Camera Geekery: Konica AiBORG

Camera Geekery: Konica AiBORG

The Konica AiBORG is placed among the pantheon of all time ugliest cameras. Akin to bad Anakin's bucket, it is also infamous for being one of the worst cameras ever made for its fecal matter-esque ergonomics. I've always been wary of such subjective conclusions and besides I think it looks cool. After perusing the instructions manual, the Konica AiBORG actually is jam-packed with interesting features. Is this another example of biting more then one can chew and over-ambition? Or do we have amongst us here a sleeper hit?

Konica AiBORG Background History

Konica gained their reputation from the 1950's onwards with their excellently regarded rangefinder cameras and then their venerable line of Hexar lenses like the UC-Hexanon 35mm f2. The Konica C35 AF was the world’s first AF camera when it was released in 1977 and featured a design that has been emulated by many other manufacturers over the years.

However, they never could really crack the high-end market with intense competition from neighboring big dogs Nikon, Canon, Minolta, etc. and was resigned to focusing mainly on entry level point and shoots in the 1980's. The Konica AiBORG from 1991 is most likely the company’s last effort to make a high-end camera with advanced features and cutting edge camera technology. "AiBORG" is a portmanteau of Artificial Intelligence and cyBORG, probably a 90's attempt to sound as futuristic and high-tech as possible.

Konica AiBORG Tech Specs

Film Type: 135 (35mm)

Lens: 35 – 105mm f/3.5-8.5 coated Konica Zoom Lens 13-elements

Focus: CPU Controlled Autofocus 0.8m to Infinity

Shutter: Electronic Leaf

Speeds: 6.4 – 1/500 seconds

Exposure Meter: Yes

Battery: 2CR5 Lithium Battery

Flash Mount: None – Built in Flash

Dimensions: 14.5 x 8.5 x 9 cm

Weight: 570g

Manual: <http://www.cameramanuals.org/konica/konica_aiborg.pdf>

Konica AiBORG Features and Ergonomics

The Konica AiBORG earned its poor ergonomics review in large part to the grip. Many gripe that the shutter release button is too low for their index fingers. Indeed, there is only 5cm from the joystick on the thumb to the index finger on the shutter release. It is a little awkward to hold and control with one hand, given the weight distribution of the body and is not exactly feather light at over 500 grams.

The lens zoom whirrs and sounds like what you would expect from 90's tech motors. Not exactly quiet or cool, but comfortable in a nostalgic kind of way.

Joystick

The joystick on the back of the camera is a novel design idea and controls the zoom as well as the focus point indicator. When looking through the viewfinder, you see a focus scale from 0.8 – 10 m at the bottom with a flower icon above the 0.8 number and a mountain icon to the right of the 10 number.

The focus point can be adjust to 5 different positions and is adjusted by toggling the joystick left and right in the direction you want to move it. A nice idea in theory and it does work but IRL feels plasticky, fiddly and cheap. The finder itself is tiny and has that warped soft edges look that is trippy like a Holga though not as bad. But it is parallax corrected!

Top LCD

The top LCD display is a crazy array of information smashed into a 35 x 20mm window. The bottom left shows the battery status, above that is the flash setting. Towards the top is a funky looking window where you can toggle through the myriad functions such as portrait mode, night mode, and the quirky action sequence mode. More on these later. Under that to the right you will find the drive mode and self timer. I like how the frame counter window is in the shape of the camera and also has the film roll icon to indicate the roll has been correctly loaded; a little cheesy and unnecessary but I like it. Yes, it is quite busy but with all the information it conveys, perhaps it is the better option than multiple displays.

Back Buttons

All the myriad functions possible in the top LCD are controlled by these crazy buttons on the back to the side of the viewfinder. It really is as cumbersome and daunting as it looks to scroll through the menus with these, especially by modern standards. The buttons are tiny and the recess they are placed in are tiny as well and are quite difficult to reliably press even with my smallish fingers.

Lens Cover

Nothing much to say about it other than it's a semi-transparent automatic sliding lens cover that looks kinda cool.

Date Imprinting

There are various formats you can choose from to imprint date and time onto your frames however according to Konica, the world will cease to exist on December 31st, 2019 as that is the latest date you can set.

Konica AiBORG Sample Images

The following images were shot on Kodak Gold 200 and self-developed with Cinestill CS41 in a Ars-Imago Lab Box. They were then scanned on Plustek Opticfilm 8200i.

Special Functions

I will not show examples of every function of the AiBORG but will highlight some below.

Flash

I don't know the guide number of the flash but the cute AF illustration from the manual indicates a range of 6m. A bit of embellishing there but nevertheless still handy.

Macro

The macro mode label is an example of false advertising as the lens can only get to 0.8m. I don't know how they can come off as calling that macro.

Night Mode

Night mode forces the camera into a long exposure mode to compensate for low light. Interestingly, this mode can optionally be used with the flash as well. The leaf shutter is a bonus for being able to hand held most scenes.

Portrait Mode

This is the mode that most embodies the A.I. of the AiBORG as as it automatically uses the camera’s zoom to detect a person and changes the focal length of the lens to "properly" frame the person’s head and shoulders for a portrait. It is kind of unsettling in use as it basically forces the composition on you but yeah, works for standard, by-the-rules framing. Not recommended if you want to get more creative.

Action Sequence Mode

The most interesting function is the Action Sequence Mode and toggling this will allow you to shoot 6 exposures in quick succession on the same frame. A twist on multi-exposure mode, the camera takes a metering of the scene and shoots each image at 1/6th the exposure value of the image so that laid over each other, the image is not overexposed. A very niche situation where it can be applicable but I find it a fun function to experiment with. Using a tripod is definitely recommended.

Final Thoughts

I like the Konica AiBORG, I think I like it the way people like pugs; ugly and dysfunctional but somehow endearing. It was bred to do too much but I respect that ambition to swing for the fences similar to the concept behind the Rolleiflex SL66. The stories of terrible ergonomics and perplexing menu logic are true for the most part. Even my smallish hands find the AiBORG not that comfortable to handle with one hand. It really needs two hands to operate reliably. Today's attention span and impatience is a bigger picture problem but 7 clicks through a menu to get to exposure compensation of +1.5 for a backlit scene is kind of ridiculous.

With all the gripes aside, Konica have always produced nice lenses and the 35 – 105mm f/3.5-8.5 lens in the AiBORG is no exception and has a decent range and is no slouch in IQ. When speed is not of the essence, it can be a capable carry-around-all-day all-rounder. Would I recommend one though as a go-to daily compact zoom? As my Aussie wife would say, "yeaa naaah." But if you appreciate ambitious designs and want an infamous and fun toy in your collection, then the force is strong in this one.

MN

The post Camera Geekery: Konica AiBORG appeared first on Japan Camera Hunter.

#camerageekery #reviews #aiborg #camerageek #classiccamera #cooljapanesecameras #japanclassiccamerablog #japancamera #japancamerahunter #konica #tokyoclassiccamera

Camera Geekery: Konica AiBORG - Japan Camera Hunter

Camera Geekery: Konica AiBORG The Konica AiBORG is placed among the pantheon of all time ugliest cameras. Akin to bad Anakin's bucket, it is also infamous

Japan Camera Hunter

The JCH Youtube Channel: The Ricoh GR21

The JCH Youtube Channel: The Ricoh GR21

Right, this camera here is a bit of a legend. The Ricoh GR21. I have been putting off doing a video on this one for a while as I didn’t know where to shoot with it. That is until an opportunity to visit the wonderful city of Kyoto presented itself and I thought it would be a great way to put the camera through its paces.

Please consider helping us keep on making these videos by hitting the link below and getting some lovely JCH gear. 15% off with the code HOTSUMMER Merch: <https://japancamerahunter.creator-spring.com/>

You can read reviews of great cameras over on the JCH site now: <https://www.japancamerahunter.com/category/camera-geekery/>

You can see some of the lovely cameras we have for sale here: <https://www.japancamerahunter.com/product-category/sale-items/>

These are a work in progress and we hope to improve them as we learn how to get them right. We have more cameras in the pipeline and are always open to (reasonable) suggestions. Your feedback is valuable. Please make sure you watch, like and subscribe. The more views we get the more we can put into making quality content for the community. You can see more videos here.

Cheers

JCH

The post The JCH Youtube Channel: The Ricoh GR21 appeared first on Japan Camera Hunter.

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The JCH Youtube Channel: The Ricoh GR21 - Japan Camera Hunter

The JCH Youtube Channel: The Ricoh GR21 Right, this camera here is a bit of a legend. The Ricoh GR21. I have been putting off doing a video on this one

Japan Camera Hunter

Camera Geekery: Nick Ut’s Leica M6

Camera Geekery: Nick Ut's Leica M6

A little while ago a good friend of JCH told me that he has a very special camera that he would like me to find a new home for. Now this isn't my first rodeo with an important camera, but when I heard who the owner of the camera is my ears immediately pricked up. That's right, this is award winning photographer Nick Ut's Leica M6.

Nick Ut

In case you are not familiar with with work of Nick Ut then first of all, where have you been? Nick is probably most well known for his work during the Vietnam war, in particular the Napalm Girl image, an image that changed the world and how we viewed war, in a time when war reporting was still in its early stages. This image and others from this era changed the world and the press forever.
Nick won both the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography and the 1973 World Press Photo of the Year for his image of a 9 year old Phan Thị Kim Phúc running after being burned with Napalm. In fact Nick presented a print of this image to the Pope himself just this month.

Nick Ut's has lived a fascinating life and you could fill pages telling his story. Instead you can read all about him and his contributions to photography here and here. And now Nick has retired and want's to take a bit of a step back, so it has become time for him to sell some of his cameras.

Nick Ut's Leica M6

Of course, this isn't the camera that Nick shot his most famous of images on (his famed Leica M2). That camera now resides in the London Science Museum on permanent display. As well it should, of course.

This is the camera Nick had been using up until very recently as his main shooter. Most recently in fact at the March 5th rally in support of Ukraine in Westwood, California.
What is so special about this camera? Well it is a piece of history attached to one of the worlds most well known photographers. Which he has been using up until very recently. It is well used and has definitely seen its fair share of rolls. The meter doesn't work either. But the camera does function.
But there is something very interesting and rather special inside the camera. It contains a 36 exposure unprocessed roll of Tri-X that Nick photographed the March 5 demonstration, of Ukrainians in Los Angeles protesting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Nick decided to leave the roll in the camera for the next owner to develop (or not) at their own discretion. It also comes with a signed and notarized certificate from Nick to prove the camera is indeed genuine. The camera remains unopened and waiting for the next owner to make the important decision about developing the film inside.

You can see the camera here. It is for sale and we really hope it goes to a home that really appreciates something of this provenance.

The funny thing is, Nick also sent his Hasselblad Xpan at the same time and asked for that to be sold, but he didn't attach as much importance to that camera and didn't make a certificate for it. Though it is his camera and it is also looking for a new home.

Historic camera

Do you have a lead on an important camera? We would love to hear about it. Or do you have a camera that has a really special story? We would love to hear about that too. Hit us up through this link and share with us what you have.

JCH

The post Camera Geekery: Nick Ut's Leica M6 appeared first on Japan Camera Hunter.

#camerageekery #camerageek #classiccamera #historiccamera #historicalcamera #japancamera #japancamerahunter #nickut #nickutleica #nickutleicacamera #nickutsleicam6 #rangefinder

Camera Geekery: Nick Ut's Leica M6 - Japan Camera Hunter

That's right, this is award winning photographer Nick Ut's Leica M6.

Japan Camera Hunter

Developing a Relationship with the Samoca 35 iii

Developing a Relationship with the Samoca 35 iii

As Hand-me-down-heroes go, this camera must surely be one of the greatest we have ever seen. A Samoca 35iii camera from the 1950's, rescued by the grandson of the original owner and brought back to life. What a story.

By Bryn Thomas

My Samoca 35 iii was purchased by my grandfather while he was on leave in Japan at the tail end of the Korean War. He dragged it across the war-torn peninsula during his time as an army engineer, and his basement contained shoeboxes full of black and white photographs, taken on the awkward yet compact aluminum and plastic, fully manual camera.

Fast forward to the early 1990s and it sat on my father’s desk. My grandfather, his father in law, had given it to him as a replacement for his Pentax ME Super, which had befallen some long-forgotten misfortune. It remained there until I grabbed it in 2012. After that, it sat on my shelf, used as an aesthetic paperweight and conversation piece.

Heirloom

Until recently, I had considered the camera broken, and had kept it as an heirloom while pursuing digital photography. My father thought the same — claiming, “it leaks light!”. Evidently, its advance — a fully-manual affair leveraging knobs — was jammed. Its 50 mm triplet C. Ezumar Anastigmat coated lens was caked in mold, and its body had a clear crack explaining my old man’s “light leak”. A visible dent implied that someone had dropped it sometime in the late 1950s, the approximate date its photos stop appearing in the family archives.

Despite this, its vario-type shutter fired accurately at all four speeds —1/25, 1/50, 1/100, and Bulb — and its focus metering system, written in feet, moved smoothly. Likewise, its aperture, which ranged between f3.5 and f22, adjusted easily.

The Samoca iii reappeared on my radar in 2019 when I converted to the dark side, joined the cool kids, and started shooting film. At the time, I was living in Vietnam and was looking for a camera that took decent photos, but that I wasn’t afraid to lose to the seemingly endless phone/purse snatchers that prowled the streets of Ho Chi Minh City during the pre-pandemic golden age of tank-topped backpackers and Swedish yoga instructors.
My solution was a Canon EOS Kiss SLR acquired for USD$ 15 from a local camera dealer. This camera, which was probably (and, considering my motivations, appropriately) stolen from another farang years earlier, sent me down a rabbit hole the readers of JCH have long been seeking the bottom of. A year later the hobby had expanded to repairing cameras, and the Samoca 35 iii sat, on my kitchen table under fluorescent lights disassembled.

Repairs

Fixing the camera went smoothly, despite the utter lack of online resources — it’s an apparently rare, somewhat exotic, and under-researched camera. All I could find was a manual and a few limited reviews. Removing the aluminum top enclosure was a bit of a mission, but the interior’s beautifully simple mechanical design was easy to repair. After cleaning and lightly oiling the advance mechanism, it began functioning normally.

Cleaning the lens was the next order of business, and proved equally uncomplicated. I simply unscrewed the front element with a lens spanner and cleaned all three pieces individually. I found no paper, rubber components or small, easily-losable metal rings.

Next up was the body repair. I removed the film door and spool, both of which separated from the body similar to a Holga 120, and are accessible via a latch marked O and C (open and closed). The crack, likely acquired with the dent, ran behind the take-up spool on the lens’ side (front) of the camera. I first filled the crack with liquid electrical tape, then, after drying, applied a 3 cm length of actual electrical tape for good measure. It was now time to test my work.

Loading

Loading film into the Samoca iii necessitates removing the spool from the camera and inserting the film into a slit. Similar to Leica iii, the camera is from a period in which the beginning, take-up portion of a 35 mm roll of film was slightly longer. As such, modern canisters come loose from the spool when advanced. Consequently, I had to secure the film to the spool using a tiny piece of gaffer’s tape. After reinserting the spool and the film, I taped the back on to secure against light leaks and prevent the back from popping off unexpectedly (remember, it’s like a Holga). Once this was complete, I manually set the counter to 36 by twisting it counter clockwise — after advanced to the first shot, it will start again at one. This counter counts upwards every time you cock the shutter.

I chose Fomapan 100 B&W as a test roll for several reasons. I wanted something forgiving, cheap, and familiar. In addition, the vast majority of the photos taken by my grandfather were taken on black and white film and I wanted a point of comparison. Finally, as this fully manual camera, and as the four shutter speeds (on a dial marked 100, 50, 25, and B) seemed designed for the sunny 16 rule, I specifically chose something with 100 ISO to compensate for my inability to do basic math.

Shooting

I waited for a sunny day and invited two friends over for portraits. The limited online material regarding this camera described the visual characteristics of this lens as “ dreamy” — not sharp, not fast, not clear — indeed a worrisome adjective for any lens. But, considering the amount of tape that I used in my ad-hoc repair job, I thought, “Well, if 5 shots out of the 36 turn out, I’ll be over the moon”.

In the end, I got 26 surprisingly sharp, pleasantly exposed shots. The limited speed options and aperture speeds made setting the exposure quicker than most manual cameras, but the range focusing — in feet — proved challenging. Likewise, the cocking mechanism, which also simultaneously advances the film counter (but not the film!) proved problematic and led to several double exposures.

In the end, I gained a clearer idea of why my grandfather liked this camera, and have since put several rolls through it. I intend, after becoming more versed on the device, to write a formal review of this camera, but for now, I am just enjoying the eerie resonant comparisons.

Two tall skinny men in Asia, 70 years apart, shot through the same lens on the same Samoca 35 iii.

Me, 2021

My Grandad, 1953

About the Author:

Bryn Thomas is an UK-born, Michigan-raised writer, photographer, and martial artist living in Taipei, Taiwan. He holds a Master’s in Asian Studies, is comprehensible in Chinese, and is a Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Examples of his photography can be found on IG: @high_mountain_green

Examples of his grandfather’s work can be found on IG: @forgotten_war_remembered

Thanks to Bryn for sharing this wonderful story. Do you have a story of a camera you want to share with us? **Send your camera story here. **

JCH

The post Developing a Relationship with the Samoca 35 iii appeared first on Japan Camera Hunter.

#camerageekery #handmedownheroes #camerageek #cameraporn #classiccamera #cooljapanesecameras #japancamerahunter #samoca35iii

Developing a Relationship with the Samoca 35 iii

Developing a Relationship with the Samoca 35 iii

Japan Camera Hunter

The JCH Youtube Channel: The Fujifilm GA645Zi

The JCH Youtube Channel: The Fujifilm GA645Zi

Some people consider the Fuji GA645zi to be the greatest point and shoot camera of all time. Let's have a look and see if it lives up to the claim.

We don't have sponsors on our videos, so we need all the support we can get to keep on making content. Please support us by grabbing some JCH apparel in the link below. And at the moment there is 20% off all apparel with the code AINTNOJOKE

https://japancamerahunter.creator-spring.com/?

You can follow the channel here: www.youtube.com/user/japancamerahunter

These are a work in progress and we hope to improve them as we learn how to get them right. We have more cameras in the pipeline and are always open to (reasonable) suggestions. Your feedback is valuable. Please make sure you watch, like and subscribe. The more views we get the more we can put into making quality content for the community. You can see more videos here.

Cheers

JCH

The post The JCH Youtube Channel: The Fujifilm GA645Zi appeared first on Japan Camera Hunter.

#camerageekery #reviews #video #youtubevideos #camerageek #cameraporn #cooljapanesecameras #japancamerahunteryoutube #japancamerahunter #jchyoutube #jchyoutubechannel #youtube

The JCH Youtube Channel: The Fujifilm GA645Zi - Japan Camera Hunter

The JCH Youtube Channel: The Fujifilm GA645Zi Some people consider the Fuji GA645zi to be the greatest point and shoot camera of all time. Let's have a

Japan Camera Hunter

IN YOUR BAG: 1727 – Jens Astrup

IN YOUR BAG: 1727 - Jens Astrup

We have not had a new bag for a while, but Jens Astrup steps up to the plate with an absolute backbreaker of a bag. Check it out.

Introduction

I’m a Copenhagen based Danish photographer. My cameras are my tools. I’ve grew up with film photography and learned my trade from shooting a humongous amount of films for a local daily newspaper. I was lucky that somebody paid my film supply back then.

The world turned digital and the first years with cameras like the 2.7 megapixel Nikon 1D made you appear a lousy photographer - again.
Today Canon digital cameras are my bread-and-butter-maker. The digital cameras are great - for work. They are fast and efficient, but do they spark any joy? No!

The Bag

When I want to enjoy photography (and burn money) I take this ThinkTank bag with my Fujis out for a spin. I was late to the medium format, but now I take revenge for lost times.
Shooting with these cameras is good for your mental health and it makes me happy.
I love this bag with content and I think it will be the first thing I would rescue in case of a fire - after some harddrives and negatives

The Fuji cameras in these formats have a huge resolution without being crazy sharp. To get the full potential of this resolution, it is a good idea to use a monopod (Not in the picture).

I know it does not help my reach, but generally I do not post my analogue pictures on the web. It does simply not give meaning to post a 1500 pixel picture when the original is a 1.5 meter C-print from a 6 by 9 negative.

You can find some of my other work here:

www.jensastrup.com

<http://instagram.com/jens_astrup>

I do not care too much about gear in the sense, that It is not what is interesting. Gear is tools for a job. I cry a little inside whenever I se great cameras on the shelfs at collectors.

What is interesting is what you can do with the gear, not someone sitting on it. Great cameras obligate, they are made for shooting great pictures. Go out and have fun shooting. Even cheap cameras can be great cameras. You can do great work with point and shoot cameras, if that is the look you wan’t to express.

For me, it is important that your gear does not get between you and your talent and these Fuji cameras are so simple to use that you forget them.

I carry a flashmeter in the bag as well. This one is perfect for mixing strobes with ambient light, but often I don’t use the light meter at all. Experience tells me the exposure, or because I do light-paint with studio strobes and there is no way to know, what the result will be anyway.

The strobe in this bag is a Metz 30 BCT 4. It is great because it sits just above the lens witch result in a shadowless point’n’shoot look, but in the high resolution these cameras provides.

The Gear

This bag is a ThinkTank Retrospective 30 and I had it for ten years now. Amazingly it holds all four cameras:

Fujifilm GSW690 III - 65mm

Fujifilm GW690 III - 90mm

Fujifilm GA645W i - 45mm

Fujifilm GA645 - 60mm

Minolta Flash Meter IV

Metz 30 BCT 4

Some filters for B&W

Cable release

Jens Astrup

Keep them coming folks, we need more submissions, so get your bag onJapancamerahunter.com

**Send me a high resolution image of the bag. Optimum size is 1500px across. Please ensure there is a bag in the shot, unless you don’t use one. The more you can write about yourself the better, make it appealing and tell us a story. Snapshots of your gear with a camera phone and no words will not be featured.
Oh and don’t forget your contact details (twitter, flickr, tumbler et al). Send the bag shots here. Not all make the cut, so make sure yours is funny/interesting/quirky. And please make sure the shot is of good quality, you are a photographer after all. **

Cheers
JCH

The post IN YOUR BAG: 1727 - Jens Astrup appeared first on Japan Camera Hunter.

#inyourbag #bellamycamera #camerageek #cameraporn #camerabag #classiccamera #cooljapanesecameras #gearporn #insidethebag #japanclassiccamera #japancamera #japancamerahunter #jensastrup #limitedcamerabag

IN YOUR BAG: 1727 - Jens Astrup - Japan Camera Hunter

IN YOUR BAG: 1727 - Jens Astrup We have not had a new bag for a while, but Jens Astrup steps up to the plate with an absolute backbreaker of a bag. Check

Japan Camera Hunter

IN YOUR BAG: 1727 – Jens Astrup

IN YOUR BAG: 1727 - Jens Astrup

We have not had a new bag for a while, but Jens Astrup steps up to the plate with an absolute backbreaker of a bag. Check it out.

Introduction

I’m a Copenhagen based Danish photographer. My cameras are my tools. I’ve grew up with film photography and learned my trade from shooting a humongous amount of films for a local daily newspaper. I was lucky that somebody paid my film supply back then.

The world turned digital and the first years with cameras like the 2.7 megapixel Nikon 1D made you appear a lousy photographer - again.
Today Canon digital cameras are my bread-and-butter-maker. The digital cameras are great - for work. They are fast and efficient, but do they spark any joy? No!

The Bag

When I want to enjoy photography (and burn money) I take this ThinkTank bag with my Fujis out for a spin. I was late to the medium format, but now I take revenge for lost times.
Shooting with these cameras is good for your mental health and it makes me happy.
I love this bag with content and I think it will be the first thing I would rescue in case of a fire - after some harddrives and negatives

The Fuji cameras in these formats have a huge resolution without being crazy sharp. To get the full potential of this resolution, it is a good idea to use a monopod (Not in the picture).

I know it does not help my reach, but generally I do not post my analogue pictures on the web. It does simply not give meaning to post a 1500 pixel picture when the original is a 1.5 meter C-print from a 6 by 9 negative.

You can find some of my other work here:

www.jensastrup.com

<http://instagram.com/jens_astrup>

I do not care too much about gear in the sense, that It is not what is interesting. Gear is tools for a job. I cry a little inside whenever I se great cameras on the shelfs at collectors.

What is interesting is what you can do with the gear, not someone sitting on it. Great cameras obligate, they are made for shooting great pictures. Go out and have fun shooting. Even cheap cameras can be great cameras. You can do great work with point and shoot cameras, if that is the look you wan’t to express.

For me, it is important that your gear does not get between you and your talent and these Fuji cameras are so simple to use that you forget them.

I carry a flashmeter in the bag as well. This one is perfect for mixing strobes with ambient light, but often I don’t use the light meter at all. Experience tells me the exposure, or because I do light-paint with studio strobes and there is no way to know, what the result will be anyway.

The strobe in this bag is a Metz 30 BCT 4. It is great because it sits just above the lens witch result in a shadowless point’n’shoot look, but in the high resolution these cameras provides.

The Gear

This bag is a ThinkTank Retrospective 30 and I had it for ten years now. Amazingly it holds all four cameras:

Fujifilm GSW690 III - 65mm

Fujifilm GW690 III - 90mm

Fujifilm GA645W i - 45mm

Fujifilm GA645 - 60mm

Minolta Flash Meter IV

Metz 30 BCT 4

Some filters for B&W

Cable release

Jens Astrup

Keep them coming folks, we need more submissions, so get your bag onJapancamerahunter.com

**Send me a high resolution image of the bag. Optimum size is 1500px across. Please ensure there is a bag in the shot, unless you don’t use one. The more you can write about yourself the better, make it appealing and tell us a story. Snapshots of your gear with a camera phone and no words will not be featured.
Oh and don’t forget your contact details (twitter, flickr, tumbler et al). Send the bag shots here. Not all make the cut, so make sure yours is funny/interesting/quirky. And please make sure the shot is of good quality, you are a photographer after all. **

Cheers
JCH

The post IN YOUR BAG: 1727 - Jens Astrup appeared first on Japan Camera Hunter.

#inyourbag #bellamycamera #camerageek #cameraporn #camerabag #classiccamera #cooljapanesecameras #gearporn #insidethebag #japanclassiccamera #japancamera #japancamerahunter #jensastrup #limitedcamerabag

The JCH Youtube Channel: The Fujifilm GA645Zi

The JCH Youtube Channel: The Fujifilm GA645Zi

Some people consider the Fuji GA645zi to be the greatest point and shoot camera of all time. Let's have a look and see if it lives up to the claim.

We don't have sponsors on our videos, so we need all the support we can get to keep on making content. Please support us by grabbing some JCH apparel in the link below. And at the moment there is 20% off all apparel with the code AINTNOJOKE

https://japancamerahunter.creator-spring.com/?

You can follow the channel here: www.youtube.com/user/japancamerahunter

These are a work in progress and we hope to improve them as we learn how to get them right. We have more cameras in the pipeline and are always open to (reasonable) suggestions. Your feedback is valuable. Please make sure you watch, like and subscribe. The more views we get the more we can put into making quality content for the community. You can see more videos here.

Cheers

JCH

The post The JCH Youtube Channel: The Fujifilm GA645Zi appeared first on Japan Camera Hunter.

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The JCH Youtube Channel: The Fujifilm GA645Zi - Japan Camera Hunter

The JCH Youtube Channel: The Fujifilm GA645Zi Some people consider the Fuji GA645zi to be the greatest point and shoot camera of all time. Let's have a

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The JCH Youtube Channel: The Contax 645

The JCH Youtube Channel: The Contax 645

The Contax 645 is referred to as a 'legendary' camera, but is it really? What makes it so? Well, we got the opportunity to play with one and find out if it really deserves the legendary status. Check it out.

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JCH

The post The JCH Youtube Channel: The Contax 645 appeared first on Japan Camera Hunter.

#camerageekery #reviews #video #youtubevideos #camerageek #cameraporn #classiccamera #contax #contax645 #contax645video #contaxcamera #cooljapanesecameras #japancamerahunteryoutube #japancamera #japancamerahunter #jchyoutube #jchyoutubechannel

The JCH Youtube Channel: The Contax 645 - Japan Camera Hunter

The JCH Youtube Channel: The Contax 645 The Contax 645 is referred to as a 'legendary' camera, but is it really? What makes it so? Well, we got the

Japan Camera Hunter