| Author |
Message |
    
Brian Shaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 2
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 09:37 am: | 
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I'm a user, not a collector. I have very little interest in having bunch of cameras that just sit around doing nothing. But the more I repair and use old cameras, the more I end up collecting stuff. Where does it end? |
Glenn Middleton
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn
Post Number: 2
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 11:50 am: |
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It only ends when one's executors pass on the vast collection. However do not despair, the affliction is even there at the start of a professionals career - body for black and white, body for colour neg and body for colour reversal etc etc. At least with interchangeable backs, the financial implications were not too severe for me in the medium format department. The lens cupboard is another matter, as are the draws full of Canon FD kit!
So you are definitely not alone. |
Will Inoue
Tinkerer
Username: Will
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 08:04 pm: |
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Glenn, It sure is addictive. After having gone plastic EOS Rebel AF, I began to reminisce of my old vintage equipment. I started off by reaquiring a Canon FTB and F-1 setup I had bought new in the 70's. Then I bought a couple junkers for spares. These got repaired and are now "users". Years later I now have every Canon SLR made except for FP and Flex. (I'm working on these) Anyway at least it's a healthy addiction... I think :-).
Will |
Glenn Middleton
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn
Post Number: 6
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 08:48 pm: |
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Will,
My Canon chapter very similar to yours. Whilst I still had my first slr (Canon FTb) and the F-1 / A-1 kit from my working days, I seem to have added three T90 bodies and a number of zoom lenses - I do not really like zooms! The real problem is all the little useless bits that one never needed or used, when one earned one's living from the kit. I now have full sets of screens for all three series and most of the other bits and bobs for the A, F, and T that appeared in the Canon literature.
My only excuse is that most items were purchased cheaply and then restored. Problem is the addiction seems to have spread into the 6x6 memory banks. I will have to get treatment, as this departure is definitely not good for my storage space or pocket!
Glenn |
Will Inoue
Tinkerer
Username: Will
Post Number: 3
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 04:20 pm: |
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"I will have to get treatment, as this departure is definitely not good for my storage space or pocket!"
I hear that! lol. |
Matthew Currie
Tinkerer
Username: M_currie
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 06:56 pm: |
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I am on a visit to family, and packed the car for two weeks. I brought two Nikon F's, an Olympus XA, A Konica T3 and a Contaflex. My Rollei 35 developed a mechanical problem, so I left it home, and the kit seems somehow incomplete. Do you think I might have a problem? Other than, obviously, the mechanical problem in my Rollei, which fires the shutter every time I wind it. |
Steven Habersaat
Tinkerer
Username: Stevenwj
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 05:09 am: |
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Hello All,
I started SLR photography with a Minolta SRT 101b and soon moved on to a Canon A1. Since then I have bought some more Canon SLR bargains and enjoy just looking at these fine pieces of technology sitting on the shelf. I currently USE a Canon EOS 10D for everyday photography and to record my collection of german rangefinders and other types. Living near Hamburg in Germany I have built up a collection of Iloca RFs, Oehler Infras, Mimosas and Altissa Altix besides a few others. Currently my collection numbers more than 300 cameras and if someone is interested I would be happy to share pictures. Maybe the admins could create something like a "showcase" in this section to build up a database of good pictorial documentation on classic cameras for identification and research purposes. Just a thought. I would be very interested and glad to share my bit.
Greetings to all and thank you to the admins for maintaining this wonderful and informative site
Steven |
John Krayetski
Tinkerer
Username: Flashover
Post Number: 2
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 02:54 pm: |
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I am just a Camera junkie
http://www.flickr.com/groups/camerajunkie/ |
Stuart Willis
Tinkerer
Username: Ethostech
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 08:41 am: |
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My story is a little different - and it goes like this:
Lady has inherited and used her late father's Rolleiflex (or whatever) for a number of years but suddenly the shutter won't work.
Typically she takes it to a camera store and is greeted by a highly intelligent "consultant". You can tell that he is intelligent because he is wearing a necktie !!!
He pokes it and fumbles it and finally in his highly sophisticated technical jargon - tells her "It's stuffed!"
Lady looks sad - but even sadder when he tells her that a Compur shutter overhaul is a four hour job. And even sadder when he translates that to a repair cost of $350 !
He then pulls out a black plastic "auto-everything" chinese electronic giizmo and tells her this is the way to go - for $150.
Lady walks out with gizmo and Rolleiflex as deemed "beyond economic repair" ends up in a dark cupboard to gather fungus and generally seize up forever - before eventually ending up in a garage sale or on a flea market stall.
I try to get them before such demise.
Just hate to see fine engineering abandoned for want of some TLC. I have 250 such cameras is my collection. All restored and pristine samples - but if I had logged my input labour I would have the most expensive collection on the planet.
But it's always a challenge and a lot of fun and satisfaction.
Beats the hell out of bashing little old ladies over the head at ATM's. Our kids will never enjoy such fascinations because by the time they are old enough to be interested - there'll only be black plastic electronic irrepairable gizmos left !
If you find 250 pristine classic cameras offered on the Forum - you'll know I've croaked it and my daughter doesn't know what to do with 'em - because she is only familiar with "gizmos".
Stuart Willis (Australia). |
John Farrell
Tinkerer
Username: John_f
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 02:42 pm: |
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Confession time, eh? well, here goes.....
Back when I was a youngster at university, I was a keen photographer, and the Photographic Society had a fine darkroom....But then came work, marriage, no darkroom, and years of colour snapshots.
Then one day, back in 1998, I was seized by an unexplainable lust when I saw an old Yashica rangefinder in a junkshop.
Now I have a shelf of fine older cameras, most working, stocks of monochrome film in the refrigerator, a darkroom..... |
Alex MacPhee
Tinkerer
Username: Alex
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 05:47 pm: |
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This is excellent news, Stuart. At last I have found someone I can point to as worse than me, and get my wife off my back. I only have forty-five cameras, and it's hard to argue with her when she asks how I can possibly feed them all. A considerable number of these have been acquired through the joy of tinkering, and others have been things I used to lust after as a boy (well, in the days before I discovered girls), like Yashica Ministers, GSNs, GTNs, Ricoh and Olympus rangefinders, old Zeiss folders and the like. She keeps suggesting I sell them off. When she asks why I won't part with them, I say 'For the same reason I won't part with you -- I love them dearly!' She gives one of her 'Fffshaw' sounds, but I know I've got a get-out-of-jail card that will last for the rest of the day. Like John, I also have huge stocks of film in the freezer, and in fact my wife has been complaining about the volume of available space being taken up by them. I know photography is supposed to be all about the image, and not what created it, but there is to me an extra dimension which is in the process and practice of taking the photograph. I still prefer film. I like it because of the different personalities different films have; I like it because of its versatility; I like it because of its contstraints. I like the 'ritual' of opening the pack and loading it into the camera. I like the anticipation of getting it into the darkroom and developing it; no instant gratification -- good things come to those who wait. |
Mark Pearce
Tinkerer
Username: Top
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 22, 2006 - 07:11 am: |
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I find that if you're shooting a WW II re-enactment you should fit in with proper gear, hence the Contax, Rolleiflex, and Medalist kits I've put together.
FWIW, I drove across the US last summer from Maine to Yellowstone and packed just two cameras: a Retina IIa and a Anny Speed Graphic 4x5.
Top |
Henry
Moderator
Username: Henry
Post Number: 4
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 09:31 am: |
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I'm not a collector either, so how did I accumulate so many cameras? My perspective on this seeming paradox is... I started this tinkering hobby to have fun. Acquiring a new toy to tinker on is definitely fun. Tearing into them is fun. Figuring out how they function is fun. Even the drudge work of reassembling them after the problem is located and rectified is sort of fun.
But selling them is a huge disappointment. Our long hours under the head loupe, the special tools we made...the pride in our labors. The prices on ebay (where most of us probably buy and sell our cameras) are nearly the same for working and non-working old cameras. Our only reward is self satisfaction. And that satisfaction is greatly reduced when the monetary difference in buying and selling is only five bucks. To avoid the disappointment we stop selling.
So we give our cameras to local friends and families. But they can only use so many cameras. And nowadays they ask, "Fixed any digitals?"
So I blame my friends and family for turning me into an accidental collector.
Henry |
jackie
Tinkerer
Username: Jack
Post Number: 3
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 27, 2006 - 09:36 pm: |
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I am seller!! oh yeah i also fix and repair them ...and sometimes if i can't fix i tkae to my local camarea repair shop |
Werner J. Becker
Tinkerer
Username: Wernerjb
Post Number: 7
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - 04:08 am: |
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Since the time I first stumbled across this forum more than two years ago I have always been attracted and fascinated by sentences like Henry's "This is about as hard as it gets in Copal shuttered rangefinders. Are we still having fun?" in his Y minister (?) article. But way back then I was unable to even open a cameras, altough I had some photographic experience.
I then read D. R. Mitchell's "been there, done that" and dreamt of being able to experience the same. But that required actively doing something which means a lot more than saying "it's stuffed" (those expert experts' final statement about a camera's technical status!).
So I decided to simply do "it" when I had found out that many self-appointed camera experts often turned out to be nothing but expert spivs.
Problems are there to be solved, I said to myself. The vast majority of "broken" cameras can be fixed, like almost every old radio or tube amplifier can be made to play again.
What is the kick one gets from repairing, restoring, collecting ?
Like Stuart puts it in his above article, "it's always a challenge and a lot of fun and satisfaction."
Painters paint pictures, rabbit breeders breed rabbits, aquarists have fun keeping fish, etc,. They all draw some sort of profit from their free time activities, otherwise they wouldn't spend time being busy doing all that or thy would do something else, wouldn't they?
From my perspective it is not important to ask if repairing or collecting makes any sense. Many people take it for granted that life as a whole is senseless anyway, so why ask if one of its components is different ?
A good many collections of fine cameras will inevitably go down the drain after the passing away of the ones gathering them.
Eternity or permanence are just empty words bridging the gap between what we grasp and what is beyond our recognition.
As long as we enjoy what we are doing and do not harm anybody else, there is nothing to worry about.
So let us have fun playing our sophisticated camera game! |
Robert Holz
Tinkerer
Username: Rob_the_waste
Post Number: 4
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 05, 2006 - 10:45 am: |
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I feel dwarfed. I have a modest family of about 20 cameras (I just picked up four in the past week). With the cameras that I have (and all in working condition), I've managed to fill a large cardboard box with photographs taken over the past two years. I like to think of myself as a shooter rather than a collector, but dammit, I keep getting these things given to me. Why must I insist on using all of them??? |
Adrian Gray
Tinkerer
Username: Adrian
Post Number: 4
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 07, 2006 - 10:38 am: |
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Because you are a fool for lovely old things, Robert? I know I am - I try to use them all, but I am about six purchases and a gift behind the rate at the moment! Most of them are old tat too - Box Brownies, a Palmat Automatik, an Agfa Silette with an Agnar lens... But I love being able to put a film in something made before I was born, and it still works!
Adrian |
Dan Mitchell
Tinkerer
Username: Dan_mitchell
Post Number: 2
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 13, 2006 - 01:42 pm: |
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It all started with that mint condition Electro 35 in the pawn shop. It was priced way to high, but was so beautiful. It only needed some new light seals and a battery. Getting that camera back to where it could take pictures was such fun that before I knew it I was gathering up every "junk" camera I could get my hands on just so I could see if I could fix it. It was actually disappointing when I bought something from eBay and there was nothing to fix. The only thing more disappointing was a camera that was too far gone to be fixed again.
Along the way I did end up with some cameras like the YashicaMat that I use on a regular basis. Most just sit on the shelf gathering dust. Like Henry said, it's not worth selling them usually, and friends and family don't want a camera where you have to fiddle with the controls to get a picture.
About 200 cameras later, it seems I'm more like people who take in stray animals and end up having to buy a farm to take care of them. |
Alex MacPhee
Tinkerer
Username: Alex
Post Number: 5
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 02:34 pm: |
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Strangely enough, an Electro 35 set me off on my retro passion, an odd choice maybe as it's an all-electric camera with a default of 1/500 on a dead battery. But boy, is it capable of fine pictures, and the fixed lens is a useful constraint to re-learn to work with. I found myself meandering down that avenue, acquiring various incarnations of the Electro series (like the dinky GX), then further back into Minister and Lynx territory. Inevitably, I started collecting 'sideways', with other compacts from Olympus, Ricoh and the like.
My very first camera, over forty years ago, was a second-hand Agfa Billy, with a 6.3 Agnar lens. What wonderful times, dish-developing rollfilm by hand under the bed at the dead of night. The camera was later stolen, and just over three years ago, I saw one on Ebay and bought it, for the same price I'd paid all those years ago -- GBP4. What memories came back! Things I'd completely forgotten for four decades, like the little black disk with the arrow covering the red counter window, the setting of the f/numbers, setting the speed dial, cocking the shutter before firing, the shutter release lever which pushed against a second lever on the shutter assembly, and the smell of it! I can tell you, I had a simply wonderful time putting a film in it and taking pictures with it. I even took it on a trip to Croatia. There is something about using an old folding camera -- I think it's to do with the way everything slows down, making each picture-taking a special event. And doubly-so, I guess, for a camera that takes only eight frames on a roll of film. So as you can imagine, a new avenue opened up, that of old folders. Some of these arrived from Ebay in a condition that belied their optimistic descriptions, and that's really what set off the 'tinkering' habit for me, and led me to this forum. As someone who has never been skillful in practical things (I was the academic of the family), taking apart a Compur shutter and lens assembly, and hours and hours of labour later, putting it back together, working, the lens sparklingly clean and the mount properly greased, was an exhilarating experience. What it has also given me is a real appreciation of the skill and ingenuity of those craftsmen who designed these cameras all those years ago. |
Mike_rgb
Tinkerer
Username: Mike_rgb
Post Number: 12
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, October 16, 2006 - 05:43 pm: |
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I would have to say, I too have become a Collector/user in the last 2 years. My first was a Zeiss Ikon Contessa 35 given to me by my Dad.
I wanted to start taking pictures ASAP but had no user manual. So I targeted the Nikon SLRs & MF lenses. All I know of the Contessa is what little I have read, & that would not fill a modern Comic book. Maybe it was a factory mistake the ARMY got cheap & put in the PX for $55.00 so a GI could have a 35mm for cheap.
I have so much info, users & repair manuals for the Nikons, NOS parts & lenses are everywhere for peanuts. I had thought about running a roll of film through the Contessa. Instead since it is an oddball, parts may be impossible to find for it & I have pleanty to keep me busy anyway.
We all have something we keep to remember a Family member. I need a way to keep this Camera & leather case preserved. I spent $15.00 to have an unseen part of the neck strap fixed. That was a waste of $ but it's done now.
Is their a method or product made for preserving a Camera inside & out? My Wife says it would look good in a 2 section shadow box the leather case kept it looking like new. I did learn that Ikon made it & they went out of business in the 70s.
I also am a collector who must use what I collect and fix unless it's not worth fixing like the Contessa. Of one thing I am sure my friends with their new plastic wonders will see my Nikons out working, long after they have filled a dustpin full of their plastic digis.
BTW I found rangefinderforum because every other Camera forums I joined took every oppertunity to convience me that Film was dead. My thoughts were that I would never join another Camera forum, that had anything to do with Digital Cameras. Well I found one :o) patience pays.
Mike |
Rob_the_waste
Tinkerer
Username: Rob_the_waste
Post Number: 22
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 31, 2006 - 03:19 pm: |
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10 reasons cameras are better than women...
1. You don't have to buy a camera drinks.
2. Cameras don't get jealous if you touch another one.
3. You can play with two at the same time, and neither one minds.
4. You can put one down and you won't hurt its feelings.
5. Cameras don't get mood swings.
6. You don't have to take a camera out if you don't want to.
7. You don't have to buy a camera flowers every so often.
8. You can talk dirty to a camera and it won't be offended.
9. You can come home late at night and it won't ask you any annoying questions.
10. It won't make you take out the garbage. ;-) |
Markw
Tinkerer
Username: Markw
Post Number: 3
Registered: 11-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 31, 2006 - 04:24 pm: |
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Well, not quite up to some of you guys in here,but agree that once the bug bites theres no going back. i use minolta 600 and 700 si's, but theres nothing like picking up metal bodied oldies.
Started by picking up a microcord and zeiss ikon icarette a few years ago,,but recently its spirled. Now got 22,a bit of a mixture,nikons,olympus's,yashica's,Kind of whatever takes my eye(and money!!).
There's something a digital camera can't touch when you got one of these oldies in your hands, i expect most of you know that feeling.
With the help of forums like this, hopefully these cameras will keep going and going and going.....
mark.
ps..does this put me on the steep slope of becoming a collector!!!! |
Bengi
Tinkerer
Username: Bengi
Post Number: 22
Registered: 11-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 03, 2007 - 01:28 pm: |
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I started an eBay search to fix a negligible problem on my ME Super. After 1 year I ended up with a complete M series collection. Not to mention the brand new NIkon D200, the top cover for my aging Super A, a mint SMC 50 1,4, a top cover for my Nikon FE2 and some more junk/busted cameras (inclluding an ME F with its AF 35-70 lens)!
The very last purchases were a MINT MX and a very good LX for less that 100 bucks each:
http://homepage.mac.com/bengi/files/MX.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/bengi/files/LX.jpg
So, doctor, is it serious?
Ben |
Adrian
Tinkerer
Username: Adrian
Post Number: 17
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 07:29 am: |
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Just found a camera in a case on a tat stall on the local market - looked a cut above the normal stuff I find there (mostly Ilford Sportsmen - what I'd give to find an Advocate or a Witness! - and worn-out Agfa Silettes). I don't think the chap had worked out how to open it, as it was priced at THREE POUNDS!
Opened it up - a Schneider-Kreuznach lens in a Prontor-SV shutter - could hardly give him my three quid fast enough!
Turns out once I get it out of the case it is a Balda Baldinette, non-rangefinder model. So I think a pretty good bargain if it all works (as a cursory inspection suggests).
Adrian
(feeling smug, and needed to crow) |
Petercat
Tinkerer
Username: Petercat
Post Number: 6
Registered: 01-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 10:56 am: |
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Hmmm... a lot of people seem to have re-acquired their first camera kit. Mine was a Praktina which I have now repaired to working condition with the GREAT help of Rick Oleson (insert applause here). I have about 40 working heavy-metal SLRs and assorted lenses, and use them to teach photography to city kids. Kids today really can appreciate the feel and craftsmanship of the old film cameras, not to mention the resulting images! I just hope that when they get older they can find usable models. |
Markamra
Tinkerer
Username: Markamra
Post Number: 1
Registered: 03-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 01:44 pm: |
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Hi, I'm a new kid on the block. My name is Mark and I collect cameras. Sounds a bit like a confession for AA, but there's more to the similarity than meets the eye. In response to the first posting on this thread, I too am a user but I have become obsessed with the challenge to use every film camera ever made. It becomes an addiction. I also love tinkering, that's the engineer in me, so I look for cameras in need of repair, there's a great satisfaction in nursing one of these finely engineered instruments back to life.
Adrian:I pick up lots of old cameras from car boot sales for a couple of pounds, usualy in need of attention. the great thing with this is that the sellers rarely know, or care, what they've got. I got my Voigtlander Vitomatic 2 at a boot sale.
Petercat:Nostalgia is great but can give you a nasty shock. My first "real" camera was a Halina Rolls, which I thought at the time was the Bees Knees. I saw one ebay a short while ago and thought "I must have it" so I put in a bid. Yes, I won and it arrived 2 days later. After unwraping the packaging and seeing my old friend I realised just how tacky and cheap this camera realy was, apart from the fact that it didn't work. It now resides on the back of the workshop bench as one of projects I might get round too but only if I don't have anything better. As for Kids today, I have converted my eldest son back to film, albeit with a modern auto but it's a start. |
Canuck_curt
Tinkerer
Username: Canuck_curt
Post Number: 3
Registered: 03-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 06:05 am: |
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Hi, I'm Curt and I collect cameras. But I can stop any time I want, LOL. I used to pick up old box Kodaks, the odd folder or if I was lucky a rangefinder at yard sales/auctions/thrift stores. Then a few years back I was sidelined for a few months with a torn cartiledge in my knee so I took to the computer and discovered eBay. What had been a collection of about 150 is now a bit over 1100. About evenly split between 250+ SLR's and 250 + rangefinders. The rest are box, scale focus, folders, etc. Unlike most of you, the only things anyone ever gives me are Polaroids which I don't collect so I politely thank them and put them in a box in the garage for parts. I've slowed down now to only waiting on 3 SLR's in the mail. Not everything I own is mint, rare or a classic but I try and make sure they all work. That said, like everyone else I have my share of jammed shutters, pinhole leaks in shutter curtains and bellows etc. A reasonably cheap hobby that lets me forget the everyday tensions and lose myself behind the lens. And when I die, I've told my wife to use a local eBay reseller to at least get enough to bury me (I hope, LOL).
P.S. thru eBay I also have 400 + rolls of 35mm in my freezer so I'll have film for a while. |
Canuck_curt
Tinkerer
Username: Canuck_curt
Post Number: 6
Registered: 03-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 07:37 am: |
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Sorry, got a bit ahead of myself. Should be 230 + SLR's and 230 + Rangefinders. Thanks. |
Markamra
Tinkerer
Username: Markamra
Post Number: 3
Registered: 03-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 10:04 am: |
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Curt. What's an odd 20 or so when you get to that level.
I'm also trying to cut down, I've promised myself I'll stop at 50 cameras, this is fast approaching and I'm already suffering withdrawal symptoms. I've only had 4 this week and a monster lens. Well what can you do when you see a 500mm mirror lens with PK mount for £5.00($10.00) I was powerless to resist. |
Canuck_curt
Tinkerer
Username: Canuck_curt
Post Number: 7
Registered: 03-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 07:08 pm: |
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Hi Mark,
Whoa, a 500mm mirror for $10.00. I paid quite a bit more than that for my 500mm Tamron mirror lens. Cool lens and you'll either love or hate the ring shapes in the out of focus background. Personally I like them. |
Dgillette4
Tinkerer
Username: Dgillette4
Post Number: 11
Registered: 04-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 11:08 am: |
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Well I might as well join in, I didn't start to collect cameras, I repaired and refurbished them for a local camera shop, I appreciate good sound engineering and a camera made with durable materials, my first was a brownie, then argus c3,werra, minolta sr bodies which still are going I wasn't too impressed with the cold war east german cameras, even with the good optics, Leica is excellent but out of my price level. I use and enjoy my srt101s and am having an easy time finding lenses and parts cameras..Bolex arriflex are also some great movie cameras I had the fortune to work on, but mostly cla very seldon parts were needed..Don |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 16
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 03, 2007 - 08:02 pm: |
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" |
Kkl122002
Tinkerer
Username: Kkl122002
Post Number: 21
Registered: 05-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 10, 2007 - 05:12 am: |
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Well, I might not a collector, but it seems that I am going to be. I purchase classic cameras due to I am deeply interested with its mechanism and optics. I like to study the camera's body design. My first classic camera is Rolleiflex old standard with f/3.8 Tessar.
I opens it and find that its focusing mechanism is simply based on 2 major rings driving 4 screws that cam move in or out. It is completely different from the 'newer' Rolleiflex.
I sold it due to financial problem. It has became a great black spot in my life.
Then it comes Retina IIIc, Retina Reflex IV, Bessamatic outfit, Ultramatic and also the Prominent.
The one that I enjoyed most is Retina IIIc. Small, compact, light-weight and hardly noticeable shutter and winder cocking sound. But using the 80mm lens would be a pain.
Anyway, I think I am getting to be a collector or, ain't I ? |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 17
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 28, 2007 - 04:59 pm: |
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Oh no... I just did it again. My godfather gave me his old Ricoh SLR. It really isn't anything special, but it was special to him. He said it had shutter problems and, indeed it did. The light selas were goo-ey and pieces went into the metal shutter and gummed up the works. After a bit of disassembly and cleaning the shutter came back to life. Now with new light seals I am ready to try it out. Oh thank goodness... I once again transmorgrify from collector to repairman to user! |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 18
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 28, 2007 - 05:00 pm: |
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"The one that I enjoyed most is Retina IIIc."
Me too! |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 19
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 05:03 pm: |
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Yet another - an old Ricoh SLR. After the shutter was repaired it is a decent user! |
Frankl
Tinkerer
Username: Frankl
Post Number: 16
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 28, 2007 - 04:23 am: |
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My turn...
About a year ago I decided to drag my old FTb out of storage. Shot a roll of film with it and noticed everything was "washed out". LIGHT LEAK! Went on line and found a "kit" to replace the seals. Ordered it BUT,... also noticed that the prices of like equipment were WAY below what I originally paid for the FTb. Yes.... I bought another and, another and another.... All of a sudden I had at least one (some two) A-1, AE-1P, TX, AL-1, AT-1, AV-1 various lenses accessories, ALL for much less than I paid for the FTb in 1973! I dug through more "stuff", found the "Hawkeye" my parents gave me back in the 50's, cleaned it up and..... Then the "vintage bug" bit. I thought it would be nice to have a "box" camera, much like my Grandparents had and, just display it... Well, all of a sudden I had six of them. All Kodaks and all different. But they were too simple for my "techi" mind... "FOLDERS"! Back to the "big auction in the sky". They started coming in... Vigilants, Autographics, Tourists... BUT, in my haste (frenzy) I didn't pay attention to "usability". I had six-16's and six-20's but, nothing I could get film for. By now I really wanted to use these mechanical wonders.... "Got to get one that will use 120"... Shortly my Agfa "Billy" showed up (sure is pretty), frozen lens focus and all. Fixed that and, ran a roll of film through it. "NICE"! The Agfa Viking showed up a few days later. "MINT", "nice" again!... By now I am getting pretty good at disassembling lens and shutter assemblies so "no fear"... it can be fixed. The Isolette came in... Same "green grease". Can't focus... no problem. It works like a charm. Always wanted a Zeiss Ikon... The Ikonta 521/2 should be here by the end of the week.... Don't ask me "how many". All I know is that I need to start setting some goals, like making the mortgage payment and, maby looking for a view camera of some kind. Any suggestions? |
M_currie
Tinkerer
Username: M_currie
Post Number: 88
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 28, 2007 - 03:38 pm: |
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"Any suggestions?"
The view camera sounds like a good goal. You'll like view cameras. It's obviously a gap in your collection. You need view cameras. "View cameras." You will find serenity and wholeness if you say this mantra enough times. |
Frankl
Tinkerer
Username: Frankl
Post Number: 17
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 28, 2007 - 04:58 pm: |
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Thanks for the "suggestion" Matthew! After reading your post, I repeated "those words" three times and, suddenly, there I was looking at an old Burke and James 4 X 5, Gundlach lens and 7 filmpacks, on my favorite auction site. It's in my "watch" list as we speak...... Thanks again..
PS: This thread is GREAT! I'm obviously in good company....
Frank.. |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 20
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, October 29, 2007 - 02:17 pm: |
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view camera, View Camera, VIEW CAMERA!
Hey, the mantra is starting to work... just what I need, another view camera! |
Rj_
Tinkerer
Username: Rj_
Post Number: 62
Registered: 08-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, October 29, 2007 - 03:56 pm: |
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It's fascinating reading all the entries on this thread and hearing all your stories.
Perhaps someday, a modern digital camera user will stumble upon this thread and discover it in the same vein, that most of us have discovered the quinessential craftsmanship of an age of mechanical camera and image making.....to experience the eye- and mind- opening discovery in what might be considered to be just a vintage junk box. Each twist and turn of invention and craftsmanship, coupled with the ability to transform a basic box into a perceptual tool still fills me with wonder.
Back to Brian's question: where does it end?
For the photographer, collecting cameras holds lesser importance than discovering the new perspectives that a different optic and vintage tool can bring. Nonetheless, a closet collector, whose shelves are indistinguishable from one ;)
Another recommendation for the 'viewcamera' as the next step. Having discovered the Sanderson whole plate: it's restoration is a remarkable education in itself.
Thanks for posting Brian.
Kind regards,
RJ |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 21
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, December 22, 2007 - 12:33 pm: |
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Now it's "accessories." I can easily say that I need no new cameras but parts and "accessories"... well, that's a different story. |
Shutterbug2
Tinkerer
Username: Shutterbug2
Post Number: 14
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 23, 2007 - 01:34 am: |
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i,m collector at present not that every camera i have could use little tlc of some kind. i just except them as they are for now. i want to get back to using 35mm camera,s again. nothing like holding nice heavy piece of fine machinery in your hand versus piece of digital plastic. at present i hope the camera,s i buy don,t need fixing since all most of my time is consumed by work at present. till that time comes i,ll keep fixer,s on back burner till i gain experience to keep from making scrap pile out of nice camera.James |
Riz
Tinkerer
Username: Riz
Post Number: 2
Registered: 01-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 03:55 am: |
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It’s a beautiful thread.
I am a user. But I know I am getting into this collecting thing. Just two days back I bought Olympus Pen D. I didn’t go to the camera shops for that, I went to buy Zuiko 28mm lens for my OM-2. I saw that in shelf, before that I didn’t know about half-frame cameras. I came home and read about Pen D from Internet. By that time I couldn’t wait to get that in my hands. So next day I purchased it and what a wonderful thing is that. Small, heavy, all metal, no battery, tough. I put the roll and took some test shots but unfortunately negatives were blank/washed out. Today evening I am going to get it checked from the technician and I am positive this won't be a big issue.
I am thinking of learning camera repairing so that I would be able to restore too. I believe repairing them with own hands will give some special feeling.
I am basically a collector. I collect anything of my interest. My mother and wife are sick of this. But I cannot help it.
Good luck to all! |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 25
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 01:41 pm: |
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... |
Beyond
Tinkerer
Username: Beyond
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2008 - 07:49 pm: |
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I took up photography 2 years ago. I bought my first ever camera (Nikon D80) with my first pay. Back those days, my family couldnt afford cameras. So back in my mind, I always wanted one to document our life. WHen I was shooting with D80, I chanced upon an old Nikon FM2n, that was when I began to shoot with film. There is no looking back since. I have collected quite a number of Nikon F, FM, FM2, FM2n and F2. Two days back, I have begun buying Canon SLR, I got a unit of FTb and an AE1. I love these classic cameras. |
Bill_alexander
Tinkerer
Username: Bill_alexander
Post Number: 10
Registered: 12-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 13, 2008 - 06:47 pm: |
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I believe I visited this topic once in this forum
a while back,however its always fun to read about others catching the BUG...I have been collecting and shooting since 1970 and am still
active in the collecting arena, only now I can find a lot on Flea Bay, that I could not afford
while raising a family in the seventies..I just
scored a nice Yashica GSN and have been lurking
around e-bay to get a good Pentax 35mm..So guys
have fun tinkering and collecting..BTY just found
a Bentley 35mm for 1 buck cleaned and lubed and
could not believe they had them on e-bay..Kind
of a kids 35mm..never saw one before and it was
fun to dissassemble and get it running...let you
all know how the pictures go later B.A. |
Elwrongo
Tinkerer
Username: Elwrongo
Post Number: 6
Registered: 05-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 - 02:51 am: |
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Well there must be a medical term for this affliction. Last year about this time I simply wanted to get a sixties rangefinder. Well I did and now I have 20 of them but no one I know understands or is interested. Last weekend I found a perfect (mintox) Olympus XA with manual & case at a garage sale for $10. The weekend before I given a Topcon RE Super by an old guy outside an op shop. Good to know I'm not alone. |
Jayd
Tinkerer
Username: Jayd
Post Number: 31
Registered: 06-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 03, 2008 - 09:42 am: |
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It does easily get out of control I have pretty large collection of next to worthless Topcon UV cameras which I finally stopped buying realizing there aren't any in good working condition unless I make one in good working condition.
Now a days I'm learning repair and want to clear out a lot of the stuff. I guess I'm at a point in life I just want to symplify. Let someone who wants it more than me have them. I never have bought expensive cameras since back when I actually made money with them and I lament that you can't buy a used digital that will last 30 years as my Topcon RE Super has, nor can you buy a poor man outfit today cameras are like computers obsolete in a year + or - and the new model will do so much more with better image quality at the same price.
Cameras have joined the throwaway electronics age mostly. =(
Jay |
Jayd
Tinkerer
Username: Jayd
Post Number: 32
Registered: 06-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 03, 2008 - 09:51 am: |
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I do have one suggestion that is to set up a list of cameras you really want and how much you will pay for each. I have let many eBay auctions go by waiting for the right price. Guess I have not been blessed or cursed depending on perspective; with finding anything but cheap junk at yard and garage sales: still waiting for that Leica for $10.00. Guess I'm pretty cheap too I can't see spendiong $20.00 to $30.00 + shipping for that simple old Ciro 35 or Clarus I want knowing they will be unuseable when I get them. For $30.00 I can buy I nice Minolta or Canon basic SLR with normal lens and they are not that much harder to get working.
Maybe cheapness really poorness is my savior?
Jay |
Quanto
Tinkerer
Username: Quanto
Post Number: 1
Registered: 09-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 06, 2008 - 06:49 pm: |
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I try to use as many of my collection as I can - but I haven't been able to work out film sourcing and developing for some of my cameras. I don't have a darkroom yet, which makes the half frames, stereos and 120s display items at this point. All of them have been purchased from either thrift stores or garage sales.
Voiglander Bessa II
Rollei 35
Asahi Pentax S
Tessina L
Pentax Auto 110
Mamiya Magazine 35
Kodak Retina IIS
Minolta Autocord LMX
Zeiss Contaflex
Olympus XA, XA2 (2), XA4
Exakta VX
Zorki 4
Voigtlander Bessa 46
Kodak Vest Pocket
Kodak Stereo
I don't think that collecting ever ends. If the right item is right in front of you, for the right price - how can you say no? You've got to rescue it, and make sure that it has a good home...... |
Mndean
Tinkerer
Username: Mndean
Post Number: 77
Registered: 08-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 06, 2008 - 07:58 pm: |
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I use everything in my collection except those which I can't find film for. I may only use them once a year or so, but I've got about 20 users, everything from a Zeiss Nettar 6x9 to an Olympus Pen-EE. No large format stuff, but I did have a Speed Graphic years ago. Now that there's some 620, 127, and 828 film available again, it'll put more of my collection into the "user" category. I used to respool, but it's a drag. I try to collect things that I might have use for or I think has value. I passed on a lot of cameras for that reason alone. I let someone else have a chance at them. Some were overpriced (thrift stores are notorious for charging a lot for something that looks nice even if it's jammed solid). Today, I found a Weston Ranger 9 (amongst a lot of dead Weston Masters IV and V) for $4, and it works, all I have to do is adapt it to use silver-oxide batteries. Seems an easy adaptation as long as it doesn't need serious adjustment. |
Quanto
Tinkerer
Username: Quanto
Post Number: 2
Registered: 09-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 06, 2008 - 10:34 pm: |
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I've had good luck with thrift stores - but I know what you mean about overpriced stuff. Kodak brownies and Instamatics galore. Takes a lot of looking, and a lot of patience, but it can pay off. The Rollei 35 was $14. The Asahi Pentax S was $39. The Tessina was $50, and the Bessa II was $25 (OK,OK that was a garage sale/private seller deal). The Auto 110 was $40 with two lenses, the Autocord was free, the Zorki was $24 (with a very early Jupiter 8 - in the first 1000 serial numbers), the Exakta was around $30, and the XAs range from $1 (XA) to $8 (XA4 Macro with flash). All are in good shape - some nearly mint. But for every diamond, you have to sift through a whole lot of coal...... |
Mndean
Tinkerer
Username: Mndean
Post Number: 78
Registered: 08-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 06, 2008 - 11:17 pm: |
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You're telling me! I've been through some of the worst rubbish, some that were pretty as anything but shelf queen material. If I find it interesting and I can talk the seller down, I will. Doesn't always work, but I've done alright. My best line is telling the seller that his camera is of little use because mercury batteries are not available. I don't consider that a dishonest remark, since those 625/675 cameras usually require a bit of work to get a usable meter, and enough times I've gotten one that was dead due to corroded wiring that I don't want to take them on unless I get a bit of a discount. |
Petercat
Tinkerer
Username: Petercat
Post Number: 66
Registered: 01-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 07, 2008 - 09:56 am: |
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I've learned to shoot film without a darkroom, as I have a really small home (my collection sits in boxes, rotating to the shelves as I get tired of looking at what's currently on display). I develop film in my tiny light-tight bathroom or changing bag, then scan the negatives and print them with my computer. Not as good as a full darkroom, but it works. And it lets me use my cameras. If I want prints larger than 8X11, I send the neg out. |
Quanto
Tinkerer
Username: Quanto
Post Number: 3
Registered: 09-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 08, 2008 - 09:42 am: |
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Forgot to add two Koni-Omegas to my list, a Rapid 100 and a Rapid 200 M. It's pretty bad when you can't even remember what you have...... |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 39
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, October 30, 2008 - 08:29 am: |
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I've bought nothing new for almost a year. Yeah! |
Bill_alexander
Tinkerer
Username: Bill_alexander
Post Number: 18
Registered: 12-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 08, 2009 - 12:51 pm: |
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well fellas..still have the virus..every since
a few wins on e-bay,,I have been a regular sunday
sniper..I guess the down turn in the economy has
sellers pulling off their reserves..good to get
a chance on things that I had to pass on before
I remenber back in the seventies, I passed on
a Leica, for Fifty Bucks..Its was half a weeks
pay back then..wow those were the days..you could
pick-up Kodak Autographics for .25 at the Goodwill..well happy hunting. |
Marty
Tinkerer
Username: Marty
Post Number: 14
Registered: 11-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 09, 2009 - 11:02 pm: |
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I used to make a point of running a roll of film through any camera in my collection that had a chance of working. Now though, since I mainly stick with pre-1920 cameras, film has just become too hard to come by. I guess I've become less of a "user" and more of a "collector" just because of that... |
Dgillette4
Tinkerer
Username: Dgillette4
Post Number: 277
Registered: 04-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - 09:55 am: |
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Try (Freestyle Film) on your search google they have 120 135 etc or (Blue moon) has the 126 and 110 films. Also film processing by Dwayne. Not a problem especially if you do your own developing. |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 48
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 06, 2009 - 06:55 pm: |
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I did it again. Wish me luck on converting another old camera into a "user". |
Shutterbug2
Tinkerer
Username: Shutterbug2
Post Number: 54
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 06, 2009 - 10:23 pm: |
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i picked up rollei 110A while back. but my find of canon ft and canon tl camera with lenses and other accessories for 7.00 was almost criminal. i asked lady for a price on camera bag. she came back with 7 dollars. rest is history. both camera,s are QL what a buy. James |
Sauli_särkkä
Tinkerer
Username: Sauli_särkkä
Post Number: 7
Registered: 03-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 29, 2009 - 07:45 am: |
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I tend to think of myself as a user as well. I don't really want to keep cameras that don't work, since I like to use them.
..but now I'm getting a little worried. I'm expecting THREE Olympus 35 RCs to show up in my mailbox this coming week..perhaps four, depending whether my bid goes through on eBay. I'm almost wishing it doesn't but when the item's been described to be perfect and I even have a money-back guarantee on the item..I don't know.
I need to get some proper tools to work on my cameras a little more effectively. Anyone care to point me at a webstore for decent quality spanners, for starters..?
-Sale |
Marty
Tinkerer
Username: Marty
Post Number: 19
Registered: 11-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 29, 2009 - 08:01 am: |
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Since I mainly collect stuff that's at least 90 years old, I've pretty much come to think of myself as a "collector," even though I love photography. Yes, I could get 120 and 116 online, but the larger films are getting to be REALLY hard to come by...
NOW though, maybe I can call myself more of a "user" again. I'm the only one at family gatherings shooting 35mm film anymore, and Sauli's post in "maintenance" about Nikon EM's sort of socked this home for me.  I just didn't notice the change because I'm becoming an antique too...
Marty |
Sauli_särkkä
Tinkerer
Username: Sauli_särkkä
Post Number: 16
Registered: 03-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 06, 2009 - 12:23 am: |
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Waagh, things are getting out of hand.. ;)
So, I should have two more Olympus 35 RCs within the next week or so, giving a total of four 35 RCs. As for Petris, I have that pink 7S that's on eBay, then a Petri 7S II that I got working, as well as a beat-up Petri 7S f/1.8 that still needs some care to get the meter up and running.
Things aren't helped by the fact that I just won another Petri 7S (f/2.8) and if the condition is nice, I'll service it and perhaps produce another "pimped Petri", if the eBay pinkie sells for at least what I put into it. This way I might be able to have a camera servicing/customizing hobby that pays for itself.
Oh, and I just won a Konica Auto S2 as well..it'll be arriving with a stuck shutter and I hope to get it working once again. I've heard so many good things about this camera that I had to get one, even if it meant I needed to service it myself to get one at a decent price. |
Sauli_särkkä
Tinkerer
Username: Sauli_särkkä
Post Number: 17
Registered: 03-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 06, 2009 - 05:16 am: |
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Ah...the third Olympus 35 RC came and this thing will be my "Pimp my Oly" -Olympus.
All in all, everything seems to work nicely. Just a touch of surface cleanup and it'll be great. The leatherette is coming off in a few spots, which gives me "permission" to customize this baby...probably in a shade of red. |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 51
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 16, 2009 - 11:10 am: |
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Geez... now its medium format folders... you know, the kind from the 1930 and 1940's. Had to buy two to get one working camera. But, yes, it works and I've proven that by using it a couple of times. Am I still a 'user' or am I slipping into the 'collector' category. I'd be happy to maintain my position as an 'accumulator of usable cameras that occasionally get used' if that is possible! |
Paul_ron
Tinkerer
Username: Paul_ron
Post Number: 152
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 17, 2009 - 09:35 am: |
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So Brian, you aren't a collector? Take another look in your closet and tell me.... how many cameras do have in there now?
We all got started the same way... users! Amazing how fast it builds up, hugh, 45 years later,hahahahahahaaaaaa.
Enjoy! |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 53
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 22, 2009 - 06:34 am: |
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OK... I'll look into the closet.
Three 4x5's, all working and in use.
Two antique Sanderson view cameras with Thornton Pickard Shutters and matching T-P tripod.
Two MF - one of which, the Rollei TLR, has been "retired".
Two 35mm SLRs
Two 35mm rangefinders - one of which is a POS that I keep in a drawer and don't use anymore (I can't wait to sell it... other folks seem to love them.)
and
the afore mentioned MF rangefinder.
Not to mention the:
Three tripods
One monopod
Four or five meters
Filters in five or seven different sizes
Several types of flash equipment
Boxes of 4x5 film holders
Boxes of flash bulbs (yes, I still use them.)
Maybe you are right. |
Paul_ron
Tinkerer
Username: Paul_ron
Post Number: 154
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 22, 2009 - 05:00 pm: |
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ummmm... sounds like the begings of a collection to me. It's amazing how fast they start piling up on ya. |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 54
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 22, 2009 - 05:29 pm: |
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It's only a collection if you spend more time admiring them than using them! |
Elwrongo
Tinkerer
Username: Elwrongo
Post Number: 20
Registered: 05-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 - 10:39 am: |
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I've decided only to get what I find in op shops and stay away from the bay. Trouble is I see nothing for weeks then all of a sudden i come home with ten or fifteen. Last week a Yashica Lynx 14 ($10), Yashica Electro 35 GSN ($10), Canonet GIIIQL17 ($10), Ricoh GX ($15), Canon AE1 ($10), Minolta X700 ($10), Minolta SRT101 ($3), Werra IV ($15)and Olympus Mju I ($3). All of these work great including the lightmeters. The only job is seals replacement. Got to stay away from the op shops now and get shooting with some these. |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 85
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 19, 2010 - 09:37 am: |
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A friend just gave me his Dad's camera -- a Nikon FE. And a 135 mm lens to go with it. What a great friend, eh? A real nice user it is... indeed, a real nice user! |
Magkelly
Tinkerer
Username: Magkelly
Post Number: 3
Registered: 06-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 20, 2010 - 01:05 am: |
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Well in all honestly I'm not a collector of all cameras. I'm a complete Pentax snob, laugh, and not in the least ashamed to admit it. Even though my SP1's light meter isn't working it's still my favorite camera though I have 3 old SLR's now including today's new acquisition, a Vivitar 3000S, my first K-mount camera.
Are the other camera's completely safe from being swapped or sold? Nope. I'm enjoying my Canon AE-1 and my V3000 but if it comes down to it I'll probably swap or sell them to get more Pentax gear eventually.
I like other cameras. But they can come and go. The only old SLR cameras I consider complete "keepers" are Pentax Spotties and similar. Other cameras, they're often a means to an end. I have no real problem giving them up if it means I can upgrade my Pentax kit.
I don't want 25 cameras on the shelf though. I think I can probably handle maybe 4-5 all said before I start to feel like I am hoarding. I've got 4 cameras now including the digital and I'm seriously contemplating narrowing those down if I can get my hands on the SP2 I'm working on trading for or a real K1000 soon.
Ultimately I think I'd like 3-4 cameras all total, an SP2, a K1000, a K-7 digital, and I might get an extra K-7 body maybe down the road. I probably wouldn't use them all the time if I had more than that and I don't like to see cameras just sitting on a shelf.
That's a waste to me...
As I upgrade I usually will sell one to keep things manageable. I have to really. I have so many things in my life that I am already a pack rat about. If I started going after all the cameras I see and would "like" I'd be in serious trouble within half a year. I'd run out of money and space pronto.
I can't afford to be a true camera collector! |
Edward8
Tinkerer
Username: Edward8
Post Number: 32
Registered: 03-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 21, 2010 - 07:53 am: |
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Hello Brainshaw:
You have a Nikon gem. My Nikon FE looks like a dog's breakfast, but it works accurately. Smooth.
And it has a little trick up its sleeve. If you engage the self-timer, no matter what shutter speed, and press the shutter button - the mirror locks up - automatically! I might be wrong, but I've not heard of any other camera - of any make - with this nice feature. It makes it the perfect camera for macro photography.
Combine the FE with a 105mm F2.8 MF Micro-Nikkor and a strong tripod - and the world's your macro mussel!
Regards. Edward. |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 86
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 21, 2010 - 03:05 pm: |
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Hi Edward,
I've shot a F3 since buying it new in 1981. Had I known what a gem the FE is, I probably would have saved myself a lot of money and bought one of them way back then.
I didn't know about that self-timer/mirror trick. I'll have to check that out when I get home from work. Sounds like an idea that should have become the standard! Thanks for pointing that out.
Brian |
Edward8
Tinkerer
Username: Edward8
Post Number: 33
Registered: 03-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 21, 2010 - 07:33 pm: |
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My pleasure, Brian.
Yes, it's an elegant feature of the FE.
A word of warning about the F3. There is a circuit board under the rewind knob that is vulnerable to knocks. It's the camera's weak point. Protect. Be wary of attaching an SB-17 flash. Bad design. If that circuit board cracks, the camera's buggered. I learned that lesson the hard way - an F3 died in the sun-scorched wastes of the Northern Territory, Australia, during a job.
Nikon did, however, get it right with the F4. But that camera, too, has a weak point. The motor. If anyone uses this camera - always rewind manually to preserve the motor. I have a couple of dead F4s - clapped motors. (Of course, the F4 is capable of auto focus and should not be discussed here. Sorry.)
Now. The F2 ... a trusty old friend. Loyal to the end. Will not betray or turn turtle under fire. Unfortunately, I no longer have use for these old soldiers.
I do note, however, that clean F5s and RB67s are selling for a song these days. Um ...
Regards. Edward. |
Donyet
Tinkerer
Username: Donyet
Post Number: 7
Registered: 06-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - 12:30 pm: |
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It all started a couple of years ago with a growing interest in building pinhole cameras from scratch. Working with film got me interested in digging out my old Pentax K-1000. From there I went to a local camera show and bought a Yashica-Mat, and by then it was too late and I was hooked. I now have over forty cameras, all working except two.
It's fun. |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 91
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 02, 2010 - 07:26 pm: |
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I'm still using,
and that's not confusing.
No time or interest,
for just collecting. |
Puderse
Tinkerer
Username: Puderse
Post Number: 55
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 03, 2010 - 07:40 am: |
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I don't collect I use.
It only took 30 or so different Vest Pocket Kodaks to find just the right one in useable very good condition in original box with pristine instructions. The negs and prints came out very interesting.
Just heard about a "virginal" VPK with a better lens! Could this possibly be my new "user."
Only one VPK the others are "spares." |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 92
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 03, 2010 - 09:22 am: |
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Spares are OK.
Back-up cameras are OK.
Parts cameras are OK.
"virginal cameras" that might get used someday are OK... just keep repeating the mantra, "I'll use that camera some day." |
Wilpenusa
Tinkerer
Username: Wilpenusa
Post Number: 1
Registered: 09-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 06, 2010 - 10:29 pm: |
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I'm not like you guys! I could never afford a good SLR until the 70's, when I bought a K-1000 at Wards.
When I was a young boy and a young man I always lusted for a fine SLR of any brand. Never had the money for one until I got the K-1000. I still have it after 40 years and it has served me well, but it was hard to get money for lenses because raising kids cost money.
But now my kids are all grown and SLRS are cheap and lenses are cheap I have bought many fine cameras and lenses just in the last year.
But I'm not like you guys. I just like to handle them and cares their fine lines and hear the shutter click and wind them with or without film. I like buying them. Last week I bought two at a yard sale for 25.00 with a lot of extras. One was an Exacta vx lla without any hole in the shutter curtain, and two fine leather bags and a fine fitted leather case. I really enjoy handling it.
The other was pristine Nikon 2000 with two lenses and a tele converter. I love to here the shutters click and run my hands around the smooth lines of these and my other 12 fine nikons, not to mention all of the yashica electro 35's and the Minolta's, x700's, a x370s and a fine XG-M w/winder. I love to here that winder. Oh! I forgot the Pentax SP-F and S1a. The Adox Golf and others but I can stop anytime, because I'm not like you guys and my wife say's I have to stop sometime or she's gone to leave me. I'm sure gone to miss her!
Oh well I could get a nice Leica RF or maybe a Nikon RF. |
Teresap989
Tinkerer
Username: Teresap989
Post Number: 1
Registered: 09-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 20, 2010 - 03:51 am: |
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For the photographer, collecting cameras holds lesser importance than discovering the new perspectives that a different optic and vintage tool can bring. Nonetheless, a closet collector, whose shelves are indistinguishable from one ;)
__________________
http://moviesonlineworld.com |
Draganflame
Tinkerer
Username: Draganflame
Post Number: 3
Registered: 11-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - 07:24 am: |
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hello
what do you tink about Cheap Nikon D90 ? |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 93
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - 12:12 pm: |
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What do I tink?
I'll tell you what I tink.
"not much" is what I tink... especially about spam! |
Zakkattack
Tinkerer
Username: Zakkattack
Post Number: 2
Registered: 11-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 20, 2010 - 11:02 am: |
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Oh my GOD. Am I in trouble if reading all of the posts are true.
I was a plasticky digital user (still have one) then found my old Canon AV-1, bought some 35mm and started to get a hankering for rangefinders. Fixed a Trip 35, I've got 2 Konica s2's awaiting my fumbling repairs, a Konica C35 and hopefully an Electro 35 soon. When will it end. Is there any form of antidote (except empty bank account).
I'm even tinking of selling my digital stuff to get better tools and of course more rangefinders.
btw First roll of Ilford Delta 400 exposed perfectly in A and manual modes in my Trip.
HHHEEEEEELLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPP.
Zakk |
Denny
Tinkerer
Username: Denny
Post Number: 57
Registered: 08-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 21, 2010 - 08:49 pm: |
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You came to the wrong place for that kind of HELP. Next is getting into the TLR's. Good luck, have fun and you can always look for a part time job if necessary
Also keep your eyes peeled whenever around a flea market, garage sale or thrift shop. I just picked up a Zeiss Ikon Contina (with leather case) for a $1 at a local thrift store. It is the next one to be loaded with film. It appears to be working perfect, including the selenium meter. |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 96
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 10, 2010 - 09:16 am: |
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Everybody should have a TLR! |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 97
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 10, 2010 - 09:18 am: |
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... to use, of course!! |
Francis_otto
Tinkerer
Username: Francis_otto
Post Number: 42
Registered: 12-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 31, 2010 - 12:38 pm: |
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..some people have a vocation to rescue discarded, unloved,unwanted,and abused cats, dogs, or donkeys: we feel just the same about poor orphaned Cameras. |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 100
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 02, 2011 - 02:04 pm: |
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BRAVO!
Keep up the good works!!
Let no poor orphaned cameras live a lonely existiance!!! |
Paul_ron
Tinkerer
Username: Paul_ron
Post Number: 237
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 04, 2011 - 08:19 am: |
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Once I saw a thread here about painting a first surface mirror using chrome spray paint. I of course new here asked but why not just get a new mirror?
I got blasted by the masses here telling me to basically bud out n mind my own business. The explanation was everyone here is a heroin addict only shooting up vintage cameras, mainlining em like candy.
Replacing a mirror was just too easy, anyone can do that. But the satisfaction of looking through a wavy junker that has a chromed mirror is a feeling of euphoria, I MADE IT!
Well now that I've been here for a long time n have gotten to know many of these fellows, while lurking in the shadows, I too am an addicit and will spend every last dime on old broken vintage cameras of which I have tons n absolutely no use for, nor will I ever sell any of em!
Thanks everyone.
Brian now that you've been a user so long, how many of your cameras don't get used anymore? I'll bet you are becoming a collector by now?
If I were to shoot a different camera every day of my life, I'd only make a full round every 5 years.
. |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 101
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 07, 2011 - 10:31 am: |
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"Brian now that you've been a user so long, how many of your cameras don't get used anymore? I'll bet you are becoming a collector by now? "
Intereesting question. It depends on the definition of "collector" and "user", doesn't it.
I really don't have that many cameras but I have multiple cameras in each format. All are "ready, willing, and able" so I consider them users. I use some more than others, of course. But all are ready to be used at a moments notice. Just add film and go!
If confession is what you're after, I suppose I do have two that are true "Collector cameras" - antique half/quarter plate cameras. They are just too difficult to even conceive using so, yes, they are true collectable cameras.
The count for collectors vs users = 2 collector cameras and a bunch of user camneras.
p.s I also have a couple of "parts" cameras, but they are a totally different story. |
Inwo
Tinkerer
Username: Inwo
Post Number: 1
Registered: 01-2011
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 27, 2011 - 08:16 pm: |
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this is an excellent website and i like it very much. usualy i buy digital camera battery go to this http://www.winbatterycharger.com/search.php?search=canon+battery+charger&x=14&y= 6" |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 102
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 28, 2011 - 08:26 am: |
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Thank you for that most interesting advertizment. |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 105
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 07, 2011 - 08:06 am: |
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I'm more of a user than before... just converted on of my "collection" into a very useful user!
Yippee! |
Cooltouch
Tinkerer
Username: Cooltouch
Post Number: 83
Registered: 01-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 06:14 pm: |
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I have always bought cameras for their usability, not their collectibility. So I am definitely a user, and not a collector. I collect other things. Like fountain pens and jade. |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 124
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 07:34 pm: |
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Yes, there is a difference. Let's keep using, and using, and using! |
Thol
Tinkerer
Username: Thol
Post Number: 24
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 01, 2012 - 01:12 pm: |
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I intend to use every camera I own — for something. They all have a place ... a specific duty I have in mind for them. My wife just thinks I am a boy playing with his toys. But just the other day I showed her some on-the-fly portraits of some of her best friends made timeless with a pristine K-1000 and an SMC 135 mm. They are in monochrome and have a real impactive feel to them.
Space in Japanese housing as well as the trouble it takes to store and protect them from the humidity of the Japanese climate 5 months of the year does not encourage 'collecting'. So each new addition comes to my "collection" for a specific reason that I debate for days even weeks before I "go for it".
Case in point — I just acquired a lens for the Nikon F Photomic someone gave to me recently. I was looking for a Nikkor 50 mm H series in f.2. But out of all the lenses I looked at, the one in the best condition was the 7 element in 5 groups 'S' series in f 1.4. This Nikkor lens has to be 3/5ths larger than the newer H series prime 50mm. The 'S' lens and body together comprise the hugest and heaviest camera I have ever owned. But I have wanted an old "F" for 47 years and now I have one! Mirror return will never move that mass! And I LOVE the feel of the shutter and all the parts you can sense moving on the inside. I was not going to take home yet another orphan, nevertheless the Nikon has become part of my camera family anyway.
I think that many of us end up with a lot of these things because we just love to use them — even if they have to sit out the dance for long spells. A lot of mine are parked waiting for new light seals.
I think a lot of us choose a specific character in a camera to suit the shoot as well as our moods. I get the impression — and maybe I am wrong — that most of the members I am reading/meeting are users.
I am enthralled by the brassed up old Nikon "F", but in a couple of days time I a have a date with my OLY SP-35, and I am thinking of the LCL3 Praktica/ Goerlitz as backup for a trip I'm taking. |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 127
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2012 - 12:10 pm: |
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Being a collector does NOT mean the collection needs to be big. Being a user does NOT mean that only one camera is sufficient! |
Deeslexia
Tinkerer
Username: Deeslexia
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2012
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 06:20 am: |
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Hi I am new here , and am most decidedly a collector .
I just love to play with my cameras , tending to use digital virtually exclusively .
Mild , but disruptive autism means that it's like being lost , bewildered all the time , so cameras create a comfort zone , whether just having a camera near , or being behind the camera so as not to have to socialise .
de |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 140
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 30, 2012 - 09:38 pm: |
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Hi Dee. Collector or user it is nice to have you participating here. I'm almost the opposite of you: a nearly pure user and too sociable... to the point of missing many good shots because I'm chatting rather than shooting. Maybe I'm not as much of a user as I thought, huh? |
Biloraguy
Tinkerer
Username: Biloraguy
Post Number: 5
Registered: 06-2013
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 10, 2013 - 12:28 pm: |
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I do not collect old cameras. I rescue them. |
Brianshaw
Tinkerer
Username: Brianshaw
Post Number: 141
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 21, 2013 - 01:20 pm: |
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I do not collect cameras. I rehabilitate them and help them become productive once again! |
Hanskerensky
Tinkerer
Username: Hanskerensky
Post Number: 257
Registered: 05-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 22, 2013 - 03:17 pm: |
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I do not collect cameras either. Only use them to fill up the empty space on my attic ;-) |
