Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I forgot to add that rebuilding these old bikes is more akin to restoring an antique car. Pretty much total disassembly and building it up again to be kinda renewed. This involves time and patience because there are always surprises. I found that my Chris King headset had frozen bearings because over the decades the grease evaporated and the sealed bearings were completely dry.
No real damage though, but it was a learning experience trying to remove the seals without destroying them. Once I got new grease inside and worked it in it was like new.
I’m sure the old C10 will have some surprises. One I already found: a bad rear oil seal and a likely wet clutch contaminated with oil. Oh-well.
For some reason I like restoring old things. Even my house is a restoration project.
Cal
No real damage though, but it was a learning experience trying to remove the seals without destroying them. Once I got new grease inside and worked it in it was like new.
I’m sure the old C10 will have some surprises. One I already found: a bad rear oil seal and a likely wet clutch contaminated with oil. Oh-well.
For some reason I like restoring old things. Even my house is a restoration project.
Cal
Nokton48
Mentor
Morning Cal,
I am contemplating buying some of this. I might consider splitting some of this up
AGFA AVIPHOT PAN 200 PE 01 Panchromatic Film 24 cm x 76 Mtr, 9 7/16 In. x 250 ft | eBay
Can be cut down to European sized 18x24mm (fits into 8x10 Ebony!), enough film here for 4,222 sheets. Processing in just one 8x10 flat-bottomed Cesco tray. This is of course the same film we are shooting in 70mm.......
I am contemplating buying some of this. I might consider splitting some of this up
AGFA AVIPHOT PAN 200 PE 01 Panchromatic Film 24 cm x 76 Mtr, 9 7/16 In. x 250 ft | eBay
Can be cut down to European sized 18x24mm (fits into 8x10 Ebony!), enough film here for 4,222 sheets. Processing in just one 8x10 flat-bottomed Cesco tray. This is of course the same film we are shooting in 70mm.......
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
The Robot Royal 36 appeared at my door. Pretty newish condition. Has a never-ready case that is like brand new, but it dates back to 1955 and is 67 years old. Pretty much a time machine.
Came with a cassette, cap, camera and case. How dose old leather look so new? Anyways a shelf queen.
So the heft of the camera is about as heavy as a Nikon F3P with motor drive without the batteries but the camera is about the size of a Leica M-Body.
Anyways I’m very happy with the camera. Been testing and exercising the camera. I love that the distance scale is in feet only. Anyways a very interesting camera.
I have not figured out the loading, but Devil Christian already has a design for a 3-D printed spool that will modernize the film loading.
The crown molding got installed today. What a difference. Tomorrow the new wooden kitchen door that leads to the front-backyard will get installed as well as a new storm door. I’ll save the old fiberglass door and frame so it can be recycled into the interior garage door that separates the clean room from the work area. Pretty much the garage gets divided in half.
I got the “Newsboy” together with the new handlebars. Muy retro and it has deluxe style. Kinda flashy. Spent a lot of time drilling out a Titanium Allen cap screw bolt that had a stripped hex. Pretty much I stripped it trying to tighten the handlebars enough so they would not rotate in the stem. Luckily after drilling the head off, the threaded rod that remained got driven out by the drill enough so I cold slot the end with a file and hack saw. Then I reversed the screw to thread it out. No damage at all, but this took some good hands and some skill.
I ended up using this abrasive screen as a shim to bite into the handlebar clamping area and the stem to lock them together. Went out for a field trip ride. Lots of Ti creaking, meaning loose bolts. This happens with Ti bolts, so everything has to get retorque a second and third time.
These bars are not any good for off road because your hands and knees would get in the way of each other off-road. So I will have to change bars when I configure the Ti Basso from a Newsboy into a Fat-Tire bike. Oh-well.
Should be getting more bike parts tomorrow. I’ll be able to get the Ti IBIS back on the road. I just have to install a chain on the steel IBIS and tune the shifting and that will be a 1x11 XTR bike with UBER low gears for rock crawling.
Did you know according to the Internet that “Maggie” and I are married? Did you also know that I’m much younger than her?
Anyways kinda funny all the wrong/bad info on the Internet. If people want the smut they should come to RFF and read my threads. LOL.
Cal
Came with a cassette, cap, camera and case. How dose old leather look so new? Anyways a shelf queen.
So the heft of the camera is about as heavy as a Nikon F3P with motor drive without the batteries but the camera is about the size of a Leica M-Body.
Anyways I’m very happy with the camera. Been testing and exercising the camera. I love that the distance scale is in feet only. Anyways a very interesting camera.
I have not figured out the loading, but Devil Christian already has a design for a 3-D printed spool that will modernize the film loading.
The crown molding got installed today. What a difference. Tomorrow the new wooden kitchen door that leads to the front-backyard will get installed as well as a new storm door. I’ll save the old fiberglass door and frame so it can be recycled into the interior garage door that separates the clean room from the work area. Pretty much the garage gets divided in half.
I got the “Newsboy” together with the new handlebars. Muy retro and it has deluxe style. Kinda flashy. Spent a lot of time drilling out a Titanium Allen cap screw bolt that had a stripped hex. Pretty much I stripped it trying to tighten the handlebars enough so they would not rotate in the stem. Luckily after drilling the head off, the threaded rod that remained got driven out by the drill enough so I cold slot the end with a file and hack saw. Then I reversed the screw to thread it out. No damage at all, but this took some good hands and some skill.
I ended up using this abrasive screen as a shim to bite into the handlebar clamping area and the stem to lock them together. Went out for a field trip ride. Lots of Ti creaking, meaning loose bolts. This happens with Ti bolts, so everything has to get retorque a second and third time.
These bars are not any good for off road because your hands and knees would get in the way of each other off-road. So I will have to change bars when I configure the Ti Basso from a Newsboy into a Fat-Tire bike. Oh-well.
Should be getting more bike parts tomorrow. I’ll be able to get the Ti IBIS back on the road. I just have to install a chain on the steel IBIS and tune the shifting and that will be a 1x11 XTR bike with UBER low gears for rock crawling.
Did you know according to the Internet that “Maggie” and I are married? Did you also know that I’m much younger than her?
Anyways kinda funny all the wrong/bad info on the Internet. If people want the smut they should come to RFF and read my threads. LOL.
Cal
Particular
a.k.a. CNNY, disassembler
It is only 422 sheets which is still pretty good. If you use the 24cm width, but cut it to 20cm/8", you can use it in regular 8x10 holders. That would produce 380 sheets.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I have been fondling the Robot Royal 36. Seems like the camera has not been used, but everything works fine.
Not the brightest or most contrasty rangefinder, and perhaps all that is required is a cleaning. The rangefinder is a rather small centrally located circle with a yellow tint.
Some very cool and odd features that pretty much make it mucho German and “clockwork.” The engraving is rather refined and crisp in a highly detailed manner. Kinda just the extreme opposite of today’s Made In China.
The film rewind knob elevates itself on a thread, meanwhile inside the camera a forked cylinder telescopes into the feeder cassette (The Robot Royal uses standard 135 film cassettes, unlike some earlier models) when rewinding. Pretty much you want to minimize friction and mass as to not add a high burden to the spring motor.
Then hidden under this knob is another knob for a film indicator. Anyways someone like “Q” from a James Bond movie would kinda think of this.
The take-up has a similar dual mechanism where when lifted and turned in the reverse direction of the arrow the knob gets locked securely in the upright position. Nothing Willy-Nilly about this camera, everything is done with purpose.
The 50 F2.0 Zeiss Sonnar is a rather small lens, but it is made of chromed brass to add to the heft of the camera. Distance scale I mentioned is marked in feet only for a mucho clean presentation. Also the engravings are rather thin highly defined lines that are UBER crisp. The DOF are marked with highly visible colored dots that are color coded to the F-stops. Pretty EZ-PZ to use the camera as a zone focus camera and for fast shooting.
The tripod socket has a lever that extends a foot that prevents the camera from tipping when say placed on a table. Even though the lens is short, it is heavy enough to be front heavy, so even this was taken into account. How German is that?
There are three focusing tabs, so with practice and use pretty much it should be easy to pre-focus and preset focus. Conveniently 9 feet and 12 feet are on either side of one tab. This for me is ideal for shooting a 50. All I have to do is center the tab to the top of the camera. Again, “How German is that?”
So this camera is known to have been used as a spy camera during the Cold War. Also pretty much because of its heft it also is weaponized.
Oddly no strap lugs. The build quality kinda shames a Leica. All slotted screws. The spring motor has a fold out tab with a keeper post. The tightener is not unlike a watch and a ratcheted back and forth is utilized to wind the spring. It has a robust and positive stop. Pretty much no way to overwind.
Cal
Not the brightest or most contrasty rangefinder, and perhaps all that is required is a cleaning. The rangefinder is a rather small centrally located circle with a yellow tint.
Some very cool and odd features that pretty much make it mucho German and “clockwork.” The engraving is rather refined and crisp in a highly detailed manner. Kinda just the extreme opposite of today’s Made In China.
The film rewind knob elevates itself on a thread, meanwhile inside the camera a forked cylinder telescopes into the feeder cassette (The Robot Royal uses standard 135 film cassettes, unlike some earlier models) when rewinding. Pretty much you want to minimize friction and mass as to not add a high burden to the spring motor.
Then hidden under this knob is another knob for a film indicator. Anyways someone like “Q” from a James Bond movie would kinda think of this.
The take-up has a similar dual mechanism where when lifted and turned in the reverse direction of the arrow the knob gets locked securely in the upright position. Nothing Willy-Nilly about this camera, everything is done with purpose.
The 50 F2.0 Zeiss Sonnar is a rather small lens, but it is made of chromed brass to add to the heft of the camera. Distance scale I mentioned is marked in feet only for a mucho clean presentation. Also the engravings are rather thin highly defined lines that are UBER crisp. The DOF are marked with highly visible colored dots that are color coded to the F-stops. Pretty EZ-PZ to use the camera as a zone focus camera and for fast shooting.
The tripod socket has a lever that extends a foot that prevents the camera from tipping when say placed on a table. Even though the lens is short, it is heavy enough to be front heavy, so even this was taken into account. How German is that?
There are three focusing tabs, so with practice and use pretty much it should be easy to pre-focus and preset focus. Conveniently 9 feet and 12 feet are on either side of one tab. This for me is ideal for shooting a 50. All I have to do is center the tab to the top of the camera. Again, “How German is that?”
So this camera is known to have been used as a spy camera during the Cold War. Also pretty much because of its heft it also is weaponized.
Oddly no strap lugs. The build quality kinda shames a Leica. All slotted screws. The spring motor has a fold out tab with a keeper post. The tightener is not unlike a watch and a ratcheted back and forth is utilized to wind the spring. It has a robust and positive stop. Pretty much no way to overwind.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Nokton48
Mentor
Thanks for the correction Christian! TOO much coffee this morning LOL
Nokton48
Mentor
Morning Cal. I think cutting film is pretty easy to do. I have an old formica table I use to hold my 24" Roto trim rotary cutter . I use actual film unexposed sheet to set up the bench stops. Blue painters masking tape works great for me. I agree this is a great deal; some 8x10 film can be eight dollars or more per sheet! Holders and film can be the biggest 8x10 expense once you have a good camera. It can be like shooting thirty six exposures in one shot. But worth every penny
Nokton48
Mentor
Kodak aerial film Panatomic X ( best ever made ) | eBay
There is also this being offered. If you like Panatomic-X and have deep pockets
There is also this being offered. If you like Panatomic-X and have deep pockets
Nokton48
Mentor
OK I pulled the trigger on a carton. He has four cartons left if you are interested. I bought some 5 inch Plus-X Aero from him and it's AOK. Bet it's hot in Mumbai 
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
OK I pulled the trigger on a carton. He has four cartons left if you are interested. I bought some 5 inch Plus-X Aero from him and it's AOK. Bet it's hot in Mumbai
Devil Dan,
That sub continent is definitely a hot spot.
Seems like lots of 70mm also comes from India.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I pretty much have “Robot-Disease.”
First off they are heavy duty with a sturdy build, then they cost little money. I would love to get a “Devil Christian” version which is a Vollautomatic with the mucho huge 50 shot knob to shoot the 24x24 square.
On top of that Devil Christian seems to have developed a spool that will make oaring more modern and EZ-PZ. This unit still needs to be 3-D printed and tested, but after looking into my “NR” take-up spool I can see how it will work.
Only comment is that the diameter of the spool edges might have to be optimized to make the engagement slot concentric. Pretty much would “float” like a Leica M3 take-up spool.
Pretty much an undervalued camera I think because of the awkward film loading.
Cal
First off they are heavy duty with a sturdy build, then they cost little money. I would love to get a “Devil Christian” version which is a Vollautomatic with the mucho huge 50 shot knob to shoot the 24x24 square.
On top of that Devil Christian seems to have developed a spool that will make oaring more modern and EZ-PZ. This unit still needs to be 3-D printed and tested, but after looking into my “NR” take-up spool I can see how it will work.
Only comment is that the diameter of the spool edges might have to be optimized to make the engagement slot concentric. Pretty much would “float” like a Leica M3 take-up spool.
Pretty much an undervalued camera I think because of the awkward film loading.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I checked on EBAY. This minty “Never-Ready” case like mine for a Robot Royal is no longer listed. It was listed at a crazy collector’s price.
Good to know that I could sell mine for crazy money. Seems worthwhile to hold onto mine because of it’s condition.
Cal
Good to know that I could sell mine for crazy money. Seems worthwhile to hold onto mine because of it’s condition.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I got the steel IBIS set up with a Rock Shox Judy SL front suspension and with a 1x11 XTR 11-40T drivetrain. The Wolf Tooth chain ring only has 30 teeth so I have rock crawling low gears. Definitely looks like a motorcycle with the updates. Weighs about 26 pounds though. The bike is a porker.
Looks like Labor Day sales have already started. Audi has a friends and family sale. My bike suppliers are spamming me.
At home everyone is kinda anxious about the soon to be born grandson: crazy anxious. The grand daughter wants to stay with Maggie and me Friday to take a break from her crazed parents. Pretty much we are calm, but her parents are not.
Next week they might induce labor, or they might do a C-section depending on the the size sonogram. Evidently this kid is getting kinda big and it s a concern. Next week could get crazy or crazier.
Cal
Looks like Labor Day sales have already started. Audi has a friends and family sale. My bike suppliers are spamming me.
At home everyone is kinda anxious about the soon to be born grandson: crazy anxious. The grand daughter wants to stay with Maggie and me Friday to take a break from her crazed parents. Pretty much we are calm, but her parents are not.
Next week they might induce labor, or they might do a C-section depending on the the size sonogram. Evidently this kid is getting kinda big and it s a concern. Next week could get crazy or crazier.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I bought a bike rack that mounts to my seat post. It can handle 20 pounds, and has an EZ-PZ fast mounting with a quick release.
Don’t tell “Maggie,” but I have some 120 ACROS (original) in my stockpile that I have been saving because it is fab for night shooting: no reciprocation failure. Developed in my “Slacker’s-Brew,” AKA Diafine, I get mucho contrast compression with full range of tones which means mucho mids from high contrast scenes.
Pretty much load up a bike with a tripod and a camera. Perhaps even an 8x10 so I can contact print. You know me; optimize at time of exposure; make great negatives that are easy to print; and maximize IQ. Contact printing is the lazy slacker’s way.
So I think I will do this night shooting during snow storms. I live in an urban area that has mucho lovely old houses. One of them I own. The Ti Basso set up as my Fat Tire bike with muy aggressive 2.35 wide tires would get me around, and the idea would be to photograph in virgin snow that could be wind blown and banked to display that calmness that happens when it snows, as well as the turmoil of a northeaster.
Ice storms at night would be rather dramatic.
So I see a wonderful bunch of series happening that easily could become books, even if one offs.
I am still fondling the Robot Royal 36. Privately Devil Christian mentioned that at the last Meet-Up he failed to remove the lens to demonstrate that the rather small lens is remarkably heavy. In fact the lens is a mucho heavy chunk of machined brass, and the weight is so vast that it is no exaggeration that it weighs as much as the body of the camera.
”They don’t build German cameras like they use to,” I say.
On one hand, the camera is compact and small, so is the lense, but it weighs a ton. Makes a Leica seem wimpy.
Also my fondling has redistributed lubricants it seems. My Robot Royal is a shelf queen, but with a mucho simple shutter. The shutter speeds are limited, with a top speed of only 1/500, then 1/250, 1/100, 1/50, 1/25, 1/10, 1/5, 1/2 and finally Bulb. The point is no slow shutter speeds like on a Leica to get gummed up and pretty low maintenance.
I thought the rangefinder was kinda dim, but this was without my glasses. In fact the rangefinder patch is a small circle, but it has great contrast if I wear my glasses, and is deadly accurate.
So with exercising I seemed to eliminate some friction by redistributing lubricants and now I can get 10-11-12-13 shots from the spring motor, where in the past I could only get 4-5-6. One time I even got 14. Just enough stored energy to trip the shutter. Seems when this happens that winding the spring motor after just the shutter has tripped advances the film with no ill effect. “How crazy is that?
Anyways this Robot Royal 36 has mucho “Calzone-Factor,” very-very quirky, very-very different, not boring, not like other cameras, mucho strong for its size, but then again mucho strong in a robust thuggish way. The sound of winding the spring motor is like using a Craftsman 1/4 inch drive racket. The sound pretty much is the same for winding, but the sound of the film advance pretty much replicates the sound of my Nixon F3P when rigged with motor drive but at a lower, more quiet sound level.
Kinda chirp like my Jeep Scrambler’s rear tires when under full acceleration when I shift gears and break traction for a moment. Chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp… Anyways I love that sound.
So pretty much I have a deadly camera. A heavy weight, rugged, weaponized, tough, and perhaps a bit ghetto and thuggy.
I am reminded when I use to carry a Rolliflex and my Plaubel 69W with Proshift. The Plaubel has a 21mm FOV and makes a 6x9 negative, but shooting this with a Rollie 3.5F “Whiteface” made a great shooting pair. I did a lot of shooting with this pair of cameras, and generally I do not mix formats of mediums because it gets too complicated for me and I easily get overwhelmed.
So anyways I think I might want another Robot camera that shoots a square 24x24, because I tend to shoot with two cameras.
For one thing, I learned from Amy Arbus that she use to carry three Rollies in a knapsack sack. With 120 pretty much only 12 exposures. Richard Avedone before he shot and got known for his 8x10 work also shot Rollies, and he would have two assistants who’s jobs were to load and unload cameras.
If you ever shot a Rolliflex, you gotta know that they can eat a lot of film, that 12 exposures is not a lot, and then it kinda sucks when you miss shots because you have to reload.
Anyways that is why I tend to carry at least 2 cameras, and at times three.
Also Devil Christian says the way I shoot is kinda “performative” because I interact and engage with my subjects. Some of my work involves sequences… That is another body of work.
I pretty much have two different books I have to edit that involve outdoor pole dancers. One was this girl, mucho hot, who put on a show for me. “I was just minding my own business,” I say, but it was in the staging area early for the Mermaid Parade. Pretty much she core-E-O-graphed a sequence of shots for me and my camera.
I would a year later meet-up with this smoking hot girl, and learn her name was “Brooklyn.” Again, “I was just minding my own business…”
One day, “I was just minding my own business,” and I was searching for these people who believed that Ama-GOD-N was going to happen and they strongly believed that they would as send to heaven in a few days because the world as we knew it would end due to some Mayan calender event. For some unknown reason all these crazy religious fanatics came to NYC to get us to repent.
I went down to Union Square, and could not see or find any of the believers what only earlier in the week and in fact just the day before, told me to repent or be condemned to hell. Then I wondered, did the ascend already? Am I in eternal hell, meaning NYC? Is NYC hell?
So pretty much I started walking up Broadway, and I discovered a staging area for a “Dance Parade.” So pretty much I go from being abandoned in hell to paradise. I immediately recognized the pole platform from the Mermaid Parade that was towed by a guy dressed like a Pirate on a three wheeled bike that pretty much was designed and marketed for senior citizens.
So I meet this scantly clad girl yet again, with the ideal pole dancing body, but I am face to face. I’m happy to see her, and it seems she remembered me from a year ago. I know this because I asked her, “Do you remember me?” So that is how I got her name.
So the smut was that there was this “Dance Parade” and she and a whole crew of pole dancers, with hard bodies, scantily clad, were part of this parade to promote some pole dancing institute or school on 5th Avenue. Actually Brooklyn tried to recruit me, “We need more men Pole Dancers,” she said.
Am I dirty old man, or was this girl flirting with me?
So then all these pole dancers began warming up, practicing their routines, and putting on a private show for me. “I was just minding my own business,” I say, and for some unknown reason I was rigged with a Mamiya 6 with the legendary 50mm wide angle lens to get up mighty close in about 6-7 feet to be basically in the action. At one point one dancer almost kicked my camera while I was shooting.
Another girl pretty much opened her crotch kinda flashing me with her privates. I have the photo to prove it. Some of the shots display motion blur because of my close proximity. Oh so dramatic.
So this is just another example of how I seem to end up in sich-E-A-tigons, when all I’m trying to do is mind my own business.
Another time I was just walking around Brooklyn. In Manhattan that Saturday was the Climate March, and I wanted to avoid the crowds, the mob scene, and do something more akin to my style. Somehow I stumbled into some skateboarding event sponsored by Vans the sneaker brand.
Because of the Climate March I pretty much had like a back stage pass to this event that was part of a big production. It was being video taped and would be broadcast. I actually watched the show when it was broadcast.
I had my Leica Monochrom rigged with a 28 Cron. The shooting was fast, and pretty much I shot using a “Kill-Zone.” Anyways I have enough material to create another book. Also know this and the other examples are kinda how I operate. In true life I perhaps am very private and could say I’m kinda shy or perhaps even anti-social.
Cal
Don’t tell “Maggie,” but I have some 120 ACROS (original) in my stockpile that I have been saving because it is fab for night shooting: no reciprocation failure. Developed in my “Slacker’s-Brew,” AKA Diafine, I get mucho contrast compression with full range of tones which means mucho mids from high contrast scenes.
Pretty much load up a bike with a tripod and a camera. Perhaps even an 8x10 so I can contact print. You know me; optimize at time of exposure; make great negatives that are easy to print; and maximize IQ. Contact printing is the lazy slacker’s way.
So I think I will do this night shooting during snow storms. I live in an urban area that has mucho lovely old houses. One of them I own. The Ti Basso set up as my Fat Tire bike with muy aggressive 2.35 wide tires would get me around, and the idea would be to photograph in virgin snow that could be wind blown and banked to display that calmness that happens when it snows, as well as the turmoil of a northeaster.
Ice storms at night would be rather dramatic.
So I see a wonderful bunch of series happening that easily could become books, even if one offs.
I am still fondling the Robot Royal 36. Privately Devil Christian mentioned that at the last Meet-Up he failed to remove the lens to demonstrate that the rather small lens is remarkably heavy. In fact the lens is a mucho heavy chunk of machined brass, and the weight is so vast that it is no exaggeration that it weighs as much as the body of the camera.
”They don’t build German cameras like they use to,” I say.
On one hand, the camera is compact and small, so is the lense, but it weighs a ton. Makes a Leica seem wimpy.
Also my fondling has redistributed lubricants it seems. My Robot Royal is a shelf queen, but with a mucho simple shutter. The shutter speeds are limited, with a top speed of only 1/500, then 1/250, 1/100, 1/50, 1/25, 1/10, 1/5, 1/2 and finally Bulb. The point is no slow shutter speeds like on a Leica to get gummed up and pretty low maintenance.
I thought the rangefinder was kinda dim, but this was without my glasses. In fact the rangefinder patch is a small circle, but it has great contrast if I wear my glasses, and is deadly accurate.
So with exercising I seemed to eliminate some friction by redistributing lubricants and now I can get 10-11-12-13 shots from the spring motor, where in the past I could only get 4-5-6. One time I even got 14. Just enough stored energy to trip the shutter. Seems when this happens that winding the spring motor after just the shutter has tripped advances the film with no ill effect. “How crazy is that?
Anyways this Robot Royal 36 has mucho “Calzone-Factor,” very-very quirky, very-very different, not boring, not like other cameras, mucho strong for its size, but then again mucho strong in a robust thuggish way. The sound of winding the spring motor is like using a Craftsman 1/4 inch drive racket. The sound pretty much is the same for winding, but the sound of the film advance pretty much replicates the sound of my Nixon F3P when rigged with motor drive but at a lower, more quiet sound level.
Kinda chirp like my Jeep Scrambler’s rear tires when under full acceleration when I shift gears and break traction for a moment. Chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp… Anyways I love that sound.
So pretty much I have a deadly camera. A heavy weight, rugged, weaponized, tough, and perhaps a bit ghetto and thuggy.
I am reminded when I use to carry a Rolliflex and my Plaubel 69W with Proshift. The Plaubel has a 21mm FOV and makes a 6x9 negative, but shooting this with a Rollie 3.5F “Whiteface” made a great shooting pair. I did a lot of shooting with this pair of cameras, and generally I do not mix formats of mediums because it gets too complicated for me and I easily get overwhelmed.
So anyways I think I might want another Robot camera that shoots a square 24x24, because I tend to shoot with two cameras.
For one thing, I learned from Amy Arbus that she use to carry three Rollies in a knapsack sack. With 120 pretty much only 12 exposures. Richard Avedone before he shot and got known for his 8x10 work also shot Rollies, and he would have two assistants who’s jobs were to load and unload cameras.
If you ever shot a Rolliflex, you gotta know that they can eat a lot of film, that 12 exposures is not a lot, and then it kinda sucks when you miss shots because you have to reload.
Anyways that is why I tend to carry at least 2 cameras, and at times three.
Also Devil Christian says the way I shoot is kinda “performative” because I interact and engage with my subjects. Some of my work involves sequences… That is another body of work.
I pretty much have two different books I have to edit that involve outdoor pole dancers. One was this girl, mucho hot, who put on a show for me. “I was just minding my own business,” I say, but it was in the staging area early for the Mermaid Parade. Pretty much she core-E-O-graphed a sequence of shots for me and my camera.
I would a year later meet-up with this smoking hot girl, and learn her name was “Brooklyn.” Again, “I was just minding my own business…”
One day, “I was just minding my own business,” and I was searching for these people who believed that Ama-GOD-N was going to happen and they strongly believed that they would as send to heaven in a few days because the world as we knew it would end due to some Mayan calender event. For some unknown reason all these crazy religious fanatics came to NYC to get us to repent.
I went down to Union Square, and could not see or find any of the believers what only earlier in the week and in fact just the day before, told me to repent or be condemned to hell. Then I wondered, did the ascend already? Am I in eternal hell, meaning NYC? Is NYC hell?
So pretty much I started walking up Broadway, and I discovered a staging area for a “Dance Parade.” So pretty much I go from being abandoned in hell to paradise. I immediately recognized the pole platform from the Mermaid Parade that was towed by a guy dressed like a Pirate on a three wheeled bike that pretty much was designed and marketed for senior citizens.
So I meet this scantly clad girl yet again, with the ideal pole dancing body, but I am face to face. I’m happy to see her, and it seems she remembered me from a year ago. I know this because I asked her, “Do you remember me?” So that is how I got her name.
So the smut was that there was this “Dance Parade” and she and a whole crew of pole dancers, with hard bodies, scantily clad, were part of this parade to promote some pole dancing institute or school on 5th Avenue. Actually Brooklyn tried to recruit me, “We need more men Pole Dancers,” she said.
Am I dirty old man, or was this girl flirting with me?
So then all these pole dancers began warming up, practicing their routines, and putting on a private show for me. “I was just minding my own business,” I say, and for some unknown reason I was rigged with a Mamiya 6 with the legendary 50mm wide angle lens to get up mighty close in about 6-7 feet to be basically in the action. At one point one dancer almost kicked my camera while I was shooting.
Another girl pretty much opened her crotch kinda flashing me with her privates. I have the photo to prove it. Some of the shots display motion blur because of my close proximity. Oh so dramatic.
So this is just another example of how I seem to end up in sich-E-A-tigons, when all I’m trying to do is mind my own business.
Another time I was just walking around Brooklyn. In Manhattan that Saturday was the Climate March, and I wanted to avoid the crowds, the mob scene, and do something more akin to my style. Somehow I stumbled into some skateboarding event sponsored by Vans the sneaker brand.
Because of the Climate March I pretty much had like a back stage pass to this event that was part of a big production. It was being video taped and would be broadcast. I actually watched the show when it was broadcast.
I had my Leica Monochrom rigged with a 28 Cron. The shooting was fast, and pretty much I shot using a “Kill-Zone.” Anyways I have enough material to create another book. Also know this and the other examples are kinda how I operate. In true life I perhaps am very private and could say I’m kinda shy or perhaps even anti-social.
Cal
fiddle
Established
Alright, this time I swear Ill make it.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Alright, this time I swear Ill make it.
Fidel,
Alright. You pick a Sunday date then.
Cal.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Undid a potion of what the carpenter installed yesterday to stain the new wooden door. Had to remove the storm door pulls and the door knob and dead bolt.
I do a dark translucent red mahogany gel stain that has lots of depth and shows off the grain of the wood. I use a stain conditioner, then a coat of gel stain that tends to be mucho red that sits on the surface and does not penetrate into the wood, then a day later after the first coating is fully cured I add the darkening layer.
It is the same red mahogany gel stain, but it transforms into a darker brown, but somehow the underneath red also is there. Upon a closer look the red pops out more and more, and it kinda grabs you.
So my art school training comes in, and this wet on dry technic is akin to water color. The stain conditioner I use is like sizing on arches paper.
So now I have a red door on my house… and I’m thinking of the song back door man… I’m a drama queen…
The storm door is kinda panoramic because it is a big piece of glass. This is good because the view is nice, a narrow concert path leads past the garage into the back-backyard, the cliff, the marsh, and the forested hillside.
Last night I got up at 4:30 to pee. In the bathroom I saw my motion detector light go on so I looked out the bathroom window and I saw two long tailed weasels walking down that narrow concrete path leading to the back-backyard. Also the other day I saw a Spring Peeper, a tiny frog the size of my thumbnail in my front backyard. This is pretty far from the frog ghetto.
The kitchen outside door that was removed now is the basement. It is being saved to be recycled into the garage studio. A nice heavy fiber glass exterior door. I also have the original lock set, door knob, and deadbolt to reinstall and recycle. Moving along, but at a relaxed pace.
I really like how the steel IBIS turned out as a 1x11 geared bike with a suspension fork. Now it is a full blown mountain bike. The rock crawling gearing I think will be awesome. An 18 inch gear low was possible because I secured a 30 tooth chain ring. It will be interesting to get the steel IBIS on a trail.
Tomorrow “Maggie” will likely take Creature-Junior (8 year old grand daughter) to the pool, so I can do the second darkening coat to the door.
Cal
I do a dark translucent red mahogany gel stain that has lots of depth and shows off the grain of the wood. I use a stain conditioner, then a coat of gel stain that tends to be mucho red that sits on the surface and does not penetrate into the wood, then a day later after the first coating is fully cured I add the darkening layer.
It is the same red mahogany gel stain, but it transforms into a darker brown, but somehow the underneath red also is there. Upon a closer look the red pops out more and more, and it kinda grabs you.
So my art school training comes in, and this wet on dry technic is akin to water color. The stain conditioner I use is like sizing on arches paper.
So now I have a red door on my house… and I’m thinking of the song back door man… I’m a drama queen…
The storm door is kinda panoramic because it is a big piece of glass. This is good because the view is nice, a narrow concert path leads past the garage into the back-backyard, the cliff, the marsh, and the forested hillside.
Last night I got up at 4:30 to pee. In the bathroom I saw my motion detector light go on so I looked out the bathroom window and I saw two long tailed weasels walking down that narrow concrete path leading to the back-backyard. Also the other day I saw a Spring Peeper, a tiny frog the size of my thumbnail in my front backyard. This is pretty far from the frog ghetto.
The kitchen outside door that was removed now is the basement. It is being saved to be recycled into the garage studio. A nice heavy fiber glass exterior door. I also have the original lock set, door knob, and deadbolt to reinstall and recycle. Moving along, but at a relaxed pace.
I really like how the steel IBIS turned out as a 1x11 geared bike with a suspension fork. Now it is a full blown mountain bike. The rock crawling gearing I think will be awesome. An 18 inch gear low was possible because I secured a 30 tooth chain ring. It will be interesting to get the steel IBIS on a trail.
Tomorrow “Maggie” will likely take Creature-Junior (8 year old grand daughter) to the pool, so I can do the second darkening coat to the door.
Cal
fiddle
Established
Dammit.
ok ok, Im going to avoid the last weekend of September, I want to go to the Race of Gentlemen thing in Wildwood NJ,if anyone is interested?
So how about we go for the 18th?
ok ok, Im going to avoid the last weekend of September, I want to go to the Race of Gentlemen thing in Wildwood NJ,if anyone is interested?
So how about we go for the 18th?