I Dream of Cameras Jeff Greenstein and Gabe Sachs

“I am sitting in the smallest room of my house. I have your review before me. In a moment it will be behind me.”

— Max Reger, German composer (1873–1916), responding to a savage review

Jeff’s in Lisbon at the start of a month-long European trip; Gabe’s in LA developing his own film for the first time in years. But what’s obsessing them the most? Their first rotten review! Tune in for all the merriment and NO PRAISE!

Jeff’s choice of cameras and film for a month-long European trip:

the Hasselblad XPan with both the 45mm and 90mm lenses

the mighty Olympus XA4 macro

24 rolls of Kodak Portra 400 and Portra 160

Gabe’s eBay misadventure in pursuit of the Pentax 50mm 1.7: 

the “as-is” Pentax ME Super and S1 turned out to be nonfunctional, the lens was dented…

…but he did get a Watson bulk loader!

He lent his Canon EOS 3 to Martin Starr… so he had to buy a replacement: the EOS Elan 7NE. Which was perfect — even better than our beloved Rebel 2000!

More eBaying: Gabe also got the Nikon 85mm f1.4D

and he got his beloved Leica M3 repaired by our trusty dusty camera repair guy! whom he interviewed! and who may finally be unmasked in an upcoming episode!

Jeff was on the cusp of buying an Olympus OM-3 when his cherished 12” Retina MacBook dropped dead… hence no OM-3

Gabe went shooting with the Elan and his Rolleiflex and processed the film himself — it’s a new era!

In Lisbon, Jeff visited Vintage Dream Cameras and took a hard, hard look at a Snoopy 110 camera and a rare Leica IIIc with sharkskin leatherette

We got a terrible review!

Gabe compared Rolleiflex TLRs with Dave Tada, but it turns out there are lots of differences between the 2.8E and the 2.8E2! Also, Dave’s has an RZ67 finder!

Our friend Oliver’s exotic Chinese Pearl River SLR

Jeff experienced sudden XPan battery death

We empty out our Prodigious Mailbag™ 

Some notes on our composer Fred Coury: his former band Cinderella’s Night Songs was released on this day in 1986; also, Fred just won his 6th Emmy!

A transformational live-on-locational supersensational IDOCstravaganza! First we go to a Los Angeles Photography Club Cameras and Coffee meetup in Koreatown to talk to folks about their cameras and dogs. Then we SPAN THE GLOBE to interview Jo Geier, proprietor of Mint and Rare, a phenomenal camera shop in Vienna, Austria. You won’t want to miss this one, so TOON IN!

Consulting Producer Tucker Sachs, the real brains behind I Dream of Cameras, has long lurked in the shadows with a bone and a chew toy, but in this episode he finally steps into the light. Also discussed: photo books, photo contests, photo walks and photo acquisitions, along with every syllable of your deathless prose from the Prodigious Mailbag™. It’s a doggie-dog world!

* Daido Moriyama’s ’71 NY is an incredible photo book shot on an Olympus Pen W
* Gabe had a blast at the latest Beers and Cameras feat. Joe Stitt
* Spotted: a Fujica ST 801
* check out Walker Evans' subway photo book, shot with a Contax II: Many Are Called
* Jeff entered an Epson pano competition - any favorite photo contests?
* Gabe really should get a Nikon SP, but in the meantime he finally snagged an ugly black-paint Nikon F from KEH
* our new cult favorite film: FPP Color 125
* bulk-loading and its discontents
* Gabe scored a slew of point-and-shoots at a yard sale for a total of $28:
* Olympus Infinity II
* Fuji Discovery
* Pentax IQ Zoom
* Olympus Infinity Jr.
* Polaroid announced an upgrade to their B&W 600 film - kudos!
* The IDOC gang are planning a Polaroid-peel-apart-film-shooting festival
* check out Sissi Lu's reels and IG live shots
* Jeff is performing at the Ruskin Theatre in Santa Monica on Mother's Day (click See a Show and then look for Library Girl)
* The Prodigious Mailbag™ features the Osmond brothers doing Crazy Horses
* Hank Haddock’s ISO 3200 stickers (designed by Suné Horn) will help you avoid arguments at airport security - find them at tinyurl.com/savemyfilm
* do you make photo books, and if so how?
* and finally, Consulting Producer Tucker Sachs puts in an appearance

He wouldn’t…. Now that the long-raging and ill-advisedly-ignited Vivian Maier debate has finally died down, Jeff wouldn’t throw gasoline on those embers by expressing a Strong Opinion about some recent Viv-related news, would he? Well, you’ll just have to tune in to find out. Also discussed: the boys swap cities, Gabe in New York and Jeff in Los Angeles; recent shooting adventures with a slew of cameras both old and new; and the proper way to express your love of our smash hit podcast: through lavish gifts!

* we had a tremendous response to the last episode — clearly 69 is something people really enjoy
* heh heh heh, the folks at Camerosity took the bait — haven’t y’all read The Mouse That Roared?
* Gabe’s adventures in New York shooting his Rolleiflex and Leica M10 with Sissi Lu (shoutout: Katz’s Deli) and Chris Chu (shoutout: Salt’s Cure), plus drive-bys at B&H and picturehouse + the small darkroom
* Jeff sold his Robot Royal 24, but shipping to South Korea was twice as much as what the UPS website originally quoted, so he realized a net profit of $3.32
* however, he still wanted a square-format 35mm, so bring on the Mamiya Sketch… which is delightful and quirky!
* shooting the Canonflex R2000
* shooting the Pentax MF with FPP Color 125 (see Jeff’s article in Casual Photophile)
* a hearty thanks to super-listener Jeffry Pittman, who sent us a Baby Rollei, a Hermes 3000 typewriter, and lots of film
* iPhone iOS 17.4 now includes podcast transcripts so you may enjoy our soaring rhetorical flourishes
* Jeff mildly reacts to some recent Vivian Maier news
* Gabe’s planning an all-medium-format film shoot with the Pentax 6x7, the Mamiya RZ67, and the Hasselblad 501CM
* a passing mention of new friend Peter Kagan, about whom you will hear more
* a bold voyage into our Prodigious Mailbag™
* and finally, a fond farewell to the great Joe Flaherty

Paulina Porizkova joins the boys to offer her unique perspective on the art and business of fashion photography. How’d she get into it? What’s the most important thing a photographer should know about working with models? Why does Paulina call Irving Penn “Mr. Penn”? Does the fact that Jeff has a spreadsheet of when he last changed the batteries in his cameras render him more attractive? All this and much, much more in our sexy Episode № 69 — nice!

* how Paulina got into modeling at age 15, how she learned the craft
* her growing awareness of lighting and cameras
* the dance between photographer and model, and how it’s altered by different types of camera
* how a photographer’s behavior influences a model’s confidence
* how real is the Veruschka scene from Blow-Up?
* do you know if the shot is good?
* how aware are you of camera equipment?
* can what you know about modeling be taught?
* pay attention to lighting! take a selfie when you look great!
* were you ever interested in photography yourself?
* her late husband Ric Ocasek’s interest in photography
* studio vs. location shooting
* the business of modeling is not what you think!
* does the fact that Jeff has a spreadsheet of when he last changed the batteries in his cameras render him more attractive?
* what is the most important thing a photographer should know about working with models?
* is it different working with a female photographer?
* working with Irving Penn and why P always calls him “Mister”
* Bill King
* the one photographer she wishes she’d had a chance to work with: Helmut Newton
* the resurgence of 35mm point-and-shoots in fashion photography, e.g. Marie Tomanova’s shoot for Czech Vogue
* can you get a good shot of a model by being mean to her?
* what’s it like shooting with your boyfriend, former photographer of plants and buildings?
* the portrait by Jeff that P loves
* her Top 5 photographers she enjoyed working with:
* Mr. Penn
* Arthur Elgort (author of Camera Ready and Camera Crazy)
* Patrick Demarchelier
* Marcus Bard
* Marco Glaviano
* what’s it like being constantly confronted with images of your younger self? do you have a favorite?

It’s an xlent xlerated xtralarge xtravaganza as Gabe and Jeff hack and slash their way to the bottom of the Prodigious Mailbag™, which features a slew of emails penned by celebrities under the pseudonym “Alan Peres.” Also discussed: cameras of ’55, cameras of ’24, Dune 2, SB2, SL3, FP4, HP5, Number Six and Zippora Seven! Tune in as we run the numbers!

* Cameras in Focus 1955:
* Olympus Wide
* Rolleiflex 2.8D
* the Nikon SP was in development (which prompts a reprise of Jeff’s astonishing SP acquisition story)
* Pentaflex
* Graflex Stereo Graphic
* a 1955 survey of 35mm cameras by price range
* Jeff briefly acquired an Asahi Pentax SB2, rare variant of the H3/S3 sold only on Japanese military bases… but it was broken, so back it went
* Gabe launches the Under $40 Camera Challenge!
* The soon-come Pentax film compact camera will be a half-frame model with zone focusing
* For the third straight time, Leica reports record revenue, plus the new SL3 is out
* Gabe rhapsodizes about the monstrous Gowlandflex
* Dave Tada picked Gabe up a coveted Nikkor 28mm f2.8…
* …but he still yearns for an ugly black Nikon F
* Dune 2 was shot on a $50 Helios-44!
* Nikon is buying RED
* Jeff watched the great Yu Tsai in action at the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue 60th anniversary shoot in Fort Lauderdale
* We go XL to empty out the Prodigious Mailbag™
* Our IDOC Discord channel is hoppin’! Join us!