Arun Has A Blog

I probably had the worst luck possible yesterday. First, I grossly underestimated the time it would take to pack and move all my stuff from Schapiro Hall at 115th street between Riverside and Broadway to Manhattan Mini Storage at 107th street between Amsterdam and Columbus. After spending the better part of the day moving, I was finally ready to leave.

I finally get my suitcases and head out to find a taxi. Then I realize that it is going to be extremely difficult to find one since the Law School graduation ceremony just finished around that time. So, Caroline (who is helping me with my bags) and I head down to 110 street to find a taxi. I finally find one, but he says that he won’t drive me to LaGuardia. After a few more taxi drivers said no, I finally found one that agreed to take me to LGA. I guess I should try to avoid flights that require me getting a taxi around rush hour.

When I arrive at the airport, I find out that my 7:50 flight is now rescheduled for 9:30. Fortunately, since I now how some sort of elite status on American Airlines, I was able to skip the massive line and talk to one of the first class agents. She tells me that my flight is cancelled and that I have to take the 1:30pm flight the next day and asked me why I didn’t get a notification from them. I ask her if they can pay for my transportation or accommodation, but she tells me that they don’t do that for weather cancellations. Great, I came all the way to Queens with three bags, they didn’t tell me that my flight was cancelled, and now they won’t even compensate me?

I was too tired to really have any emotions at that point. So, I call Caroline and tell her that I’ll have to stay at her place for the night. She tells me that she is actually at home and can meet me in Flushing for a late dinner on the way back. I say okay and take the Q48 bus to Flushing instead of the M60 bus back to campus. The bus almost reaches Main St when the bus driver stops and tells us that we’ll all have to get out. I get out to find out that most of Flushing has been closed down because of a “suspicious package.” Do they really think that terrorists want to blow up a bunch of asian people?

After taking the 7 train, missing my transfer from the 2 to the 1, and hauling my bags up and down stairs, I finally got back to Columbia. What was the only good thing that came out of yesterday? These pictures I took on the taxi ride:

Last weekend was my fraternity’s Annual Installs Banquet. It was also the first time in a while that I brought along my 30D and 30mm f/1.4 to shoot some casual candids. Here are a few shots:

I got my first film camera this weekend! While my parents were visiting Chithra and me this weekend, we went to the Salvation Army store on 96th and Broadway before taking the subway to Soho. I go there every month or so and usually never find any cameras. Surprisingly, this time there were 7 or 8. Most were cheap plastic autofocus point and shoots from the 80s and 90s.

One camera stood out however. It was in a terribly beaten up Canon case. So, I didn’t expect much. You could probably imagine my excitement when I found an almost mint condition Canon Canonet 28 rangefinder inside. I immediately purchased it for a trifling $8.

After putting a fresh battery and film inside, the camera came alive. The light meter seems to be fine and the mechanicals seem to be in good working shape. The light seals are a little torn up, but that can be fixed. I just need to see the first prints I get back to confirm that it is indeed working properly.

According to camerawiki, the Canonet 28 was introduced in 1971. That makes this camera almost twice as old as I am. Unfortunately, it is a low-end full automatic model. This translates to no control over shutter speed or aperture. Regardless, it should still be a fun camera to shoot with.

The Canonet 28 is manual focus rangefinder. The focusing mechanism in rangefinders is pretty cool. The image in the viewfinder has a small image that is superimposed in the center. Turning the focus ring on the lens moves the center image. Once the images are perfectly lined up, the image is in focus. I’ve shot a video through the viewfinder to show what it looks like.

Go here to learn how the rangefinder works. Below is the camera with my current digital point and shoot, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3. It is surprising how little camera design has changed in the last 40 years.

Here are some photos I took on my Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 point and shoot. These are from spring break in Texas.

I took these today in New York.