New York October Meet Up Date?

[lamefrog]

Have you read his posts?

Absolutely . I have the collected works . It runs hundreds of pages and features an incongruous assortment of exotic characters and mangled photographic gear .

 

[jsrockit]

And don't forget each of Cal's cameras are adapted to be weapons as well...I personally would not want a rapid winder lever to the eye.

 

[Particular]

He wears all his gear on his shoulders at all times (see image at left). He also likes to wave around a sharpened rapidwinder spike to keep unsuspecting pedestrians at bay.

 

[Calzone]

He wears all his gear on his shoulders at all times (see image at left). He also likes to wave around a sharpened rapidwinder spike to keep unsuspecting pedestrians at bay.

This is no exaggeration. After work one day I met Christian on first Avenue by chance. I was talking in an animated manner and several times Christian alerted me of how close I came to acidentally stabbing some passerbyes with the dagger sticking out of my Rapidwinder.

Recently I downsized my film M-bodies and removed the Rapidwinders, but I felt rather naked and vulnerable. Now they are back. Over the summer I went shooting all day carrying my Wetzlar M6 rigged with TA Rapidwinder and Rapidgrip, with mu MP rigged with TA Rapidwinder and Rapidgrip, along with a MD-2 with 21/2.4 Super Elmar with a Rapidgrip. This is one way to shoot a lot of film.

Like wearing construction boots, I like carrying a weapon in plain sight strapped to my right hand.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Knowing Cal, wherever he keeps his gear you can bet it's better protected than Fort Knox! Probably booby-trapped. A thief would wind up getting hit in the head with a toaster oven while the moment was captured on film and digital in 10 different formats. Do you really want to know where Cal keeps his gear -- that's dangerous info! Have you read his posts? It's like Jimmy Breslin meets Rambo.

Dan,

My apartment has no fire escape, and basically a burg-ler would have to be like Spiderman to break in from outside. In my lobby are mucho video cameras, and I have a steel door with a deadbolt that would give a SWAT team difficulties.

I do have a seperate room for my gear, and a complete darkroom is in public storage. I figure I own about $30K in Leica gear alone. If Leica comes out with a Monochrom M-240 I am already prepared to pre-order one to add to my arsenal.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

And don't forget each of Cal's cameras are adapted to be weapons as well...I personally would not want a rapid winder lever to the eye.

John,

The best place to stab someone with the Rapidwinder spike is in the liver. Hurts like a MoFo.

To take out someone's eye just hold onto the Rapidgrip and drive the corner of the Rapidwinder through someone's eye socket. To me this is the fastest approach to disable someone, but stabbing someone in the liver hurts more.

Also know that the wriststraps I use allow for using a M-Body as a blackjack for some blunt force trauma, but it is unlikely the strap lug will remain secured to the camera.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Cal
Where do you stock all that gear? Do you have a separate , locked room?
I'm not going to PhotoPlusExp . Or does film have any presence there (Ilford , Kodak , darkroom and enlargers ? )
Philippe

Philippe,

Generally I stick with Jeff to get a double dose of free film from Kodak. Always interesting to see the Kodak and Fuji exhibitions of large prints.

Lately the shows have become more and more digital centric, but still lots of film, labs and plenty of general photography suppliers.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Totally off topic but for those of you who have a chance to make it down to Philly, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is now featuring the work of Paul Strand. I am going to try to get there next Sunday to check out the exhibit.

Phil Forrest

 

[Calzone]

Totally off topic but for those of you who have a chance to make it down to Philly, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is now featuring the work of Paul Strand. I am going to try to get there next Sunday to check out the exhibit.

Phil Forrest

Phil,

Thanks for the heads up. I'll likely make the bus ride to see that show.

I'll be heading to the PhotoPlusExpo early Saturday.

GEAR ALERT: I found another very cool lens. Now I have another black paint lens. I would not say I paid "no money" but I got a great price. Looks killer on my Monochrom and black paint MP with 0.85 finder.

Cal

 

[Range-rover]

Hi all,

Sorry I missed the meet, and I'm finally back on line. my 9 year old computer finally
died so I went out and purchased a new one. I'm off on Sat so I'll see you
all at the show, plus Cal I finally found a K Screen with the red dot on it and
a new motor drive cap for the F3

Bob

 

[Calzone]

Hi all,

Sorry I missed the meet, and I'm finally back on line. my 9 year old computer finally
died so I went out and purchased a new one. I'm off on Sat so I'll see you
all at the show, plus Cal I finally found a K Screen with the red dot on it and
a new motor drive cap for the F3

Bob

Bob,

Did you ever upgrade your F3HP into a F3P (Prada Edition) with the goat leather I gave you?

Like a toddler I'm going through a growth spurt. The Monochrom has made me a better photographer due to the required good technic and the fast feedback, but film is now beconing mucho strongly. I figure that I need to utilize my medium format cameras more, and one way to exploit the big negatives in a clever way is for night photography.

I figure pushing Tri-X to 1250 for handheld, Acros at 100 on a tripod, and Acros at 100 using the Pentax 67II's TTL metering a la We-G.

You guys will be suprised by all the new gear I acquired during my break even after I downsized.

Cal

 

[Particular]

Totally off topic but for those of you who have a chance to make it down to Philly, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is now featuring the work of Paul Strand. I am going to try to get there next Sunday to check out the exhibit. Phil Forrest

Speaking of Paul Strand, there are a bunch of his prints in the back room at the Aperture gallery. They are paired with photographs taken by his wife of him taking those shots. It is pretty neat.

 

[Range-rover]

Cal not yet soon as I find the leather I'll see how I like it, I have so much crap
it's not even funny. I did finally go to the parade last night I took my Nikon D300
and I've been using the micro 4/3's soooo much that I forgot how to use it, I used
the Liveview and it's to slow and top it all off I tried to download the pictures last
night and they disappeared, all the pictures. there's a big learning curve with this
new computer.

 

[Particular]

There was some talk at the meet-up about doing an group exhibition in a pop-up gallery.
This weekend I passed by one in the Time square area, and talked to the girl showing her paintings. The space is provided by the Chashama organization, who have a bunch of these spaces across the city, as well as artist work spaces. They take open proposals for exhibitions which run year round. The next deadline for proposals in November 15.
I intend to put in a proposal for my own work, but I think it wouldn't hurt to put something together as a group, as well. You never know.

Here is the site:
http://www.chashama.org/what-we-offer/presentation-space

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Gear Alert

Gear Alert

So, last week I scored a rare-earth N series 35mm f/1.4 Nikkor. I've been looking for one converted to Ai for quite some time and found it. Almost flawless!

Then today I went to Webb Cam, the last brick and mortar photo store left in Philly, intending only to buy a few rolls of 120 film. I got to handle and shoot a Df a bit (not really impressed in the haptics but supposedly the images make the camera.) Looking around at their cabinet of used gear, they had a nice selection of some really good stuff. One of the things in that cabinet was a Fuji X100 for a steal. I'm not going to reveal how much, but let's just say they were asking significantly less than what they usually go for.

I got my film and was about to walk out the door but went over to the cabinet again and John told me I could pull the camera out if I wanted to check it out. Holding that little camera made me remember how the X100 made my M9 the redheaded stepchild and I thought why I ever sold it (I sold it to buy some parts for my Mercedes 300D back in the summer of 2012.)

A few minutes later I pulled out my card and took home the X100. Goodness gracious. Well, unlike a few other things I've purchased, I have no remorse for this one. i loved the camera back when I first bought it and I'm sure I'll love it again.

Phil Forrest

 

[Particular]

Phil, that is an unfortunate name for a camera store, but I'm happy they are still in business.
Are you all digital now? How is the Nikon ls8000 doing?

 

[Range-rover]

Nice score Phil!

 

[Calzone]

Phil,

Congrates on the gear acquistions.

I find it very interesting how your kit is evolving. I understand that you have been concentrating on more medium format film.

For me, part of being a photographer is the constant evolution and personal challenge. Good to see that I'm not alone in this respect.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

The LS 8000 is doing well. Not used nearly as much as it needs to be but I just moved to a new apartment and I'm still getting settled in. Once that is done, I will be a scanning monster.

I guess you could say my kit is evolving. There haven't been many photo related items that I've lusted after in the last eight months. I've wanted a rare-earth 35mm N-Nikkor for a while because I'm weird and that lens lends (say that a few times fast) something to the image that the modern design, which is virtually identical, sans the refractive index of the radioactive element, doesn't. Paired with the D3, it is a killer lens. And a potential weapon. It almost doubles the weight of the rig when I put it on the D3.

I still think about getting a film Nikon to take advantage of all the lenses I have and I probably will one day. If I get traveling for assignment or research (moving forward on my graduate studies and shopping for mentors in good programs now,) I'll probably buy an F3 or F2 for a backup. Who knows. That is getting the cart way ahead of the horse. As it stands now, I have four 35mm cameras that rarely get used as I am usually using the duo of Mamiya 6 bodies, as Cal pointed out.

That said, I still like having a very capable, tiny point and shoot with a fixed focal length lens and excellent image making potential with me all the time. That used to be a Konica Hexar, before I got my first Leica. I've missed the Hexar ever since and I feel the X100 is inspired by the Hexar way more than the Leica. It's as close to the digital implementation of that amazing camera as we're going to get, probably. Even today I check out all the Hexars that pop up in the classifieds and talk myself out of them because I already have the four aforementioned 35mm cameras and if it is a point and shoot, I probably want results sooner, rather than after I soup twenty or so rolls in a batch. So the X100 it was. I've got a hood on the way and I'm thinking of getting a thumbs up for it but I'm not sure. I like access to the shutter dial with my thumb...

Anyone starting a November thread or are we taking the month off due to Thanksgiving? I'm going to have a day or two more off per-week coming up soon and I'll be definitely heading up to NYC a few times during the holidays if anyone wants to grab lunch.

Phil Forrest

 

[Range-rover]

Phil,
I picked up awhile ago a F3, I alway's wanted one since the Nikon House days,
it's a great camera. Yesterday I picked up a Contax RTS camera the leather
is beat but it looks like a great fixer upper maybe I'll use Cal's Prada leather ??

Bob