I first met Larry Lessig at the iSummit ‘08 in Sapporo, Japan (where I worked together with the iCommons team). I took several photos during the event and one of Lessig giving the closing speech was selected for the Italian edition of his latest book, Remix, published in September 2009 by ETAS (part RCS-Corriere della Sera).

The book doesn’t seem to be available online yet. I will post the direct link for buying it soon.

I met him for the second time in Milan in March 2009 at Meet The Media Guru (event in which I worked as part of the organization team led by Maria Grazia Mattei).

A classic activity of end of year is summarizing the last 12 months. My 2008 has been full of good things, many as part of my sabbatical. These are a few pictures of the places I visited and the people I encountered. Many more photos should be included, but some weren’t taken and thousands are waiting in my hard disk to be processed…

Trips

People

and these are some taken in the studio in Tokyo

So you’re planning to buy a second-hand Hasselblad in Tokyo? I will tell you my experience that you might find useful. I recently bought a Hasselblad 503cx with an A-12 back and a Zeiss 80mm/2.8 lens (the so called “basic kit”).

My hunt for a ‘Blad started a month ago after I had used one several times at National Photo’s studio in Harajuku (btw you can rent their 503CX by 6,000 yen/day or 3,000 yen/day if you use it at their studio). Initially I was interested in a Rolleiflex, but after playing with the Hasselblad 503CX I found that its size was rather manageable and that being able to change lenses and the film back was an advantage. I had discarded a Mamiya RZ67 because of it’s big size and weight, though this camera is relatively cheap in Japan compared to Rolleis and Hassies.

Before visiting the shops I did some research on which model to look for. This article by Karen Nakamura on the Hasselblad 500 series gave a lot of useful tips.

Since the Euro has dropped against the Yen (near 40%!!), it has been difficult to find bargains in Tokyo… if only I had bough it 3 months earlier… Tokyo is a paradise for buying used cameras, specially foreign brands like Leica, Voightlander, Rollei and Hasselblad, but also for locals like Mamiya, Canon and Nikon. There is a huge offer (it is said that 2/3 of all the Leicas ever produced are here in Japan) and the conditions of the hardware are usually excelent as Japanese people tend to be maniac with their photo-gear (and not only).

There are no certainties on when a good piece of hardware is going to be available and at what price, so the best thing is to visit the shops frequently. After wandering around several ones, these became my points of reference:

Lemon Camera in Ginza (see map)

Lemon is a big shop and a point of reference for new and second-hand cameras in Tokyo. Located in the 8th floor of a building that hosts a church, it is a paradise for people who adhere to the religion of photography.  As most shops here, they have an impressive array of Leica but also Rollei, Hasselblad, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Pentax, Mamiya and some Horseman and other niche products. Prices are on the lower side of the spectrum (that is good) and they have high quality products and a long standing reputation for serious business. On used cameras, they get a % of the price, which is usually set by the seller, so there is no negotiation on the final price. The staff is very professional and some of them speak a bit of English. They accept major credit cards. At Lemon I found several 503 Hasselblads and many 500C/M plus lenses and backs.

Fujiya Camera in Nakano (see map)

Fujiya tends to have the best prices in new and used cameras. The shop is distributed in several buildings and Hasselblads are in the second floor of the main one (the same that carries Nikon gear). They have a smaller selection of Blads, but I found them all in good condition. Anticipation: I bought mine here (see the end of this article for more details). Some of the staff speak good enough English. The main store is a 1 minute walk from Nakano Station’s North exit.

Lucky Camera in Shinjuku (see map)

A small shop near the South entrance to the Shinjuku JR Station, Lucky camera had many expensive Hasselblads cramped on its shelves. Prices were more expensive than at Lemon or Fujiya. There was a lot of other interesting stuff and I suggest to visit it in case some good opportunities are available.

Map Camera in Shinjuku (see map)

Map Camera is divided in 2 buildings, one for Auto-Focus equipment and the other for Manual-Focus… although you will find medium format cameras in the basement of the former building. The first impact of this shop is given by the huge amount of Leicas that they have aligned in their shelves. Hasselblads are at the back of the basement and though the number of them is discrete compared to Lemon, there were several ones to choose from. The prices tend to be in the middle to high part of the spectrum, but quality is very high. I also found one of the members of staff that was fluent in English.

National Photo in Harajuku (see map)

These guys are Hasselblad experts (ask for Togashi-san if you need help, he is the ‘Blad expert and speaks English). They have few cameras on sale but each one of them is sent to Hasselblad in Sweden for a revision and eventual adjustment, so this is a solid warranty that the gear is in excelent condition. Their price tends to be on the high side of the spectrum because of this, but hey… if you want good quality and certainty on the state of the product it has a cost! The cameras are on the 2nd floor and you can also rent a lot of professional equipment (cameras, lenses, flashes, an even their excellent studio on the 3rd floor).

My final decision: I found 2 Hasselblad 503CX and a 503CXi kits at Fujiya and decided for the one in best conditions. The shop gave me a 10 days return period (money back if there is some problem with the camera or if you change your mind) and a 6 month warranty on eventual problems with it.

Links to more second-hand photography stores

This is a list of online resources to more camera shops:

• A Guide to New and Used Camera Shops in Tokyo
• Lightstalkers
• What’s Hot In The Tokyo Used Camera Biz?
• PhotoGuide Japan

Since today, Tomy is selling in Japan it’s XIAO digital camera that features an embedded Zink ink printer for producing instant photos. The concept is similar to the Fuji Instax Mini instant cameras (which themselves derived more or less directly from Polaroid insant film) with the huge difference that the Xiao (which means “small” in Chinese) is a 5megapixel digital camera, which means that you can preview the photo before printing it. The camera prints 5×7.6cm borderless photos which are said to be durable and fade resistant (still haven’t seen one).

This first model by Tomy is a bit clumsy and according to the company is targeted to women in their 30’s and 40’s (that might find it kawaii!) and families.

The pricing in Japan is of ¥34,800 for the camera and ¥880 for 20 sheets of photo paper (therefore cheaper than the Cheki/Instax mini ¥540 per 10 photos).

Zink (zero ink) is a tecnhonogy developed in the USA that allows to print photos without using ink but through a reaction to heat. You can find more details about how Zink ink works here.

Polaroid had also released a Zink product one year ago, the PoGo instant mobile printer.

When I was first proposed to do a photoshoot of a Hula Hula performer I was a bit skeptical. But after I met Deanne from Tokyo’s Hooplovers my idea of what Hula Hula means changed and it was a lot of fun actually. Deanne dances with 3 rings with colored LEDs that make mind-blogging effects against a dark background in low light. Maybe because of the music, the action in the studio or the fact that Deanne and the other photographers (Tim, Lars, Vladimir and Daniel, the make-up artist) are such interesting characters, I learnt a lot of studio photography tips and tricks (and now I understand why the negatives of my previous photoshoot using film with my good ol’Nikon F3 were ruined… the damn sync speed!).

These are some of my photos from today. Enjoy!

Hi there!

I’m sorry I haven’t updated this blog very often lately, but I have been traveling a lot during the 3 last weeks… meeting old friends, new people, eating (a lot!!!) and finishing the final project work for my MBA. I have 10 at least 10 drafts that are waiting for completion… should hit the net soon.

This is the most relaxing place I’ve been to lately. Good food and wine, gorgeous scenery and above all, in great company.

Riomaggiore, part of the Cinque Terre in Liguria, Italy

Tokyo is a big city. Tokyo is full of huge malls. Tokyo has plenty of small shops. I love the latter. I like to discover them and get lost amongst crazy and original products.

During my sabbatical, I’m dedicating a lot of time to one of my passions: photography. I’m a gadget geek too, so I like to check out new products. Having more free time also means that I’m back to experimenting a bit more, in particular in the analogue and lo-fi photo worlds.

In the last months I’ve been playing mainly with analog cameras: a fuji instax cheki 50, a Superheadz keyring camera and a Blackbird, fly (BBF135) TLR camera, apart of dusting off my Nikon F3.

Serendipitously I discovered Camera Cabaret in Shibuya, Tokyo… and it was love at first sight. Not only it is full of great vintage and new products, but the staff is cool and stylish… a DJ plays live to make it even cooler. In fact it has been defined as a  “camera shop for music lovers” by Jun Akaike, manager for international affairs.

Camera Cabaret from Gianfranco Chicco on Vimeo.

These are some pics of this photographic paradise, below a short interview to Jun and a visit to all the products on sale.

If you want to by one of these beauties and you don’t live in Japan or haven’t got a local dealer, drop me a line and we will work something out.

edit: address of Camera Cabaret in Shibuya, Tokyo

edit2: check out Cameron’s “The Plastic Lens” blog for a Blackbird, fly 135 tutorial

As I posted before (read here and here), I keep finding abandoned photos around Japan. Well, I must confess that each time I go to a shop where they have those self-printing machines I look around to see if someone has lost, forgotten or just abandoned a photo. This last time I found a pack of them, at least 10. They mostly depict two couples. The ones taken in Universal Studios are from Osaka. the others I don’t have the faintest idea.

As each time I find a photo somewhere I fantasticate about the stories of the characters present in each frame.

Tomorrow I’ll be traveling to Kyoto, and Osaka, Nara, Kobe, etc (follow me on dopplr.com) and yet I have gazillions of photos to edit and post on my flickr.com page. But in the meanwhile I’d like to share some pics with you. Tokyo can be a skyscrapers crowded metropolis or a tranquil kids-playing-on-the-street neighbourhood. These are an example of the former.

As Amelie Poulain, who collected discarded or abandoned passport-type photos in an automatic photo machine, I have found several photos in Tokyo (see my previous post). The last 3 ones were in a printing machine in Yodobashi Camera, in Shinjuku.

I Like to fantasize about the stories they might tell, who the owner of the camera was, who the people captured in the images.