Artisan & Artist Silk Green Wrist Strap #14885 Review For Leica:

For those who prefer holding their camera in their hand instead of having it hang around their neck or shoulders, a decent wrist strap is a nice alternative to a traditional neck strap.  I for one almost never hang my camera around my neck when I’m out taking pictures.  I just find it’s easier for me to weave around a crowded street when the camera is in my hand.  Of course, it’s all about personal preference.  One of my favorite straps from Artisan & Artist has always been the ACAM-301 Silk Cord.  It’s light, strong, and very flexible allowing me to hang it around my neck when I need both hands free or wrap it very easily around my wrist.  But even with such a flexible strap, sometimes the length still makes it a bit cumbersome if all you really need or want is something that can be easily secured to your wrist, which is why the new Artisan & Artist Silk Green Wrist Strap is an excellent alternative. [continue reading…]

Back After Long Hiatus:

Hey everyone!  Sorry for the overall lack of activity here recently.  March has been a very busy month for me.  I also went a way for a short last minute trip with a couple of friends.  I’m back now, and I will be answering any comments that have been left over the past couple of weeks, and I will also be replying to all my emails.  Sorry for all the late replies!  In a few of hours or sooner, I will be posting a short review on a new wrist strap as well just to get the ball rolling again.

In about a week, I will be going to Tokyo, Japan.  I will be bringing my Leica M 240 and a few lenses with me.  Bob at Bergen County Camera said he would loan me a lens if I wanted (which is extremely nice of him), so I will also be testing out something cool while I’m there for a review.  If I can get everything in order (packing, last minute stuff, etc.), I will create new content to be released during the week that I’m in Japan, so there will always be something new up on my site.

By the way, as you can see from the photo above, I bought some film (I posted a pic a while ago on my Instagram)…a pro pack of Portra 35mm but mostly medium format.  That’s because I purchased an old Hasselblad medium format film camera recently, which I’m very excited about.  From time to time, I’ve mentioned my old Mamiya 6MF fondly here.  I missed the format enough that I decided to invest back into it.  This time, I wanted to try something different, which is why I went for the Hasselblad.  It took me many months to find exactly the one I wanted.  It still hasn’t arrived yet, and it looks like I won’t get it until after I come back from Japan, so I will talk more about this later.  Again, sorry for the lack of activity!  Stay tuned for more to come!

Ice in New York City Harbors:

We’ve been getting some really cold days here in New York City.  Some days have been in the teens and even the low single digits at night.  Factoring in the wind, it often feels like it’s in the negatives.  I was driving home and I saw some ice on the water, which I thought was really neat since I don’t actually remember a time when I ever saw ice floating around the harbors in New York City.  I wasn’t out for long but here are a few photos I managed to take with my Leica M Typ 240. [continue reading…]

Note from Admin: Here is part two of Jed Orme’s guest article about his trip to the South Pacific using only his Fuji X-E2 and select prime lenses.  There are some beautiful pictures in this article…great examples of Fuji blues.  For those who haven’t seen part one, definitely check it out!  He also has a Flickr page with even more photos.  Enjoy!

South Pacific Sojourn – To Zoom or Not To Zoom (Part 2 of 2)

This is the second part of a two-part article about photography on a thirty-day cruise, & related photo gear considerations as well as image capture experiences.  The first part covered travels my wife & I took from San Diego to the Hawaiian Islands, & then on to our gateway to the South Pacific.  This last place is a magical isle with a perfect name – “Bora Bora”.  It was originally called “Pora Pora” (there are no B’s in the Tahitian language).  But when Captain Cook visited, he mistook the “P” sound for a “B”.  On the way to Bora Bora, we also spent a day at one of the most remotely inhabited islands on our planet – Fanning Island, with its small population living without any running water or electricity.

[continue reading…]