In your bag No: 572, Frank Hur
Frank brings us a bag from Korea. It is not too often we get a bag from Korea, but a bag with nunchucks….woah. Come and check out why Frank decided to keep nunchucks in his bag.

Hello Bellamy! And hello Bellamy’s fans! My name is Frank Hur and I am a photographer based in Seoul, South Korea. I devote my time working on ongoing street and documentary photography projects, mainly based around topics that are not often discussed within Korean society. When I am not shooting photography, I am working at my “real” job, in a Korean engineering company.
I first started photography with the Nikon D5100, with a 35mm f/1.8G, until a mutual friend, Ryan Cabal, showed me the world of film. I caught the film bug, and have since went through various cameras until my “gear acquisition syndrome” finally settled on the Minolta TC-1, and the Nikonos II with 35mm f/2.5 W-Nikkor. I also have some other items in my bag which you may find interesting, which I will get to in a moment.

The Minolta TC-1, as you have mentioned in a review of it before, is a real gem. I have been shooting Portra 400 with it for well over a year, and for the most part have enjoyed shooting with it. ISO override, manual distance control, somewhat decent onboard flash, and being able to change apertures easily have all been very welcome. Having a distance and light meter inside the viewfinder has also been very helpful, though I wish the viewfinder was a little bigger. I’ve found it very difficult to get it to your eye quickly, and had to settle on placing my thumb on the bottom right corner, to guide it exactly to my eye when shooting candid photography.

What I would consider another gem is the Nikonos II camera. It is a fully manual, meterless distance scale focus, waterproof camera. It is extremely basic and reasonably priced (I got it in mint condition with 35mm for $120 on eBay), and when I first got it I reasoned that, because it is extremely rugged, it would be the perfect “no matter the conditions” backup camera. What was my backup camera has ended up becoming my main camera. With zone distance focusing, built-in depth of field scale, Sunny 16 rule, I have been able to shoot Tri-X 400 on the Nikonos without too much trouble.
I have also found the 35mm amphibious lens to be very sharp. I got the II since it is an all-metal, more compact build version than the III. The only issues I’ve had with it so far is with film rewinding and loading. It is very difficult to tell when you have finished rewinding, and you have take apart the camera in order to load the film. I use cheap, near disposable flashes on the Nikonos to shoot off-camera, such as the Holgon 120MF. While cheap, I have found it to be very powerful.

 

My leather messenger bag is a no-name brand bag I picked up in one of the markets in Korea. I’ve found it sufficient to fit in my cameras, as well as notepad, pens, film pick, and tissues. I also carry a hardcopy version of my portfolio, which I show to my curious subjects and fellow photographers. Now, as you may have noticed, I also like to carry a harmonica, and nunchucks in my bag. Why the nunchucks? This is a question I get often. It isn’t really meant for deterring robbers, or get scared expressions from my subjects, or to even use as a prop in my shots.
Martial arts have been a passion in my life since a young age, and the nunchucks have even saved me from a dangerous situation once. So it does have some special meaning, but I mainly carry it around simply because I try to carry around all my hobbies wherever I go, so I can practice at any time.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my bag. If you would like to know more about my photography, I just recently started a website at http://www.frankhur.com, and a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/frankhurphotos.

Cheers,
Frank Hur

Thanks for sharing your bag with us Frank, it is nice to see someone shooting a Nikonos.
Check out the links and make sure you come and comment.

Keep them coming folks, we need more submissions, so get your bag on Japancamerahunter.com. Send me a hi resolution image of the bag (please make sure it is horizontal) and its contents, with some details about yourself and what you shoot. Oh and don’t forget your contact details (twitter, flickr, tumbler et al). Send the bag shots here.

Cheers
Japancamerahunter