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They Might Be Giants Celebrate Canon's Dial-35

They Might Be Giants have been making music since 1982, a career that includes fourteen studio albums. In 2002, the band released their first children's album and has since recorded three more records for their educational series. The Brooklyn band is currently on tour supporting their latest release, 'Here Comes Science,' and singer John Linnell will be checking in with his thoughts and musings all along the way.

As our tour bus noses its way across America, I continue to document our journey with a battery of obsolete 20th century camera gear. The stringent needs of the traveling photographer are here met with a wide array of specialized tools, ranging from the not-too-shabby to the barely-working-even-with-tape-holding-it-together. Leaning towards the former category is the spectacular Canon Dial-35, a truly odd-looking camera produced in Japan in the early 1960s, when, in their quest for the ever-more miniature, the Japanese embraced the half-frame format. Making the frame half as big meant that you could get twice as many shots on an ordinary roll of film, plus the film didn't have to move as far between shots. This enabled cameras like the Dial-35 to have a spring motor do the advancing. (See photo, modeled by Mr. John Flansburgh. Yes, it's supposed to look kind of like a rotary phone.) The idea was you could get 20 shots off in a few seconds -- a feature that's still rare in modern digital point and shoots.



This feature is useful when I'm standing onstage next to our drummer Marty Beller during a part of the show when he attempts to wreck his own drum kit. This crowd-pleasing moment is as hard to capture on film as the ivory-billed woodpecker, chiefly because I'm up there performing next to him and have other important duties like singing and playing the accordion, but the Dial-35 is at the ready when I have a moment to spare.

For fans of the old British TV series 'The Prisoner,' that's the same camera Patrick MacGoohan uses to shoot clandestine pictures of the Village. I don't think a spy camera could be much more conspicuous than that. You could pretend you were just chatting on the phone, but I suspect the faux-rotary dial without a cord attached would give you away.

Next week: Extra width

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Glenn

That was one of my first cameras...Bell and Howell 1/2 frame 35mm. Brilliant to be able to get 70-72 pictures on a roll. Much like digital cameras today, I could just snap and snap with little worry about cost or quality. It allowed me to just experiment and have fun. Love to see it is still being used. I still have mine and you've given me inspiration to get mine cleaned up and back in use. Sweet!

November 09 2009 at 5:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kyle

John Linnell, you will never cease to amaze me. Every time I think you can't get any more awesome, I'm proven wrong by a hilarious, off the cuff joke on stage, an incredible song on a new album, or a well written blog post about a very old camera. Keep up the great work!

November 01 2009 at 1:03 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Emmalee

cool pic of flansie... Marty looks awesome...

October 28 2009 at 4:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Debs

If you want a photo opp during your Seattle stop on tour, there's an intersection here of E John St & E John St. I always think of TMBG when I see the sign.

It's just off 15th Ave E and E John St. *Don't* use Google Maps to try to find the intersection of John & John; it will send you clear across town to a spot. Instead, I tricked Google Maps into showing the correct intersection here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=AFI&q=john+st+%26+john+pl+seattle,+wa+98102&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=John+St+%26+W+John+St,+Seattle,+WA+98109&gl=us&ei=0JrnSt7NIojcsgO6l_2dBQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBAQ8gEwAA

Looking forward to the Seattle show,
Debs

October 27 2009 at 9:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Liz Roberts

thats so awesome! for years I've used vintage cameras, my favorite being my old Canon AE-1 program. One of the coolest looking cameras I own is a Kodak pleaser http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/images/47036.jpg from the early 1980s, perhaps if I bring it to with me to the show at mohegan sun next month I can try to gift it to Mr. Linnell as a thank you for all the years of enjoyment I've gotten from their music.

October 27 2009 at 2:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
suegypt

Love the Marty shots! He is a blaze of...Marty. I have wondered if the shots you take onstage turn out well.

What camera did you use for the shot of Mr. Flansburgh? Could it be he shot it using a mirror?

PS - I have a turquoise blue rotary phone that still works, but can only be used to receive calls.

October 27 2009 at 8:08 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michelle

Wow, for being taken in a hurry onstage, those are some nicely-framed photos of Mr. Beller.

'The Prisoner' keeps popping up everywhere. One of these days I'll have to actually go watch it.

October 26 2009 at 7:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
cmiller

For fans of the old British TV series 'The Prisoner,' that's the same camera Patrick MacGoohan uses to shoot clandestine pictures of the Village.

Ah! I thought it looked familiar, but I couldn't think why; I was wondering - do I recall a relative of mine with one of those up to their squinting eye? I'd never have properly placed the memory with TV.

Still, the doubled-up tiny exposures feels familiar, like something I might have have seen in person in the company of my gadget-crazed uncle. Is the casing beige and brown? Hm. I can't tell in B&W.

October 26 2009 at 6:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply