Cameras in the Park

Besides a lot of rock at Osaka Castle Park, one is also prone to find a lot of people taking pictures. For reasons I can't explain, I often find myself taking pictures of people taking pictures, although I've only posted the results a few times (here, here, and here).

I'll add to that list today....


Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 80mm — 1/90 sec, f/5, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
Nao

Even though Nao is not looking at my camera, he still seems to have that “presence” I mentioned on the impromptu portraits post.


Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 95mm — 1/250 sec, f/5.3, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
His is Bigger than Mine

I have the same Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 he seems to be using, but my Nikon D200 is dwarfed by what looks to be a Nikon D2 of some sort (which is about the same size as the Nikon D3 shown here).


Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200mm — 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
Helping Hands

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/1250 sec, f/1.4, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
Nao Again

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
Mari and Kevin

The shot above really should be a throwaway, but something just draws me to it.


Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 70mm — 1/25 sec, f/5, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
That Stance Looks Painful
If not anatomically implausible

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 29mm — 1/80 sec, f/4, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
Two-Year-Old Pro

I got a peek at the photo that Emi took of her parents, and was astounded at how good it was. Anthony could have done a bit better, but he's twice her age. I could have done better still, I think, but sadly, not 20× better, so I think Emi wins with the highest skill-to-age ratio.

The next picture is an optical illusion.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1 / 40 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos Medium-Format Optical Illusion -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2007 Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/40 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1250 — map & image datanearby photos
Medium-Format Optical Illusion

I stopped for dinner in Kyoto on the way home, and found myself sitting next to two professional photographers. The optical illusion is that while the camera looks a bit small next to that drink glass, without any other point of reference in the photo you don't realize that that's the biggest drink glass I've ever seen in my life. Even if you could lift it, you wouldn't need to because you could just bob your head down into the thing to drink like a horse.

The camera's size matched the glass. It was huge. I tried holding it, and felt dwarfed and feeble. You might recall my reaction when I first held a Nikon D200 – filled with words like “beefy” and “heavy” – but this camera puts mine to shame. It looks to be a Pentax 67 medium-format (6x7) SLR. The body alone (that is, without the lens) is 20% wider, 25% taller, and 30% thicker than my D200, and at 3.7 pounds, a stunning 100% heavier.

It's a film camera that accepts film with 10 frames on a roll. In what must be the most colossal waste of film, its owner snapped a picture of me.

He had six frames remaining before he had to change film.

By the way, for the record, it is unknown what the drink in the huge glass was. I asked the guy, to which he replied “I don't know. I asked for a Heineken, and they gave me this. I think they must have misunderstood my order.”


All 5 comments so far, oldest first...

Judging from the beer and the logo on the glass, it looks like a Hoegaarden, which is a Belgian white beer. Tastes nothing like the Dutch Heineken, but I like it better.

— comment by yoko on November 10th, 2007 at 12:29am JST (16 years, 5 months ago) comment permalink

That is definitely a Hoegaarden. The color of the beer and logo on the (standard size BTW) glass match. It’s a many orders of magnitude better beer than Heineken, although that is not very difficult. In Belgium and Holland it is usually served with a wedge of lemon.

— comment by Jao on November 10th, 2007 at 3:03am JST (16 years, 5 months ago) comment permalink

Yup, Hoegaarden. It tastes great, but have more than a couple and it really will give you a nasty headache. And believe it or not it is only a normal pint-size – some friends and I tested it a few years ago (by pouring into a ‘normal’ pint glass) as we didn’t believe it. I guess the glass is thick so it makes it look like more than a pint.

— comment by Mark on November 10th, 2007 at 1:41pm JST (16 years, 5 months ago) comment permalink

Yes Hoeggarden ! great white belgium beer.
Quite common, even here in France.

For the medium format, it’s a classic medium 120 film (used in Rolleiflex e.g. by some great photographers like R. Doisneau). I own a Rollei (a Rolleicord, cheaper than a rolleiflex) too with such films, in addition on my DSLR.

This film is also used in 6×17 pano cameras, those pano posters taken by landscape photographers (like Plisson).

It’s no the most colossal waste of film : all the film is used. And what about the grand format used like Ansel Adams for example.

Ah, but Ansel Adams, in his infinite wisdom, never wasted his grand formats taking a picture of me. —Jeffrey

— comment by Pascal on November 21st, 2007 at 10:56pm JST (16 years, 4 months ago) comment permalink

I also disagree on the waste of film. One needs to see a print from the film to really appreciate the format, it would have been my preference back in the “film days”, had it not been so expensive. Along the same lines, the first time I saw a contact print made from an 8×10 negative, it almost took my breath away it was so sharp.

Been enjoying your site, reminds me of my days, er actually years in Japan! Thanks!

— comment by frank on September 19th, 2008 at 12:11am JST (15 years, 6 months ago) comment permalink
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