...Mamiya RB67
When I decided to buy a medium format camera, I looked at an RB67, and easily dismissed it. You need hands the size of a gorilla, and it really ought to be sold with a Benbo tripod welded to the bottom.
A kind friend lent me her ?new? RB over Christmas - £250, and a lot of black paint missing. I still won?t be buying one: it is a camera I respect, but I certainly don?t love it!
But if you want (or need) the versatility of bellows focussing, you may buy one. If you need a camera engineered like a battleship (and every bit as user-friendly), you may buy one. If you want excellent results, and don?t mind ergonomics that are just right for an octopus, you may buy one. If you take landscapes or portraits professionally, there?s a good chance you already own one.
An RB67 offers enormous scope for doing things wrong...
Advantages: Comprehensive round up of the big tunes of 2008 Disadvantages: No beyonce! shock, and some horrible non-R&B on CD2
...As another year draws to a close and the Christmas madness begins as sure as sure can be you know you the music store shelves will be packed full of compilations. Restrospective compilations are still the flavor de jour, and R&B Collection 2009 (As it is oddly entitled) features a round up of all the tracks that did the business in yes, 2008.
What we have is a nicely packaged, although the cover is a little bog standard, 2 CD set with a bonus DVD featuring 15 music videos. This will undoubtedly set this one apart from a lot of the field. But more importantly on a compilation such as this one, how does the track listing measure up! I will now take you on a whirl wind tour of the 40 tracks featured on the album commenting on some of the more stand out efforts. It is also important to note for those of you who will be interested to know...
Advantages: Songs for all moods, happy, sad, angry etc. Disadvantages: A couple of dud songs on there to watch out for
...Ok, so I bought the previous R&B yearbook in 2005 and thought it was alright, but listening to this one really lifted my impressions of R&B music. I saw the CD from a Tesco store near me for about £15 and decided to give it a shot, little did I know until I got to the checkout till that it was their last one in stock (just shows how popular it must have been). It contains mainly R&B music with some Hip-Hop, some Rap and even a little bit of Reggae in there as well!
The first CD begins with a few of the biggest uplifting hits of the year in my opinion (Deja Vu, by Beyonce, and the wonderful Hips Don't Lie, by Shakira). Not to mention "Beep" by the Pussycat dolls ft. Will.I.Am (from the Black Eyed Peas). "Beep" is a nice number in a minor key, great to listen to at any time of day.
Then the mood is taken down a notch with Ne...
Advantages: Light, easy listening, well known tunes Disadvantages: Some dodgy songs on there
...Essential R&B.... let's see shall we...
The first song on this album is Eamon's F*** it. Pretty good way to start the album, admittedly its an old tune now but it probably was the most popular and most played (well one of the) of 2004. Who didn't hear that song?
It includes a lot of the most popular chart songs of 2004 and before, such as 50 Cent's In Da Club, R Kelly's Ignition Remix, another classic, and Usher's You got it Bad.
The songs on the album are varied - there's a couple of hip hop type songs, a few slower songs that are more love songs than anything, and of course, a lot of R&B.
The second disk starts with Outkast's Hey Ya, which gets the disk off to a good start! No Scrubs and Hot in Herre are also present, as well as, strangely, Natasha Bedingfield's Single? I found that pretty strange.
I believe this...
Advantages: large negative size,quality enlargemts, rotating film back Disadvantages: only 10 shots on a roll of 120, heavy camera to use initialy
...The Mamiya RB-67 is an excellent piece of photographic hardware.
When I was window shopping for a medium format system to upgrade to I was concentrating on the Bronica systems , Namely the SQ and GS1. Until that is I had a play with an RB-67.
Its not a light camera, infact its quite heavy at first, but one soon gerts used to the weight, It is the same basic layout at as other medium format cameras , Interchangeable lens,body,waist level finder & interchangeable film backs. But what makes the RB outshine others is that the film back can be rotated 90' so you can switch from landscape to portrait format without moving the camera, which is very useful at times. It is a sturdy camera, built to last & take a beating,I ve used mine in a studio to on top some of south wales highest peaks without a failure to work ever.
The camera...
Gareth_Bailey
24.08.2000 ·Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Mamiya RB 67 Pro SD
Advantages: Lots of big R&B tracks Disadvantages: A couple of tunes let it down
...?Can?t Take Me Home? came out as the debut album from the Pennsylvania-born R&B, Rock and Pop singer Pink. This one came out in 2000 and was her breakthrough release as she performed in a style which appeared to fit in more with the Soul influences which she was raised on (which later went more towards the Rock and Pop world) as she got backing from the R&B singer and producer Babyface.
1. ?Split Personality?
Getting the album going, you have a track which has here performing in a manner which really appears to fit in the style of 1998-2000 R&B, and it draws especially close resemblance to what Kelis was doing around this time and so it was really current in what it does for a decent opening cut as a tune to introduce what this has to offer from her.
**Three Stars**
2. ?Hell Wit Ya?
You see as we move on through the thing, you get...
Advantages: Great vocals, lyrics Disadvantages: Not as well known as should be
...**Introduction**
If you have regularly read my music reviews over the last few months then you will know about my plan to review some of my favourite artists albums, basically all the albums I own from the chosen artist. Following on from my recent reviews of Tank's Third album Sex, Love & Pain and his debut album Force of Nature I have decided to review his second album entitled "One Man" This completes his discography for now as he is due to release a new album later this year which I will of course be reviewing at a later date.
**One Man**
One Man was released in 2002 as Tank's second album release, Whilst It reached number five in the R&B Billboard Chart. At 383,295 copies it has sold just under half the amount that his debut album Force of Nature which has sold 655,034 copies. Whilst Tank may not boast the kind of sales...
Advantages: Cross-appeal Disadvantages: Does she HAVE to profit from my love of music?
...from this young, 20-something chick. Visually she's harping back to the past with her signature beehive and dark eyes, musically too she's there with that raspy sound and 50s vocal jazz style but she's better than that. She brings her sound right up to date mixing in blunt hip-hop and R&B and romanticizing that which should be cursed.
Even if you couldn't name any of Ms Winehouse's music off the top of your head if you've had any exposure to the radio and the press over the last year or so you'll certainly be familiar with both her music and her name. Undoubtedly a great musician in her own right much of her celebrity has come not from her talent but from the fact that she's such a troubled icon. In and out of drug rehabilitation, missing concerts or turning up on stage drunk and drugged she's climbed to the top of the media's celeb...
Advantages: Straight bangers throughout Disadvantages: Little variation
...a significant track as it sees for the first time all of the MCs (and Cappadonna) performing together on one track. The hook-less single is a straight banger and it sees them coming with something hardcore to really show what they are about and do so with great flow to make all the transitions seamless in order to make something of the unity they have.
**Five Stars**
3. ?Impossible?
Off the last one, you see that things have to move on somewhat to recover from what came just before it, and you see that here they do an unorthodox one with RZA taking control with the first rhyme (and handing on the production to 4th Disciple) with some off-beat, spoken work flows which show just how far he wants to distance himself from the sounds of mainstream Hip Hop (which he refers to as R&B: Rap and Bulls**t).
**Four Stars**
4. ?Little Ghetto Boys?
Here...
Advantages: A couple of big ones Disadvantages: Lots of average tunes
...Following his time as a member of the Pop group New Edition, Bobby Brown went solo. This was his second album working alone, and came out in 1988, the unofficial birth of the fusion genre New Jack Swing (which combined R&B and Hip Hop), so you have him come through with this new sound, whilst still sticking to what he knows from early release with the band.
1. ?Cruel Prelude?
2. ?Don?t Be Cruel?
I have to say that this one is my personal favourite from this album, and it has him performing at his absolute best. It is the eponymous song to the collection, and has been one of his most popular track ever since. He shows how he can stick little raps in to give it a Hip Hop twist, and was really the opening for this new style.
**Five Stars**
3. ?My Prerogative?
Later covered by Britney Spears, this song find him doing a classic jam...
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