Hello members,

I'm back to show you some other pieces of my collection. This time I want to join many of the most elegant, high-class walkmans SONY ever made.

I believe they are some of the best sounding players ever, although they are not the most advanced or featured.

All them are made of full metal, superb finish and excellent building quality, made for last over time. In fact, all the players you see in the photo work great and sound better. And no one needed a new belt or something, but all them have the famous "click" (except DD9).

Hope you enjoy

And the members of this exclusive group of first-class walkmans are:

 SONY WM-DC2

A true gem, with excellent sound quality. Probably the second or third best sounding player ever made, just behind the DC6 and DD9.

Its Dolby C system is one of the best ever too, that only cuts the hiss and not the high frecuencies. It only lacks a bass amplification system, but with an external EQ sounds extraordinay well.

SONY DD100 aka BOODO KHAN

 One of the most legendary walkmans, and it's also the first model to have a bass amplification system, that later derived on the widely-known MegaBass system.

It came with a big, high quality headphones and its name refers to one of the most famous concert halls of Japan. More info here.

SONY WM-DD30

A classic. Excellent build quality and sound.  Pretty much the same as a Boodo Khan but with MegaBass.

It came in three colors: black, silver and red, and I find the latest one the most beautiful. More info about this beautiful walkman in my website, here.

SONY WM-DD33

The classic DD30, modernized with curved lines, a new volume control and new megabass EQ. It also came in three colors, and the blue one is the rarest.

and last but not least, the superb WM-DD9, the only one DD walkman with two motors and Auto-reverse:

This thing feels VERY solid and seems to be built to last for very long time. Every detail is carefully chosen to give the user a similar feel than with a high-quality deck.

Surprisingly, it's the bigger walkman of all DD line but it's powered with only one AA.

Been after a DD9 for a while

I got the DC2, DC6c, DD30 and wm701c - but the 9 has always alluded me (except for paying silly money)

my DC6c or DD30 do not click

And also - I thought the DC2 and D6c have the same mech and dolby C circuitry?

Dear Santa

a red SONY WM-DD30, nuff said

I've been (for the most part) good al year long!

Stunning collection....

Thanks to all.

Amazing photos Hugo!  What kind of camera are you using?  These look like catalog-quality shots.

Thanks stereo2go,

Yes, I tried to make catalog photos. I'm using a SLR camera (Nikon D300 with professional lens AF-S 17-55 mm f/2.8) but that's not the reason of the result.

The camera itself doesn't do anything alone. It's more a combination of lighting, point of view, photographer's vision and technical stuff (like image processing, etc..).

Think about this: what if you could use a stratocaster guitar like the one Mark knofler uses? (for example) Does it converts you in another guitarrist? What if you use the same word processor that J.K Rowling uses? Will you then write the next version of Harry Potter? No, right?

So it's more or less the same: the tool is just one step more to achieve the result, but there are a lot more steps to do. Of course, a good tool helps a lot ;-)

An interesting demonstration: which one of those two photos is taken with a mobile phone and which one with a professional SLR? Can you tell the difference? (it's not so obvious as it seems)

Regards,

off camera flash is the key

good work

as for your example - it's hard really to tell as the walkman shot is obliterated by the direct flash and no obvious focal point - and is also not afforded the luxury of the beautiful natural light of the exterior shot.

I hazard it's a trick question

Couldn't resist - just had to take some quick photos of mine.
I hope you understand that mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery.

I cleared my dinner off the table - and put down a felt turntable mat.

I don't use post processing as you can tell - otherwse I'd have watermarked them and got them all the same crop - i'm just a slapdash photographer!

I'd take some with my iPhone for comparison - but I have no natural light as it's 1.30 in the morning  so i'll do an update then - I think that will be an interesting comparison.

I'll See your Pictures ... and Raise you with a Video

Sony WM-11 Walkman Cassette Player Stereo Functionality

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Damn !!, I'm taking these paint brushes back to the shop then

Well, in that case off camera flash is the key, you're right. So I update the comparison with another photo.

there's a bit of trick, I admit. ;-)

I see your photos, well done! I see you use a FF camera with 50mm, which has excellent response to low light. Well done. It's another demonstration that with good light and point of view, and a good tool nice photos can be taken. And a good tool is not only a pro SLR camera, some smartphones and point-and-shoot cameras have high quality too.

Of course I'm glad to talk about this, don't worry if you attempted to replicate my photos, it's an interesting discussion ;-)

Haha ;-)

@hurodal

the f1.8 lens wasn't really the key to the photos

it was the use of flash - and in my instance I didn't use off camera flash, it was clamped to the top of my slr

This picture was taken with an iphone - so artistic merit is also a high consideration rather than technique (and loads of crappy post pro)

To be fair, if like Hurodal, you know you're stuff you could say a lot of good studio photography is down to the Image processing and the 'artists eye' but superb results can be achieved without the voodoo.

If I had any advice here it would be to buy a decent flash and learn how to use it i.e. bounce/defuse etc.  Natural light, in moderation, can also be your friend.  A good lens is also a bonus pref a F/2.8 but it doesn't have to be stupid wide but 17/20mm is a great start.  Try lots of combinations with your stop setting and learn from your mistakes.  Something I always say to people is to find a shot you like on http://www.flickr.com and check the settings (Go - Actions>View Exif info) then attempt to replicate that for yourself.

yessir mr orange - that is what hurodal did to find out my "weapon of choice"

But a decent flashgun is indeed a prequisite like I said  I used a flash on my camera but angled it away from the subject to illuminate the subject with "light bounce" off the white wall in my living room. Straight on flash is never complimentary nor flattering  hence why it is better on your point and shoot to always turn the flash OFF.

A good lens is also a bonus but in NO way necessay - I used the cheapest lens I have - I got it in 1996 with my first decent (read Nikon) camera (when primes were the "kit" lens. You can buy these 2nd hand for peanuts.

Indeed I got a f1.4 50mm for 70 quid the other day - as they seem to be out of vogue with modern photographers (still waiting for a cheap f1.2 though)

I will always recomend a photographer get a prime lens and hone his skills with that - rather than using a kit zoom lens that is bundles with most cameras these days.

As zooming with the feet is a far more important discipline than buying a fancy f2.8 izzy whizzy glass.

I'm on flickr if you want to see my pisspoor offereings

Yeah, all good stuff.  I spent more on my flash than my lens, which is a bit of a daft way of looking at it but the Nikon SB900 flash is superb and when used properly can hide a multitude of sins in the other skills (which I lack). 

You're right, any lens will do as long as you can get close enough.  My first DSLR was the Nikon D80 and it came with what on paper looked a great kit lens (18-135) but it was awful, it had plastic bayonet face and had lens creep (lens extends when held upside down).  These go for £50 on eBay now and that was for a lens on a £800 camera, shameful.  Always, always buy body only unless you've checked the kit lens out.

I got the SB800 (I think a year before the 900 came out)
and I must admit I have never really appreciated it either  - as like yourself my camera overtakes my talent.

I am a hardened F3 user - and it is only because I am poor and have no access to a dark room that digital has become my only vent.

Nice collection hurodal, I have to say I think the DD9 is the best looking Walkman Sony ever created.

Yes, I know the key was the light, not the lens. What I didn't know is that you were using flash and I was suprised that you managed so well white balance with typical home lighting. But, in fact it's a lot easier to manage with flash, and in this case, bouncing is the easier way to get diffuse light that is so good for still-life shots.

The iphone picture, I suppose you use instagram, Hipstamatic or a similar app, that makes easy to get that vintage look. I'm not a fan of that, but many people are, and sometimes produces very nice shots, like yours. 

Personally I prefer always to use natural diffuse light, which I'm lucky to have a lot at home ;-)

Well, it depends on how good/bad are that lens. I agree that a good lens is not so necessary for this kind of shots. With abundant light you can use a cheap one and get good results, specially for posting the results in a small size like here (about 800 px long side).

The one you used (the Nikkor 50mm 1.8 AF-D, right?) is one of the sharpest lens Nikon made, and it has excellent resolution (MTF values); one of the best 50mm lens in terms of MTF resolution. Not many people knows how good they are, and even less know that is has better resolution from center to corner at almost all f/ than the 1.4 one. You can check this on some lens testing sites. I also have the same 1.8 lens (I bought it on 1992 for 40$ ;-)   ), but not AF-D, just AF version.

I also have the 55mm 1.2 but it's resolution at f/1.2 or f/1.4 is very poor and lower than the f/1.8 at f/2.0 or higher values, so it's a lens that only worth if you really plan to use it wide open.

Completely agree :-)

Shoot picture's of boombox's and walkmans oustide as these are meant to be portable using natural light preferably when-ever possible cause once-again the portables are operating on batteries yes?

Flash is only used at night - cause it's Hard for me to stay steady or ( not a blurry picture taken  for a timed shot outside in the DARK

@James - your wrong
Flash is for use inside - using it at night (as an only source) would create stange shadows.

ALSO let me bring you to task - "portables" have a mains input - so that means quid quo pro - they are to be used INSIDE as well as outside.

@Hurodal - mine is the non windowed non D version of the AF lens - I got it with my FM2 in Singapore in 1996.

I have a F1.4 50mm AiS lens (non AF to the non photographers here) that I use for wide open shots - and it is VERY hard to get what you want in focus - ESPECIALLY a moving subject

What a lovely picture of that dog! Great stuff. Regards flash I've used it outside for years (sometimes at night by leaving the camera open, using multi flashes - painting with light - to cover a large area with light. Also during the day for fill in flash.

yesssssssssss that has I also an absolute must which for a hammer sound does not have straight hears I again with it music my plant sounds so mad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhtxxhW_P-M