Thursday, June 29, 2017

Passing on knowledge...

Learning Rollei.  CameraWest's Jullian getting a quick tutorial from photojournalist Peter DaSilva

Special Rolleiflexes...

3 special Rolleiflexes that have a unique story.  The great thing is that these cameras are in the hands of a master photojournalist, Peter DaSilva, who uses them to record history.

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Conducting...

It may not be an orchestra... but each of us have to conduct something all the time.

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Don't think it's gonna work...

I guess this is the next attempt by the city to try to stop the homeless tents from going up.

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Fujifilm Instax SQ 10


Right off the bat.... it's FUN!

OK... now the more serious stuff.

Image quality from the film = Instax quality.  Good but don't expect it to replace your prints from a real film or serious digital camera.

Cost per shot = about $1.70.  Compare that to about $ 0.63 for Instax Mini and $ 0.75 for Instax Wide.  So it's not cheap.  BUT compare that to Impossible Film at about $2.94 a shot.  The Fuji at least is predictable while Impossible is impossible to know what you'll get

Good thing... you can shoot this camera is MANUAL mode which means it acts like a digital point and shoot.  You can edit a little and then decide if you want an Instax print.  So, you can save a few $$ by not wasting film.  You can also shoot in monochrome mode.

Good thing... you can place a microSD card in the camera.  The 32Gb card I inserted allows me to take 31,000 images.  The images are JPEG from a 3MP sensor.  It's as good as what you'll get from a cellphone should you open the image, edit and try to print from a real printer.

Build quality = Plastic but not cheap plastic.  Feels good in the hands.

Good thing = you compose using the large rear LCD screen.  No more having to try to make their too tiny optical window work.

Bad thing = you compose using the large rear LCD screen.  So everyone knows you're taking a photo in a dim room and you have to suffer trying to compose in bright sunlight (although it's not too bad with this camera).

Good thing = you can now control the flash a bit.  Instax cameras use to force flash no matter what.  Now you can turn the thing off or tell it what to do.  Something Fuji learned with their collaboration with Leica on the Sofort I guess.

Bad thing = Camera costs about $280.00 so it's the most expensive Instax to date.
However, it's cheaper than the Leica Sofort (Instax Mini90 reimagined) that costs $299 and shoots Instax Mini.

Conclusion:
It's nice to see that Fuji is still keeping a part of Polaroid's (Dr.Land) invention alive.  Although I am STILL MAD AS HELL over their decision to stop the Pull and Peel film.

That thing (Zinc) the marketing company currently named Polaroid is trying to say is instant photography is still just a photo printer and NOT film.  It takes about a minute for the image to come out of the camera or printer.  You're not shooting on film and it's not developing before your eyes.

For anyone who loves instant film photography... there's not much to dislike and should be pleased with this camera.  If you are looking for this camera to be your only main camera?  I would say, look elsewhere.