When one of my favorite, faaarrr from perfect, quirky, no one should buy in 2025, cameras shows up in a new article... 

https://petapixel.com/2025/08/14/the-retro-styled-nikon-df-dslr-was-both-behind-and-ahead-of-the-times/

Mine, unfortunately, didn't come with a pocket watch. 

 

9 minutes ago, blessingx said:

Mine, unfortunately, didn't come with a pocket watch. 

Needs one of these for completeness 

 

 

The Development of the Rangefinder 

 

As someone that largely takes landscapey type photos these days I'm just the tiniest bit intrigued by tomorrow's alleged announcement.

https://photorumors.com/2025/08/19/hasselblad-x2d-ii-100c-camera-leaked-pictures-and-press-release/

I cannot fathom the size of the files that this thing will kick out and the number of hard drives and processors it'll take to manage work in post.  But still, 100MP of insane dynamic range sure sounds fun to play with if someone else was footing the bills.

^ 

 

 

 

Went to the San Jose Lowrider Day downtown today. Quick visit, but some snaps from Hassy 907x 50c with XCD 45p (4x3) and Nikon Df with CV 40mm f/2 (3x2). Funny enough I liked more Nikon shots. 

 

I went back to 2010 this week.  I didn't buy and bitcoin or, ahem, play any classic 8 bit Nintendo games.  I did blow the metaphorical and some of the actual dust off my PowerShot S95.  (More on that in a minute.)  It took me a couple tries to get it going.  It took me even longer to figure out how to use the damn thing.  The S series of PowerShots (S95 to S110 or so) have dual physical wheels, which is the best.  I had to work to remember exposure compensation.  I also had to set the time, date and things like picture style.  All of this took some futzing.  Unfortunately, about 10 years ago during one cold and miserable winter, I got depressed and left the S95 on its back for six months (while running the wood stove).  The meant it got some killer sensor grime, which I cannot clean.  In broad daylight the dirt is invisible, but indoors the dirt specs are a curse.  This is a shame as the S95 has an F/2 lens and works quite well in low light.  With that said, I took a stroll through downtown Edgartown and snapped a few street shots.

The best second hand store on MV was on this street for decades.  Now it's a boutique that sells  uber-expensive skin care products.

 

Downtown Edgartown is still bustling with "shoulder season" people.  The kids are back in school, so now it's blue haired retirees and buses full of people with name tags.  It's a PITA to navigate around them, but TBH I cannot blame them.  The weather is perfect here this time of year.

 

The four trees in front of this house are of historical significance.  That thing on the other side purports to be a Volkswagen.

 

Looking down toward South Water St.  That farthest point is Chappaquiddick.

 

Built in 1703(!), this is one of the oldest buildings on the Vineyard.  I quite like it, but the modern signs in front of it are ugly AF.

 

This is the only shot I posted that I don't totally like.  For some reason I shot it wide open (F/2) and there's significant smearing in the upper corners.  As I mentioned, I'm just getting re-acquainted with the S95 after a decade.  Also what's happened in the interceding 10 years is that my vision has deteriorated sufficiently that I can NOT read the controls of the camera without my glasses on.  This makes all aspects of photography more complicated.

 

EDG harbor with Chappy in the background.  There's not one but two catamarans in this shot.  One is the famous Mad Max and the other is even more strange looking, somehow.  My mother was friends with a Swiss woman who owned a farm on Chappy.  (That is a huge deal.  Chappaquiddick isn't that big, and the island itself is eroding.  Land on it is very precious.)  She was born in 1924 and refused to accept the idea that Mad Max was a real boat.

 

A kid dropped their heart glasses and some kind soul put them on top of a mailbox in case they came back looking for them.

 

This sweet dog was waiting patiently for his mistress.  He turned to look at me just for a second before she returned.  The S95 is fast enough that I caught him the moment his head turned.

 

Edited September 5, 2025Sep 5 by Knuckledragger

Somewhere on this site there's a "here's a neat YouTube video I found" thread.  I have no idea what it's called.  I usually just post such things in Slow Forum.  This video his a number of areas of interest of mine.  

Also, anamorphic lenses for for DSLR and mirrorless bodies are now widely available and remarkably cheap for what they are.  There's even at least one autofocus anamorphic lens, which is some true "I'm living in the future" shit right there.  Of course, it's only for goddamn Sony bodies.  I swear, you'll see me buy a Hasselblad before a Sony.  Watch me buy a Sony full frame body next year.

Fair warning: Incoming gratuitous cat photos.

I've been editing a bunch of shots I took 12-15 years ago.  Two friends of mine (who are now married and have son about to turn eight) lived in an apartment in a former mill town.  They had two cats.  Ozzie was a Russian Blue and exhibited the characteristics of his breed.  He was inquisitive, always tuned into what the silly humans were doing, but also very independent.  He was not a lap cat.  The other kitty was Mauro, who ...a bit heavyset (he was an absolute chonker) and possibly the extreme example of a polydactyl cat I have ever seen.

Ozzie's antics were legendary and I took many photos of him "helping" me DJ.  These four I posted when I took them in the spring of 2010:

Note the first photo being used as the wallpaper in this shot.

Ozzie helping me wire up my Korg Z1's MIDI connections.

I mentioned in another thread that Kate (one half of the couple mentioned above) had a birthday on the 11th of this month.  I had plans (of the "mice and men") variety to send her a bunch of photos from early 2010s on her birthday, but it took me a week to finish editing them.  I mean, I'm still editing them, but that's another matter.  All of the above were photos I edited and posted around the time they were taken.  The following are newly edited. 

In August of 2010, we (and by "we" I mean "me and I have no idea who else") did a "photo shoot" with Ozzie and some accessories:

Ozzie was mostly cooperative (not a guaranteed thing) an held still while we placed smokes, Snapple, a phone and some kibble in front of him.

Another shot of Ozzie with wallpaper Ozzie behind him.  I used the 50mm DoF separate the actual cat from the photo of him, but still keep the latter recognizable.

Ozzie, warming himself on the exhaust fan of a Windows laptop.  He's got his paws on a USB battery.

Part of the "Where is your god meow?" series I did with Ozzie.

Circle cat could use a good brushing, but I wouldn't recommend trying it.

 

Ears back momentarily, for aerodynamics.

 

Mauro being chill, which was his normal state.

 

He was very stead in a windstorm.

 

Tune in next time for pre-civil war bridges!

 

 

Where the Amish (and Mennonite) go on holiday 

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p08p2rws/where-the-amish-go-on-holiday 

Edited September 20, 2025Sep 20 by blessingx

Doggy timeout 

For those in the Bay Area, the Fraenkel Gallery has a Katy Grannan exhibit titled Mad River, portraits from Humboldt. Small (it’s not the main show), but great. 

I decided to not crop and let the center point just be off. Yashicamat is hard to get centered photos with. I find it charming. 
 

expired portra. About 10 years. 

Edited September 24, 2025Sep 24 by EdipisReks1

A… possibly… new camera manufacturer 

https://esquisse.camera/ 

Photographer Sally Mann warns of 'new era of culture wars' after art seizure.

I have always had mixed feelings about Sally Mann, and by "mixed" I mean "I recognize she's making art, but I'd prefer not to see it."  With that said, she's long been the target of puritanical forces (the same ones keeping the Epstein list hidden, for some odd reason.)

^ Never understood going after Mann. Have two of her books.
 

Spent Sunday at a lowrider event at Montalvo, likely my last one of 2025. Decided to take two cameras and have a little test between them - a dusty, slow Hassy 500cm with II 50c 50MP digital back & old Zeiss Distagon 50 f/4 T* and a shiny, snap-like Sigma 24MP BF (Beautifully Foolish) with a matching new 35 f/2 Contemporary. For fun shot at 1:1, which most definitely isn’t natural for me.

 

Hassy 

 

Sigma 

 

I set up my new Pixma PRO-200S today. It’s an absolute game changer for me. 

@EdipisReks1 - it will be curious to hear your thoughts on ink consumption and cost to print.  Looks like ~$100 to replace all 8 cartridges which honestly is not horrible.  13" maximum dimension (in one direction) coupled with 39" length could be fun to tinker with.  

It appears that it at least comes with a full set of ink, not the “demo” set that inkjets tend to have. The quality so far on Koala satin is gorgeous. I have printed up to 11x17 so far. It’s just a lot of fun. 

At the biggest yard sale in the world.

Another shot just taken with a camera as I bounce around.

Edited October 15, 2025Oct 15 by EdipisReks1

Magnifying the minuscule: Nikon Small World photomicrography 2025

https://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2025/oct/16/nikon-small-world-photomicrography-2025-in-pictures