Wow (I keep saying that - I must find another word). This is just fabulous.
Testing the Xiaomi Mi 9 smartphone for capturing my Newfoundland landscapes...
- Thread starter camperbc
- Start date
Yes, the light on this is truly lovely.
- Real Name
- Glen
Most of us here can relate, as many members have chucked all their heavy and varied gear for the freedom of our mobile cameras. I still love hearing other people’s excitement at this discovery though.
Thanks RoseCat, you're too kind!! But I doubt that I will be chucking any of my DSLRs or vintage film gear anytime soon. It's all much too fun!!
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- Real Name
- Glen
Haha, and to think that you can still buy an oceanfront home here for under $100,000. ($75,000 US) This special place has everything you would ever need... except for traffic, noise, pollution, gangs, graffiti, freeways, Walmarts, highrises, stoplights... and Starbucks. Everything else, we have in spades!
- Real Name
- Glen
Well then lkbside, you must come back for a return visit next summer!
Along with a bunch of film rangefinders, I had a Sony NEX-7, starting from the year it first came out, and a collection of vintage lenses and adapters, too (including a Flektogon and a Pancolar). I finally gave the Sony away last year, to someone who could use it, because I just wasn't taking it out any more, and it looked sad on the shelf. I miss the viewfinder, the ability to use long lenses, and the beautiful background blur from lenses like the Pancolar, but mobile photography just turned out to be much more fun and the people involved more encouraging. Smartphone cameras can't do all the things a DSLR or mirrorless can do, but they can do an amazing amount, and people using them keep pushing their limits.
I've got a Canon Pixma Pro-10 I use for printing up to 13x19, and the smartphone photos can make excellent prints, though sometimes they need a little help from Topaz' Gigapixel AI to uprez them.
- Real Name
- Glen
terse, I currently have something in the neighborhood of 70 cameras in my collection, and I get so much enjoyment from all of them. But I must say that, since acquiring my fancy new phone this summer, I have not been spending as much time with my other gear as I would like to. I'm sure that I will return to them again soon, but I am currently having such a blast getting "surprisingly-close-to-DSLR" results from my new Mi 9! Who knew?!!
I think that my most-favourite camera of all time has to be my immaculate (over a century-old) Kodak "Autographic 1A" with its folding bellows made from still-supple calfskin, and a ridiculously-sharp and clear Anastigmat f/7.7 lens, (with a ball-bearing shutter) followed closely by an equally pristine 1958 Yashica 635 TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) which is quite unique in that it is capable of shooting both 35mm and 120 roll film. It boggles the mind that these two amazing cameras, (which were made 102 years ago and 61 years ago respectively) are still to this day capable of capturing photographs that approach, or even surpass (in terms of both resolution and tonal contrast) that of today's latest technological marvels!
I have detailed pictures of both of these antique cameras, but I'm afraid to post them on here, as they were not shot using my phone. A shame, as I think you would love these old works of art. Perhaps some non-mobile photos might be allowed in the "Off Topic" section? If not, I will have to try to take a few decent shots of them using my phone the next time that I am able. (am currently bedridden again unfortunately... my usual spinal troubles)
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We sometimes get around this by taking a mobile photo of the DSLR photo as long as you don’t over use it.
- Real Name
- Glen
Uhh, I suppose it'll be better just to re-photograph my antique cameras all over again using my phone, rather than photographing a photograph, (shoulder shrug) but it's a wee bit odd when you think about it... Anyone can post mobile pics on most any photography/camera forum, but posting a camera capture on a "mobile" photography forum... even if it's to be posted in the "Off Topic" section, is off limits. Oh well, hopefully I will be able to be back up on my feet again in the coming days, so that I can re-photograph my antique cameras, to be able to post them here. (sigh)We sometimes get around this by taking a mobile photo of the DSLR photo as long as you don’t over use it.
- Real Name
- Glen
Here is another late-evening capture, from within the same rural seaside community as the above posted sunset images. The tiny fishing village of Deep Bay (population <100) is situated just a few kms away from our Island Harbour home on Fogo Island's western shore. It was shot handheld in very low light, using my Xiaomi Mi 9 with "Night Mode" turned on. (it has only been resized for posting online)
sinnerjohn
IOTM WInner - April 2022
I'm surprised Brian FundyBrian hasn't picked up on this thread, you are virtually neighbors !!!
Yes, only about 18 hours apart.
Correction: I just checked it out on Google Maps. 21 hours, 38 minutes with usual traffic. Including ferry rides.
Hello camperbc - greetings from southern NB on the Bay of Fundy. I’ve enjoyed seeing your photos. Newfoundland is a ruggedly beautiful place. I’ve only been to Newfoundland a couple of times and hope to make another trip someday. It is so vast it is hard to see much in a short trip. A photographer friend of mine just got back from an intensive 3 month photo excursion around Newfoundland. He said he felt he had barely scratched the surface.
It’s sort of humorous how people from farther away look on the map but have no idea really how big Canada is and how far apart places are.
My parents had some visitors from Scotland. They had looked at the map and based on their experience with maps at home planned a couple of day trips full of places to visit but were then surprised to discover it was going to take a full day’s driving just to get to the first stop and by then it would be closed and they would need to stay overnight to see it in the morning.
I remember taking a trip to The Magdalen Islands. We arrived at the ferry terminal in plenty if time for a 4pm departure but no ferry was there. It was late getting back. When it arrived around 7pm we could plainly see the waves were twice as high as the ferry and it looked like a toy boat out there. It could not dock but took shelter behind a breakwater for a few hours waiting for things to settle down. About 10:30 that night it was able to dock and the passengers departed. They looked a bit green. Around midnight we left and arrived at the island around 6am and the water was smooth as glass. Such is the way of ferry transportation.
Coming back we were 3rd in line, we thought. When it was time to board the guy controlling traffic turned the other way and waved on the priority traffic. 15 dump trucks full of fresh fish, water and fish scales streaming from each one and several transport trucks. Once they were aboard it was the tourist traffic who were next. I couldn’t believe we all got on.
According to Google maps it would take me 21 hours & 38 minutes to get to Fogo Island. That of course is assuming the ferry leaves just when I get there and I don’t have a long wait waiting for the next ferry.
Also according to Google maps I could get to Columbia South Carolina in 21 hours and 40 minutes, dispute current road construction and traffic. If you look at the map to see where those two places are compared to Alma New Brunswick you will gain some insight into what it is like going to Newfoundland.
Also according to Google maps I could get to Columbia South Carolina in 21 hours and 40 minutes, dispute current road construction and traffic. If you look at the map to see where those two places are compared to Alma New Brunswick you will gain some insight into what it is like going to Newfoundland.
It seems the Kiev camera and Nippon rangefinder are separate items. A later accessory?
Yes, the viewfinder is an add-on accessory intended for the Nikon rangefinders (like the SP) that have a similar design and lens mount. It's a variable focal length viewfinder and better quality than the native Kiev viewfinders, which are single length only. Plus it looks kinda neat.
- Real Name
- Glen
I love these old Soviet-era cameras! Yours is one model that I actually don't own... yet! But I do have a few pristine Soviet rangefinders, including the FED 2 (D6 model, circa 1960) and the Zorki-4, (1963) with a very cool-looking KMZ (FSU) "turret" viewfinder mounted on top. I'd love to post them on here, but as my entire collection was photographed using a DSLR, I would have to re-shoot them using my phone to avoid breaking forum rules... which really sucks, as I am flat on my back in bed most of the time...
It would be great to see some pictures of your collectibles but don’t feel it’s necessary to do it all at once. It’s OK to spread them out a little. So when the mood strikes you pick out one of your favourites and tell us about it. Along with a picture of course. I still have a few old cameras around but not as many as I once had. Collecting got too expensive.
Years ago part of my income came from doing camera repairs. For about 25 years I fixed all sorts of interesting things that people had been having trouble getting anyone to look at. In those days I was often surprised by how many cameras did not require any new parts to get them working again. A surprising number just had a screw that had come out and got stuck somewhere it didn’t belong. Or a spring that popped out of position. Heat and vibration are the main camera enemies. Heat causes the lubricants in a camera to creep, often causing aperture blades to stick. Or the lubricant would dry out and get gummy which would prevents parts from moving fast enough.
I was able to fix a few cameras that had been underwater, as long as I got them soon enough.
Seeing how cameras were designed and worked on the inside gave me distinct preferences. Some old cameras were a nightmare to fix while others were beautifully designed and built. The worst ones were when cameras began to become partly electronic. What a mess that was.
I once fixed a Mamiya RB67 that fell off of a catwalk at an arena, with the tripod attached, about 25 feet down onto a cement floor. The photographer was amazed I got it working again. Other cameras could not survive a 3 foot drop onto a cement floor. A lot of modern cameras cannot survive a little rain.
Yes, they're neat-looking, functional, and cheap, too. I've also got a Fed 2 along with a Zorki-6.
I recovered the Zorki and the Kiev above with snakeskin scraps I got from a guy who sells leather to craftspeople. He has a bin of off-cuts and leftovers that I loved to dig through.
All three of the Soviet cameras shoot well, but my absolute favorite rangefinder is the Canon P -- beautiful bright viewfinder, very smooth operation, solid build, and super lenses.
- Real Name
- Glen
But yeah, you should maybe add another day or two for long ferry line-ups, rough seas, ferry breakdowns, etc. Yes, it's interesting how non-Canadians can have a bit of a tough time grasping the size of Canada, and distances between provinces!
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Very nice condition, all of them. I would think the wide spacing of the secondary rangefinder view would lead to greater distance accuracy.
This Canon rangefinders were pretty solid.
One of my favourite oldies was the 127 Baby Rollei. It was well suited for super-slides - until you could no longer get 127 slide film.
I had an Olympus half frame Pen F for a while. Now that I no longer have the camera I came across a 100mm f3.5 lens for it and a set of extension tubes.