "Q" train to Barkley's Center is a brief ride from SpaHa for me. Also Charlene's has non-alcoholic beer for me, something that the Rochard didn't have.

You know how I have brass testicles and how I'm a great salesman. I wonder if I can get Leica to lend me a new SL2 for my December luxury vacation. How cool would be having my APO 35 Cron on my SL and my 50 Lux (Monster) on a new SL2.

I know a Marketing Director at Leica, and the last time I asked for a favor they lent me a 24-90 zoom for NYC Fashion Week. I had the lens for about 3 weeks.

There is a one day layover in London.

In Amsterdam we'll be laying over for two days and will be staying at The Pulitzer Legend Hotel.

Then there is the 6-7 city luxury river cruise on the Rhine River. One of the cities is actually in France.

In Basel, Switzerland there is another two-day layover, and we are booked for a luxury apartment at the Gaia Hotel.

Of course all this flying is business class, and I'll get the VIP treatment because I'm "Maggie's entourage. Pretty interesting pretending that I'm Jay-Z and Maggie is Beyonce.

Anyways the last time this free luxury VIP vacation happened was in Mad-Rid and that was too short at being only 4 days of living in a former palace (Palace de los Dukes) made into a luxury hotel.

Pretty much I get to pretend I'm filthy rich instead of just a guy with a ponytail. LOL.

How did this happen to me? "I was just minding my own business."

Maggie only has 695K followers, and one of her followers is Leica AG.

Cal
 
If I can convince Joe to bring out his Linhof 4x5, then perhaps we could have a Linhof Fest of sorts. Perhaps I'll bribe him with a pack of Fuji FP-100.

Then Christian and Joe can fight over the 4x5 Polaroid back. LOL.

I was tooling around with my Plaubel 6x9 Proshift the other day. Another crazy camera. Pretty cool having a small and lightweight ultrawide with a 21mm FOV with a shift that does not weigh in like a Linhof.

I wonder if my three Linhofs make me the "Linhof Hog" because I'm the guy with the most. Last time I counted Christian had the 5x7, and a Master 4x5, but he bought other Linhofs for parts and donors for some of his project cameras.

I have this suitcase of leaf shuttered lenses that Christian sent me a link, saying I should buy them, so I did. I have no idea why I bought them. LOL. Perhaps I'll bring them to the Meet-Up as a conversation piece.

Pretty much it is Christian's fault that I now own three Linhof's. Like I said, "With every Linhof purchase comes a free gym membership." Also, "They don't build old German cameras like they use to."

Also I have my reputation: John calls my cameras "Monsters." You don't see many people carrying around Linhof's in NYC. The only other person I know that walks around with a Linhof is Christian, and certainly he is a "wack-job."

Cal
 
I didn't have to travel far, say Toronto, to learn that basically I'm an "American Savage." In Toronto people don't jay-walk, bikers follow the same traffic laws as cars, and in walking the entire city not one dog turd.

The Blue Jays had a home game, and I witnessed the happiness of Canadian families, that kinda swept me into secretly being a Blue Jay's fan.

When I came back to NYC, the chaos, the filth, the assault on the senses, the rude behavior... and I realized that in NYC pretty much it is a free-for-all where nobody cares and pretty much people do whatever they want.

Pretty much it is like what George Carlon said, "The Ten-Commandments in NYC are the Ten-Suggestions."

So I looked into the Pulitzer Amsterdam Legend Hotel to discover that it is built from 25 17-18th century row houses that are on the Grand Canal. Lots of timber frame construction.

The Gaia Hotel in Basel is pretty grand also. We have an apartment there.

I wonder where is all the filth and litter? Everything looks so tidy. Is this real?

Last month in conversation with a stranger this man said, "In New York there is nothing that is rude." We both laughed because it is true.

So going into places where I don't belong seems like the story of my life. I wonder how I will fit in in London, Netherlands, France, Germany and Switzerland.

Like I said, "I'm an American Savage."

Cal
 
Im 99% sure I can be there this Sunday. I'll try to bring an interesting camera.

Incidentally, the 2 & 3 train stops nearby at the BERGEN stop along Flatbush Ave. OR get off at the next stop GRAND ARMY PLAZA if you want a little look at Prospect Park.

Also, very close is the QTrain 7thAve stop, also on Flatbush.
 
Cal,
in Amsterdam they are fishing wasted tourists out of the canals daily. You are far from the rudest thing they have ever seen. Also when you are there, don't only look up, because owners don't bother cleaning after their dogs like they do in NY.

I think Joe is up to three Linhofs also by now. I would say I have 2 legit Linhofs, and 2 1/2 'Linhof derived/counterfeit cameras'. Parts keep arriving by mail....and they seem to be getting bigger.

Helen,
I think adjusting the RF on an M6 is fairly simple, but it does involve removing the Leica dot. That one is the main screw that adjusts left/right. I'm not sure where to do the vertical adjustment. LTM cameras are very simple in that respect. I haven't done it before on an M Leica, so I would be hesitant to experiment on someone else's camera.
 
CNNY said:
Cal,
in Amsterdam they are fishing wasted tourists out of the canals daily. You are far from the rudest thing they have ever seen. Also when you are there, don't only look up, because owners don't bother cleaning after their dogs like they do in NY.

I think Joe is up to three Linhofs also by now. I would say I have 2 legit Linhofs, and 2 1/2 'Linhof derived/counterfeit cameras'. Parts keep arriving by mail....and they seem to be getting bigger.
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Christian,

A ha, a taste of New York. Just like living on the Southside of Williamsburg back in the day. Pretty much the hipsters from the Northside would walk their dogs on the Southside and never clean up. The place was like a minefield.

Because I looked down all the time I didn't step on this black case that I would later learn was a Contax T3 that likely one of those hipsters from the Northside lost. The T3 had an awful shutter delay and was hard to make into a dumbed down camera. Sold it.

If I was clueless pretty likely I would of crushed the T3. I kinda deflected my foot mid stridein a stutter-step as a reflex.

I don't know. I think I can be pretty rude. Perhaps I have learned some manners over the decades. LOL.

Cal
 
CNNY said:
Cal,

I think Joe is up to three Linhofs also by now. I would say I have 2 legit Linhofs, and 2 1/2 'Linhof derived/counterfeit cameras'. Parts keep arriving by mail....and they seem to be getting bigger.
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Christian,

Kinda funny how we both keep an eye on Joe. "Snarky Joe," I say.

I think I can profile Linhof shooters as highly abnormal. They are kinda crazed, are unusual, and quirky. In a way I can say one particular trait is that they are highly detailed oriented, perhaps in a very German way.

Cal
 
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