Bought a Tripod in Quiapo

Manila Central Post Office at Dusk

I took the photo above with my cellphone camera while inside a moving vehicle. That's the back of the Manila Central Post Office -- a neoclassical structure designed by American architects Burnham/Parson (same guy/s who architected Chicago, among others) when the Philippines was a colony of the U.S. in the early 1900s -- by the bank of the Pasig River, with Jones Bridge at dusk.

The photo was taken on my way home after a day in Quiapo/Carriedo and Chinatown with a friend. I was able to attend mass at Sta. Cruz Church while waiting to meet said friend who was really nice enough to accompany me to Quiapo and help me lug around that tripod and even insisted on paying for our merienda meal at a little hole in the wall noodle house in Chinatown. I kinda felt bad about those, but I really appreciated those efforts, so I owe that friend very big!

So, I went to Quiapo to buy a tripod for my DSLR camera. The first shop I entered, at the corner of Hidalgo Street, beside Henry's camera store, had some young Westerners buying camera gear. Naligaw rin sila in Quiapo? lol. The store sold tripods. But I wasn't able to find the tripod brand/model I was looking for there. And what they have, doesn't come with a bag.

In the end, I found the tripod I was looking for at a store called M20.
Interestingly enough, its show window had this collection of really old cameras to the new ones like they archived the evolution of cameras. Two of those on display were similar to my grandfather's old camera, which I remember playing with when I was less than 10 years old, maybe 6 more or less, and seated inside his office behind his desk, which had in turn become my dad's office/desk. My granddad had passed away by then (he passed away when I was an infant).

old RolleiFlex Camera

Anyway, I don't know what brand it is but it's the sort of old camera where its viewfinder is at the top, and two round lenses are on the side facing the subject. So when you use the camera, it stands vertical, instead of horizontal (like how we use cameras now). To compose your shot, you bend your neck forward to be able to peek into the viewfinder, at least if I recall right. Lol! And when you click to shoot, you actually see the aperture blades closing in like it does on those James Bond montage, lol. I remember even seeing probably dust in the viewfinder. Like some slivers or specks of dirt or sometihng. *It was like this camera and shown above. It's just nice seeing that camera again.

They also displayed a Diana fisheye lomo camera but I didn't ask if they sell lomo cameras as I'm staying away from spending too much money when I don't even have time to have films processed. Maluho na yan! Next time na! haha!

So back to the tripod thingie, I bought a Velbon Sherpa 800R. And it came with a bag. So that was good. It was the last in stock and I was able to bargain with the salespeople re the price. Glad I had my friend with me. We were able to lower it further. Lol! I had really no idea what right tripod to buy but asked around from some photography-enthusiast friends the day before buying, and that's what they recommended. Finally I have a tripod now and can maximise the use of my DSLR. hihi!

*camera photo from cosmonet.org