Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Recommended reading

Jim Grey
6 comments on Recommended reading
1 minute

💻 I consider myself to be moderately tenacious, a.k.a., stubborn. I never give up on some things, and on others I give up immediately. What if all of you is in the latter camp? David Cain has some thoughts about how you can move from escaping to surmounting. Read What to Do if You’re Not a Naturally Tenacious Person

Red Radish $4
Canon PowerShot S95, 2022

💻 Denny Gibson reviews my new book, Square Photographs. He’s a friend, so it’s a biased review! Read Book Review: Square Photographs Jim Grey

📷 arh finds the most interesting and unusual cameras! This time he’s found a Ricoh Mirai, a 35mm point-and-shoot pseudo-SLR with manual focus override. It looks like it’s straight outta Star Trek. Read The Marvelous Ricoh Mirai

📷 The first cameras that could print a date on the negative came out in the 1970s. You set the date mechanically on the camera body. Yashica’s entry into this field came in 1978, and Eric Jason has a review. Read Yashica Diary

My new book, Square Photographs, is available now!

The Standard Edition is $15.99 at Amazon.com. Get yours here.

The Deluxe Edition, on premium paper and ink, is $24.99 at MagCloud.com. Get yours here.

Comments

6 responses to “Recommended reading”

  1. kodachromeguy Avatar
    kodachromeguy

    I recall both point-and-shoots and SLR cameras with optional data backs. Adding a date was useful for data types of pictures. My 2005 Sony compact digital camera also had a function where you could turn on the date.

    In the late-1980s at the lab where I worked, we had a Nikon F3AF (the first Nikon with AF function) with a 250 exposure back. The back included a tiny analog watch that could record on the corner of the film. I do not remember if there was also a way to add letters or numbers (such as date). We used it to record the movement of rocks on breakwaters in Pacific harbors. It was a clever idea but did not work because of visibility, darkness, and many other environmental issues.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      I had no idea there was a 250-exposure back for that camera! Those had to be uncommon even then.

      I had a Olympus p&s with a date function. I used it on one roll, didn’t like it, turned it off, never looked back.

      Reply
      1. Kodachromeguy Avatar
        Kodachromeguy

        The camera was huge with its 250 back and the motor. We also had an intervalometer to set exposures for different times, such as once per minute, hour, whatever. Come to think of it, the back may have been for 500 exposures.

        Reply
      2. P Avatar
        P

        I’m on the same page as you, Jim. I’ve never been able to stand film images being ruined by having the date permanently overlayed on whatever I was taking a picture of, even if they were just snapshots. I never liked the function, despite it being “all the rage” with point-and-shoots back in the 90’s. I didn’t know there were cameras doing it all the way back in the 70’s. I thought it started in the 80’s and became ubiquitous in the 90’s. Interesting…

        Reply
        1. Andy Umbo Avatar
          Andy Umbo

          I’m with P, I always hated the idea of having the day/date exposed over the actual image, even if it was in the corner (it was never that much ‘in the corner’). I kept wondering what I would use it for, and it never had any use with what I was doing.

          BTW, Jim, almost all professional camera systerms had 250 exposure backs. Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus OM, Leica, even my first precision camera I ever bought as a paperboy: the Praktina. When you bought a camera that was purporting to be for professionals, they always had a “system” accessories sheet in with the camera papers, and they always had a 250 exposure back; I think it was a point of pride to show that flagship camera outfitted with that 250 exposure back!

          Reply
        2. Jim Grey Avatar
          Jim Grey

          I thought it would be useful for my documentary work, but the date imprint was just ugly.

          Reply

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