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34 (film), 18 Digital. First flim camera-- used Kodak signet 35 in 1967. 1st digital camera -- Canon G1.
Film vs. Digital (Not What You Think!)
To yesterday's "I Feel Old" post, Steve Jacob wrote: I bought my first SLR in 1981. I bought my first digital camera in 1999. It's now 2019. I have officially been a digital photographer for longer than I was a film photographer. It just doesn't seem like it because time passes so much faster wh...
As for "photoblogger going blind", I had a lecture in medical school from a blind professor of radiology. He said he remembered the X-rays he discussed in detail.
Good luck in your operation. I had retinal surgery a few years ago the required lying prone all day for two weeks. They make special chairs you can rent for this, but it was very difficult. It looks like what you're facing is gong to be even harder to tolerate. Good luck... I hope it goes well!
Bad PR
At the eye doctor's - "I don't sign non-disclosure agreements. I'm in the disclosure business." —The late photo writer David Vestal - Last Monday, I had a hole drilled in the iris of my right eye with a laser. Freaked me out. I never like it when people assault the inside of my head. I probably...
So you're a Hoosier... me too. I'm 38 years in California. I don't know if where you live is midwest or east. It's certainly not NYC.
Open Mike: Apex Products
["Open Mike" is the often off-topic, anything-goes Editorial page of TOP, wherein Mike scats and vamps and riffs off the top of his pointy head. When all is right with the world, it appears on Wednesdays.] - Thomas Riley Marshall, Vice President of the United States under Woodrow Wilson, was pre...
I used to live in Modesto, California and learned the woman in the picture lived in my town. Here is the article from the Modesto Bee that discussed her life and the picture:
https://www.modbee.com/latest-news/article3114135.html
I think you can get to this article without being signed in (and subscribing) as I do. If you can't access it I can cut and paste at least the text.
Sarah Meister On Dorothea Lange
So we met Sarah Meister of MoMA the other day, and come to find out she has a short book coming out soon about Dorothea Lange's most famous picture—at one time it was considered the most famous single picture in the entire history of World photography—the so-called "Migrant Mother," photograph...
I had the opposite problem... a membrane on my retina. It’d already messed up my central vision in my right eye. I had to be face down for hours for two weeks. Being on your back should be much less challenging. One of the complications was that I’d get a cataract, which I did.
Here’s where my advice comes in. I’m a retired pediatrician but didn’t know much about cataract surgery. After peppering my ophthalmologist with questions she told me to look at the YouTube videos. Don’t do it! I was thoroughly grossed out and I used to be a doctor.
It never hurts to get a second opinion and check out the facility in which the procedure will be performed. Is the doctor any good? Don’t ask your friends—- ask a nurse in the hospital in which the doctor works, if possible.
Good luck and be well..
Blog Note (Eye Op)
I haven't mentioned my eye problems much. I had the thought that is probably not too good for my brand to admit that I am, um, going blind. That was meant as a joke.... I had a much-dreaded eye doctor's appointment yesterday (which was not demanding in any way but which left me exhausted) and t...
I don't like SUVs but when my BMW 3 series lease is up I'm going to get a small SUV. Why? My wife has arthritis and finds them easier to get into and out of, as mentioned in the article. For us older folks comfort and ease of use is paramount.
Open Mike: Why Are Crossovers So Popular? (OT)
Ever wonder why so many people are buying SUVs and crossovers these days? I've long thought that there are two reasons. First, height. It's nice to be up high; you can see the road better (and see over, or through, all the other tall vehicles). And second, conformity. We buy whatever everybody e...
LG. Yikes. We had a washing machine made by them die at 4 years. Also a problem with the electronics that the repair folks had no idea how to fix. Then a $2.5k refrigerator, just 2.5 years old failed. Compressor failure. They'd cover the cost of the part and we'd have to pay for the installation, and it'd take 6 weeks to get the part.
NO more LG for us!
Open Mike: The Old-Style American (OT)
I had a lovely two days off. The weather was Summery yesterday, but beautifully cool-ish and brilliantly sunny today. I feel revived and rejuvenated. We didn't even have that many firecrackers this year, praise God. Hope you had a nice Fourth, if you celebrated. Mormon missionaries from Idaho,...
I seem to recall the old Exacta SLRs were left handed. Certainly the shutter button was on the left.
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 ...
it's a cliche of course, but for me it'd be a Leica M and a couple of primes, something around 29mm, 35mm and maybe a 60-70.
I love my fuji xpro2, however, so the upcoming fuji with IBIS would be a more economical alternative
Itch
Every now and then I just get the itch to chat gear. I can't seem to help this. The primary symptom is that I start rummaging around again in what I used to call, in the Stone Age at the Dawn of Time, "The World-Wide Brochure Bin." Secondary symptom, I start jonesing for something I can't have....
As for the SD card slot on the back of the current iMac, I find it's easy to locate by feel. I use it all the time and never have to look at it.
The Good and Bad of the New MacBook Pro
As I'm in the unusual (and uncomfortable) position of buying a new computer, I watched the entire Apple presentation yesterday. First time I've ever watched an Apple Event, although of course I've been aware of them. First I need to say in passing that I find corporate events culturally bizarre....
I'm a Pediatrician in my day job. Recently, a columnist for a Pediatric 'Throw Away' Journal (a publication that is supported by drug company ads and thus provides suspect information) asked "Would you let your son play football?"
The whole issue of concussion and immediate as well as long term brain damage is hotly debated in medical circles, and for good reason. How can one do research on brain injuries (care to volunteer to be hit in the head in the interest of science)?
I've practiced for 35 years and have observed the inevitable change in most of my patients from Soccer to American Football as they approach puberty, despite the former being safer and far better exercise. If I ask they why in front of their parents, it's because they admire the local pro teams, etc. Out of the parents' earshot it's a different story: "I want to hit people."
One of my former patients got a free ride scholarship to a division 3 school. He wasn't going to the NFL and knew it, but a free education in engineering seemed like a good deal... until he had a major concussion in practice in his Freshman year, and had to drop out of school. He could no longer do science and math courses.
A couple of my patients' dads who are youth or high school footbal coaches have advocated banning all the protective gear that make the kids feel fearless. They point out that Rugby is violent as well but produces far fewer concussions.
I'd add to that random drug testing for steroids in high school. Many players at that level weigh so much that their hits are far more forceful than the lighter players in earlier days.
So my answer to the question, would I let my son (or grandson, if I have any say in the matter) play football, the answer would be "no."
As an aside, the problem may well solve itself in a typically American manner. I have been told by parents on the boards of local youth football leagues that it's starting to be difficult to get liability insurance. The same may happen to the schools in the future. If so, that could be the end of football as we know it.
Open Mike: Chris Borland (OT)
I have to start out here by saying I am in no way an enemy of football. I did quit a football team once...in 8th grade! I was good at cornerback—I was one of the fastest kids in my class, I could change direction on a dime, and, because I grew up with an full-sized trampoline in my back yard, I...
A digitial TLR... that's an interesting thought.
I learned basic photography with my father's Argus brand Rollei knockoff and used Rolleis extensively in high school along with speed graphics.
I have to wonder what digital would bring to TLRs or vice versa. I totally get the idea of digital rangefinders since they offer an special way of looking at the scene and it's surroundings, but I guess I don't get why someone would want a digital TLR. I can understand wanting to use a lovely tool as is the Rollei TLR just for it's own sake, but would a digital TLR be a 'real' Rollei?
Perhaps develop one with a hybrid focusing screen (a la Fuji X100) with the ability to switch between grond glass and a lcd?
In any event, how could the local importer come up with the major R&D money to do anything so ambitious?
The Last (?) Rolleiflex
...Might end up being the Rolleiflex 2.8FX model, directly descended from the original Rollei TLR. Unless you think it's... The Hy6 (this is a Mod. 2), much more loosely descended from the SL66/6000-series lineage of "modern idea" pro Rolleis. It uses licensed Phase One technology in its ded...
I'd give a thumb's up for the LX100 as well. The camera just feels 'right.' It'd be nicer if it was smaller, or had more megapixels, or more zoom range, but everything is a compromise and Panasonic has made a really good one.
The Ten Best Digital Cameras
Always with a thumb clamped on the pulse of the Zeitgeist, herewith TOP's totally idiosyncratic, completely subjective, plausibly deniable, and cheerfully self-incriminating list of Digital Cameras We Love at the cusp of 2015—the digital cameras we think are the hottest at the moment and the mos...
I've had one for about 6 months and have an EM-5 kept as a backup. I've been using the 12-40f2.8, the 75-300 (which is a surprisingly good lens-- imagine, 600mm equivalent that you can easily handhold), and the 17mmf1.8. This long ago replaced my Canon gear. I had, and loved the 24-70f2.8 L lens. As far as I can see, the 12-40 is every bit it's equal at a fraction of the weight. The weather sealing, IBIS, and just the premium feel of it in hand has sold me.
I've dabbled in Fuji X gear but lately I've decided to settle with m43. Something may be better, but the em-1 is good enough, for me at least.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Opinions?
Do you have one of these? Seems like it's been out long enough for owners to have formed opinions. If you are (or were) an owner, what do you think? (I have one, so I'm not looking for advice, but I'm interested to hear other owners' feelings and reactions—anything, really: what lenses you're l...
I've long had very negative feelings about Sony and a corporation and have thus refused to by any Sony produ7ct for years. I feel my reluctance slipping...
Sony RX100 III First Impressions
A street photographer’s take on the new Sony RX100 III Zeiss Ikon ZI with Leica lens and Sony RX100 III with Zeiss lens by David Lykes Keenan Wow, is it ever tiny. That was my first impression of Sony's new RX100 III point-and-shoot camera. Even the box it came in is small. "The camera is in...
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Jun 24, 2014
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