Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Camera Life in Tokyo

Armed with tips from Japan Camera Hunter and Tokyo Camera Style, here's my camera tour of Tokyo. Our trip was interspersed with sight-seeing, visiting museums and attending classical music concerts.

Camera Box in Shinjuku

While some friends and I were looking for a bar in Shinjuku, I stumbled upon Camera Box but it was already closed. I made sure to go back the following morning.





Got this refurbished Super Fujica 6 medium format 6x6 rangefinder camera from Camera Box. It wasn't a bargain but I've wanted a coupled RF medium format camera for so long ;)

Super Fujica 6 + Fuji Pro160NS colorfilm
Kitamura Camera in Shinjuku



Map Camera - very upscale atmosphere, lots of Leicas, clones and lenses but no bargains here.

Katsumido Camera in Ginza

Happy with the loot ;)

Olympusflex and Ricohflex TLRs + Canon 7s unearthed from the junk camera bin at Katsumido - all for less than $100. The shutters on all three cameras work. Viewfinders in the TLRs need cleaning and I was told by a salesman that the only problem with the Canon 7s was the broken light-meter. Just developed a test roll from the Canon 7s and the negatives look fine. 

Lemonsha is found on the 7th floor of this building. Aside from cameras there were also vintage watches and model trains for sale. I saw a Semflex TLR which has been on my wish list for a while now but I decided to pass.

Sukiya in Ginza was closed

Sankyo in Ginza - collector quality Leicas, Rolleiflexes and Hasselblads
One flight above was Japan Camera which had a lot of Japanese Leica copies - Canon, Leotax, Nicca, Tanack, Yashica, etc.

Found the twin brother of my Super Fujica 6 in the Fujifilm Museum in Tokyo Midtown.

Very rare Fujinon 50mm f1.2 and 35mm f2 lenses in LTM mount

Fujifilm Museum

She doesn't seem to be impressed by the Lartigue exhibit at the Fujifilm museum. ;)

Fujifilm headquarters in Tokyo Midtown

Camera Ichiba is above the ABC shoe store in Shinjuku.

Entrance to the stairwell to Camera Ichiba

Just like Camera Box, this place is cramped and filled to the rafters with cameras and accessories.

Classical music being played through their PA system was a definite plus ;)

Got a clean glass user grade Japanese Summicron at Camera Ichiba - the Canon 35mm f2 LTM for less than $200 ;) Good thing I had enough yen because they don't take credit cards.

Akihabara Radio Center - while shopping for my Audio/DIY hobby, I found vintage Japanese folders, Nicca and Canon rangefinders in the 2nd floor flea market.

BIC Camera and...
...Yodobashi Camera are large chain stores that sell digital cameras, camera accessories, bags, audio electronics, cellphones, tablets, household appliances and all sorts of electronic gadgets. They also had a nice selection of reasonably priced Japanese Whiskies and Single Malts from Suntory, Yamazaki, Hibiki, Nikka, etc.

BIC and Yodobashi still carry film as well as darkroom chemicals and equipment. But the selection of film is getting smaller. I was there when they began stocking Japan Camera Hunter's film cases for 35mm and 120 film.


I found a camera repair tool kit and some leatherette at Yodobashi. If you're looking for Japanese magazines which contain really nice pictures that speak for themselves, BIC and Yodobashi have better stock than the bookstores I visited.

There are some bargains to be found in the junk bins for the DIY inclined, especially if you limit your choice to vintage Japanese manufactured cameras and lenses. I just wish I had more time and energy to dig through those bins ;)

I also wanted to visit Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography which was closed for renovation and some galleries including Totem Pole Gallery. That will have to wait till our next visit!

Sunday, November 29, 2015

November 2015 Hi-Fi Show Report


This year's event was more intimate since it coincided with Manila hosting APEC. All the big hotels were fully booked. But the show went on and was held at the quaint Citadines Serviced Apartments in Salcedo Village. 

As an exhibitor I don't get much time to go around to take pictures. So here are a few...

Software - lots of new and used CDs, LPs and related paraphernalia






Hardware









Harana/Tono/Setup
Room 1208

The focus of our exhibit was Restomod, starting with a Garrard 301 restored by Joel Villanueva fitted with an SME 3009 + an Ortofon MM cartridge.


The Harman Kardon Citation I preamp chassis houses a JE Labs phono and line stage circuit. 2 x 12AX7 + 12AU7 in the phono, 2 x 12AU7s in the line stage + 6X4 rectified power supply. The power amp is based on a Harman Kardon Citation II chassis and original OPTs with a JE Labs circuit using 6CG7s for the input/driver stage in a Mullard long tailed pair configuration driving push-pull cathode biased EL34s or KT88s connected in triode connected to the original OPTs. Power transformers and chokes are newly wound units from Edrel Sison of AT&S. Chassis refurbishing was done at the Harana Audio workshop.


A pair of B&O speakers from the early 70s restored by Joey of Harana Audio served as alternate speakers since it was originally part of a system along with the Garrard 301 and Citation I + II electronics.


The main speaker is a Harana Audio creation using JBL drivers: E140 15" woofer in a V-Vent II enclosure, LE175DLH midrange horn/compression driver, 2405 slot loaded super tweeter + Harana Audio custom crossover.



Till next year!

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Monday, August 24, 2015

Dai-Ichi PT-6 Horn Tweeter


Over a year ago, I blogged about the cheap 'n cheerful locally manufactured Konzert/Micro PT6A horn tweeter which visually looks like a lineal descendant of the highly regarded Pioneer PT-6.  I have no experience with the Pioneer PT-6, but have owned and enjoyed the similar Pioneer PT-3K.

My buddy Rex chanced upon another PT-6 local clone made by Dai-Ichi which used to supply OEM drivers for the late lamented Radio Shack. He also supplied an original Pioneer PT-6 but unfortunately, it has a blown mylar diaphragm. So I pictured it in the middle of this trio as a visual reference.

The Dai-Ichi PT-6 is finished in a nice black powder coated cast aluminum instead of cheap molded plastic in the Konzert/Micro. However, the mostly useless specs are similar: 
100 watts max, 60W nominal (Good marketing, but...)
8 ohm voice coil impedance +/- 15% (...hmmm)
2.5khz-20khz frequency response (parameters??)
94dB sensitivity +/-2dB (ditto???)


Off the bat, I will caution anyone not to even consider using either the Konzert/Micro PT-6A or Dai-Ichi PT-6 as a super tweeter for speaker systems with 96dB/1M/1W (or greater) efficiency. In spite of the horn loading, they are just not efficient enough to match the 99dB/1M/1W efficiency of my Altec 414 or 416 woofers.  My ears tell me that these tweeters should be rated 95dB/1M/1W, tops!

However, if you are looking to augment the falling high frequency response of a typical low to mid 90s efficient 8" full range driver or woofer on a budget, the Dai-Ichi PT-6 and Konzert/Micro PT-6A are worthy of consideration.

Friday, July 31, 2015

SJ4000 + Kingone K5

Don't worry folks, JE Labs has not ditched retro tech.


I just needed a cheap video cam to capture my treks in the Mini + a cheap bluetooth speaker which disappears in the dashboard and prevents road rage in Manila traffic, even on weekends ;)



 SJ4000 factory default settings at 1080p 30fps

At less than half the price of an entry level Go Pro Hero, the video quality is good enough for my purpose. As I get to know the menu and settings, I might tweak it a bit later. 



Original 720p 30 fps color video converted to B&W

I've paired CD quality tracks from my iPhone with Bose, Braven, JBL and other touted/branded bluetooth speakers in showrooms but could never justify their cost to sound value. Just like the others, the Kingone K5 has a built-in EQ network which aids the tweeter-sized drivers in fooling the ears to hear a bigger than actual sound by boosting the frequency extremes. Kudos to Kingone engineers for designing an EQ curve which does not muddy the midrange, renders clean bass overtone clues and is rid of tinnitus inducing highs. 




Default settings @ 720p 30fps

The savings from buying cheap clones can be appropriated for retro tech projects ;)