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.

In this episode of Pictures and Pens I discuss my current approach to image capture by file type and camera system: RAW and JPEG for Fujifilm and RAW for Sony. I also discuss the exciting news that DaVinci Resolve has added still photo editing to their powerful software. And in pens I relate disappointment for Platinum and Nakaya converters despite my love for the pens generally. Finally, I declare the Montblanc 6B Signature nib the greatest nib ever made.

In this first episode I discuss adapting Voigtlander M-mount lenses to Sony E-mount mirroless cameras and the magic of the 40mm f1.2 Nokton Aspherical lens from Voigtlander on my Sony A7RV. Also discussed is a standard cigar shaped urushi fountain pen from Nakaya with kuro (black) ishime (stone finish) and a music nib.