About Sushicam


My Name is Jeff Laitila. Originally I am from a sleepy little corner of Northern Michigans Upper Penninsula, now residing in Yokosuka City, Japan. I didn't get away from Michgan very often in my earlier days but after graduating from Michigan Technological University with a degree in environmental engineering in 1994 I then headed North to Alaska.

After spending a couple of fabulous summers there I moved to Georgia in the fall of 1995.
After spending a little over a year in Georgia I was able to find a job in Southern California.
After three and a half years in California's Mojave desert I once again set out in search of greener pastures. That is when my wife and I moved to Japan.

If you want to contact me, just drop me an email at
mtfuji(followed by the "@" symbol of course, then)gmail(dot)com

How does it feel to live in Japan?

Exciting...frustrating...fun...difficult...enlightening...humbling...interesting...I could go on for some time trying to capture the experience in words. (which is exactly the reason why I have built this site!)

Being a foreigner here makes everyday seem a little like a vacation. (or a vacation from hell) There is always something new, strange, sometimes frustrating, to remind you that "you're not in Kansas anymore".

Visit occasionally and see what's new. I will try to keep it interesting. I try to regularly write about my experiences of living in Japan, so there should be a new article once every few days or so. Sometimes more frequently, sometimes less frequently, depending on what I have been up to.

Why the name "Sushicam"?

Reason number 1: It was a domain name that was not already taken.
Reason number 2: It was a domain name that was not already taken.

What kind of camera(s) do you currently use?

The short answer: Canon EOS 5D and Epson R-D1

The long answer: Originally I used an Olympus C-960Z. In January of 2001 I upgraded to the Olympus C3000Z. I then upgraded again in September of 2001, this time to the Olympus E-10. In mid 2002 I bought a small pocket digital camera, the Fuji finepix 40i. In the fall of 2002, I picked up an Olympus C2100 UZ, and then in the spring of 2003 I went nuts and bought a Canon EOS 10D, and a bag full of lenses. In the fall of 2004 I upgraded my camera again, that time to the Canon EOS 1D Mark II. In summer of 2005 I started to hear rumors that canon would be putting out a full frame DSLR for under $4K, so I sold the 1D Mark II before its resale value dropped too much and replaced it with a Canon EOS Rebel XT. Then Canon went and produced a full frame camera in a small body (the 5D) so I had to get that. In an effort to improve my "slice of life" type shooting I also picked up an Epson R-D1 digital rangefinder.

Here is a mostly current list of my digital photo gear:

Canon 5D
17-40mm f4
24mm f2.8
24mm f1.4
35mm f2
50mm f1.0 L
50mm f1.4
28-70mm f2.8 L
28-75mm f2.8
85mm f1.2
135mm f2 L
50-200mm f3.5-4.5 L
70-200mm f2.8 L IS
70-300mm DO IS
Carl Zeiss (CZ) 28mm f2.8
CZ 35mm f2.8
CZ 50mm f1.4
CZ 45mm f2.8 pancake
CZ 85mm f1.4
A bunch of camera bags of various sizes and configurations
Manfrotto tripod and ballhead
Epson P-2000 portable storage/viwing unit (40 GB)
6 GB Hitachi MD
4 GB Hitachi MD (2)
1 GB SD Extreme II (2)

Epson R-D1
Voightlander 12mm f5.6 Ultra Wide Heliar
Voightlander 15mm f4.5 Super Wide Heliar
Voigtlander 21mm f4 Color Skopar
Voigtlander 40mm f1.4 Nokton Classic