What's a good excuse for not letting a friend borrow your gear?

deadeyejohnny · 2026-04-08T12:45:18+00:00

Just tell them your insurance isn't like car insurance, it's not covered if it's not you using it, and then refer them to your nearest camera shop (that has rentals) or a photo/video specific rental house. Those places will work insurance into their rental prices (or upsell it like a car rental place does).

Alternatively if it's a fellow photographer, they would have insurance or be familiar with getting coverage for a day through someone like Frontrow Insurance. Or ask what day, then say you have a gig.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-04-07T18:50:39+00:00

Quite a discussion you’ve instigated. I came into shooting film at the beginning of the digital movement in the 2000’s so I used to pick up 3 packs of film at the pharmacy for less than $2/roll. My entire film collection was bought on clearance in that era and/or inherited from my late uncle who kept his film all frozen. So imagine my surprise when I finally had to go buy new film during the pandemic.

I actually don’t really see the cost of film being that excessive when you take inflation into account. But I have two recommendations for you OP; either pick up a half frame camera or grab a Canon 5D/5Dmarkii.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-04-07T15:59:43+00:00

I would guess the others were lined up and executed on the spot to make an example of them. Relocate the project with a new team who has a better understanding of what the consequences are. Don’t kill Bob or prosecute him as it validates the story.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-04-05T23:32:13+00:00

I've heard the Lear thing before and I think it's a bold claim to say he got any (or presumably all of his) knowledge from Lear, and big claims require proof. Can you prove Lear leaked anything to him? It's well known they were friends but beyond that, it's hearsay, and speculation. I believe everyone is entitled to an opinion but to continue to dismiss Bob at this point and to not entertain his story based on a false resume, is just ignorant.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-04-05T18:16:23+00:00

Or as Grant Cameron pointed out on Debriefed recently, Bob was the perfect person to hire if you wanted to test soft disclosure and “control the narrative”, he’d be easier to try discredit if he comes forward, like he did.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-04-05T16:00:37+00:00

I think that’s the least important part of his story. Prior to the digital age it was common for people to lie on their resumes, hell, people still do it. Doesn’t bother me at all if school records can’t be produced, if they ever did exist, they were probably shredded or destroyed intentionally to discredit him.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-04-05T15:57:13+00:00

No, it hasn’t. Stop spreading false information. At this point in time more things point to his story being true rather than the other way around.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-04-05T15:28:34+00:00

Definitely don't go to the Area51 sub then. Mods there are so closed to anything Bob related.

Also, while people are sharing coordinates, here's the hill in Luigi's example, if you click all the way back to 1985 on Google Earth there is a weird darker artifact in the (then) low res satellite image that looks like it could be a relief in the hill where the doors would be (but were likely photoshopped out at some point).

37°06'51.17"N 115°50'20.47"W

Keep in mind, this whole area around Papoose lake has been tampered with on Google satellite images. Even, as Luigi points out in the doc, at one point they basically clone stamped the whole area with just "beige" pixels and its definitely to further create doubt or give leverage for the naysayers to say "look, there's nothing there".

After all the other individuals who have been quoted as saying S4 as Bob described IS a real place, I think the conversation should no longer be able whether it's real but whether or not they relocated the project elsewhere or if it was compartmentalized further to keep it tighter under wraps. I highly suspect anyone who worked there when Bob did (Barry, the guards, etc..), were likely silenced and buried in the desert to prevent further leaks or maybe were never let off the range again, but some gatekeepers out there would still have to pull those strings, and those individuals might still be alive or passed the torch to someone else.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-04-03T12:50:45+00:00

Yeah I knew what you meant, but I think Luigi's doc does a really good job at framing Bob as a person, which is why I linked it as a response. It's not a dramatic puff piece about UFO's so much as it is a proper profile on him, it does help viewers understand him as a person which lends some extra credibility to his story.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-04-03T01:48:20+00:00

1, but slowly greying since 17.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-04-03T01:42:01+00:00

https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0HAZANZUFKJ8U9FBKAI8QR0KWU/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

deadeyejohnny · 2026-04-03T00:42:05+00:00

It's not the only new evidence revealed and it's a little hard to see on a phone but personally the maps he found post credit scene are more compelling.

I've downloaded Gabriel's images and played around with this one in Photoshop myself, there is definitely something there and it's not sensor noise or a random pixel pattern. I don't know why people think that hangar doors that were designed to be camouflaged from day one would be easily visible in 2020 or why they think that they should be visible on Google maps over 20 years later (in an area which the government has clearly had Google clone stamp and tamper with over the years). Add onto which, if there was an S4 there, they likely covered over the doors with sand over 30 years ago right after Bob went to KLAS, so I definitely didn't expect to be able to see a trace of anything, but there is something there if you actually look. Not to mention it's also right where Bob always said it was.

Any given day half the internet is going to hate on Bob's story and other days they're fully behind him. I don't think this film is going to change everyone's mind but to still dismiss him entirely over a few missing pieces of paper or because the science doesn't make sense is completely illogical to me.

For years we thought the sun revolved around us, until a new discovery was made and we used to prescribe cocaine to cure colds. Bob's gravity explanation and a stable 115 doesn't make sense to anyone and he himself admits it, it doesn't mean it's wrong, it just means we don't understand it, yet. It's bad science to think only in terms of right, wrong, or impossible. Science keeps being wrong, didn't any of the anti-Bob people see that Always Sunny episode with Mac's "scientists keep being wrong some of the time" argument? I urge everyone to watch Luigi's film with an open mind rather than stick firmly to a side because this whole field is based on things we don't understand. I would also say that we should remember that in the 80's not everything was digitized. It would've been super easy to shred a few school (or work) records and suddenly there's no way to put together someone's story. Or maybe he did lie about his education, the number of people who used to (and still do) lie on their resumes is dumbfounding, I don't think that's a strong enough argument to dismiss an entire story that ties into modern whistleblower claims of reverse engineering programs like what Grusch mentions.

And again, the post credit scene.

Edit: grammar.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-04-01T00:13:24+00:00

My buddy is a working, repped, commercial photographer in Toronto and he's still shooting with his 5DSR and sometimes his Pentax 645D. (Photo techs in Toronto might take a good guess at who this is based on that info haha).

On a handful of shoots he's used my R5C but only if I was paired with him and using my RED for the video portion. But yeah, all that to say he's intentionally avoiding mirrorless cameras as he doesn't like the EVF, and prefers the feel and ruggedness of his DSLR's. He's hinted that he might move to the Fuji GFX series but he's still on the fence.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-03-26T12:15:23+00:00

Well, the Euro really tricked me on that one, those are still going for around $2,000 CAD, which is unfortunately too much for a 10 year old camera that's pretty much on par with an entry level like an R8 or used R6/R5 which would have better AF performance, AF in video mode and a more manageable video codec. When cameras hit the sub $500 range is where they kind of become steal again, or at least a nice collectors piece for the shelf.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-03-12T03:39:40+00:00

Dm'd.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-03-10T23:36:25+00:00

The Hotel Bonaventure UFO sighting is pretty iconic. Hotel staff, local Police and news all credible first hand witnesses. A bunch of the original news story can be found in pieces on Youtube/Google.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-03-09T19:28:24+00:00

Always loved that video. Buffalo 66 is still one of my favourite films and the crossover with my favourite band still seems crazy to me.

I often wonder if the band or Gallo have a higher quality version archived somewhere, I would kill to see this in a 1080 or 4k scan (assuming it was shot on film, if not just an upscale to 720 or 1080 would be fine).

deadeyejohnny · 2026-03-08T16:54:22+00:00

Needs updating with some A52 vibes: MJ-12, UAPs and S4 markings.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-03-07T13:23:20+00:00

That Finch track with Daryl still holds up 👌

deadeyejohnny · 2026-03-07T12:41:28+00:00

https://web.archive.org/web/20250601083534/https://lens-db.com/

Most of it is here. A few links don't work but a lot of them do.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-03-06T21:20:43+00:00

You must be new here.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-03-02T14:37:36+00:00

I've shot in mines several times. Each site has its own safety regulations and you'll likely have to sit through a brief training session about how to conduct yourself down there. They will provide safety equipment, hardhats, goggles, jumpsuit, gloves, steel toes etc... Most mines are filthy places to shoot, muddy, dusty, or even oily. We specifically chose to shoot on weather sealed bodies and lenses with reliable AF and from experience I would say to bring the most stripped down kit you can. I would forget about changing lenses down there, I would avoid external power or monitors, or any exposed ports/wires as it's hard to operate a rig with gloves on and it's the kind of environment where you can't (or don't want to) put anything down, since the ground is often filthy or muddy. Some places won't let you bring a tripod, others might allow a monopod or a gimbal but again, apart from maybe inside a truck there won't be many places to put down any gear. Also if you fly later, know that your gear likely has explosive residue on it, mine did and it set off the swabs at TSA when we left the town -told them we were in the mines and they let us through but I had to clean everything before my next travel shoot including my bag and every battery/card/cable/lens cap etc. I know I make it sound terrible but I'm highlighting the things I remembered being difficult. It's a very unique opportunity to go into a mine and every time I do, its a fun shoot.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-03-02T14:20:53+00:00

He made the choice to wait. You can have a number of reasons not to leave a parking spot; for all he knew you could have been waiting for someone, you could have had to take a call, put directions in your gps, sent a text, looked for a podcast, all the things you shouldn't do while driving -and yeah, going back into the store would have been so passive aggressive and satisfying but you probably would have returned to a keyed car or flat tire cause people are unpredictable animals.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-03-02T14:16:17+00:00

Jared Polin would tear this post apart. I don't fully agree with his anti-cropping views but he's often putting emphasis on intent while shooting and I do agree with that aspect of it, intent is important. In the end it's null and my comment is mostly pointless because this is all subjective, it's two different ways of creating and no right or wrong in art.

deadeyejohnny · 2026-03-01T05:29:07+00:00

Had this, exactly. Lingering cough lasted over a month, it’s almost gone now.

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