Learning curve just keeps going on and on ! Hi from OZ

<p >Hi,</p>

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<p >I'd like to thank Photo.net for providing the opportunity for me to join this magnificent site, and participate. I'm learning already many inspirational tips and techniques, I can only dream of better days ahead for myself after viewing all the splendid photographs everywhere to be seen on Photo.net. I'm glad I registered.</p>

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<p >I started out with film and processing years ago but only touched the surface and basics of it, still I enjoyed it thoroughly and should never have left it for digital, but digital is something to master as well, don't you think ? However, I've returned to film with a new sense of purpose and novelty that I never experienced the first time around. I hope to post some film shots in coming months, keeping well away from the "Bay" chemicals, and what a disaster they were. I buy my developer from Vanbar in Melbourne now, fresh, reasonably priced and delivered to my door </p>

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<p >My first SLR, but not my first camera, was a Petri FT which I sold before any embarrassing malfunctions like advance lockup raised their ugly heads, but I really had no inkling they would be problematic further down the track during their life span. They're only a consumer camera of poor design and build in the geared mechanism under the top plate but this didn't prevent me from setting out to buy one for nostalgia reasons, in fact I bought four cheapies and one in good working order. The cheapies I stripped down to various stages of disassembly to investigate the dreaded advance lockup and also the free swinging handle do nothing problem they sometimes suffer from</p>

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<p >Here is a photo of what to do if you own a Petri FT, or you know someone who owns one, to pass on the information. The fixes are quite easy and simple once the top plate is removed</p>

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<p >No 1 Arrow points to a brass gear that if you move clockwise for only a distance of one tooth of the gear, it will unlock a ratchet "brake" and free the mechanism, then try to get one or two drops of sewing machine oil in that area after that</p>

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<p >No 2 Arrow points to a black gear which if rotated clockwise three or four teeth, it will fix the "free moving handle do nothing" problem, apply some specs of lithium grease to the gear teeth and one drop of sewing machine oil under the gear after that</p>

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<p >No 3 Arrow points to the housing for the vertical handle shaft inside. On rare occasions, after long periods of idleness, the original grease hardens and will literally lock the shaft like it's been welded. To free it, tip the camera upside down give a short spray of WD 40 around the handle base, wait 30 seconds and tip the camera right way up and leave for 12 to 24 hours then apply strong force to wind the handle, which you've fitted back on securely. The shaft will free up gradually. When it does, lubricate with one drop of sewing machine oil, place it under the handle so it will work it's way down the shaft .. (one of my FT's had this problem, it was worth saving because it's probably one of the mintiest old cameras I've ever laid eyes on, very lucky to acquire it and now, it's fully working ready for picture taking or just simply showing off)</p>

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<p >Unfortunately the photo won't load in here so I placed in my portfolio</p>

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<p >http://www.photo.net/photo/17733385</p>

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<p >See you around the site - Ken</p>

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Ken, I think the community should be thanking you for wanting to be part of it! I have never owned a Petri but I know that there is an enthusiast's market out there. I am sure that your useful hints would be very welcome by them. You may also like to keep a eye on the classic camera forum and modern film cameras. They are the two friendliest forums in this site.

Best wishes.

<p>Starvy,<br>

Thanks, yes I most certainly will keep an eye on camera forums, I may have more to share from time to time, and as well, note tips from other users', which I've done a lot already in past months reading posts before joining Photo.net, it's been great, I feel like I'm cheating. But I posted that repair as repayment, for anyone on here that needs it<br>

I like your street scenes ... and I'm in awe of many other photographers' work also, scares the hell out me, how do you catch up ? I haven't even used a polarising filter yet, going to try it soon though, filters are my next port of call in film work<br>

I had some old exposed film left lying around from my last escapade into film I wanted to develop, they turned out ok, thanks to Photo.net posters'. I'll be posting some of those images in my portfolio when I can work out how to convert a TIFF to a JPG, if that's impossible, I'll scan them again<br>

Ken</p>

<p>Thanks Ken. I think there are many groups of enthusiasts and photographers here. Some days I am an enthusiant of old gear, some days I like delving into the Philosophy of photography, and once in a while, I am an amateur photographer! Please don't be put off by the great works on display by some of the contributors here. I always go out on shoots with the idea of doing my very best to have fun. If the results are not as brilliant as the best shooters here, it does not bother me! For street shooting, I am still getting over my shyness.<br>

Look forward to seeing more of your work here!</p>

<p>Starvy,<br>

I know exactly what you mean. Picture taking is only 10% of my work, the rest of the time is spent cleaning and adjusting my equipment but I'm getting on top of that with little left to do on the folders' and SLRs'. I think my favourite shooter though, will be a Mamiya C3 I bought on the Bay for about half what they usually fetch, nothing to do, just enjoy slapping a film in and clicking away, I've been lucky a few times so far. Other times I think about the type of subjects I'd like to indulge in taking, I concluded that my specialty would be any and all subjects within the two categories I mention in my next paragraph <br>

I've contemplated my subjects and purpose for photography into "Education" and "Fine art". The fine art, I haven't started yet but I'd love to reach some sort of pinnacle in fine art photography. I'll start learning about it and give it a try using what little subject matter I have to shoot in my local vicinity <br>

Fortunately there is a Fine Art photographer on Photo.net I can follow, Peter someone, his work looks ok to me, I'll learn from him and memorise his tips and equipment requirements <br>

By "education" I mean striving to do good photography of Nature and Antiquity ... two distinctly different expressions that come natural to me and have been for a long time. Isn't that what we should stay glued to ? what comes natural to us<br>

In the mean time I'm just snapping away with my lame compact digitals' to get started on Photo.net. Used properly, those compacts are ok, they're handy but highlights get washed out and spoil the pics, quite annoying, designed for indoor family snap shots I'd say. I gave them a try, now it's time to shelve them and get back to real stuff, Mamiyas' and my Koni O Rapid, love them! My Koni needs repairing but I can't wait to get it up and running again, long base rangefinder and 6 by7 format, can't beat it, except for all the other 6 by 7s' out there lol, there's not many other brands though is there ?<br>

Ken</p>

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<p>For those that need it, here is a little extra information regarding the No 2 Arrow step of the Petri FT repair. My apologies for the late post on this</p>

<p>Before the black gear can be rotated clockwise, a spring tensioned pivoting ratchet "one-way" pawl must be moved out of the away of the gear before the gear can be rotated CW. The ratchet pawl is situated in front of the gear and is easily seen looking down from the top and easily manipulated using a small size watchmakers screwdriver or needle etc (no wooden probes like toothpicks, minute particles can break off and be left in the camera)</p>

<p>If this repair fails to fix the problem, the trouble will be a broken or out of place spring that tensions the push rod attached to the winder handle vertical shaft. This push rod pushes and rotates the black gear when you're winding the film. If the rod is <em>not</em> tensioned, it will miss it's target and be another "free moving do nothing" problem. Unfortunately this fix entails removal of the film winder handle mechanism and either replacing the spring or setting it back in place</p>

<p>Ken</p>

Hiya, Ken,

Yup, the learning curve keeps going on and on. And ain't it fun!

Learning photography, there's no end to it even if you stick to the same camera/lens/film. The camera isn't the most important element, after all, it's the photographer. As the photographer grows and changes, his/her photography changes--then there's even more to learn. It never ends!

I used a Mamiya for a few years. The parallax of a TLR drove me crazy. Some years later I discovered Hasselblad and breathed a sigh of relief, a camera that allows me to photograph what I see! Although I now use a small Olympus digital camera, the Hasselblad remains my favorite and I love film, everything about it, even the wait to get it back from the lab.

OZ, eh? I'm visiting in July, Melbourne to Uluru--by bus! Are you anywhere along that route? --Sally

<p>Oh yes Sally, I've just finished my first roll in my Mamiya c3 and for the life of me I can't figure out how to wind the film back. Oh well, it'll have to sit in the camera for a while till I get time to have another go at it. In the mean time I've shot a 36 exposure Kodak ColorPlus through my Exa, since I acquired it recently. I got used to the digital compact with 28mm lens but the Exa with it's 50mm lens meant I was backing into trees and cars trying to frame subjects. The joys of returning to film with old cameras ! but I wouldn't have it any other way, bruises and all</p>

<p>After months of searching for amber 1lt glass bottles, I found a supplier not far away so now I can toss the plastic ones and also the bad chemicals because I got fresh stuff now. All systems go for developing good negs from now on, touch wood</p>

<p>Uluru ? by bus, yes should be an interesting trip, I'm full of envy, I haven't visited Uluru yet. I live on the east coast and funny thing but all the planes in my portfolio follow a flight path in exactly the direction of Uluru on their way to various destinations. Perhaps I can hitch a ride lol if I can jump high enough</p>

<p>Here is an Uluru photographic guide for you http://photographyfortravellers.com/article.php?story=1159 If it was me I would have my tripod and do time lapse for an hour to catch the transformation of different colours on the "Rock" during the sunset. At the very least have a wide angle lens, like they say</p>

<p>Ken</p>

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Hi, Ken, thanks for the link. Beautiful pictures!

Time lapse isn't my style but I'll be taking the Hasselblad and four prime lenses (including wide angle) plus film and tripod as well as a small, digital Olympus camera. "Travel light," ha!

I've arranged for five days at Ayers Rock Resort, already know it won't be long enough. --Sally

<p>I see you're a seasoned traveller Sally. There's probably not much I can tell you about travelling since you would be way more experienced than I, but when travelling through Australia's Out Back, take a 500 + page novel to read because you have a long bus ride ahead of you and not a whole lot of interesting scenery to shoot out of the window once you head north from Port Augusta in South Australia. Have you worked the little orange man in Google Maps ? Set him down on the Stuart Hwy and rotate him and you'll see what I mean. There's over 900 miles of nothing. Have your Hasselblad ready for flat earth and nothing else until you arrive at Uluru</p>

<p>I'm happy to say my Kodak ColorPlus film developed up ok. The EXA surprised me and made me think again about it, in a more respectful light after I scanned all 36 negs that needed slight tweaking in ViewScan as I proceeded to scanning them. My ageing Microtek doesn't agree with Mr Kodak or Mr Viewscan anymore so it's getting the sack</p>

<p>Ken</p><div></div>

Thanks, again, Ken. I'm finding that everything is different in Australia--electricity, time zones, phone systems, then there's the 15-hour flight from Los Angeles. . .

Stockpiling books and loading my iPhone with music in anticipation although I haven't yet figured out what I need to do to use the iPhone as a phone. Before anybody suggests a Kindle: I HATED it.

I won't plan to use the Hasselblad on the bus (it's surprisingly difficult to shoot from a moving bus) but my little Olympus might do the trick if I see anything far enough in advance.

Nice picture, the red wheels a good touch. --Sally