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Earl Jamgochian
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"The fateful doubling of the 3:4 movie film ratio that old Oskar (d. 1936) settled on (who knows how) way back in 1913 is alive and well—and stronger than ever."
I suspect Oskar settled on the 24 x 36mm 8-perforation frame size because smaller increments yielded an effectively square image. For example, a 6-perf frame is roughly 24 x 26mm. If memory serves, there were a couple of attempts at 24x24mm cameras, but I don't believe they had much success.
The Remarkable Persistence of 24x36
A hundred and five years ago, in 1913, an asthmatic photographer who worked as an engineer for the Leitz optical factory in Wetzlar, Germany, seeking a less burdensome camera to carry, invented a handy little camera that was about as small as he could make it. It used 35mm movie film, so-called ...
The screenwriter Stirling Silliphant once described to my college writing class his process for completing scripts. He set a personal requirement of writing 8 pages per day, around a schedule: breakfast; 2 pages; tennis; 2 pages; lunch; 2 pages; swim; 2 pages; cocktails and dinner. This way, he could complete a typical 110 minute screenplay in two weeks.
Sunday Support Group (A Day Late)
I've been posting notices about my book-writing project on Sundays, as a way of encouraging others to keep up with their own large 2018 projects. A day late today. March was, to put it kindly, a setback for me. The Joni Cole Rule is "touch it every day," meaning, whatever you're working on, at l...
The Exakta V and variants are the only lefty-friendly SLRs I can think of. The Rollei 35, with left-hand wind and right-side viewfinder, was equally difficult to use, regardless of handedness, so perhaps the ultimate in fairness . . .
Left-Handed Camera
Well, that was a mistake. Figuring I was in the clear, I resumed normal activities yesterday. I not only typed, I shoveled snow, cooked, and threw the tennis ball for the dog. By evening I was paying for it—my arm ached and was tender to the touch from my hand to my shoulder, and I couldn't get ...
"Finally, what I consider the next frontier in camera marketing: "Super-Simple" variants of existing designs."
Yes, please. The design plan for the late Flip Video camera was "any user should be able to pick up the camera and figure out how use it in 15 seconds, without reading the manual." Something similar for a stills camera, that's not a smartphone, could probably be done with firmware and some thought given to the physical UI on the camera.
On a related note, I too am looking for a digital TLR modeled after the Rolleiflex. IMO that's the ideal form factor for teaching photography to young children.
Future Christmas Presents (More Imaginary Cameras)
As I said on Saturday (first post below this one), when I think of cameras I tend to think in terms of ideas that would enable photographers to do good work, not necessarily products that would sell well. Of course the two aren't by any means mutually exclusive, but the camera manufacturers are ...
I have a theory about the Sinar vs. Deardorff conundrum. The Sinar has two strikes against it in today's market. First, it looks like it came from outer space. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the P2 was never seen in the field. The Deardorff, on the other hand, looks like the view cameras used by Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and others who were profiled in Life Magazine, with their cameras. It's also closer in relationship to various format roll-film folding cameras that grandparents, great grandparents, and crazy uncles** used when we were growing up. The Deardorff is no more or less difficult to use than the Sinar, but it seems more user-friendly.
**One of which I've managed to become, according to my nieces and nephew.
Are Pro Film Cameras the Least Desirable Cameras?
Nikon F5: its capabilities are no longer in demand Reader John to me: Do you know anyone in your vast collection of friends who might make good use of a Nikon F5? I’ll never do film again and it’s just sitting there on a shelf, staring at me. I would be willing to let it go for the low low pr...
I recall an article in (I think) Popular Photography in the early 80s, when motor drives were becoming common. The gist was that, when shooting at 5 fps or so, how did you know that the "right" time to trip the shutter wasn't in the interval between frames. If the camera's microprocessor is making the decision, is it still the "decisive moment"?
6K Photo and the Decisive Moment
A week ago, responding to the post about the Panasonic GH5 event, Dick Nugent commented, "Be interested in your take on whether 6K Photo foreshadows the end of still photography. And/or makes the 'decisive moment' concept obsolete." The upcoming GH5 First, what is "6K Photo"? As I understand i...
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Jan 27, 2017
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