TLR as a hidden street camera

snikulin · Oct 6, 2015

I just recognized that about 90% of population in my town doesn't see my Yashica 12 TLR on a tripod as an image taking device.
They think it's some kind of a laser rangefinder and I am a paving contractor doing my job.
I need to get a hard hat and a high visibility vest and turn myself invisible!

frank · Oct 6, 2015

And the 9% who do know what it is will have positive interactions with you and stories of their fathers camera. Of course that leaves 1% to ask if that is a Hasselblad.

dosilverhalide · Oct 6, 2015

summicron1 · Oct 6, 2015

Yup! Ain't technology grand?

Ken Nadvornick · Oct 6, 2015

snikulin said:
They think it's some kind of a laser rangefinder...

How funny. I actually carry a small handheld laser rangefinder in my camera bag. It's used primarily for accurate manual fill-in flash ratios when exposing transparency film on bright sunny days.

Ken

Colin Corneau · Oct 6, 2015

A TLR on a tripod..?

Mmm-K, then.

Alan Gales · Oct 6, 2015

A TLR would make a great candid street camera. When you are looking down at the ground glass people don't know what you are doing. Since digital has become so popular, people have forgotten what a real camera looks like!

snikulin · Oct 6, 2015

Colin Corneau said:
A TLR on a tripod..?

Mmm-K, then.

Yes! :crazy:
Today I had to use a small stepladder to focus and set up exposures.
Clearly it was an alien experience to any smartphone user.

The ladder in question:

Roger Cole · Oct 7, 2015

Colin Corneau said:
A TLR on a tripod..?

Mmm-K, then.

I've used mine on a tripod a number of times. Why not?

It is a bit easier to hand hold at slower speeds due to the waist level finder - a "chest level finder" the way I have my strap set up - allowing bracing against the chest and the lack of mirror slap, but I've made 5-20 seconds exposures with mine. I'm not THAT steady with any camera.

Cycler · Oct 7, 2015

Ever tried the 'periscope' view over crowds with the camera inverted? I found it better to doing it facing the 'wrong' way. Also handy to gain a bit of height.

guangong · Oct 7, 2015

Hidden visible camera

In those long gone days of the ubiquitous 35mm camera as a fashion accessory and no pictures policies in many museums and gslleries my invisible camera was my super ikonta B that guards simply paid no attention to under the assumption that only 35mm could take real pictures. Now the only pictues taken in museums are selfies！

David Brown · Oct 7, 2015

I had the opposite experience years ago. i was out with two friends shooting a rural church. An angry church member drove up, thinking we were highway surveyors about to put a right-of-way through his church yard!

Aleksej6 · Oct 7, 2015

Yes, people think you do some scientific measurements with TRL or big folding on a tripod, althought I don't think it is the best instruments to make street photos because it is not comfortable for long walking and every people look at it, so you do not have the surprise factor. I think the best instrument in this case is the old good Contax or Kiev RF, or a reflex with a long focal lens.

markbarendt · Oct 7, 2015

It is amazing what counts and doesn't in peoples heads. Went to a local museum a week ago and carried a Nikon. I was the guy told not to do flash photography. They "neglected" to tell the hundreds of others who were using their smartphones the same thing.

Roger Cole · Oct 7, 2015

Aleksej6 said:
Yes, people think you do some scientific measurements with TRL or big folding on a tripod, althought I don't think it is the best instruments to make street photos because it is not comfortable for long walking and every people look at it, so you do not have the surprise factor. I think the best instrument in this case is the old good Contax or Kiev RF, or a reflex with a long focal lens.

I would disagree with that. My Yashicamat 124 is very comfortable for walking, not a lot more than my MX considering I usually have the Vivitar Series 1 28-105 on the latter. It's great for street, the biggest limitations being lack of a wider lens and slow reloads.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk and 100% recycled electrons - because I care.

Aleksej6 · Oct 7, 2015

Roger Cole said:
I would disagree with that. My Yashicamat 124 is very comfortable for walking, not a lot more than my MX considering I usually have the Vivitar Series 1 28-105 on the latter. It's great for street, the biggest limitations being lack of a wider lens and slow reloads.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk and 100% recycled electrons - because I care.

I think we have different way to take street photos. I don't like zooms because of their dimension nor wide lenses because I don't like to go too close, althought I also have a MX and use in these cases with 50mm or 135mm, I woudn't feel as free with the Yashicamat, which I have had, or Mamiya C2, which I have.

benjiboy · Oct 7, 2015

I was asked by a bystander once when I was using my Mamiya TLR where I put the flint in it ?

frank · Oct 7, 2015

TLR: the steampunk camera

DWThomas · Oct 7, 2015

Yes, I think it's a combination of factors, but a TLR seems to generally be viewed as benign by the public. (Why is that man staring at his belt buckle?) And when I have gotten comments on my Yashica 124G they've been positive and reflected interest. The last such occasion was just a couple of weeks back at a fiddle festival, taking some shots at jam sessions. A maybe 40-ish woman with an elderly gentleman in tow said "My -- that's an interesting camera." (At least she recognzed it as a camera.)

So I turned and showed it to her, explained what it was, and got the Standard Question #2 -- "Can you still get film for that?" I explained that running into the nearby CVS and grabbing a roll was unlikely, but online orders get me what I need in 2 days. Mentioned I was retired and do my own processing, exhibit in shows, etc. and the guy (her dad) showed a smile, I imagine he appreciated the retired part!

(Now the EOS xxx sporting an original EF 24-70 f/2.8 with the deep lens hood gets about the same reaction as a grenade launcher! )

juan · Oct 7, 2015

I've gotten away with many things by driving a pickup, putting out a safety cone and wearing a safety vest.
When I had a TLR, I used it for street photography by turning the camera 90-degrees. People wouldn't realize I was pointing the camera in their direction.
Juan

paul ron · Oct 7, 2015

hahahaha and when im shooting my rb67, people think I'm making a movie or its a ray gun n they cross the street.

Kyle M. · Oct 7, 2015

paul ron said:
hahahaha and when im shooting my rb67, people think I'm making a movie or its a ray gun n they cross the street.

Anytime that I was out shooting with my RB67 and someone noticed it they always asked if it was a movie camera, nobody could fathom a still camera being that large. Too bad I didn't have a GX680. Whenever I'm out with my 645 Super people think it's a Hasselblad, funny how when I had a Hasselblad no one ever asked if it was a Hasselblad.

Bipin · Oct 7, 2015

Someone in reference to my Minolta Autocord: "Hey kid, what's that [Kodak] brownie camera doing 'round your neck, does it even work? What's that, some kind of hipster necklace?!"

Dave in Kansas · Oct 7, 2015

Cycler said:
Ever tried the 'periscope' view over crowds with the camera inverted? I found it better to doing it facing the 'wrong' way. Also handy to gain a bit of height.

Yes, I've done that, but more often I use it that way to get a clean, unobstructed over a chain-link fence instead of looking through it.

cliveh · Oct 7, 2015

I would question why you need a hidden camera. You are merely capturing light. Don’t be so uptight about what you are doing. As long as you are not poking a camera or flash into strangers faces and invading their personal space, I don’t see a problem to just pushing the shutter button.

TLR as a hidden street camera

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