Episode 92 • A Sop to Mike Sopko

What this episode covers

Episode № 92 finds the boys in Sunset Strip rock clubs and sun-baked Czech vineyards, sampling exotic cinema film and strange European cameras, taking in celebrity gallery shows and nibbling koláče. What happened to those two humble kids from the oak groves of Riverdale and the pine forests of Atlanta — and who is Mike Sopko? Tune in to IDOC’s latest and find out — they’ve only got eight more to go! * question: were we crisper and more cogent in earlier episodes? does this guy have a point?? buy a mug if you concur! * Gabe (and resident rock god Fred Coury) took Canadian hockey reporter Scott Laughlin to the Rainbow Room, then Mini-Kiss (a Kiss tribute band consisting entirely of little people) at the Roxy * Gabe also went to a Cameras and Coffee… * saw the amazing Paul McCartney show at Gagosian Gallery * hunted for a replacement for his beloved Canon R5 and Sigma 85mm Art Lens… and Roberts Camera a.k.a. UsedPhotoPro came through! Meredith put together an incredible package for him * Gabe returned to the LA Camera Expo at the Hotel Burbank and snapped up a Leicaflex SL with a 60mm f2.8 three-cam lens * but it didn’t stop there! he also nabbed a Hasselblad 501CM from Ethan Ingram, and a point-and-shoot to be named later - he’s arrived at the promised 30-camera collection * hold on there’s more! with an assist from Brandon Steadman, he (might) also (have) snapped up a Leica R8, which would bring the collection to 31 (not including some broken ones) - okay, maybe we’re calling it thirtyish * Jeff’s been in a Prague for a month, has shot 22 rolls of film, and cannot live without his XPan exposure compensation dial - how ’bout you? do you use yours? * when the paint chipped off his e.c. dial, Jeff did a quick fix with a white paint pen from a local art supply store * also, he found a new local lab to complement the mighty FotoŠkoda: FilmStore Prague, which has excellent prices for developing & scanning * plus they roll their own Kodak Vision 3 cinema film, leaving the remjet on, and process it ECN-2 - Jeff shot their 250D and found the palette beautiful and the images stunningly sharp, and it’s half the local cost of Portra! * (n.b.: it’s not the same as CineStill’s old 250D, which had the remjet removed) * Jeff bought a rare Minox photo book from a seller in Germany and had it shipped straight to his Prague apartment, thereby saving tons of money and time - check out the preview on YouTube of Oktaeder: Spy-cam Sketches Minox 8x11 by Peter Bernard * he also bought a vintage Alpa employee badge on eBay and vows to wear the late Mike Sopko’s nametag with pride - Mike repaired cameras at the also-late Crick Camera in Kansas City for over forty years - here’s to you, Mike! * seller goKevincameras is struggling mightily with tariff issues * of course we must rifle wildly through our Prodigious Mailbag™ * Gabe’s advice on how to how to find people to photograph? ask local artists! * a final note: mere hours after recording this episode, Jeff’s XPan suffered its second bout of Sudden Fujifilm Battery Death™ in less than a month!