New York NYC May Meet-Up

Calzone said:
With the 45/2.8 the handling makes for a fast shooter, but the Noct-Nikkor makes the camera into a heavy porker. Wide open shots with the Noct-Nikkor are extra dreamy.
Click to expand...

Nice...we have a new term for even bigger cameras than Monsters! "Porkers!" Maybe I need a porker! Well, to me the Df with 58mm 1.4 now feels like a porker, but compared to yours Cal, it's a compact.
 
jsrockit said:
Nice...we have a new term for even bigger cameras than Monsters! "Porkers!" Maybe I need a porker! Well, to me the Df with 58mm 1.4 now feels like a porker, but compared to yours Cal, it's a compact.
Click to expand...

John,

Porky, even though was like a brand new camera, now is showing some magnesium by the prism. I think I dropped my knife/moneyclip while on the checkout yesterday at B&H. Had a micro-meet-up with Brian in the used department (another accidental meeting) and we went to Aperture to see a show.

I bought some high end Compact Flash cards to try and speed up "Porky." I also got another DK-17M to replace the one I borrowed from my F3HP. Bought a second battery.

"Maggie" likes the D3X but wants me to mount a Leica 50 on the D3X. Funny how she became a Leica snob. For some strange reason she does not like the Noct-Nikkor. LOL.

BTW looks like accidentally I'm going to be a dog owner. "Babydog" is kinda being pushed out of his home by an almost year old baby. I was always concerned about his ghetto like aggressive tendencies and history of attacking people and biting them. He is a dog with special needs. He kinda knows he is good looking, and I think he acts like he is Brad Pitt the way he prances around. Another name I have for him is "Runway Dog" because of how he struts around so proudly with his posing.

Cal
 
jsrockit said:
Is it based on the appearance of the lens on the camera or how it makes her look when you use it?
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John,

I think she displays a strong bias for Leica due to the 50 Lux ASPH I use on the Monochrom. Also she never ever bonded with any Nikon point and shoot that I bought her or that she bought. Both Nikons basically went unused. Then there is that Lumix that she somewhat likes that has a Leica lens.

Then there is Luxury factor, which is mostly my fault. I kinda trained her/spoiled her by exposing her to luxury goods and the "value added" meaning premium lifestyle.

I don't know how much is due to Eizo and Piezography, but I do know she is deeply impressed by the resolution and contrast. She understands quality.

At Aperture is a rather large and powerful show called "Playgrounds." The photographer made some large prints of children playing in playgrounds from all over the world. I found the show disturbing because it showed some rather oppressive situations that were rather hopeless and contrasted those against the elite. Imagine a school set up in a refugee camp, imagine a poor school in India, and imagine a rich school in India that once was a palace. Anyways the details are told though some event that is going on in the playgrounds.

I was hoping to show Brian the Salgado exhibition, but I forgot that it was a Monday and the gallery on the ground floor was closed. In some ways more impressive than the ICP show because you can see the prints without glass obscuring the print with glare and reflections. You really get the full impact of what Salgado was trying to do. The IQ is mind blowing. This show runs till May 16th.

BTW I bought the book "Playgrounds" as a gift for "Maggie's" daughter and son-in-law, both who are teachers. I view this work as a disturbing social documentry that rather cleverly uses playgounds as a vehicle to reveal bigger issues like disparity of weath, class struggle, privelidge, and of course geo-politics. Kinda heartbreaking, but it sums up the world we live in pretty well.

Cal
 
jsrockit said:
Is it based on the appearance of the lens on the camera or how it makes her look when you use it?
Click to expand...

John,

I got judged on basically the first 70 shots that were just experiments on trying to explore a new camera. While I got some great shots of other people, I failed to get any good shots of "Maggie."

Kinda funny how I get blamed when people blink their eyes or make an awkward expression right at the time of a shutter release. The concept of recording of a fraction of a second has no meaning here. Nor is the understanding that shooting small children and babies favors a good shot because they are great models.

Understand that I was in Calzone mode trying to shoot indoors using ISO 100 and shooting at slow shutter speeds like 1/40th and 1/50th of a second.

Cal
 
Calzone said:
John,

I got judged on basically the first 70 shots that were just experiments on trying to explore a new camera. While I got some great shots of other people, I failed to get any good shots of "Maggie."

Kinda funny how I get blamed when people blink their eyes or make an awkward expression right at the time of a shutter release. The concept of recording of a fraction of a second has no meaning here. Nor is the understanding that shooting small children and babies favors a good shot because they are great models.

Understand that I was in Calzone mode trying to shoot indoors using ISO 100 and shooting at slow shutter speeds like 1/40th and 1/50th of a second.

Cal
Click to expand...

It's kinda hard shooting at those speeds, I picked up cheap
almost new Canon 28mm f2.8 IS and it's great for indoors
but I still have to watch.

Bob
 
Range-rover said:
It's kinda hard shooting at those speeds, I picked up cheap
a almost new Canon 28mm f2.8 IS and it's great for indoors
but I still have to watch.

Bob
Click to expand...

Bob,

That's the challenge when you own a Noct-Nikkor. Also this was testing the capabilities of a new camera. A regular D3S has better high ISO, but a D3X has more mega-pixels.

1/40th and 150th is not so bad if your subject distance is close and if one is sitting. Standing and shooting at these shutter speeds is kinda asking for a lucky shot. Anyways I wanted to know how good a platform the D3X is for low light handheld conditions and its performance envelope.

Yesterday I ordered a Leitax adapter for the Leica 50 "E60" with a Dandilion chip. I'm getting the newest version that musta just came out that features an "almost-auto-aperture" that has a lever to fully open the iris for focusing. One of the handicaps of using a Leica lens on a Nikon body is the loss of the auto diaphram and the need to use stop-down metering. This will be like my perspective control lens that has a switch to either open the aperture or go to the set f-stop.

The "E60" is hyped as a remarkably sharp lens wide open, but it also has this smooth OOF and pretty Bokeh. There is a strong reason why people pay $5K for this lens and deal with the stop-down metering handicap: the rendering is awesome. IMHO the rendering is kinda modern like my 50 Lux ASPH.

Now is the wait for the Leitax adapter to get imported. I paid extra for UPS shipping because it is suppose to be faster. The D3X and 50 "E60" should be a killer rig. For my style of shooting the stop down metering is not so big a handicap, although it can slow down my shooting, I basically either shoot wide open, F2.8 for added DOF, or at F5.6 for mucho DOF without difraction.

The D3X is definately a heavy porker. To me the R8 (Diesel) is kinda perfectly balanced, and I would consider it a welterweight.

On Maggie's blog she is featuring this eyewear stylist and fashion maven from Vancouver who happens to have some striking beauty. Maggie had a consult in the Plaza Hotel with her, and now will be featuring and modeling eyeware exclusively from this optician/stylist/fashion maven. The photography was Sue's daughter.

It seems that use of color photography will become more common, buy now I have to carry my Monochrom and D3X. Know that of course I double as a personal assistant and also have to hold Maggies coat and pocketbook while trying to get the shots. Not sure I like fashion photography. LOL.

Cal
 
jsrockit said:
Cal and Bob, thanks for the info in the replies.

Cal... Monochrome supposedly tomorrow:

http://www.mirrorlessrumors.com/leica-monochrome-to-be-announced-tomorrow-thursday
Click to expand...

John,

Just what I need: another camera. LOL.

How many 7-11's will I have to rob to get the funds together to buy one?

BTW PDN has this portrait contest that I'm considering entering. I think my portrait of "Sal" AKA "Landscape Face" is a good contender. They have two catagories: amateur; and professional. Under their definition I would be considered a pro, LOL, because of being published regularly over the Internet. In May three of my shots will be published in "Marrie Claire" (Espania, Spain's Edition).

I still consider myself "just a guy with a ponytail" and not a "Pro." To me a Pro is a photographer that makes some form of income, doesn't have to be more than half, or an artist that is represented by a gallery.

Anyways, in the pro catagory there is a celebrities, and a seperate "commercial/editorial/assignment" catagory where I might be able to enter some of my shots of Maggie. $2.5K prize money would be good to pay some camera bills.

Cal
 
jsrockit said:
That's funny Cal...
Click to expand...

John,

Accually it is not so funny. LOL.

Then there is all this bossing around. It is kinda like having Anna Wintour as your girlfriend of "The Devil Wears Prada" fame.

All of the sudden I find that the photographer is kinda responsible for everything, even the model's pose, expression, hair, make-up, the weather...

Fashion bitches are not so fun.

Cal
 
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