Mikethe hack, lightstalker, steve, stiv etc...camera stuff

[lightstalker]

As far as Ansel Adams and his landscape photography, I have always considered Adam's greatest contribution to be toward the craft of photography - not necessarily toward the artistic advancement of the medium, though he is certainly an important figure in American image making and the various movements that took place in the earlier parts of the 20th Century.

Hey guys...remember the "zone system" before lightmeters came along?..all thanks to ansel adams.

[SRR]

These guys never used digital.

[nick]

And never travel without your trusty plastic toy camera either.

Steve

Bro, Holga man. Holga...

[Steve]

Bro, Holga man. Holga...

Nah, Diana or its clones. Even shittier than a Holga! And such a lovely blue color...

Steve

[Stiv]

PS - Friends call me SteveO, so if you are trying to be a wise-ass you need to come up with a better moniker than that!

Aw c'mon amigo, what is it the fan girls do? <3 x2 I hope you feel better now, I know I do.

Bieng artsy and making $$$? isn't that against the true nature of bieng an artist?? I was always under the impression a "real" artist only got fame and fourtune after they were dead....my bad.

Hey I can damn anything I damn well please! You think you're the only one around here with a corner on negativity?? Pshaw!! The thought. I mean really I didn't mean to step on any toes.

Hey look sometimes it's just annoying to listen over and over to folks that are wearing that square little wooden hat and what they really need to do is take it off every now and then and think without it.

Zone system yeah I've been making a very nice living using it in all sorts of creative ways now for about hmmm let's say just about 30 years. Oh yeah and I have Ansels books too. Legitimacy here I am!!

Look we're all this tight little brotherhood that makes pictures that hopefully make us happy and make us (Uh oh watch out artists) some scratch. Me my picts are anything but pretty. Dead body parts, tumors, other viscera, and trauma all in a clinical setting. So bieng an edgy/arty photog and flaunting it is so meh.

All the best, keep snapping,
Stiv out.

[RYP]

For gods sake don't use duct tape on a camera...I used to do that anal retentive thing where I taped up all my cameras with clear packing tape. It no workee and it is a seriously icky mess when you do need your camera serviced. Much better to get used to sliding them inside freezer bags when in dusty climes. DO NOT put them in bags in humidity and dust. Plastic bags actually drive the moisture inside and then cook it so that there is a fine rust on everything when you are done.

There really is no way to protect your cameras. Canon does have seals and rubber rings to keep dust out. Most cameras need a good clean, lube and rebuild after a month or so in the sandbox...don't get me started on video cameras.....

[Steve]

There really is no way to protect your cameras.

But what if I buy a $250 camera bag that's black with kevlar construction, a built-in MP3 player, and says "Turbo" or "I Rock" on the front?

Steve

PS - You mean salt water is bad for cameras too?

[Mikethehack]

I used miles of duct tape on my cameras because it was continually being kicked and bashed around all the time during riots and other friendly street getogethers. It kept the rain and dust out and more than once stopped chunks from falling off and exposing it's private parts.
As for the gunk when it was being serviced? I just wiped it clean with an old rag and some petrol and it came out looking like a new penny.

Cameras (in my clumsy hands) spend a lot of their working lives falling off tables/chairs,walls,cars,balconies and into rivers,ditches,mud and down stairs,into toilets,into pools of beer and puke,being bashed off walls and other people/animals heads,set on fire,collecting autographs from police batons etc etc etc.
There was so much tape on my gear that they would almost bounce around like rubber balls when they fell.

It also makes the plastic/whatever less brittle when it's freezing cold. I would also tear off strips to be used as impromptu bandages,to patch up rips around my crotch area when my jewels were exposed and for other things like patching tents and people's heads and for taping up windows to stop glass flying around during bomb blasts.

I would just buy a roll and wrap the entire thing around the camera and use strips where and when needed.

[jonas]

Mike stop exposing your crotch...you can conserve tape then ;)

[Kapa]

Plenty of guys still pack the old dog Canon D30's and I have seen them used in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan etc.

...and you can pick them up (like I did) for a 16th of the original price. I paid 350 euro for a D30 body in great shape. It's pretty robust, sure it doesn't have the mp rating, but fuck I'm not goint to print A3s anyway.

In Greece taking it easy at the moment (before heading east)doing "travel" pics and shooting with the D30 (with a Sigma EX 17-35) and a EOS1N (with IS 28-135) shooting Velvia, and a EOS 55 loaded with Tri-X. Shooting both digital and film covers both angles. I burn my cards onto two cds (send one home) and get the film developed later. Now for another souvlaki and beer.... ;-))

[nick]

Bro, Holga man. Holga...

Nah, Diana or its clones. Even shittier than a Holga! And such a lovely blue color...

Steve

Diana was the precursor to the Holga right?

Never shot on one. I do love the Holga...

[Steve]

Diana was the precursor to the Holga right?

Never shot on one. I do love the Holga...

They were made in the 50's and 60's by the Great Wall Plastic Company in China. They were often given away as premiums if you bought a magazine subscription, etc.

Now, they go for big bucks (for what they are) and are collected as well as used. A mint Diana, in the original box with all accys, will go for well over $100 at the auction sites. You can find them at garage sales and thrift stores for much less if you are lucky.

I think the lens is much nicer than the Holga as it is actually much more flawed and the images are even more dream-like.

Steve