Nothing you can do but gaze...

Damn Covid...

The inability to pack a bag and go is hampered for now.  Perhaps the only good thing is that cities like Rome is that it's probably not this crowded and that the citizens there can enjoy their sites without all of us pesky tourists.

Learning lenses...

Starting to get that feeling once again.  Trying to understand and learn what a specific lens will give me.  Finding photography once again.

Looking at the past...

20+ Years old and 170K miles...

 So glad she has a good home and owner !

Damn sand...

 Paradise Cover (where the old TV Series "The Rockford Files" was filmed)

Fox in the yard...

One of many living around my yard.
 

The love begins...

 

My Disneyland...

 

Time...

 

Rome...

I miss the adventure...

I WANNA GO BACK...

I miss so much about Bavaria is this.  My first stop on my next visit to Germany.

Bird approved...

The little one approves.

Honey do...

Us guys know when we hear the "Honey...." that means work.  So my chore for a day off is to power wash the patio and concrete.  So I did.

Stuff on a desk...

Guess I'm just getting old...

Count Basie, Las Vegas, The Tropicana, Vinyl and a good scotch...  Damn you Covid 19, I would have been on an airplane this coming weekend.

Getting back to it...

It's been a long time since the urge to shoot...
(sorry...cellphone shot)

Disc goes round and round...

Some of my audiophile friends will tell me, "it's not really analog" since I'm using even worse than solid state... digital amplifier.  I'm sorry guys.  Perhaps one of you want to donate to me a good McIntosh.  But there's something satisfying about spinning vinyl and a physical stylist making contact with groves.  Just like driving a manual transmission car and using a Leica camera.
A lazy Sunday afternoon. 

Photography happening here...

One thing cool about Camera West in Walnut Creek, it's about photography and gear.

It's about sleeping...

Enough with the cellphone, tv, reading and cameras... time to sleep!

Life under Covid-19 - Work...

Although this image may lead you to think there's no business, at this Subaru dealership there was a lot of activity.  Just that it's being conducted under the new norm of social distancing and disinfection.

A Conversation...

Reflection...

Union Army...

Mothballed...

... one day I'll return to shooting!

What is that???

What is that???  Seeing another new camera in my hands.  Image taken with the Nikon Coolpix A

Work anywhere...

My previous life.... worked anywhere but also worked ALL THE TIME !

More damn cellphones...

More damn use of cellphones... it's a nice sunny day people... enjoy the sunshine!

Want some head???

Out on a date...

Great thing about street photography is that at the very worse all I will get is some air, sunshine and exercise.  Every once in a while, you can capture something nice.  Today I noticed this young couple taking a stroll along the shore (do people still stroll?).  Said to myself.... to be young once again.

4 Leg Rental Customer...

Cool thing about Samy's Camera - San Francisco is that we are a pet friendly store with plenty of treats.

Trees don't punch back...

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.

Conducting...

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

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.

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.

The Critique...

Education time - Bruce Gilden

Masterclass held last week at Samy's Camera - San Francisco

The Phantom...

LancomeLover...

"LancomeLover" a real sweetheart to work with.  Special thanks to Summer for helping to make this shoot happen

Light and Shadow...

Aly...

Thank you Aly !

Overgrown...

Nature will always find a way...

Images...

Gave up too soon...

Ahead of it's time, it's too bad Contax weren't able to hang on.