Followup on going to Seattle to buy Bronica - trip report

[elmar001]

Last week I requested help from the group to find out where to go to buy

equipment in Seattle. This is a followup trip report on our weekend. Our trip

was a success in that we came home broke but loaded down with new used gear.

 

Our first stop was Kenmore Camera. They have a large selection of used film

equipment, as well as a full-service camera and processing store. The staff was

very helpful and made it fun. They knew their stuff and helped me to buy a

Bronica ETR body, 3 lenses, 2 backs and some other gear. Also got a macro lens

for the Leica.

 

Next day I went to Jim's. I met Jim himself. I must say, all that I was lead to

believe about Jim was totally wrong in light of my experience there. Jim has a

somewhat smaller, less polished store than some I have been in, but all-in-all

he had a lot of interesting items including a good stock of film gear. He was

actually able to come up with an original case for the Bronica outfit in

excellent condition. That was a surprise! Jim himself was very pleasant and

helpful.

 

I also dropped in to Glazer's. It was a very polished facility, a lot of shiny

new toys there. But not being much in the market for that kind of gear (except

for a photo printer, they had lots of those) I didn't stay to handle the M8!

 

Later I decided if I am going to shoot 120 as well as 35mm in B&W I might as

well do out the film myself and then scan the negatives. So I went back to

Kenmore and found a couple of used tanks. The total bill for all the stuff I

needed to process the film including the tanks was only 75 bucks, so I think

that will work out ok.

 

So aside from spending too much and eating too much, it was a great trip. There

wasn't any time to do photography, but that wasn't really the idea. As far as

the camera goes, it is quite different from my 35 cameras, and took me a whole

day to figure out the various parts and how they should all work. I am going to

shoot another B&W film and then process the two together.

 

Thanks for everyones help. It made the whole thing go a lot better to have your

help.

 

Lawrence

[rick_sikora]

Way to go Christopher. Have a great time with your new equipment.

Rick

[dave_wilson1]

Sounds like a worthwhile trip!! It's a good idea to check all the little screws on the backs and make sure none are relaxed, or loose. They should just be snug, not too tight, they snap off. I don't remember exactly anymore, but the claw arm that mounts the back used to come loose sometimes and make the back wobble around on the camera plate. I had SQs though, but same basic thing.

[elmar001]

I should have posted a small phot, here it is.

[elmar001]

OK, try that again.<div></div>