Episode 51 • Photo Walk, Photo Sit, Photo Play Dead

I Dream of Cameras

It’s back to the coalface for Episode № 51 of I Dream of Cameras, featuring notable cameras of 1973 (uh, the early ’70s), amnesty for the prodigious mailbag, a recap of Gabe’s recent portrait shoot and a photowalk at the Getty Center, and the strange and terrible saga of Jeff’s XPan. Topics discussed include:

A recap of our banner 50th episode and the chaotic events of past three months

Gabe presents… the cameras of 1972, which bear a striking resemblance to the cameras of 1973: the Olympus OM-1, the Polaroid SX-70, the Nikon F2 and the Rollei A26

Despite the rapturous response to the 50th — all credit to Chris Chu — a lot was left on the cutting-room floor, including the prodigious mailbag, so… amnesty!

Gabe did a portrait shoot at iHeartRadio for a couple of friends — how do you learn about lighting setups?

Do you guys apply firmware updates to your digital cameras?

Gabe loves his Canon EOS 3 and Hasselblad 501cm; Jeff’s EOS 5 experience soured him on autofocus cameras forever (and maybe Canon, too)

Victoria of Tiny Camera Store fame turned Gabe on to the Chinon Auto 3001 Multifocus and the Voigtländer Bessa II with the Heliar lens

The new Los Angeles Photography Club had a photo walk at the Getty Center — what makes a good photo walk? would you prefer a “photo sit”? — also, Jeff loathes both the Getty’s architecture and its architect

However, we saw a great photography exhibit by Carrie Mae Weems and Dawoud Bey

And now… a SAGA! Jeff’s beloved Hasselblad XPan froze up mere days before a trip to Paris, and even though it unfroze, his confidence is shattered. His deranged solution? Order the incrementally improved XPan II as a backup!

A rundown of the differences between the XPan and XPan II (pro tip: they didn’t fix the bad paint)

A discussion of the concept of the “backup camera”

Other panoramic cameras are nice, but don’t kid yourselves, the XPan reigns supreme. Fight me on this!

Any photographic advice for a first-time visitor to Paris? Email us, you know where!

Gabe has begun processing his own film, and can’t load the reels in the changing bags without closing his eyes to make it “extra dark”

The eBay “startTime” hack doesn’t work anymore, so what to do? Sort by Time: newly listed, and it’ll show the date the auction was posted

Gabe vows to shoot with the Graflex Super D — send him your tips!