Nakajima Yuto - CAPA July 2021 (English Translation)
Modern Cameras With a Retro Flair With Akagi Koichi-san
In the January issue of this year's magazine, Nakajima Yuto-san showed us his camera-geek side. In this issue, Akagi Koichi-san, who is well versed in all kinds of cameras from classics to the latest models, recommends a variety of "super unique cameras". What was the one camera that really stole Nakajima-san's heart?
Akagi: In this age of smartphones, young people like Nakajima-san are taking the trouble to use a camera, and that makes me happy. I'd like to ask him why he uses a camera.
Nakajima: Things like giving meaning and a sense of values is important, isn't it? Since we live in an age of convenience.
Akagi: That's right. At what point did you first become interested in cameras?
Nakajima: I first picked up a camera when I was in middle school. Before that, I really liked taking pictures on my feature phone (T/N: Garakei). When I got bored of that, I asked my parents to get me an Olympus PEN. At the time, I was commuting to school by train, and my job often required me to meet at Shinjuku, so I started taking pictures on the way to school and the station platform, and I fell in love with taking pictures of the scenery.
Akagi: I also read your article in the January issue of this magazine. Do you feel like you're aiming for beautiful scenery?
Nakajima: It was a great opportunity for me, so I put a lot of thought into my selection. Outside of that, I'm also like street corners, clouds, and plants. I don't get to go out much these days, though. The other day I took a macro shot of my family dog's paw pads, and I was like, "Wow, they look like this!" (laughs).
Akagi: There's a world out there that's different from that of the naked eye. There are many different types of cameras, but what do you like about the appearance and brand?
Nakajima: The Sony a7R III I'm using now has all the features I want. But I'm also interested in cameras that have something unique.
The Appeal of the Simple Classic Camera Leica
Akagi: Today, I'd like you to get a feel for various things, so I'll start with this (taking out a Leica M4 with Leicavit).
Nakajima: A Leica out of nowhere! That's more than just something unique! (laughs)
Akagi: This one is a crazy camera. The normal Leica M4 uses the upper winding lever. This is like pulling a trigger. (click, click, click)
Nakajima: So it can take snapshots. Amazing! When was it made?
Akagi: The Leica M4 was introduced in 1967.
Nakajima: That's about my father's age. Leica also has digital cameras now, don't they?
Akagi: This lens works well with digital cameras. (1)
Nakajima: That's nice! A collaboration of old and new.
Akagi: That's what's so great about Leica. The shape of the camera is almost exactly the same as it was in the past.
Nakajima: Many people around me say, "Leica is great!"
Akagi: It's still rustic and beautiful. But you have to adjust the focus by yourself. Take a peek through it. If you move the bottom lever and the two images in the middle of the viewfinder become one, it means the camera is in focus.
Nakajima: Wow, I love the shutter sound! The "Kacha". It's very elegant.
The Playfulness of Mount Adaptors
Akagi: You're also interested in the equipment of photographers who come to work, aren't you?
Nakajima: I do ask them. I heard that Sony's Eye Focus is simple.
Akagi: Isn't that something professionals shouldn't talk about? You have to make it look difficult as a performance (laughs).
Nakajima: No, no, no! You’re doing a great job! (laughs).
Akagi: Actually, Leica lenses can be attached to Sony (cameras). What's more, it's capable of AF (T/N: Auto-focus).
Nakajima: Wow, it's true! It works!
Akagi: Interesting, isn't it? You can buy this adapter (2) for about 30,000 yen. It was apparently an idea by a Chinese person. Do you see how I focused on the two images earlier? There's no need for that now. It's amazing that a lens from 60 years ago can autofocus.
Nakajima: This kind of playfulness is great. It dispels the notion that "cameras are difficult". This is interesting!
The optical viewfinder stimulates the imagination.
Akagi: Nakajima-san, you've been using mirrorless cameras from the beginning, right? (T/N: Mirrorless cameras usually have the image projected to the electronic viewfinder or the LCD screen, rather than having a real-time preview of the image.)
Nakajima: Yeah. As a photographer, there was a time when I used to use film SLR cameras, though.
Akagi: This is a new camera, the Pentax K-3 Mark III. It's an SLR camera (3). Take a look just here. It has an optical viewfinder.
Nakajima: Wow~ it looks really good.
Akagi: With an electronic viewfinder, you can figure out the answer from the beginning, but with an SLR, you have to use your imagination. You think, "This is probably what I'll get when I shoot."
Nakajima: You're right. One of the joys is to imagine and create from the numbers (T/N: Aperture, Shutter speed, ISO, etc)
Akagi: Yes, yes. That's why (with this), I felt a little closer to how I did in the days of film.
Nakajima: I've used film before, but when I got the film back from the lab, I found out that some of the shots I thought were really good weren't so good, and vice versa, which was interesting.
Akagi: In the past, it was the professionals who were able to imagine the final result through their training, but nowadays, we can tell whether a shot is a failure or a success the moment you take it, so the professionals lose their jobs.
Nakajima: That's true. Now you can get the answer right away....... I miss the feeling of looking through the pentaprism! (T/N: A pentaprism guides the light into the optical viewfinder. Mirrorless cameras don't have them).
Akagi: You really know your stuff!
The daring but inconvenient single-focus compact
Akagi: This one is a compact one.
Nakajima: Ricoh GR... (4). Some people take pictures with just one of these.
Akagi: This uses a single-focus lens, which is inconvenient. If you want to take a bigger picture, you have to move in closer with your feet.
Nakajima: But that's important, isn't it? Not relying too much on the zoom.
Akagi: ...Actually, I have a book I was going to give you later. It's called "Throw Away Your Zoom Lens!"
Nakajima: Whoa! "Throw Away"? You've gone that far? Anyway, you can get pretty close with the GR, can't you?
Akagi: It also has a macro mode. It's an APS-C camera (T/N: Advanced Photo System type-C is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System film negative in its C), so the image quality is pretty good.
Nakajima: Ah, that's true. It's too much fun!
Already getting into the lens swamp...? (T/N: Lens swamp is a term used to describe the hobby of purchasing interchangeable lenses such as range finder cameras (such as Leica), SLR cameras, and mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras one after another. I couldn't find a proper word to translate this as in English)
Nakajima: When I found a camera that belonged to my mother's grandfather in a dresser, I thought that I would like to use this lens to take pictures and bring it back to the modern world. So, the first thing I did was disassemble the lens myself and remove the mould. I took pictures with my original camera, but I started to wonder if I could use it with a digital camera, so I bought an adaptor and did a lot of research on how to do my own processing, and finally got to use it. Actually, that's when I got addicted to the lens swamp.
Akagi: Oh, you know that word too? But that's amazing. Processing your own work is an advanced technique! Lenses are like "translating the world once," aren't they? You are looking at the world through different eyes than the naked eye.
Nakajima: That's a nice expression.
Akagi: I was under the delusion that having a variety of lenses would let me have a greater range of expression, and before I knew it, I was in big trouble (laughs).
Nakajima: That's true. How many lenses do you have, Akagi-san?
Akagi: Hm~ so I don't want to count them. I don't want to know the reality (laughs).
Nakajima: Whoa! (laughs). But imagination is very important. There are days where I'm like, "That didn't work," though.
Akagi: I'm the same. But even if the camera seems to have taken the picture on its own, it is you who saw it. That's why I feel that my photos are my own. A long time ago, a photographer named Domon Ken once used the phrase "demons shot this" as a spiritual expression (T/N: From my research, Domon Ken used this phrase for one of his photobooks "鬼が撮った日本" (Japan shot by a demon) and seemed to capture a lot of realism of post-war Japan as a photojournalist. I do hope I got this translation right but I couldn't find it in English). When you're feeling down or cheerful, there are times when that kind of atmosphere comes out in your photographs.
Nakajima: Yes, I do. When I showed the photos to a friend, they said, "All of these are so sad." I realised later that I was sad at that time! (laughs).
Akagi: It comes out surprisingly well, doesn't it? The machine takes the picture and the lens translates it on its own. But there's still the emotion...
Nakajima: I guess it's all in there.
The fun of a camera that goes back to its roots.
Akagi: By the way, I still have this camera.
Nakajima: Wow~ there's so much to play with.
Akagi: It's Fujifilm's X-Pro3 (5). Try moving this lever left and right while taking a peek. Press the shutter button halfway.
Nakajima: Ohhh~
Akagi: You can switch between the EVF (T/N: Electronic viewfinder) and the optical viewfinder. And you can't see the image you took right away. You have to open it here.
Nakajima: It's closed all the time. And the film brand is on the back. This is cute. It's interesting how it combines the modern and the old. The shape that's like "DON! Perfectly square!" is also nice.
Akagi: After all, a camera enthusiast was involved in the design. The shutter speed is also a dial type, and it clicks.
Nakajima: It's a camera you can learn a lot from.
Akagi: And you can't see your answers right away (laughs).
Nakajima: That's a direction I'm going out of my way to avoid. This is fun!
Akagi: Good! Today I found out that you're quite the enthusiast.
Nakajima: It's not often that I get a chance to talk about something so deep, so I really enjoyed it.
Akagi: I'm really happy to see that young people have cameras. Please recommend them to everyone. It's totally fine to start from scratch.
Nakajima: In the meantime, I need to go home and read "Throw Away Your Zoom Lens!" (laughs).