New York NYC March Meet-Up

In today's episode of "This Old Man" Calvin orders a F5 "E" screen and begins monsterizing yet another camera.

"Norm, I really like this new screen because it has the focus snap that I have on my F3P, and so far along with a DK-17 magnifier makes it the best for shooting manual focus lenses wide open. The Noct-Nikkor is brutal on this rig I say."

"So what is the next crazy thing you will do to further monsterize that F5 you still have not paid for?"

"Well a lucky find at KEH: I think I'm going to buy a Nikon DF-28 Databack. Seems like the ghetto thing to do, and it kinda is my style, you know annoy people. You see I happen to like the rare MF-18 I have on my F3P because it imprints the date of exposure inbetween the frames. I kinda created a disaster with film because I shot so much of it without any regard to printing, so having the date imprinted is my attempt to get organized."

"So what is the intent of monsterizing a F5? Some would argue that the F6 is a more advanced camera. Why is the F5 a cool and important camera?"

"I know the F5 is big an heavy like the Nikon D3X I got rid of, but for the AF-D series of lenses, especially the ones with the rugged, manly crinkle finish that I seem to have a fetish for, work best with the F5 because out of all of Nikon's AF cameras the F5 has the most robust shaft drive motor for rapid autofocus. Also the F5 is mucho more advanced than my F3P: 1/8000 shutter speed, selectable Matrix Metering and Spot as well as center weighted; AF; better dampening; more fully intergrated motor-drive; movable metering spot; illuminated VF'er; and most of all is because it is just a great camera that sells for no money.

"The intent is to fully exploit owning two of Nikon's rarest lenses: the Noct-Nikkor; and the even rarer 28/AF-D. Using my slackers brew (Diafine) and shooting 800 ISO means I won't run out of shutter speeds in bright lighting, and of course high ISO encourages shooting wide open to create those bokeh shots that seem to annoy some people.

"So it seems I am ultimizing a camera for high performance use that will yield higher IQ, and by embracing my clever slacker ways I am sure that I will annoy people and stand out.

"Another thing is that I kinda learned how to exploit my confused identity. I am a white boy trapped in an Asian body, LOL, but in NYC I kinda get mistaken as a Japanese tourist, and it is the culture here in NYC not to bother tourists and display mucho tolerance for their clueless and dumb behavior. I think shooting a big Nikon will allow me to maintain my bad boundries, and now I fully embrace and exploit the mistaken for Japanese factor, even though I'm Chinese (Cantonese)."

"So at this Sunday's Meet-Up Calvin will be bringing mucho prints that display rendering and IQ of some interesting lenses shot wide open. For entertainment value this detailed geeking out generally annoys Cal's friend John. LOL."

Stay tuned for a preview of the next "This Old Man."

Norm
 
Calzone said:
"So at this Sunday's Meet-Up Calvin will be bringing mucho prints that display rendering and IQ of some interesting lenses shot wide open. For entertainment value this detailed geeking out generally annoys Cal's friend John. LOL."
Click to expand...

Haha... I'd just love to hear you talk about content and framing with the same exuberance!
 
But, wasn't that man happy with all his gear and didn't have to buy anything else even if he became stinking rich? 😀 LOL

On the topic of this episode, there is quite some stuff that is useful.
I have the lowly Nikon F80 which is a fantastic camera, and a 21st century machine really compared to my OM-1 or the Texas Leica. These machines are great for quick shoot to kill in AE priority.
There was a F80s with the data imprinting. IMO it is a great feature that only a few 35mm and MF cameras have. Mine is the ordinary non-imprinting type. I understand there's a doohickey named Meta35 for some Nikons to export internal memory EXIF.

As I don't have much of a system, nor eagerness to drop the $ into getting lenses, I don't see the higher end F's attractive (well, yes but keeping away of it!) and the things on paper weigh like a MF camera. Metal F Camera!

As someone with a mixed background, playing with identity is really fun. Haven't exploited it much because I don't have as much margin to do, but acting tourist is a good way.
 
jsrockit said:
Haha... I'd just love to hear you talk about content and framing with the same exuberance!
Click to expand...

John,

LOL. One of the reasons I embraced the SL is framing. Now it seems I am fully embracing the F5 for its more advanced capabilities but primarily for its framing. You gotta know that I don't really crop or reframe my images.

How true is my disregard for content. Pretty much not my strongest point, but content is kinda personalized, and I don't think many people understand me anyway.

I am still trying to understand content, but it kinda is happening as I print and edit. The idea of making a book out of the recent prints seems to have grown into several books due to content. In art school and by art dealers I have always been told that I have too many ideas. Perhaps this process involves a lot of wandering... You are correct that content is not fully developed like my other skills.

Cal
 
Prest_400 said:
As someone with a mixed background, playing with identity is really fun. Haven't exploited it much because I don't have as much margin to do, but acting tourist is a good way.
Click to expand...

Jorde,

I have had mucho experiences where I have been cursed out by New Yorkers who called me a "F-ing tourist." Also I don't dress like all the immigrant Asians, and while not fasionable, nor stylish, I kinda dress in an unusual way that perhaps looks unique or foreign.

Growing up, the stereotype of a passive quiet Asian who kept to themselves abounded. I really surprised mucho people because I was kinda aggressive, loud, and in your face.

Kinda funny how because this was not what people expected that my behavior was looked upon as being "crazy." LOL. Pretty much this spin allowed me to create mucho fear. Call me a performance artist, but I could really amp this up, and take advantage of this fear factor.

It does seem that I am outgrowing my retro cameras a bit. They are fun cameras, but performance wise I'm moving into another envelope. The F5 is a great camera that is kinda forgotten. A mint Nikon Pro level film SLR can be bought for a few hundred dollars, is built to last, and allows for more advanced capabilities than my old retro gear like my F3P or Leica SL2-MOT or Lieca film "M" that are more basic simple cameras.

Cal
 
jsrockit said:
Yeah, I agree... I've been wandering for 10 years on my most recent journey. 😉 Maybe the move to Chile will allow me to make more sense of what I can do with my NYC photos.
Click to expand...

John,

I think wandering is a great thing.

At my 40th High School reunion it was really sad how so many of my friends and people I knew stayed so close to home and in a way never grew up. What was really interesting to my classmates was all the things I did and tried that made me an interesting person, but also said I have an interesting life.

How many people do you know that ran the NYC Marathon "off the couch" in under 5 hours with only one full day to get ready at the age of 49?

How many people do you know that put a 350 HP Corvette engine into a Jeep Scrambler, effectively building an urban assault vehicle before they invented the HumVee?

How many people do you know that lived alone in a log cabin in the Santa Fe National Forest for a year and a half 47 miles from civilization?

Not everybody does "dumb" things like us. LOL. When we went to Philly we were told to avoid the north and west parts of the city, but that is where we went. LOL.

Anyways one day all these "dumb" things we do will amount to an interesting life. Not everyone has personality or character.

Cal
 
stompyq said:
It's going to snow tmw. Mind you don't turn into papa smurf!
Click to expand...

Pro-Mone,

A Smurf Attack I don't expect. Generally when it snows, unless a blizzard, the wind chill does not get so bad. I can tolerate some cold, but I might redden up a bit. This winter I was able to almost always walk to work (2 1/2 miles) except for some stormy weather, but Saturday and Sunday I surely will avoid those colder days.

Also know that I have all this engineered clothing.

I could always go into the subway system to shoot, or even indoors like say Grand Central.

Cal
 
Calzone said:
John,



I think wandering is a great thing.



At my 40th High School reunion it was really sad how so many of my friends and people I knew stayed so close to home and in a way never grew up. What was really interesting to my classmates was all the things I did and tried that made me an interesting person, but also said I have an interesting life.





Anyways one day all these "dumb" things we do will amount to an interesting life. Not everyone has personality or character.



Cal
Click to expand...


That's actually a great observation and advice.

Last year I lived 4 months in Sweden for a student exchange, had about a week when I could go to NYC (and met Cal).
However I didn't expect people of this day and age to elicit such a baffled response, when they knew about me going to NY on my own.

Heck, fantastic trip. Walk like crazy trying to cover as much of the city in 4 days plus getting that special background about LIC and Brooklyn.

Thinking about moving to Northern Europe again and most probably will live there by the end of the year.
While I live in Spain and there's wonderful weather, the conditions for a career are not good. Also, I live in a sort of resort beach town and it is a sweet death. People who stay here just don't bloom.

Know that 50% of my classmates are employed in a Big 4 accounting company, paid $1600 a month and work past 8h many days. My friend is also there and he's burned out. Not my kind of job but seemingly the only industry theiving here.
To me it is a "that's it?", here's the end? If I have to move 35mi, why not 1500mi?

Essentially I see people staying here under some promise that to me are broken dreams. Got to be a rebel of course.

Perhaps I can do that Log cabin year there too! Isolation does teach a lot of things really.

Also John, when you are out of a location (NYC) you do notice what you valued from there and little things that may have been overlooked, specially on a time back to town. It is fantastic to build up a sense of selfreliance, taking home where you are.

And just thought, if you hate winter it's fantastic to move around chasing each hemisphere summer!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ahh good. It's also probably your body is adjusting to things too. Good to know

Calzone said:
Pro-Mone,

A Smurf Attack I don't expect. Generally when it snows, unless a blizzard, the wind chill does not get so bad. I can tolerate some cold, but I might redden up a bit. This winter I was able to almost always walk to work (2 1/2 miles) except for some stormy weather, but Saturday and Sunday I surely will avoid those colder days.

Also know that I have all this engineered clothing.

I could always go into the subway system to shoot, or even indoors like say Grand Central.

Cal
Click to expand...
 
stompyq said:
Ahh good. It's also probably your body is adjusting to things too. Good to know
Click to expand...

Pro-Mone,

I just have to take care of myself and not do the crazy things I use to do. Know in the past I use to mountain bike every Saturday and Sunday in the winter. I also use to go Cod fishing off shore in heavy seas in January and February out of Montauk, and Freeport.

I am in a watch and wait situation with an incurable rare disease, but my health is remarkably stable. I reproduce more red blood cells than get destroyed by hemolizing via aglutinazation. Pretty much I just get monitored 4 times a year.

Basically I can't do dumb things. BTW anyone who owned a Jeep CJ knows it is basically a vehicle that lacks a heater because the heater core is so undersized that it basically is as if one has no heater.

Cal
 
Prest_400 said:
That's actually a great observation and advice.

Perhaps I can do that Log cabin year there too! Isolation does teach a lot of things really.

Also John, when you are out of a location (NYC) you do notice what you valued from there and little things that may have been overlooked, specially on a time back to town. It is fantastic to build up a sense of selfreliance, taking home where you are.
Click to expand...

Jorde,

About 20 of us Grumman employees were sent to Los Alamos to work on a secrete project when Ronald Ray-Gun was President. It was a secret Star Wars project: a neutral beam partical beam weapon that was to be space based to shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles in their boost phase before the multiple warheads separate and vaporize us.

So out of the 20 people and their families (some were married and had kids) I was the only person that took advantage of doing what Henry David Thourough did and went to live on his own in the wilderness.

Well actually in real life HDT lived on Walden Pond for two years, and when he wrote about living there for a year he actually compressed those two years into one. Also know that his mom only lived within walking distance, so saying that he was alone is pretty much an exaggeration.

But being truely alone in wilderness is actually kinda disturbing. My cabin was so remote that if I needed gas, groceries or had to do my laundry I had to drive 47 miles. The ridge I had to climb in my Jeep needed 4 wheel drive in the winter, and the area was so remote that I got no TV reception.

Anyways the silence and peace is very disturbing, and at home it took a while before I could turn off the radio and fully embrace the lonelyness in silence.

So a really dumb thing to do was lock the hubs on my Jeep and explore this wilderness alone doing 4 wheel drive rock climbing in low. If I got stuck, or anything bad happened... Oh well.

Cal
 
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