Hello Again Hello

Good morning you awesome camera geeks! An old song once said “Hello stranger, it seems like a mighty long time!” Well today it’s more like Neil Diamond with “Hello Again” Hello 😂

I would like to thank my friend Frank B. from upstate NY for this post because he reminded me that I haven’t posted anything on the blog since last October! Wow, has it been that long?

I spent the last month traveling in the Philippines and Thailand. On this trip I decided to bring less gear but really focus on a few key Camera Legend cameras, some of which you’ll see in this post.

Multi-Tasking in Bangkok with the Minolta TC-1. I don’t multitask well but somehow I did it for this shot 😅

The trip may explain my inactivity for last month but what about the rest of the year you might ask? 😂

Well first of all let me apologize to all the great bloggers who I follow, who I haven’t dropped by to leave a comment or two. I have come to realize that I simply cannot multitask! And it gets worse the older I get.

It originally started out with me wanting to concentrate on my YouTube channel. Then my phone filled up and it automatically offloaded some key apps like WordPress and since I wasn’t posting much anyway, I very nearly forgot about it! I suck I know! 😂

Anyway with my regular day job, with Instagram and Facebook and YouTube I simply got burnt out. I apologize and I have the deepest respect for you guys who do this on a daily basis 🙏🙏

I got to a thousand subscribers on YouTube but I’m still not making any money off it. They keep upping the ante like you need a certain amount of watch time, certain amount of subs, etc. Honestly I hate making videos and I don’t really recommend it unless you’re a video-centric person.

But among the legendary cameras I took on this trip, my two most used were the Minolta TC-1 and the Leica M9.

The Minolta TC-1 and CatLabs X Film 320.

Classic car spotted in Manila, Philippines. Anyone know what make/model this is? Shot with the Minolta TC-1 and CatLabs X Film 320 developed in HC-110 developer

I found myself using the TC-1 a lot on this trip. Its tiny diminutive size was a plus! I’ve written about the TC-1 here before but have yet to do a full review either here or on YouTube. I hope to once I get all my film developed.

The Leica M9 is a legendary digital Leica introduced in 2009. I actually picked up mine in 2020. I got a great deal on the camera and I used the extra money I made during the COVID-19 pandemic to pay for it.

As a user of the older M8 since 2010, I felt right at home with the M9. Even though the M8 is APS-H (1.3x Crop Factor) and the M9 is full frame, they produce (mostly) similar looking files.

“Chillin'” 2023. Leica M9 and 40mm f/2 Summicron-C.

“Pa Jian” A 91 year old lady in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. She reveals her secret to long life in my latest video. Shot with a Leica M9 and 40mm f/2 Summicron-C.

Kodakchrome like colors are one of the hallmarks of the Leica M9.

Does anyone besides me miss those cute COVID masks? 😍 Shot in the fall of 2020 with the Leica M9 and 35mm f/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton

Halloween 2022. Is it almost time for Halloween again? Time moves fast my friends and I’m making up for lost time! Leica M9 and Voigtlander 35mm f/1.2 Nokton.

The Leica M9 is a fantastic image maker even in 2023 but is it worth the risk? To me it is but only you can decide whether a camera from 2009 is still worth buying.

I’ve heard people describe the M9 as having an upscaled version of the M8 sensor and they indeed produce similar looking images for the most part. Although I’m not anywhere ready to write a full M9 review what I can say is imagine all the things you like about the M8 but make them better. That’s what the M9 is. Better color correction, better resolution, plus making full use of your lenses with the full frame sensor. But it has one major flaw. Sensor Corrosion!

Here’s my latest YouTube video which is part travel, part review. It’s not a complete M9 review but I think you’ll find out almost everything you need if you’re considering buying an M9.

I dedicate this video to the memory of Anthony Bourdain whose food and travel videos were an inspiration to me. In fact, although I don’t advocate smoking, I included the smoking scenes as a tribute to him, particularly the early Bourdain. I think that rawness was part of his charm.

I have been watching his shows since he was on the Travel Channel with “No Reservations.” Then he moved to CNN and did “Parts Unknown” for many years. Then seemingly at the height of his fame, he took his own life in 2018. A sad ending for a man who brought a lot of joy to many many people.

Anyway that’s it for today! I just wanted to say hi and try to get a post in. I appreciate anyone reading this. Thank you very much!

Hello from…

Good morning you guys! I know I have been away far too long this time even by my standards but I was gone for about a month and took the opportunity to not only take photos but also to take a digital detox. Didn’t sign on to WordPress once during my trip, sorry to say!

I went to Thailand and the Philippines. Two very colorful countries that appear similar on the surface but couldn’t be more different culturally. The one thing that ties them together really are the wonderful, friendly people.

I was almost always on the move. But on the positive side, I got a lot of rest at night. More sleep than I’ve had in months! On the negative side, I now have bad jet lag and my whole system is all messed up.

On this trip, I brought with me the Hasselblad X-Pan that you saw on the most recent video review. Just because I reviewed a camera doesn’t mean I stop using it! I also brought a couple other film cameras, including an Olympus Stylus Epic and Contax cameras. But which Contax? 😀👍🏻

On the digital side I brought my Ricoh GR 16mp. I’ve never really warmed up to this camera simply because I’ve always been partial to my beloved original GRD 8.1mp but I took the GR to “break it in” even though I’ve had it for a few years.

A crab found on the beach in Marinduque Island, Philippines. Of course, it was set free afterwards 🙂

Well, I don’t have any of the film developed yet so it will take some time. All of these photos are either from my iPhone or Ricoh. I just haven’t had the time to sort them out.

Guardians at one of the many spectacular temples in Thailand’s Wat Phra Kaew, the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand.

The amazingly funky Mahanakhon building in Bangkok.

I searched for film cameras and film and found them in the Quiapo section of Manila, one of the very few places where you can find film or film cameras in the Philippines!

A simple and undeveloped, unspoiled beach on Marinduque Island, Philippines.

No need for a title, but if I were to give this photo a title, I guess you could figure out what it would be 🙂

Surely there’s a lot of work left to do but I hope these photos give you a glimpse of where I’ve been and hopefully there’s more to come. And definitely, there’s a lot of catching up to do!

Hope you all are doing well, and catch you guys again soon! 😎📸👍🏻

Manila In B&W With The Ricoh GR-1 Film Camera

“Hotel City” 2018. Ricoh GR1, Kentmere 400 developed in D76 Developer. There are so many hotels in this city! And so many beautiful hotels at that. This one is the Rizal Hotel near Manila Bay. I was very close to the building and despite having the GR-1 with its 28mm lens, I wish I had a wider lens. Yes, there is such a thing as not wide enough! 🙂

Manila, the bustling capital of the Philippines, is a fascinating, lively, and colorful place that in my opinion is better suited to color photography than it is for black and white photography.

“Mall Town” 2018. Ricoh GR1, Kentmere 400 developed in D76 Developer. Mall culture is alive and well in the Philippines. They love their malls! I hate to admit it, but I frequented many malls during my visit and they were all great. They take their malls seriously in Manila! 😊[[[[[[[[[[[[

However, as a B&W fanatic, you and I both know that everything looks good in B&W anyway 😀

With that in mind, I couldn’t help but take my Ricoh GR1 along for this recent trip.

Now you may or may not recall, but in the last post I mentioned bringing along two of the greatest point and shoot film cameras along for this trip.

I used those cameras with color film so that means the GR-1 was NOT one of those two cameras, despite the fact that it could easily be in that same list of “greatest.” So what does this mean? It means I hope you’ll stay tuned as I have more goodies and surprises coming your way!

This article will show some photos taken with the GR-1 and Kentmere 400 B&W film. I developed this roll in D76.

Looking back on the photos, I wished I had shot more than one roll with the GR-1. That’s the problem with taking too many cameras 😊 In fact, I could’ve easily used it as my only film camera and I would’ve been happy with that.

Here are just some photos from the trip. Not meant to be an artistic showcase, just the things I saw in Manila and some thoughts on them. Where I can, I will try to give you some commentary.

“Intramuros” 2018. Ricoh GR1, Kentmere 400 developed in D76 Developer. This is the famous walled city at the heart of old historic Manila. I shot this through a dirty window using both the iPhone X and the Ricoh GR1. I was surprised at how much detail came through from both! The detail here is really limited mostly due to the film grain when compared to the iPhone photos.

“SALE” 2018. Ricoh GR1, Kentmere 400 developed in D76 Developer. I love fashion photography but mannequins are as close as I usually get to fashion models 🙂

“BGC” 2018. Ricoh GR1, Kentmere 400 developed in D76 Developer. A scene from Manila’s vibrant “BGC” district, a hip financial and social center.

“Manila Floods” 2018. Ricoh GR1, Kentmere 400 developed in D76 Developer. It rained nearly every day of the two and a half weeks I spent there. They don’t call it the “rainy season” for nothing.

“OOMA Sushi” 2018. Ricoh GR1, Kentmere 400 developed in D76 Developer. Had a good meal here. Not sure why the man is smiling, but I certainly don’t know him! I just took a quick grab shot 🙂

“Lucban Church” 2018. Ricoh GR1, Kentmere 400 developed in D76 Developer. Heading out a couple of hours southeast from Manila, I visited the small municipality of Lucban in the province of Quezon where I saw this beautiful and historic church that dates back hundreds of years. This is the San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Parish Church otherwise know as “Lucban Church.”

“Free Fall” 2018. Ricoh GR1, Kentmere 400 developed in D76. Youngsters having fun at this man made waterfall at the Vila Escudero, a resort about an hour away from Metro Manila.

“Night Lights” 2018. Ricoh GR1, Kentmere 400 developed in D76 developer. The lights on the open air rooftop at the SM Aura mall in Manila. Considering this is ISO 400 film, I think the Ricoh GR1 did pretty good with this shot.

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The Extended Trip

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“Sisters Sa Kaeo” 2016. iPhone 6s Plus. The girls found themselves on a lovely, but lonely local unpopulated, undeveloped beach in the tiny village of Ban Sa Kaeo in the province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand.

Where the heck in the world are we?! I’m not sure many out there care, but based on the stats there are at least some who do. And I do appreciate that. I know we have been away for long periods before, but this is by far the worst and I do apologize. Some of you have left comments and messages and I promise to get back to all of you.

I have been away vacationing as well as visiting elderly relatives in SE Asia. While the trip is primarily to pay homage to relatives who are not in the best of health, any trip to SE Asia is a potential gold mine for photography. Not to mention a chance to actually use the gear I review here 🙂

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“The Mean Lady” 2016. Olympus OM-D EM-5, Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand.

One thing while overseas is that I always get minimal use of my phone and the internet due to lack of good wifi access and the high roaming charges I incur from my provider. As such I was barely on the internet, but the good thing is I finally know what it feels like to get a good night’s sleep 🙂

On this trip, as opposed to previous trips, I kept my camera gear at a minimal. I kept it light. Two digital cameras, two film cameras and a phone camera. While it may still seem like a lot for some, it’s not for me as I’ve lugged medium format gear and large lenses on my overseas trips in the past. Not this time. A sign that I’m getting old? Perhaps. Or maybe I’ve just learned to maximize from minimal gear? Maybe a combination of both.

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“Cool Blue Pool” 2016. Kids enjoying a splash in a small but cool, blue pool. Olympus OM-D EM-5, Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 in Paranaque, Philippines.

Above are just a few shots from the trip. I haven’t developed the film yet so we’ll see how those came out, fingers crossed. Anyway, just saying Hi! and thanks to all who still visit this site, I appreciate you, I really do!

Best, Sam

Black & White Portraits

“The Tsingtao Boy” 2009. Canon F-1N, 50mm f/1.4 FD lens, Tri-X. Chinatown, NYC.

While I do love color photography, there’s just something different about black and white photography that really endears me to it. And when you combine b&w with people (or animals!), that really takes it to another level for me.

These are just some b&w images taken over the years. Like I’ve said before, sometimes I do want to remind myself that I love shooting almost as much as I love cameras…I think! These are also images from cameras I am planning to review for you, cameras like the Leica M8 and the Canon F-1N, which is one of my favorite Canon bodies ever, past or present.

It seems almost unbelievable to me that it has taken this long, but after two weeks I’m finally getting my main working computer back today! As I mentioned before, this really set me back as far as content for this website is concerned and I’m just beginning to catch up. Thanks to those who continue to visit and I do appreciate your time and comments.

This is admittedly going to be a busy week and writing a blog with any kind of content takes a lot of time. Even my shortest article takes me almost half a day. I admire those who can do this consistently on a daily basis, I know I can’t!

Hope you all have a good short week in preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday here in the USA.

“Man In The Middle” 2011. Canon Powershot G10, Paranaque, Philippines.

“Imported From The Past” 2011. Nikon F4s, Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 AIS. The great Louis Mendes stands out like an icon from the past with his old school Speed Graphic and sharp, retro outfits.

“Vimeo” 2006. Canon Rebel XT, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC. I was buying a lens from this man and I took this shot while testing it. I found out a couple of years later that he is apparently one of the founders of the video sharing site Vimeo!

“The Competition” 2006. Canon Rebel XT, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC. Sometimes facial expression tells you everything!

“Time Will Not Wait” 2011. Leica M8, 35mm f/2 Zeiss Biogon. Koh Samui, Thailand.

“Brother Blues” 2010. Leica M8, 50mm f/2 Summicron-M. Washington Square Park, NYC.

“My Door Is Open” 2011. Leica M8, 50mm f/2 Summicron-M. Nonthaburi, Thailand.

“The Godfather Of Bangkok” 2011. Minolta CLE, 40mm f/2 Summicron-M, Tri-X. A scene from a restaurant on the side streets of Bangkok, Thailand. With one hand on his meal, the other hand reaches for the plate before anyone else could get to it first. Don’t mess with the Godfather of Bangkok! 🙂

A couple of my favorite portraits from the selection above were done with Sigma lenses. Our affiliate and friends at Adorama is offering some incredible savings on SIGMA lenses which only runs through 11/30/15 so if you wanted to pick up some of those super sharp “ART” lenses, this is a good time to do it! And if you order within a certain time, they make every effort to ship same day, which is a great benefit to buying from Adorama versus the competition.