Pictures and Pens

In this episode I discuss the critical importance of fast and ultra-fast (large maximum aperture) lenses for crop sensor or APS-C cameras. The benefits include depth of field effects such as subject isolation and bokeh as well as keeping ISO values manageable in low light conditions. I also give some special love to the Fujifilm XF 50mm f/1.0 and the Voigtlander 35mm f/0.95 lens. In pens I briefly mention Pelikan Hub 2026 and the a new Pelikan 200 pen that looks like a bodily fluid. Mostly, I discuss the surprisingly nice Asvine P100 fountain pen, a pen that is smartly designed, writes very well, and is quite inexpensive.  

In this episode I discuss the telephoto lenses I have for my Fujifilm GFX, Fujifilm X-T5, and Sony A7RV system cameras. It's a lot of lenses but I really love the reach, compression/perspective, and unique look telephoto lenses give you. Several of the lenses are also essentially optically perfect so that helps. I also give some love to the urushi and maki-e fountain pens of Yurie, a small production house in Japan that makes the loveliest relatively affordable lacquer pens.  

In this episode I share my experience at the San Francisco Pen Show, an annual fountain pen and stationary convention with a strong showing of Japanese vendors. I work the Dromgoole's table at the show and also do my own shopping. I bought a pair of wide angle lenses for my Fujifilm X-T5, the XF 8mm f3.5, and the Simga 12mm f1.4. Wide angle and long telephoto lenses are a special love of mine. I do wish I'd have remembered that I already owned the Viltrox 13mm f1.4 lens.

In this episode I discuss scanning my 120 film negatives with the Valoi Easy 120 and my Fujifilm GFX100s the converting the RAW images using Capture One or Negative Lab Pro and Lightroom Classic. Then I give my thoughts about the upcoming San Francisco Pen Show including what I'm looking forward to seeing and potentially purchasing. 

In this episode I discuss the results and learnings from my first two rolls of 120 film shot on my Mamiya 645 Super camera. It took several weeks to receive the scanned images along with the developed negatives and I'm very mixed on the process and results. Film is fun but does it really have anything over digital? It started as a joke but I crafted some fountain pen inks and the colors are pretty nice if I do say so myself. The branding may need some work though, Submissive Industry may be a step too far. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.