Afleveringen

  • “I am sitting in the smallest room of my house. I have your review before me. In a moment it will be behind me.”

    — Max Reger, German composer (1873–1916), responding to a savage review

    Jeff’s in Lisbon at the start of a month-long European trip; Gabe’s in LA developing his own film for the first time in years. But what’s obsessing them the most? Their first rotten review! Tune in for all the merriment and NO PRAISE!

    Jeff’s choice of cameras and film for a month-long European trip:

    the Hasselblad XPan with both the 45mm and 90mm lenses

    the mighty Olympus XA4 macro

    24 rolls of Kodak Portra 400 and Portra 160

    Gabe’s eBay misadventure in pursuit of the Pentax 50mm 1.7: 

    the “as-is” Pentax ME Super and S1 turned out to be nonfunctional, the lens was dented…

    …but he did get a Watson bulk loader!

    He lent his Canon EOS 3 to Martin Starr… so he had to buy a replacement: the EOS Elan 7NE. Which was perfect — even better than our beloved Rebel 2000!

    More eBaying: Gabe also got the Nikon 85mm f1.4D

    and he got his beloved Leica M3 repaired by our trusty dusty camera repair guy! whom he interviewed! and who may finally be unmasked in an upcoming episode!

    Jeff was on the cusp of buying an Olympus OM-3 when his cherished 12” Retina MacBook dropped dead… hence no OM-3

    Gabe went shooting with the Elan and his Rolleiflex and processed the film himself — it’s a new era!

    In Lisbon, Jeff visited Vintage Dream Cameras and took a hard, hard look at a Snoopy 110 camera and a rare Leica IIIc with sharkskin leatherette

    We got a terrible review!

    Gabe compared Rolleiflex TLRs with Dave Tada, but it turns out there are lots of differences between the 2.8E and the 2.8E2! Also, Dave’s has an RZ67 finder!

    Our friend Oliver’s exotic Chinese Pearl River SLR

    Jeff experienced sudden XPan battery death

    We empty out our Prodigious Mailbag™ 

    Some notes on our composer Fred Coury: his former band Cinderella’s Night Songs was released on this day in 1986; also, Fred just won his 6th Emmy!

  • A transformational live-on-locational supersensational IDOCstravaganza! First we go to a Los Angeles Photography Club Cameras and Coffee meetup in Koreatown to talk to folks about their cameras and dogs. Then we SPAN THE GLOBE to interview Jo Geier, proprietor of Mint and Rare, a phenomenal camera shop in Vienna, Austria. You won’t want to miss this one, so TOON IN!

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  • Consulting Producer Tucker Sachs, the real brains behind I Dream of Cameras, has long lurked in the shadows with a bone and a chew toy, but in this episode he finally steps into the light. Also discussed: photo books, photo contests, photo walks and photo acquisitions, along with every syllable of your deathless prose from the Prodigious Mailbag™.  It’s a doggie-dog world!

    Daido Moriyama’s ’71 NY is an incredible photo book shot on an Olympus Pen W

    Gabe had a blast at the latest Beers and Cameras feat. Joe Stitt

    Spotted: a Fujica ST 801

    check out Walker Evans' subway photo book, shot with a Contax II: Many Are Called

    Jeff entered an Epson pano competition - any favorite photo contests?

    Gabe really should get a Nikon SP, but in the meantime he finally snagged an ugly black-paint Nikon F from KEH

    our new cult favorite film: FPP Color 125

    bulk-loading and its discontents

    Gabe scored a slew of point-and-shoots at a yard sale for a total of $28:

    Olympus Infinity II

    Fuji Discovery

    Pentax IQ Zoom

    Olympus Infinity Jr.

    Polaroid announced an upgrade to their B&W 600 film - kudos!

    The IDOC gang are planning a Polaroid-peel-apart-film-shooting festival

    check out Sissi Lu's reels and IG live shots

    Jeff is performing at the Ruskin Theatre in Santa Monica on Mother's Day (click See a Show and then look for Library Girl)

    The Prodigious Mailbag™ features the Osmond brothers doing Crazy Horses

    Hank Haddock’s ISO 3200 stickers (designed by Suné Horn) will help you avoid arguments at airport security - find them at tinyurl.com/savemyfilm

    do you make photo books, and if so how?

    and finally, Consulting Producer Tucker Sachs puts in an appearance

  • He wouldn’t…. Now that the long-raging and ill-advisedly-ignited Vivian Maier debate has finally died down, Jeff wouldn’t throw gasoline on those embers by expressing a Strong Opinion about some recent Viv-related news, would he? Well, you’ll just have to tune in to find out. Also discussed: the boys swap cities, Gabe in New York and Jeff in Los Angeles; recent shooting adventures with a slew of cameras both old and new; and the proper way to express your love of our smash hit podcast: through lavish gifts!

    we had a tremendous response to the last episode — clearly 69 is something people really enjoy

    heh heh heh, the folks at Camerosity took the bait — haven’t y’all read The Mouse That Roared?

    Gabe’s adventures in New York shooting his Rolleiflex and Leica M10 with Sissi Lu (shoutout: Katz’s Deli) and Chris Chu (shoutout: Salt’s Cure), plus drive-bys at B&H and picturehouse + the small darkroom

    Jeff sold his Robot Royal 24, but shipping to South Korea was twice as much as what the UPS website originally quoted, so he realized a net profit of $3.32

    however, he still wanted a square-format 35mm, so bring on the Mamiya Sketch… which is delightful and quirky!

    shooting the Canonflex R2000

    shooting the Pentax MF with FPP Color 125 (see Jeff’s article in Casual Photophile)

    a hearty thanks to super-listener Jeffry Pittman, who sent us a Baby Rollei, a Hermes 3000 typewriter, and lots of film

    iPhone iOS 17.4 now includes podcast transcripts so you may enjoy our soaring rhetorical flourishes

    Jeff mildly reacts to some recent Vivian Maier news

    Gabe’s planning an all-medium-format film shoot with the Pentax 6x7, the Mamiya RZ67, and the Hasselblad 501CM

    a passing mention of new friend Peter Kagan, about whom you will hear more

    a bold voyage into our Prodigious Mailbag™ 

    and finally, a fond farewell to the great Joe Flaherty

  • Paulina Porizkova joins the boys to offer her unique perspective on the art and business of fashion photography. How’d she get into it? What’s the most important thing a photographer should know about working with models? Why does Paulina call Irving Penn “Mr. Penn”? Does the fact that Jeff has a spreadsheet of when he last changed the batteries in his cameras render him more attractive? All this and much, much more in our sexy Episode № 69 — nice!

    how Paulina got into modeling at age 15, how she learned the craft

    her growing awareness of lighting and cameras

    the dance between photographer and model, and how it’s altered by different types of camera

    how a photographer’s behavior influences a model’s confidence

    how real is the Veruschka scene from Blow-Up?

    do you know if the shot is good?

    how aware are you of camera equipment?

    can what you know about modeling be taught?

    pay attention to lighting! take a selfie when you look great!

    were you ever interested in photography yourself?

    her late husband Ric Ocasek’s interest in photography

    studio vs. location shooting

    the business of modeling is not what you think!

    does the fact that Jeff has a spreadsheet of when he last changed the batteries in his cameras render him more attractive?

    what is the most important thing a photographer should know about working with models?

    is it different working with a female photographer?

    working with Irving Penn and why P always calls him “Mister”

    Bill King

    the one photographer she wishes she’d had a chance to work with: Helmut Newton

    the resurgence of 35mm point-and-shoots in fashion photography, e.g. Marie Tomanova’s shoot for Czech Vogue

    can you get a good shot of a model by being mean to her?

    what’s it like shooting with your boyfriend, former photographer of plants and buildings?

    the portrait by Jeff that P loves

    her Top 5 photographers she enjoyed working with:

    Mr. Penn

    Arthur Elgort (author of Camera Ready and Camera Crazy)

    Patrick Demarchelier

    Marcus Bard

    Marco Glaviano

    what’s it like being constantly confronted with images of your younger self? do you have a favorite?

  • It’s an xlent xlerated xtralarge xtravaganza as Gabe and Jeff hack and slash their way to the bottom of the Prodigious Mailbag™, which features a slew of emails penned by celebrities under the pseudonym “Alan Peres.” Also discussed: cameras of ’55, cameras of ’24, Dune 2, SB2, SL3, FP4, HP5, Number Six and Zippora Seven! Tune in as we run the numbers!

    Cameras in Focus 1955:

    Olympus Wide

    Rolleiflex 2.8D

    the Nikon SP was in development (which prompts a reprise of Jeff’s astonishing SP acquisition story)

    Pentaflex

    Graflex Stereo Graphic

    a 1955 survey of 35mm cameras by price range

    Jeff briefly acquired an Asahi Pentax SB2, rare variant of the H3/S3 sold only on Japanese military bases… but it was broken, so back it went

    Gabe launches the Under $40 Camera Challenge!

    The soon-come Pentax film compact camera will be a half-frame model with zone focusing

    For the third straight time, Leica reports record revenue, plus the new SL3 is out

    Gabe rhapsodizes about the monstrous Gowlandflex

    Dave Tada picked Gabe up a coveted Nikkor 28mm f2.8…

    …but he still yearns for an ugly black Nikon F

    Dune 2 was shot on a $50 Helios-44!

    Nikon is buying RED

    Jeff watched the great Yu Tsai in action at the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue 60th anniversary shoot in Fort Lauderdale

    We go XL to empty out the Prodigious Mailbag™ 

    Our IDOC Discord channel is hoppin’! Join us!

  • “Pablo Larraín, the film’s Chilean director, felt [Jackie] Kennedy’s love of beauty was so integral to her character that he requested [Natalie] Portman utter ‘I love beauty’ at some point during the shooting of every scene.” This is absurd, but not as absurd as Episode № 67 of I Dream of Cameras, “Your Extra Time and Your Kiss,” in which we discuss cameras called Beauty and Kiss and Super. Tune in for all the mayhem!

    Jeff made yet another math error! 64 is 2 to the fifth

    Gabe presents… Cameras in Focus, 1956:

    Canon VT

    Pentacon FB / Contax FB

    Mamiyaflex Automat BII

    Beauty 35 Super(“I love beauty”)

    Beier Precisa IIA

    Bolta Photavit 36

    Duplex Super 120

    Flexora III

    Kodak Signet 40

    original Leica MP

    Jeff snagged a Canon EOS New Kiss Panorama (a.k.a. Rebel G, a.k.a. Rebel 500N) for $14.50 and gave it to his brother Steven

    After much equivocation, and after handling the lens at B&H, he concluded he does not need the extravagantly-priced 30mm for the Hasselblad XPan

    Gabe did an all-film photo shoot with Claire Hinkley during the recent L.A. monsoon

    Also shot Kylie Silkman and her sister Danica with the stunning Helios-44 lens

    Jason Schneider's books on camera collecting are amazing

    Perplexity.ai is a useful tool for camera comparisons

    We will try to chat with y’all on Discord - check the #idoc-podcast channel under Sunny 16

    Don Goldberg at DAG helped Gabe fix the broken strap guard on his Leica M6 TTL

    And finally, a deep dive into our Prodigious Mailbag™!

  • It’s a voyage to the bottom of the Prodigious Mailbag™ on our Smash Hit Podcast™, but before that there’s talk of the year in photography 1957, the revived Southern California camera show, Jeff’s trip to the Caribbean with a sexy Swede and also his girlfriend, eBay execs sending pig fetuses to their critics, and so much more!

    Jeff made yet another major math error! 64 is 2 cubed

    Sorry, but Parenting Hell is not a smash hit podcast

    Gabe presents The Year in Focus 1957:

    Nikon SP

    Ilford Sportsman

    Hasselblad 500C

    Kodak Retina Reflex

    Concava Tessina watch camera TLR

    Leica M2 (for real) which when new went for $276, or $2,884.37 in today’s dollars

    Arsenal Salyut

    Asahi came out with the original Pentax

    Olympus Wide E

    Gabe went to the new Huntington Park camera show (very exciting) and nearly bought a Contax T

    Jeff visited 5R Photo Lab in New York and met proprietor Alec

    A trip to St. Barth’s, French West Indies occasioned the return of the XPan, and a love affair was reignited

    Jeff shot with both Portra 400 and 160… and liked 160 better!

    Gabe visited Jeff and P in NYC, went to B&H Photo, bought nothing…

    …but then ordered an Exa 1B and a Helios-44 lens

    Mint unveiled their coming-soon Rollei 35AF — apparently anyone can license the name “Rollei” for a buck fifty — but who needs this thing?

    A bunch of eBay execs were creepy criminals

    Jeff got a cool Minox film slitter from camerhack.it

    Check out RitchieCam, a camera app for iPhone with an XPan emulation mode

    A dive so deep into our Prodigious Mailbag™ that it requires a bathyscaphe

    Gabe wants to hear about online photography websites you love - blogs, magazines, whatever

  • You want more and you want it fast? Tune in to Episode № 65 of I Dream of Cameras, “Rebel Rebel,” in which Gabe and Jeff wax rhapsodic about the trash-table treasure Canon EOS Rebel 2000. How did this grubby chunk of plastic capture the hearts of two men devoted to the cult of Leica? Pluck this pod and find out! Also, we call out great cameras NOT from the big-name brands, recount recent shooting adventures, and take a shallow dip into the deep and prodigious mailbag!

    Jeff made a major math error! 64 is 2^8

    Cameras of ’58:

    Nikon S3

    Leica M2

    Rolleiflex T

    Minolta SR-2

    Mamiya Elca (and from ’59, the fascinating square-format Mamiya Sketch)

    Ricoh 519

    Zeiss Ikon Ikonette

    And now, the long-promised Minority Report (great cameras not from the big-name brands)

    Alpa 11si (of course)

    Pentacon Six

    Petri Color 35

    Plaubel Makina 67 (Gabe’s gonna get one!)

    Rectaflex

    Balda Baldaxette II

    Voigtländer Vitessa L

    Widelux

    The trash-table Canon EOS Rebel 2000 is dirt cheap and packed with features — we both love ours!

    There’s also an even-cheaper EOS Kiss Panorama with a stupid panorama switch!

    The 40mm f2.8 pancake lens is delightful

    Check out Casual Photophile's impassioned defense of “Dorky AF” SLRs of the late ‘90s

    Gabe’s been shooting portraits (?!) with Leica’s 28mm Elmarit

    And finally, a dip into our Prodigious Mailbag™ 

  • The big news in Episode № 64 of I Dream of Cameras is the release of Harman Phoenix, a brand-new experimental color film from the company we insist on calling Ilford ‘cause they didn’t give us free stuff. Also covered: notable cameras of 1959; fun with Lomochrome Turquoise; Gabe’s recent five-camera all-film photo shoot; the growing cult of the Minolta P’s; last-minute holiday gift ideas; and tons of blowback in the Prodigious Mailbag!

    Cameras of 1959:

    Leica M1

    Minolta SR-1

    Tele-Rolleiflex

    debut of the Nikon F

    the original one-lug Olympus Pen (made not by Olympus, but Sanko Shoji)

    Asahi Pentax S2 / H2

    Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super

    The Russian Mir (a simplified Zorki 4)

    Gabe went to The Darkroom for the exciting debut of Harman Phoenix, a brand-new film from a company we insist on calling Ilford ‘cause they didn’t give us free stuff

    Labs working with this film are running smack into The Scannenberg Uncertainty Principle

    Jeff had a blast shooting Lomochrome Turquoise with his rare and exotic Mamiya/Sekor 2000 DTL

    Meanwhile, Gabe’s been shooting with his cheap ’n’ cheerful Canon Rebel 2000 + 40mm f2.8 pancake lens — the results blew him away!

    He also recently did an all-film shoot with the Contax 645, Rolleiflex 2.8E2, Yashica T4, Leica M6… and Minolta P’s! P's Mania rolls on! 

    Directing NBC’s new sitcom Extended Family, Jeff did some set photography with his beloved Olympus Pen EE-3. 78 shots on a roll!

    Holiday gift ideas! Jeff recently acquired some excellent photo books:

    Apollo VII - XVII

    Hasselblad - The Camera System 50 Years 1948-1998

    New York in Photobooks

    Why not our new Alan Daly t-shirt, or something else from our burgeoning merch page?

    Or Rachel's Brewster-Wright’s Ultimate Film & Darkroom Workbook

    A dip into our Prodigious Mailbag™, featuring:

    More Vivian Maier blowback from our 50th episode - as revenge, Viv will be getting a one-woman show at Fotografiska New York in May 2024

    An excellent photo club, The Slow Camera Exchange

    A wonderful 1942 article from The Atlantic, The Dream Camera

  • It’s our third anniversary episode, featuring celebrations galore and talk of cameras past, present and future. Plus the return of our Prodigious Mailbag™, featuring NO PRAISE! Tune in for all the merriment!

    Cameras of 1960:

    Nikkorex 35

    Nikon S3M

    the original Canonflex

    Pentax Spotmatic shown at Photokina

    Rolleiflex 2.8F

    Rolleiflex Rollei Magic

    Zeiss Contarex Special

    Yashica 35M

    Leica R5

    Gabe and Jeff got great birthday gifts!

    the original Kodak Instamatic

    Kodak Retina IIIC

    Lego Rolleiflex

    Leica IXMOO

    A golden Minolta P’s

    Gabe’s been trawling eBay for early LIFE magazines

    Please tell Jeff he doesn’t need a Nicca IIIL

    He’s also fascinated by the ridiculous Contax Preview

    Gabe’s got some shoots coming up, and plans to use:

    Contax 645

    Minolta P’s

    and the super-cheap Canon Rebel 2000 with the 40mm pancake

    Jeff’s quasi-repaired Pentax ES II is cursed… never again!

    …but he’s loving his rare and delightful Mamiya/Sekor 2000 DTL

    …and will soon be shooting on set with his beloved Olympus Pen EE-3

    A deep dive into our Prodigious Mailbag™ 

    and finally: Gabe throws out the Under $95 Camera Challenge!

  • Gabe goes to a celebrity wedding; Jeff appears in Vogue Portugal. Gabe has a birthday; Jeff has a breakdown. And all the while, they scour the globe in search of the world’s finest vintage camera shops. Tune in for pulled pork and wienerschnitzel and much, much more!

    Cameras of ’61:

    Olympus Pen EE

    Canon 7

    Rolleiflex wide-angle

    Pentax H1/S1

    A vintage Hasselblad 500c ad: What could possibly make a camera worth $550?

    Gabe had a birthday and received a photo-themed gift: Life Magazine and the Power of Photography, featuring his beloved Gordon Parks

    Our corporate retreat in Austin, Texas featured visits to The Camera Exchange and Austin Camera, followed by BBQ at Rollin’ Smoke, where you get a free beer with your tip

    Gabe’s verdict on the Nikon 28Ti: he agrees it’s boring and prefers the Yashica T4!

    Jeff’s Pentax ES II mega-saga: if your stuff gets damaged by UPS, submit a claim! As for Electro Spotmatics of all sorts, never again!

    The new I'm Back digital insert for 35mm cameras is larger than it appears - would you do it?

    We were gifted a complete set of Atlanta Film Co. films from Bill Manning

    Jeff returned to Vienna, which is vintage camera heaven! Notable stops included Camera 31, Westlicht, Jo Geier, United Camera and the astounding Photo Börse

    More security hassles in Frankfurt - next time, lie about your ISO!

    Gabe’s been shooting with his Rolleiflex and Leica M6

    Jeff spent some time with Leica photographer Pat Domingo

    Also a shout-out to Branislav Simoncik, who shot P for Vogue Portugal

    Starting with Episode 17, the subtitles on the episode page at idreamofcameras.com became delightfully obscure references, yet nobody ever mentions them. Y’all paying attention?

  • A rare treat: IDOC № 61 is dedicated to you, our legions of devoted listeners. In this XL episode, we take a deep, deep dive into our Prodigious Mailbag™, which as of recording ran 46 emails deep. Tune in as Gabe and Jeff respond to inquiries, sympathies, clapbacks and condemnations. It’s sixty-wonderful!

    Cameras of ’62:

    Minolta Hi-Matic

    Nikon F Photomic

    Hasselblad 500C in space! Wally Schirra aboard Mercury 8

    Canonflex RM

    Pentax SV

    Miranda DR

    Fujicarex

    Ricoh Singlex

    After we revealed our eBay watch lists, people did indeed skunk us! The mint Minolta P’s, the bulk roll of Panatomic-X, the rare Pentax SB2, the Alpa 10d half-frame and one of the two Nicca IIILs are all gone!

    and for the remainder of the episode, a deep dive into our Far Beyond Prodigious Mailbag!

  • In Episode № 60 of I Dream of Cameras, Gabe and Jeff stun the photography world by boldly revealing the contents of their fiercely guarded eBay watch lists. That’s right — you could go on the ‘Bay right now and steal their Precious right out from under them! What are the white whales and black beauties they’ve been eyeing hungrily? And which would they choose if a magical djinn offered them just one? Cross your arms and blink to find out now!

    Cameras of 1963:

    the original Kodak Instamatic

    the original gothic Olympus Pen F

    Canon Demi

    Polaroid Polacolor film for Land cameras

    Gabe promised a purge! there was no purge

    Which cameras did Jeff bring to New York in anticipation of a month of travel?

    Jeff’s Pentax ES II misadventure

    Gabe shot with the Nikon 28Ti, verdict to come

    Gabe’s take on the new Polaroid I-2

    Jeff and Gabe boldly reveal the contents of their eBay watch lists — feel free to skunk us!

    If a magical genie offered you one thing from your watch list, what would you pick?

    The Prodigious Mailbag™ will be the bulk of our next episode, so please write to us at eye dream of cam rahs at gee male dot calm

    Gabe recommends an excellent YouTube series: Wrong Side of the Lens

    Fred Coury’s beloved Amy Motta is a Canon film shooter now

    Don’t praise us in an email — leave us a review on iTunes!

  • “So no one told you life was gonna be this way / Your Nikon’s in the shop, your XPan’s D.O.A....” Join Jeff and Gabe in Noo Yawk Cit-tay for a very special episode, featuring a schmear and a Dr. Brown’s and the most underrated Canon SLR of the modern era. We’ll be there for you!

    Cameras of 1964:

    the O.G. Leicaflex

    the elusive Canon FX

    the wildly undervalued Pentax SV

    the freakish Nikkorex Auto 35

    the large and unwieldy Koni-Omega Rapid

    Gabe’s NYC photo walk with the great Sissi Lu

    The team’s visit to B&H Photo (and Russ & Daughters) with Chris Chu

    Jeff bought a Canon F-1 Lake Placid Olympics edition, the only classic-era Canon SLR he’s never owned

    Comparing the XPan with the Minolta P’s: field of view and aspect ratio are quite similar!

    Another roll-the-dice segment! Adapting this lens for that camera, and the worst camera we’ve ever used — fight us!

    Plus a dip halfway down our prodigious mailbag!

  • There's fever in the funkhouse now for Episode № 58 of I Dream of Cameras, in which we introduce a startling new segment: we ROLL THE DICE to choose from a bumper crop of listener-suggested topics. Tune in ‘cause the deuce is still wild!

    Cameras of 1965:

    Leicaflex MK2

    Minolta Autopak 700

    Hasselblad EL/M

    Olympus Pen EM

    Nikkormat FT

    and something else that came out in 1965

    Jeff saw the Terry O’Neill show at Fotografiska…

    …went to Overland Photo Supply in Overland Park, Kansas…

    …and bought a Pentax Spotmatic F for cheap! you K1000 devotees are crazy!

    Gabe did a nighttime photo shoot at Mel’s Diner on Sunset with his beloved Nikon D700, experimenting with flash

    Jeff got the first roll back from his Minolta P’s, and likes the results… though he misses having backlight compensation

    Recommended documentary: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, about photographer Nan Goldin, streaming on Kanopy (free with your public library card)

    It’s been a year — how’s Polaroid Music going?

    A new segment where we roll the dice and pull from our list of undiscussed topics!

    Celebs with film cameras

    Our oddest cameras:

    Contarex Bullseye

    Voigtländer Vitessa L

    Alpa 11si

    Werra

    Minox

    Nikonos

    Pentax Auto 110

    Ricoh Mirai Zoom

    Minolta 110 Zoom

    Scale-focus cameras - Gabe can’t stand them!

    the prodigious mailbag!

    and finally: Chloe Kissner has a photography business, and her mom is buying a film camera

  • In Episode № 57 of I Dream of Cameras, we mind our P’s — Minolta’s little-known pocket XPan killer — and Q’s — diving into a particularly prodigious mailbag. Also, Gabe’s gone digicam kray-zee, and Jeff’s still obsessed with that Nikon Year of the Dog camera. Tune in for all the chitter-chatter!

    Cameras of 1966:

    The troublesome but alluring Rolleiflex SL66

    The unreleased yet tantalizing Pentax 220

    The well-named Petri Racer

    Gabe’s recent acquisitions — he’s a digicam hipster!

    Nikon Coolpix S1000pj with built-in projector

    Nikon D700

    Nikon Coolpix P7000

    Jeff’s thoroughly besotted with the delightful panoramic point-and-shoot Minolta P's — it leaves the tab out when rewinding! And it comes in four other colors, red, blue, green and black — does he need 'em?

    Olympus Stylus, mirrored chrome edition — are these special finishes worth the premium?

    Revisiting the Nikon FM2/T Year of the Dog camera — the price continues to plummet, but the dog looks like the dogecoin Shiba Inu, so does that ruin it?

    Gabe’s recent use of the Leica M6 on the WGA picket line reminded him how nice it is to use a lighter, less bulky camera

    eBay annoyances, suspicious sellers…

    and our super-prodigious mailbag!

  • “On Wednesday evening, at the start of the opera in the St. Margarethen quarry, the unbelievable happened: Carmen survived.” And this is just the start of Episode № 56 of I Dream of Cameras, which features a harrowing escape from certain death, an enigmatic Central European supermodel, exotic cameras from East Germany and Czechoslovakia, and Jeff Bridges! Tune in for all the intrigue.

    On the final night of his Central European trip, Jeff was almost killed at an outdoor performance of Carmen

    Cameras of 1967:

    Olympus Trip 35

    Hanimex Praktica Novo I B

    Zenit E

    More on Jeff’s recent observation of fashion shoots, including two different professionals’ use of the Olympus Stylus

    Look for many behind-the-scenes XPan shots on Jeff’s Instagram

    Gabe finally found his long-lost Leica R6.2… he’d sold it to LA Film Camera!

    Our composer Fred Coury went to an LA Photography Club meetup and got hooked

    The Argus C3 is terrible — fight us on this!

    On Alan Peres's recommendation, Jeff visited FotoŠkoda in Prague and it was incredible

    Picked up a Zeiss Pentacon FM and a Carl Zeiss Jena 35mm f2.4 Flektogon lens

    In Český Krumlov, Jeff visited the fascinating Museum Fotoatelier Seidel…

    …and found a Czech-made Meopta Stereo-Mikroma at a local antique store

    Gabe got a black Olympus OM-2…

    …and a Nikon D700…

    …and is seeking a waist-level finder for his Contax 645

    The challenges of shooting film abroad: do you wrestle with unsympathetic airport security personnel? Ship your film home and risk it getting x-rayed along the way? Process it locally? After equivocating for days, Jeff rolled the dice and took 18 rolls to the lab at FotoŠkoda… and it was a smashing success!

    Also: Portra 400 is totally worth it, and the XPan is a great travel camera

    Exciting news: a new Widelux is inbound from Jeff and Susan Bridges and the team at Silvergrain Classics

    While the Widelux has a 126° field of view, the XPan with 45mm lens covers 71° — is that panoramic?

    What do we think of the Minolta P’s and other “fake” panoramic 35mm cameras which merely mask the frame?

    Finally, a dip into our prodigious mailbag!

  • Hello, oh-oh, Vienna calling! Jeff’s in the City of Dreams for Episode № 55 of I Dream of Cameras, featuring talk of travel, model shoots and being trailed by paparazzi. Do they swoon for the XPan? Find out in this globe-spanning dispatch!

    Jeff’s in Vienna, Austria for this one!

    Cameras of 1968:

    Petri Color 35

    Fed Mikron

    Konica Autoreflex T

    Praktica Super TL

    Gabe’s been going to a lot of camera meetups ‘cause Jeff has abandoned him

    Jeff talks about the nature of his globetrotting adventure: Bratislava, Brno, Vienna, Prague, Karlovy Vary…

    Photographing picturesque cities, being trailed by paparazzi

    The cameras he brought: the Hasselblad XPan and the Olympus XA4 Macro

    The XPan opens doors! photographers notice it — it’s not a dilettante’s camera — and this has led to some fascinating conversations

    Gabe’s had a similar experience with Rollei TLRs

    The XPan is a surprisingly great travel camera — between behind-the-scenes stuff and exotic Central European cities, Jeff’s burning through two or three rolls of Kodak Portra 400 a day

    Kodak Ultramax 400 was cheaper but a bit disappointing

    also in the queue: Portra 160 and FPP Color 125 (a.k.a. Svema)

    Jeff’s getting an extraordinary insight into the collaboration between model and photographer on a fashion shoot

    yesterday’s photo shoot was with Leica Ambassador Pat Domingo, who used a Leica SL2 Reporter and a custom black chrome Hermes edition Leica M10-D with red leather and a 35mm Summicron that belonged to his father

    Gabe had some struggles to get back in sync with his black-paint Leica M4

    Jeff’s pretty good at judging exposure — are you?

    Gabe’s also been out shooting with the Mamiya RZ67, the Hasselblad 501cm and the Rolleiflex 2.8E2

    And he’s fascinated by the work of Saul Leiter

    And he’s still enjoying the black Canonflex RM and Pentacon Six TL

    Jeff’s favorite black-and-white film is Double-X 250, a GREAT stock which for some reason isn’t commercially available (except through Cinestill) — buy a 100-foot roll from Ultrafine Online and start bulk-loading!

    Jeff’s East Coast lab of choice: picturehouse + smalldarkroom in Chelsea, NYC

    and finally, a dip into Das Prodigious Mailbag!

  • We’re Feckless in Seattle for Episode № 54 of I Dream of Cameras, which features a visit to an amazing local camera shop, Gabe’s adventures at Los Angeles photography meetups, a dip into our perpetually prodigious mailbag, talk of Mamiyas and Pentacons and Pentaxes, and more!

    Gabe reviews a few key cameras of 1969:

    Pentax 6x7

    Olympus 35SP

    Hasselblad 500 EL Apollo edition

    A dip into the prodigious mailbag

    Gabe’s visit to a recent Los Angeles Photography Club meetup

    Also, check out your local Beers and Cameras photowalk

    Gabe's preferred shooters these days: the black Canonflex RM and Pentacon Six TL

    Jeff's results from shooting the Heavenly concert in London: could pushed HP5 be better than Kodak or Ilford 3200?

    Jeff’s Mamiya 35mm SLR saga: the 2000 DTL improbably works perfectly, the 1000 DTL’s meter is dead, the 55mm f1.4 lens is radioactive

    A Lacquer-Stik (black or white) is a very useful tool for restoring camera logos

    Jeff's visit to the amazing Shot on Film Store in north Seattle, and what he bought there:

    a gorgeous black Pentax H3

    Konica 40mm f1.8 pancake

    Olympus A16 flash for the Olympus XA series

    Kodak Ultramax 400

    Preparations for upcoming Central European trip incl. fear of taking a loaded camera through airport security ‘cause they won’t hand-check it

    how does Jeff post swipeable panoramas to Instagram? the Swipestagram app

    Fred Coury got a Leica Q2!