I'm a terrible blogger. I'm feeling very sheepish about this morning's post. Here we are into the biggest shopping days of the year, and I'm linking to 42-year-old movies and an opaque, difficult-to-read book of essays on photography by a French post-Structuralist literary theorist. A deceased one, no less.
This would be pathetic if I weren't laughing at myself. It's like I haven't gotten the memo. Yeesh. If I go outta business, remember today....
Anyway, my links to shopping sites appear below, and if you wouldn't mind starting here for your virtual shopping jaunts, I'd be appreciative. Twelve years at this and Mikey still can't seem to focus. :-\
(More coming up soon.)
Mike
Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
B&H Photo • Amazon US • Amazon UK
Amazon Germany • Amazon Canada • Adorama
(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:
Dirk: "Well for what it's worth I enjoyed reading this morning's article and I just purchased an iMac through your link. So based off my sample size of one, I'd say you've got this nailed!"
Mike replies: That made me feel a little better. Thanks Dirk.
Manuel: "Aw c'mon, Camera Lucida is not that difficult to read. The central idea—should I cast a 'spoiler alert' here?—is that the photograph must have a subjective point of interest (in that it strikes you: the 'punctum') that's different from all objective considerations (the 'studium') in order to be significant to the viewer. The interest of the photograph is determined by that 'punctum,' which can be absent from highly regarded photographs and yet exist in banal family snapshots. It can be just a detail, as long as it grabs your sensitivity.
"I liked reading it—but then again I'm a complicated European man with an intricate frame of mind. And Barthes' choice of photographs is quite interesting: the book features photographs by Richard Avedon, August Sander, Andre Kertesz and, of course, William Klein. Besides, it's not everyday we have the privilege to read a book written by a philosopher who was run over by a laundry van. How existentialist is that?"
Michael Carrithers: "I lapped up the post about One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which I saw at noontime in a cinema in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India, which only redoubled the sainted weirdness. And I just bought a Fujinon 80mm macro lens for X cameras through your link, so I’m doing what a guy can to keep the fires burning. All best to you and yours at this tensely celebrating time of year."
Roger Bradbury: "You would think indeed that the writer of a photography blog would know how to focus, but what on?
"Going off on a tangent is good for the blog; your readers never know quite what to expect next, and this keeps the blog interesting. Rather that than a diet of predictable posts that are all very similar. I come here because that's exactly what I don't get. In the interests of full disclosure, I must admit that you are not the only one round here who is easily distracted. :-) "
I enjoyed the post on Jack Nicholson and Barthes.
Posted by: DB | Monday, 18 December 2017 at 01:00 PM
It's your blog. Write what you want. People will tend to skim and scan for posts that interest them and skip the rest!
Posted by: Jim Grey | Monday, 18 December 2017 at 01:13 PM
I'm with ya on this this one, Mike....the odds of me reading an opaque, difficult-to-read book of essays on photography by a French post-Structuralist literary theorist are, um, well....zero.
OTOH, I was looking forward with much anticipation to reading your "TOP Camera of Year" article promised for Monday (today) all weekend long.
Cheers.
Posted by: Stephen Scharf | Monday, 18 December 2017 at 02:07 PM
Well, terrible is clearly too strong a word, but, um, idiosyncratic might do. I enjoyed this morning's meanderings, although I did rather expect to find what you teased in a previous post: "...Monday morn: TOP Camera of the Year and TOP Photo Book of the Year"
Posted by: brian | Monday, 18 December 2017 at 02:23 PM
Can't speak for others but it's precisely those blogs that keep me checking in. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Dave Hodson | Monday, 18 December 2017 at 04:34 PM
Everything I buy from B&H or Amazon, I buy through your links even movie rentals. I have them bookmarked in tabs on my browser.
Posted by: Ed Kirkpatrick | Monday, 18 December 2017 at 09:30 PM
The latest book on Barthes is the detective thriller "The seventh function of language" by Laurent Binet. A great read about the intellectual scene in Paris. In the English-speaking world an intellectual is a person who has been educated beyond his abilities. But Barthes was a French intellectual, which is of course different.
And he was probably murdered.
Goff
Posted by: Goff | Tuesday, 19 December 2017 at 04:00 AM
You are not a terrible blogger Mike. If you were this would not be the only blog I read. Keep up the good work. Also I don't think that the folks that read your blog want to hear about gear all the time. You keep a nice balance, which is why we like you.
Posted by: Bob Johnston | Tuesday, 19 December 2017 at 04:37 AM
I always value reading Ken Tanaka's insights. This is what makes TOP such a special place for photography.
For me, the very easy choice for runner-up is the Fujifilm X100F. Its predecessor, the X100T, was a great camera, but the major new improvements in the X100F; the new sensor, image processor ASIC, AF system, AF joystick, & Acros film preset, and Fuji's constant dedication to engineering refinements, however subtle, e.g. better knobs, switches, haptics, finer control feel, add up, as they did with the X-T2 in 2016, to a signficantly better camera. One that is better than the sum of its parts. In particular, the pairing of the new 24 megapixel sensor, the X-Pro Processor III imaging engine and the Fujifilm f/2.0 lens results in a synergy with respect to image quaity that can be breathtaking.
And, I can't think of a camera better designed to allow photographers to do "good work". LIke the Leica M10 for Ken, or the X-T2 for Mike, the little X100F provides me with great joy when I am out photographing with it. And, with the holiday season fast approaching, having more joy in life is a wonderful thing. ;-)
As a result, I think the X100F realizes its "design intent" more perfectly than any camera I've ever used.
Posted by: Stephen Scharf | Tuesday, 19 December 2017 at 11:26 AM
Manuel: "Aw c'mon, Camera Lucida is not that difficult to read."
Caveat: Skip the first chapter; it's incomprehensible. The rest of the book is worthwhile.
Posted by: Bob Rosinsky | Tuesday, 19 December 2017 at 11:28 AM
I think Mr. Bradbury is correct. I come here not just for interesting photography related material, no, I come here because you are a bit of a car nut, and you've even mentioned a good word or two about Dave Brubeck. Where else can I get such a combination?
Posted by: Dillan | Tuesday, 19 December 2017 at 03:02 PM