jon_shumpert2

The MX had severe shutter problems. I took it to our local repair guy, who had actually worked for Pentax, and he said the shutter would have been very expensive to repair. I let him keep it for parts and waited until I found another one. As for engravings, I have seen individual's names, social security numbers and even company names, but this one has "new crops" engraved on it. I have no clue.

I took a little road trip/gamble for a lot of 17 Pentax cameras today. The seller said that 14 of them worked, which turned out not to be the case, but I am still very happy. There are 5 K1000's (4 working), an MX, Spotmatic SP II, and 5 working spotmatics that don't have a meter. They are: H3v, S1a, H1a, SV and H2. There are a few parts cameras and about 8 lenses of K-mount and M42. I have never owned any of the non-metered spotmatics, but will be keeping one and selling the rest. I am also going to be listing all the K1000's because I already have one. I was really excited about the MX because I have been wanting one after my last one stopped working. It has engravings on it and I was wondering if there is a hack for covering or removing engravings.

The eco pro was mixed about an hour before I started developing. I had never had a major screw up in processing, so this was a letdown and a shock. I read somewhere that It could have been me getting the fix switched up with the developer. I grabbed a roll I had used to test a camera and developed it paying close attention to the chemistry and it came out fine. I had too many measuring cups on the counter and guess I got them mixed up as to what was what. I will not do that again.

I had something happen tonight that I have never experienced. I developed 2 rolls of Kodak T-Maz 100 in a brand new batch of eco-pro developer. I had some older (about 1 year) stop bath and eco pro fixer. After the wash was through, I pulled the negatives off the spool and both rolls were crystal clear, with just the faintest of images. I have developed film for over 25 years and this is the first time I have had something like this happen. Any suggestions on what it might be? I followed all the steps I normally do as far as temperature, time and agitation. It was very disappointing because one of the rolls contained some nice scenes I photographed this morning. Oh well, I guess I will use this as an excuse to go out and shoot more film. I just need to find out where I messed up.

I know I have been guilty of bragging about finding amazing low prices on cameras at yard sales and thrift stores, but today I witnessed the opposite. What is the most ridiculous price you have ever seen on a camera at one of these sales? This morning I went to a yard sale and saw a Nikon D5200 with 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses. The price was not very legible so I asked the seller. He said," This is selling for $14,000 online so I am selling it for half price at $7000. I was stunned. I simply walked away. I have a feeling it did not sell.

I have been away from the forums for too long. I got in a rut where I have not been doing much photography, and woke up one day last week and decided I needed to get out and start taking pics again. Pentax cameras, especially the K1000 are special to me. I used to community education courses in photography, many years ago. About 19 years ago, a woman came into one of my classes and had a K1000 her father had given to her years before. Fast forward 19 years and she is my wife. And we still have the camera, although she has not used it since that class. Many years ago, I asked her why she didn't use it. Her reply was "I have you to take pictures". I hope to post more about the M42 cameras and lenses in the next few weeks.

The images in my first post were taken with the 35mm f2 Super-Takumar. The next ones were taken with the 35mm f2.3. If any of you live near Charleston, South Carolina, Wednesday nights during the summer are a great time to see vintage cars and have great BBQ. I included a pic from each lens of the 59 Corvette beside the 55 Chevy. There was a guy wiping them down with a clean cloth, so I said "wow, they are both yours?", to which he replied, "neither is mine". It turns out that he is the greatest dad in history and gave the cars to his daughters. Lucky girls.

I have had Pentax screw mount lenses over the years but have always ended up selling them due to not using them much. Recently, I got a call from someone I had not talked to in years, and he asked if I was interested in some cameras and lenses. Of course, with me suffering from "not-enough-camera-itis", I said I was. He used to teach at a local high school and had collected a ton of stuff over the years. Long story short, I ended up with a bin of Pentax M42 lenses, with most of them having duplicates. There is a local BBQ restaurant that has a car show every Wednesday, during the summer, so I took two lenses with me. I have not bought batteries for the two cameras I have in M42 mount, so I took the pics on an Olympus E-M10II body with m42 adapter. Of course, the problem with that is the effective focal length is doubled due to the cameras sensor. The two lenses I took were a 35mm f2 Super-Takumar and a lens I had never seen before, an Auto-Takumar 35mm f2.3. The 2.3 is an interesting looking lens with a beautiful front element. I took some photos with both lenses and will post some here. I mentioned that I have duplicates of some, but they differ in that one is a Super-Takumar and the other in the pair is a Super-Multi-coated Takumar. I am going to keep one of each pair and sell the other, but which should I keep? Going forward, I will be using them on two m42 mount bodies. A Spotmatic and a Fujica ST705w. I know that some M42 lenses work better on some M42 bodies and would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks again. I ordered light seals for the camera body and focus screen and they should arrive tomorrow. Hopefully, I can take it out next weekend.

Thanks. I really shouldn't post a question when I'm sleepy, or when I haven't searched for the answer here first. I feel a little embarrassed. I did the search and found quite a bit of helpful info.

Just wanted to add one more question. What would be a good strap for the C330.

Today I was lucky and scored a Mamiya C330 and C220 in a trade for some other gear. The 330 seems to be in excellent condition but has one problem I found while cleaning it. The foam between the focusing screen and the holder had turned to both a black dust and goo. I want to replace it but the foam seems thinner than that I have used for light seals for camera backs. Does anyone know where to get replacement foam for it or what the thickness should be. This is my go to place to get help. The C220 is in decent working condition, but has a bunch of wear. They both have 80mm lenses, so I'm debating selling the 220 to finance another lens. Thanks in advance for any help.

My first Minolta slr was the 700si. I read reviews in photography magazines and made the choice of Minolta after reading a comprehensive test done by one of the magazines which tested many aspects of several slr's. I think it might have been Popular Photography. The honeycomb metering pattern came out on top in their test over many higher priced cameras. I had it for about 8 or 9 years and never had a problem with it while shooting hundreds of rolls of slides and print film. I just bought a fresh battery for the 800si and am looking forward to getting re-acquainted with it. I will have the film developed at my local lab, and then scan it with my new to me Epson V600.

My first serious slr cameras were a Minolta 700si and 800si. I sold them both about 20 years ago and switched to Nikon. I have had a few Minolta auto focus slr's through the years , but never kept them for long. Last week I saw an 800si up for auction along with a 24-85mm lens and I won the bidding. It arrived today. I was surprised how much I remember about the controls and I am looking forward to taking some pics with it. I just loaded it with Kodak Ektar 100 and will shoot with it this weekend.

Hi Mike, I just bought a Epson V600 today at a Goodwill store, but haven't tested it yet. Any tips/tricks I should know?