Year: 2006

film is dead.dont make me laugh.

Taking into acount the recent demise of many film camera manufacturers I started to worry. So I did a little searchin’ on the internet .

The news are about 8mm film. If they still make it,and release new products,35 mm is ok. According to all the big 8 mm film sites there are 40 or so brands available(some are new some are about to be discontinued,some are new).

http://onsuper8.blogspot.com/2006/0…uji-velvia.html
http://onsuper8.blogspot.com/2006/0…o-it-again.html
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/s8mm/7280.jhtml

I dont think anyone makes new 8 mm film cameras since the sixties.

People will most likely sell and resell the classics and repair them for a long time yet. I am not sure about electronic cameras though,but I dont care for them much.

8mm is an awkward and unpractical technology – apparently it still has a strong following.

I am sorry if I annoy anyone with this thread(film is not dead is an annoying subject – but it worries me).

P.S.

did you know AM radio is stereo now?that was a shock to me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AM_stereo
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Shadows and Fog;Roger Waters;Nikon 50/1.4;36-72/3.5;75-150/3.5

watched Shadows and fog Woody Allen tribute to german expressionist cinema.Not bad, but he has better films.

Used a couple of lenses(the 50/1.4 i own)

Nikon 50/1.4 AI very very very sharp lens,great color rendition. wow. Blows away my pentax 50/2 and carl zeiss jena auto 50/1.8.It is sharper then the canonet 40/1.7 which is razor sharp.

Nikon E 36-72/3.5 which I loaned from a friend is sharp but prone to flare,but thats life.

Nikon E 75-150/3.5 is a lens I ordered (for 60$)to cover that range(it’s about all the telephoto I will need – it has a reputation of sharpness and compactness)

ROGER WATERS IS COMING TO ISRAEL!!!!I already bought a ticket.375NIS(80$).That IS once in a lifetime experience.Hope he wouldnt cancel.

Mamiya M645 hands on review

A friend lend me his Mamiya m645(top speed 1/500) with 80/2.8,two inserts,chimney finder,lots of filters and close up rings. He wants to sell it but doesnt have the time to check its operation.

I clicked away one film,will do another then develop – the camera handles well but is bulky and heavy to be used handheld for a long time. I like it.

2/2/06 UPDATE
I shot two films with the mamiya(both kodak pan-x 15 years expired developed for 15 minutes in tetenal ultrafin liquid 1+20 at 20 degrees centigrate) they are tack sharp and I want to print them by hand- not to ruin my impression by the overpriced minilab scans of shitty quality.

Things I like about the Camera:

1)Handholdable at 1/60 with no grip and normal lens,didnt try lower
2)very sharp and contrasty lens,gresat details
3)AE possible with prism
4)15 frames on film(not 12 as in 6×6 I am familiar with)
5)great image spacing-very constant(a problem with many older mf cameras)
6)Stop Down Via auto-manual lever on lens
7)80/1.9 is available as normal lens
8)losts long on 1 battery
9)very cheaply available today,lenses also
10)bright focusing screen
11)looks sturdy-I think it wont break easily if dropped

Things I don’t like about the camera:

1)no accessory shoe
2)practicly impossible to shoot vertical shots with the chimney finder
3)finder isn’t sealed- seems to attract dust
4)requires battery for shutter(6V)
5)for that sizeweight I would prefer 6×6 negs
6)needs changing bag to change inserts in mid roll-back is easier-but more expensive
7)no half stops on the normal lens
8)15 frames per film(not 16)

I want to test it with slides to see how the lens renders color.

Statskiy Sovetnik ; Hell is for Heroes – Learn how to be a man from Mcqeen

watched the two above mentioned movies.

Statskiy sovetnik is pretty good(much better then Turkish Gambit) but still a russian try to outholywood holywood. A cast of accomplished actors makes the movie a good one but it’s the same actors you see in every new russian movie(plus 2 or 3old school one -Tabakov,Menshikov,Mikhalkov)

Hell is for Heroes is a movie worth watching as a mandatory manliness lesson from Steve Mcqeen. It is impossible being a pansy after watching him. Even with such a queer ass last name and the fact he went back into religion before he died he still is the man.

Now a biography leeched from imdb and commented by me

“Steve McQueen was known for his wild antics and crazy lifestyle. He loved motorcycles(triumph) and fast cars. He performed most of his stunts and many he wasn’t supposed to.”

Everyone knows that a manly man needs to be a speed freak. Triumph bikes are for real men.

“Trained in Tang Soo Do with 9th degree blackbelt Corps.Was a pallbearer at the funeral of Bruce Lee.Served in the United States Marine “

Violence is manly.being connected to the king of ultra violence is Meega-Manly.
Serving in the marines is Giga-Manly.It is so manly you grow extra nuts.

“In the sixties, he publically threatened to break Howard Hughes nose if Hughes did not stop harassing Mamie Van Doren, a woman both men had had affairs with, but at different times. Needless to say, Hughes never bothered Van Doren again.”

Hughes is the aviator as portrayed but that girl leonardo dicaprio.Tell me you wouldnt like to kick his ass.

“Dropped out of school in 9th grade.Was expelled from the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) for riding his motorcycle through the College of Fine Arts building.”

Schools out for summer.

To sum up – the last 3 or so minutes of the movie Hell is for Heroes should teach you how to die like a Real Man-through dynamite at nazi pillbox,get machineguned,repeat,die.

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