Pictures and Pens

How I bought a medium format film camera (Mamiya 645 Super) and a discussion of stacked nibs

I bought and started to use a medium format film camera, the Mamiya 645 Super, which is, in fact, super. Two rolls of black and white film down, I discuss how I bought the camera, it's features, and my adventures making images and getting the film developed and scanned. In fountain pens I discuss stacked nibs, those from Sailor, from individual makers, and the new variants coming from China.

Discussion of all my Fujifilm GFX lenses and the Montblanc 149 High Artistry A Tribute to Craftsmanship Limited Edition 1994 Fountain Pen

In this episode I discuss my experience with all my native Fujifilm GFX lenses including the 23mm, 30mm T/S, 45mm, 55mm, 110mm, 120mm, and 500mm primes as well as the 20-35mm and 45-100mm zoom lenses. In fountain pens I discuss how I ended up buying two Montblanc 149 High Artistry A Tribute to Craftsmanship Limited Edition 1994 pens and how I have sent one back to Germany for a nib exchange.

Prime lens walkabout as well as fountain pen and ink buying in Houston, TX

On a weekend trip to Houston, TX I challenged myself to get some good photos in an essentially random location with a single prime lens. For this exercise I found a location near downtown that I photographed with a 55mm f2.8 Mamiya 645 lens adapted to my Fujifilm GFX100ii using a 0.8x focal reducer. One of the interesting places I found was the former and unfortunately named Jefferson Davis Hospital, which is supposedly haunted. I also discuss a shopping trip I made to the most excellent Dromgoole's fountain pen and stationary store that is a staple of Rice Village in Houston. Dromgoole's always seems to have something that I just can't live without. This time I got a Sailor King of Pen urushi, a Pelikan M200 Cherry Blossom, and a Montblanc 146 Paris Olympics 1924 plus some inks from Diamine and Sailor.

Zoom Lenses and Fountain Pen Auctions

In this episode I discuss my experience with zoom lenses--I prefer primes--and also my experience with buying fountain pens at auction. First, I talk about Sony G-Master zoom lenses, the 16-35mm f2.8 GMII and the 24-70mm f2.8 GMII, both of which I've sold. Then I talk about some zoom lenses for my Fujifilm cameras that I actually love, the GF20-35mm f4 and the GF45-100mm f4 for my GFX cameras and the Sigma 17-40mm f1.8 for X-T5. I've found these Fujifilm zooms and the Sigma zoom especially useful in landscape applications. In the pen portion of the podcast I talk about buying fountain pens at auction, not eBay auctions, but from auction houses such as North American Pen Auctions Ltd. and PBA Galleries.

The amazing Sigma 200mm f/2 lens and Pelikan raden fountain pens (a new one was just released)

In this episode I express my enthusiasm for the Sigma 200mm f/2 DG OS Sports lens, a fast telephoto lens that is essentially perfect and one of the best lenses ever made. I picked it up used, almost on a whim, and I'm so glad I did; what a lens! On the topic of fountain pens I discuss Pelikan's raden urushi lineup and express my lack of enthusiasm for the newly released Pelikan Souverän M1000 Raden Stardust “Hoshikuzu" (Limited Edition). In my estimation the Raden Stardust is a bit boring and simplistic and not what I wanted in a new Pelikan raden pen.