Episode 80 • So Good

Our blockbuster eightieth episode includes talk of wedding shoots and model shoots, German Rolleis and Swiss Alpas, plastic Pentaxes and Pano Portrait Snobs. Tune in for all the badinage!

Eighty episodes — even the hosts can’t remember the highlights! So which three episodes would you recommend to the uninitiated?

Gabe went to a Cameras & Coffee meetup at the Culver Steps…

…where he drooled over an Olympus OM-4Ti and a Mamiyaflex

He also brought five cameras to a shoot with Claire Hinkley:

the rare and coveted Tele-Rolleiflex lent to him by the sainted John-Michael Mendizza

the old faithfuls: Rolleiflex 2.8E2 and Leica M4

the mighty Nikon FM3a

and a long-languishing Hasselblad 500C

When Jeff and his siblings met up in Philadelphia for their yearly Fourphans™ Weekend, the Canon EOS Rebel 2000 with 40mm lens was his faithful plastic companion

He also went to Unique Photo and gaped at some rare Alpas, including the freakish 8b, which is both an SLR and a rangefinder

Which cameras did he use to cover his girlfriend’s son’s wedding?

Canon EOS Rebel 2000 for pre-wedding prep

Olympus XA4 with A11 flash for the rehearsal dinner

and of course the Hasselblad XPan for rooftop beauty shots of the betrothed

Yearning to get some new gear, Jeff grabbed an 24mm Angenieux lens for the Alpa at KEH… only to return it because it was not Alpa mount, but Exakta

He also handled a Pentax 17 and recoiled from its icky extruded body

And despite his devotion to the XPan, he bombed at the Epson Pano Awards — could he be a victim of the pano portrait snobs?

As requested by faithful listener Gaetan Cormier, may we present the “So good” t-shirt, a loving tribute to Gabe’s catchphrase

And finally: a deep dive into our Prodigious Mailbag™