Good day you guys! Just keeping you guys in the loop. This may not be what you’re looking forward to on this channel but if you’re not already on YouTube and you’ve been wanting to do it, this is your video.
I started this YouTube channel about six years ago after years of procrastinating. I wish I had done it sooner! I hate the actual making of the videos, the editing, but I love sharing the knowledge I have gained over the years especially from reading here in WordPress, from forums like Rangefinder Forum, Fred Miranda, Photo.net etc, etc, as well as my own discoveries through real world experiences.
Just like many of you middle ages, I started life on film cameras but was young enough at the dawn of digital to love and appreciate it.
This video is directed at a certain and particular group of people but the message applies to anyone young or old or in between! ο
The point of this video is that there is so much knowledge out there that’s been hidden from the world. There’s things that YOU know that maybe I should know. There’s things that you and I don’t know about certain cameras and lenses that someone out there knows. They may have had the knowledge for years and years but for some reason or another they never thought to share it.
If you have a passion you should SHARE it with the world. If you have an idea that you CONCEIVED and you actually BELIEVE in it, you can ACHIEVE it!
I’m not making money from YouTube but this channel was not started because of money. I wanted to share my passion for cameras and lenses. If the money comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t but if you need more motivation, the potential for making money on YouTube is there. What have you got to lose?
Thanks to anyone who watched today’s video. I don’t expect a lot of views on this one but maybe you’ll surprise me ο Please comment, LIKE & SUBSCRIBE to help keep this channel growing! Thank you for your support! οοο
Hello and good morning you awesome war torn camera geeks! It’s been a helluva while hasn’t it? Well, I had a little time so I figured I’d write to keep you guys posted on recent events and what we’re currently doing. I’m going to delve into several topics so forgive me if it sounds like I’m rambling. I will divide the topics into titles for easier digestion π
“Coffee Art” π 2024. We’re still here! π
The Passage Of Time
Last year I took a trip overseas to the Philippines and Thailand. It still feels like I just came back to the States yesterday. But it’s already been ten months! What the?!
Cafe. Tha Sala, Thailand 2023.Beach. Wildwoods, NJ. 2015Camera fun with baby girl and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC1 β€οΈ 2009.“I Love L.A.” π Los Angeles, California, 1988. Minolta X-700 & 50mm f/1.7 MD lens. Photo taken by my brother I think!“Sam Fam” β€οΈ 2024. Google Pixel 7 Pro
I don’t want to just talk about myself so if you’re of a certain age, please let me know if you can relate to this…
It seemed not too long ago I was a teenager. Then I became a young man trying to find my way in my twenties. Then I got settled down in my thirties. Then the forties came and went. Now into my fifties, I still feel I haven’t accomplished much of anything. And I wonder how much time do I have left.
Listen, I hate to say this, but at the rate these years have been flying by, we’ll be done before we know it! Fifty years sounds like a long time but when you realize how fast one year goes by, is fifty, eighty, or a hundred even that long in reality?
People say grow old gracefully. I’m trying to do that but I don’t know how to. I mean, I still feel like 35 and sometimes even younger but I know I’m not.
People say the fifties are still young. Maybe in today’s world it is but as a younger man, I remember thinking 50, 60, 70, etc, that’s old! Now I’m in that first spot.
I know I sound like a Debbie Downer but on the positive side, I feel as if I can do almost anything I did at thirty but better β€οΈ I’m more sure, I’m not as awkward.
But one profound difference I can see is the people who are younger than me, people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s see me as someone older or maybe even “old” in their eyes.
And it doesn’t help that physically more fine lines have appeared on my face. The skin sags a little more. The hairline is receding. This is aging.
My Mom once said you’ve got two choices. Either you grow old or you’re dead. Wise words! Yet somehow it doesn’t make me any more comfortable with the thought of aging.
To me as one ages, not only are changes in physical appearance inevitable but there’s also a very real, increased chances of some dreaded illness or disease coming your way. In the past four years, we have lost four beloved family members. That’s one a year!
Of course I try to eat healthy, try to get more rest, try not to stress too much. I need to exercise more. But honestly, there’s only so much one can do. When it’s your time it’s your time. But yes, I want to be around to see what my kids do with their lives, to help them whenever I can.
To me aging is like falling into a whirlpool that keeps pulling you towards that center and you can’t escape it.
How do you guys deal with it? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Perhaps it would help me deal with aging better. Thanks in advance ππ
One thing that’s been with me through all the decades is my love for cameras, lenses, and photography. That is the one singular constant I can think of ππ
THE YOUTUBE DILEMMA
As I mentioned to you guys a few years ago, I was writing less here in order to focus on building my YouTube channel. That was in 2018.
I can tell you right now, unless you can commit to doing it consistently, I wouldn’t recommend it.
I’m still not monetized but I’m close to meeting their requirements. I’d probably have gotten there sooner if I were posting more consistently but as a family man who has two growing kids and a day job, I just can’t. Instead, I just post whenever I can put something together. That’s not the formula for YouTube success.
A recent and seemingly popular video about the cameras of Daido Moriyama.
So here’s what I’ve learned from my six years on YouTube. First you need a topic or subject. In this case, I have many! The channel is about cameras, lenses, and photography. I got this covered!
A recent and not so popular video about my very first digital camera and the early days of film vs digital. As a smaller channel, I noticed that some videos get a lot of views and some get very little views. The most interesting part is that some videos “catch on” but much later! Some people say the dreaded “YouTube Algorithm” is responsible for what people see and what they don’t.
Second, you need good video quality. High quality video production counts on YouTube. I have the equipment to make better videos but I’m not a videographer and I’m lazy so I just use my phone most of the time. Count that as a strike against me πͺ
Third you need to spend hours editing. This is the part I hate most! As a photography and camera review channel, I have to gather the necessary photos from the cameras/lenses being reviewed. Then I have to put them together and often narrate. Then I try to find some ear pleasing music to keep it flowing. After that, I have to edit all the parts together and make it into one cohesive video.
And the worst part? Sometimes I get decent views but often times I get very little views and since YouTube is not paying me yet, I feel very little motivation to continue but I push forward. I feel I’ve just scratched the surface of all the things I’d like to share with the good camera loving folks out there π
Anyway, YouTube and other social media like Instagram and Facebook are what has kept me from this blog for so long. Even though I’m an old school guy, I kinda feel that writing is passe π I know I’m wrong, convince me that I’m wrong!
But yeah, until I can actually see the benefits I can’t really recommend doing YouTube.
RECENT PROJECTS
I’m pretty much doing the same thing I’ve been doing for years, that is I’m shooting with film and digital gear β€οΈ
I’ve been focusing a lot of my YouTube videos on digicams because that’s been a favorite of viewers of my channel and it so happens that I’ve been collecting old vintage digital cameras for a long time so it works out.
The Leica Digilux 2 of 2003.
There’s a lot of film stuff I want to cover, but I feel that the channel doesn’t have enough traction yet to make these videos worth the effort.
Here’s a recent project I’m working on. It’s the original Rolleiflex from 1929. When I got it, the camera had only one working shutter speed which is 1/500, the rest were sticking. I fixed it up to where only the slowest speeds stick and I’m able to use the camera in the range I need. But today’s posting is not about the Rolleiflex, as fascinating as it is. I’ll keep you guys posted on my progress with this legendary camera
And here’s some recent film images…
Pool Party 2023 β€οΈ Leica M6 & 50mm f/2 Summicron on CineStill BWXX ISO 250 developed in HC-110Manila Traffic 2023. Leica M6 & 50mm f/2 Summicron-M on CineStill BWXX Oldest Lady In The Village. Sa Kaeo Village, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. Leica M6 and 50mm f/2 Summicron-M on CineStill BWXX ISO 250. Image was very underexposed but I was able to recover the gist of it and I don’t mind the grit!My most recent project photo β€οΈ Test shot with a Graflex RB Series B 4×5, Kodak No. 33 f/4.5 Anastigmat and Arista EDU 400 film developed in HC-110.The nearly one hundred year old Graflex RB Series B is a “portable” 4×5 camera that can be had around $300. I think this will be a great portrait camera! π
Thank you guys so much for reading this today! If you made it this far I just wanted to thank you β€οΈπβ€οΈ The reason this post is so long is because we’ve got some catching up to do and I’m making up for lost time! Appreciate you guys, thank you!
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 π
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?
On a recent flight to the Philippines.
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 π
The trip may explain my inactivity for last month but what about the rest of the year you might ask? π
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! π
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 ππ
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? π 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!
Good morning you awesome camera geeks! Usually I create a post and link a video but due to lack of time, Iβm just giving you guys the link! π
In todayβs video, you will see Olympus legends such as the Pen F film camera, the E-1 Digital, as well as the rare M-1, progenitor of the OM-1, a camera many of you read about right here in my 2015 review.
Iβve been working very hard creating content for the Camera Legend YouTube channel but I havenβt forgotten my home base here β€οΈ
Once the YouTube channel goals are accomplished, I hope to be back here writing full time! Thanks always for your support! πππ
Good morning you awesome camera geeks! Happy New Year 2022!
No article today. Iβm just sharing our latest YouTube video which is my attempted βcinematicβ lol video which is actually a tribute to the Rolleiflex cameras ππΈππ»
Some people had asked me for video samples from my EOS RP and vintage 50mm f/0.95 Canon Dream Lens and so this was shot with a combination of the Dream Lens and the RF 24-105mm kit lens.
Please note, I do not endorse or advocate smoking or vaping. My Dad died of lung cancer eleven years ago and I quit βanalogβ cigarettes then. I switched to vaping and I havenβt been able to quit that.
I only put the smoking/vaping in there to recreate the old Hollywood movies that Iβm a big fan of! Smoking in black and white always looked cinematic somehow, at least to me!
Thanks for checking it out! I wish each and every one of you good health and happiness and continued success this year. Thanks for your support as always!! ππΈππ»
Good morning you awesome camera geeks! Today for your Throwback Thursday Iβm just sharing with you a YouTube βShortsβ playlist.
Now in case you donβt know, YouTube recently rolled out a feature called βShortsβ in which users can put out videos that are 60 seconds or less, in vertical format.
Iβm not sure if YouTube ever mentioned this but it seems obvious that this was done to counter videos by rival Tik-Tok.
Anyway, I started using it for fun and also as a way to give a little spotlight to cameras and lenses I own or have owned, but have yet to fully review.
If you havenβt seen these already, the items spotlighted so far are: the Leica R8, Minolta TC-1, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L which I referred to as my βmost unused lens,β Topcon Super D, Canon Dream Lens and EOS RP, and my famous or βinfamousβ $20 dollar Vivitar PS-20 point and shoot and maybe others I donβt remember off the top of my head!
Why donβt just make full video reviews of these items? Well, Iβd love to, and some are half done but time constraints from work and family prevents me from finishing these projects sooner. I donβt make any money on YouTube yet so I need to give priority to my real job π
Plus, now with a little YouTube experience, I can sense that while a camera like the Topcon Super D or Graflex Norita may appeal to a small cult, they will be largely ignored by my viewers until I have a larger subscription base so Iβll save them until they can be properly appreciated.
Nothing worse than putting a lot of time into videos that will get little views! But yes, I know itβs better to post something than nothing at all so Iβll keep trying πππππ»
FUNNY PHOTO OF THE DAY
I love an app called Snapchat! The girls think Iβm getting old because itβs an βoldβ app. Is time moving so fast that a five or six year old app is old?! All I can say isβ¦I still love it! πβ€οΈπ
Good morning you war torn hardcore camera geeks! Just posted last night the latest (I don’t want to say last) installment of the “The Lonely Art Of Film Developing.”
As stated in the video, when I first thought of doing this, I just wanted to take you guys through the process, give people an idea of what a film developing session is like, for me at least.
The focus was not really to show you pretty results or anything, although the results are just a by product of this.
As you’ll see in the video, before I even thought of making the video, I was testing a Rolleiflex 3.5F with a 0.7x Mutar which is an add on lens that turns the 75mm lens of the 3.5F into a 55mm, or around 28 or 30mm in 35mm equivalent.
The goal was to see if this would work for me as a poor man’s Rollei Wide. The Rollei Wide is the Rolleiflex with the 55mm f/4 lens. The prices for these cameras are insane, like $3000-4000 insane! Like Crazy Eddieβs βInsane!!β πππ»
They have pretty much become collector’s items. In comparison my poor man’s version cost me $400 total.
I’ve read in many forums and discussions that the Mutar is junk, that it doesn’t get sharp until you stop it down to f/11 or f/16 even. But there were a few who said it was very good, fine even. Since opinions differ greatly, I wanted to find out for myself.
The above photo is a good example. I shot this probably at f/4 or 5.6. I definitely did not stop the lens down to f/11 or f/16.
Maybe I’m not as demanding as the $4000 Rollei collector but the sharpness is perfectly acceptable to me. Center sharpness is best but even corner sharpness is not bad. Sure it may not be a match for a $4000 Rollei Wide but the point here is that this is good enough for me! If you want to see the photo larger, just pinch the photo to enlarge it if you have a phone, tablet or smart computer.
The film was Ilford HP5 Plus developed in ID-11. This is one of the frames I developed in Part II of my video.
I still have some more testing to do with the 3.5F and Mutar but needless to say, it works for me! I’m happy with my poor man’s Rollei wide and as most of you know, you can’t get much better in photography than getting something good for cheap! π
Also in this video I discuss a little bit of the basics you would need to get started in the fascinating world of black and white film developing.
To make it easier, here’s a list of the items you would need. Please understand, these are affiliate links. You pay nothing extra and I may get a few cents, maybe not even enough to buy a cup of coffee but every little bit helps the site to grow.
As always, thanks for reading and I truly appreciate your support!
Good September morn you war-torn, hardcore camera geeks! Continuing on from our last article, here is Part Two of my YouTube series on “The Lonely Art” of film developing.
This video focuses on the “fixing” part of bw film development. It is a very important process that makes your images permanent and protects the film from going bad, ie, fogging up, etc.
Incidentally, the fixer is also the part of bw film developing that “smells” the most! All the fixers I have used have had this really pungent, sour smell to them.
Some of you may remember the Flickr group with the brilliant name of “Film Is Not Dead It Just Smells Funny.” Personally, I believe the fixer is what they’re talking about. If I am wrong, let me know!
Anyway, this video is a little more technical than the last but my main point is still NOT about teaching bw film developing. Many people already have videos up that show you how to do it way better than I can.
What I have learned over the years is that, even though there are guidelines as to what to do for whatever film or developer you’re using, there can be variations and people sometimes do things a little differently but as long as you don’t stray too far from the formula, your results should be ok.
The point of this video is to show how tedious the process can be. There’s a lot of downtime involved, a lot of counting minutes. It reminds me a lot of when I worked overnight security for a big tech company. I did in the 1990s so I could go to school during the day.
There was a lot of downtime, free time with that job. Often I would read books, eat, call friends, exercise or get lost in thought. Anything to past the time. And the same goes for developing film.
When I started relearning the process over a decade ago, it was fun, fascinating and I did a lot of it. Today, I still find the results fascinating but I don’t quite enjoy the process as much. My mind wanders.
And even though it doesn’t take all that long to do one roll of film, it feels like forever sometimes but no it’s not. Actually yes, when you factor the scanning and processing thereafter, it does feel like forever!
In the video, I exaggerate some of the things I might do while waiting but there’s a lot of truth to those exaggerations. It is a deeply personal process. Some people put music on, some might do their bills, meditate, etc. It takes a patient person to want to develop film but the results, especially when good, are most worthwhile.
Also to keep it fun, I reveal in this video a camera I’ve been shooting with a lot the past couple of months. Can you guess what it is? π
Thanks for watching and feel free to leave a comment about your experiences, I love to hear from you!
Good morning guys! I know I’ve been gone for way too long but I’ll explain it more below. But first I recently found a bunch of lost files so let’s start with this one:
A wonderful Saturday morning to do nothing but chill and eat chocolate chip cookies πͺππ
This was shot with the Contax N Digital and 50mm f/1.4 N Zeiss Planar. The N Digital as you may remember is the world’s first 35mm full frame digital camera.
If you remember my review you know the sad fate of this camera. But when it worked, it was awesome within its limits especially for a DSLR from 2002! My original 2014 review can be found in the link here:
Recently I was clearing out a lot of junk I’ve been hoarding. A large amount of that “junk” happens to be photography magazines! Hey, that was the only way to get my photography fix pre internet era!
Anyway, with so many magazines to throw away, I appreciate more and more the internet. Even though I’m old school, things weren’t necessarily better back then. These physical magazines take up a lot of space man!
Here’s my latest YouTube video and it was all sparked by going through just one magazine. It’s not a good idea going through them because it just makes it harder for me to throw them away!
Also on the video, I’m letting the people know, as I’m letting you guys reading this know that I’m just burnt out! It’s not even so much the blog but it’s life. And I put myself in a hole because doing videos and the blog at the same time is what’s killing my passion for it. Not my passion for photography or cameras. Just my passion for blogging, YouTubing, etc.
There must be a happy medium. Any suggestions?
I also want to apologize to my fellow bloggers. I don’t want to be seen as one of those guys who just “like” your postings to get “liked” back. When I’m burnt out, I close out completely. If I’m off WordPress, I’m really off. If I’m on, I’m on! That’s just the way I am, sorry about that π
As always, I thank you for your time and your support!
The above photo was taken on a cold overcast day in 2018 using a vintage Agfa Ambi Silette 35mm camera and the mythical Agfa 55mm f/2 Solagon lens. The film was Kentmere 400 developed in D76 developer.
I got the camera outfit primarily for the lens which is like a scarce cult favorite not known by many. There’s just very little on the web about it and I would like to add to that knowledge base if I could.
The internet has a way of distorting reality and since there’s so little on this lens, I was well prepared to shoot down all the praise I read online as maybe “over enthusiastic” love from a handful of people. Not that I didn’t believe them but there’s just not enough of them.
But now that I’ve seen the results for myself, I’m inclined to say they might be right! Even in the above photo, the lens shows excellent sharpness and very little distortion. Considering it’s an older vintage lens, I think it’s performance is quite exceptional!
Now I haven’t shot enough rolls to make a full judgement but for now I think it’s safe to say, it’s a great lens!
NEW YOUTUBE VIDEO
As I mentioned here before, the slowdown in my postings here has a lot to do with me making it a priority to provide new content to our Camera Legend YouTube channel.
Today I posted a video on one of my favorite cameras of all time, the Rolleiflex 2.8C with the Schneider Xenotar lens. Consider it a complement to our 2017 review of the camera.
You’ll see some additional photos including one I took while having dinner in 2009 with famous photographer Manuel Libres Librodo, aka Manny Librodo. Great guy!
Eventually, I hope to have most of the cameras I’ve reviewed here on YouTube as well.
Making these videos AND writing a blog while also managing work and family can certainly burn you out and I discuss that as well in this video. This is why I’m seemingly only online when I post something π
I do apologize for that! Do not run too many projects, it’ll burn you out!
It’s a one man operation but I’m determined to give you the best I got. Thanks for your support!!
