bruce_z._li2 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 The beautifully (over) engineered Contarex bullseye with the Planar 50/2 black/blitz lens. Several Contarex mount lenses (50/2, 85/2) have very close focus distance, and can be used almost as a macro lens. My sample of Contarex body seems to be working properly, except frame overlapping issues. Photos in the weekly. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary green Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 A recent addition to my collection is this Agfa Jsolette (late model - 1946-1950) with its somewhat unusual cast hydronalium top cover, Compur-Rapid shutter and uncoated, 85mm, f4.5 Apotar triplet lens. This particular sample has some wear and a few minor issues. The double exposure lockout mechanism isn't functional and I didn't bother to fix it since I find it annoying anyway. Also, the Bulb setting on the shutter is hit or miss. Sometimes, the shutter stays open, other times it closes immediately. Not really a big concern since I rarely use the Bulb setting (although I may try to fix it at some point). All other speeds are fine after cleaning. The camera arrived with the typical frozen focus and dirty shutter, both of which were remedied. Thankfully, the bellows are in good shape with no discernible pinholes. It's been two weeks of heavy overcast and off and on showers. I managed to sneak in a test roll today during a lull in the rain. Will post some shots in the weekly thread. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck_foreman1 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 On 1/27/2024 at 9:28 AM, rick_drawbridge said: On 1/27/2024 at 9:28 AM, rick_drawbridge said: Just for the sake of doing something a little different, I'm about to use this cute little Minolta 24 Rapid, a small rangefinder camera designed to use the long-defunct Agfa Rapid cassettes. If you have a darkroom, some bulk film and a couple of the rare Rapid cassettes, it's quite possible to load film to use in the camera. I take it the 24 implies half-frame? Nice little RF ..poor mans Leica CL? 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels - NHSN Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Nordic winter shortens shooting hours significantly even with a roll of Fujicolor Superia 400 loaded. This weekend I added a SB-28 to extend the time available to shoot. Among the cameras in Nikon's FM/FE series, I normally prefer the Nikon FE, but for flash, the FE2 is the better choice of the two as it adds TTL and a top sync speed of 1/250. 6 Niels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 (edited) Regarding the Minolta 24 Rapid, chuck_foreman1 said: "I take it the 24 implies half-frame? Nice little RF ..poor mans Leica CL?" No, the camera produces frames with a 24x24mm format on 35mm film, originally 16 exposures on a Rapid cassette. I rather like having a square format on such a small camera! It was conceived by Agfa to compete with the Kodak Instamatics, but Kodak swamped the competition with their plastic cameras. Edited January 28 by rick_drawbridge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjoseph7 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 (edited) Nikon F4 + Nikon SB-24 Speedlight I got to admit this is a super heavy unit. The kind you slam on your bosses desk demanding a raise ! Nevertheless, I don't mind the heaviness. It makes you feel as if you are using a bonafide Professional camera. The Nikkor 35-70 Nikons first Professional Zoom is super-sharp ! The SB-24 is all push button, no menu's to scroll through. To me this is simpler makes it much easier to understand without a manual. I'm running a couple of rolls of Kodak Gold 200 36 exp. Shooting film really makes you think twice before wasting frames. I got all day, so I'm chosing my shots carefully... Edited January 28 by hjoseph7 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick_van_Nooij Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Sun was out over the weekend, so I finally managed to fill up the remaining frames on the Olympus Pen-F. Time to load up the next one! Putting another roll of Fomapan 100 into the Leica MD-2. I mounted a W-Komura 28mm f/3.5 on it this time. The 15mm Super Wide-Heliar is too much of a gimmick lens for what I'm comfortable shooting with. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 I've just bought another copy of this Voss Diax 1b and while I'm waiting for it to arrive I thought I'd run a film through this one. Dated from about 1956, the Diax 1b is actually a viewfinder camera, despite the impressive collection of windows. There is one viewfinder for each of the three lenses available, each window lightly tinted a different colour to help avoid confusion. The camera is shown here with the 90mm Schneider Kreuznach f/3.5 lens. I suspect these Voss cameras are not at all well known in the USA, but they were held in high regard in Europe. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick_van_Nooij Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Finished a roll in the Leica MD-2, loaded up my Contax I (v7) for a rematch, since the film got separated from the take-up spool last time. 😉 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck_foreman1 Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 51 minutes ago, Rick_van_Nooij said: Finished a roll in the Leica MD-2, loaded up my Contax I (v7) for a rematch, since the film got separated from the take-up spool last time. 😉 Hi Rik, Looking forward with great anticipation... So pleased to see a working copy..being worked!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick_van_Nooij Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 On 2/5/2024 at 3:41 PM, chuck_foreman1 said: Looking forward with great anticipation... So pleased to see a working copy..being worked!! One of the three working Contax I cameras in my collection 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjferron Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Warning rant>>>>I would have been using my new Ex condition F3 but KEH sent me a prismless, bargain condition Nikon F instead. How do you do that? Took me an hour to print labels, repack and make my way over to the Fed Ex office. Then I had to wait a week for a refund. Their response? basically "whoops" sorry. How about Mr. Ferron we are so sorry what can we do to correct the situation? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 I'll shoot some more using this nice old Canon EOS 100 (Elan) using a Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG lens, some samples from which I posted in the weekly thread. I could use the lens on a later Canon SLR, but the EOS 100 is perfectly competent and adds minimal weight to this heavy lens. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary green Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 @mjferron My guess is that someone else, who ordered a bargain condition Nikon F, received a very nice F3 instead and is celebrating their good fortune. You're right though. The customer service leaves a lot to be desired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjferron Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 2 hours ago, gary green said: @mjferron My guess is that someone else, who ordered a bargain condition Nikon F, received a very nice F3 instead and is celebrating their good fortune. You're right though. The customer service leaves a lot to be desired. Funny thing the serial number claimed for the F3 was imprinted on the F. That was my saving grace for a return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck_foreman1 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 17 hours ago, mjferron said: Funny thing the serial number claimed for the F3 was imprinted on the F. That was my saving grace for a return. So you sent an F3 for repair, and they returned an F? Were you able to to recover "your" F3 ? Or was it.. you bought an F3 from KEH, and they shipped an F instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjferron Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 46 minutes ago, chuck_foreman1 said: So you sent an F3 for repair, and they returned an F? Were you able to to recover "your" F3 ? Or was it.. you bought an F3 from KEH, and they shipped an F instead? I was attempting to purchase an excellent condition Nikon F3 and KEH sent me a ok looking F with no prism. The claimed serial number for the F3 was the actual serial number on the F they sent me. They assured me a call later in the day for a possible solution but never did. If not for the serial number it is I who could be taken for a scammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce_z._li2 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 A renewed (3rd) effort to try to bond with Rollei 35. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce_z._li2 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 And the four auto-exposure 35mm compacts I actually enjoy using. 1) Minox 35 GT 2) Chinon Bellami 3) Olympus XA2 4) Lomo LC-A original 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 The camera I used for the Pentax pics I posted yesterday in the weekly thread. I have another film loaded as I want to try a newly-acquired Pentax 200mm lens. I find this line of the Pentax cameras, (ME, ME Super etc.), too small and fiddly to be comfortable users, though the winder does help by adding bulk and balance. However, their excellent exposure system renders them capable of producing very acceptable results. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioC Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 From one extreme to the other... F5 + M4 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels - NHSN Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Playing around with one of my Barnacks in anticipation of a 1(A) that is on the way back from an overhaul. This is a IIIf ST RD and a Summicron 50mm f/2 v.1 loaded with Fujicolor C200 for the weekend. 7 Niels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 In a fit of nostalgia I loaded up the first Nikon camera I acquired, well over a decade ago, together with the lens that came with it. Recently I've been using principally zoom lenses, and I found it refreshing to work once more with this legendary prime. The results were among some of the best I've achieved in a long time, and I've just bought another Nikkormat in the ELW configuration. They are just such lovely cameras, superb in both design and execution. I'll post some sample images over in the weekly thread. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels - NHSN Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 (edited) My Leica I (A) from 1930 came back from a general overhaul yesterday. The shutter wasn't completely reliable and the camera scratched the film. I expect that to be fixed now and will take it out into the sun loaded with a roll of Fujifilm C200. The repair person could see that the 93 years old shutter curtains had never been replaced, and he claimed that they did not need replacement! Impressive. This is in contrast to my three Leica IIF and IIIF's from the 1950's which all have needed replacement of their deteriorating curtains. Another interesting piece of semi-related trivia: Also yesterday, I stumbled upon this quote in my copy of "Walker Evans at Work" (p.44). "That photo I sent you was made with Grotz' [Paul Grotz] little Leica camera, using a special close-grain film imported from Germany at a stiff price, but allowing enlargements to huge proportions if desired. We have thrown that one up to almost life size" The quote comes from a letter to his friend Hanns Skolle from May 1929. Given Leica only sold the Leica I (A) model with the 5cm/3.5 Elmar in the 1920's (with a few very rare exceptions) it is almost certain that Evans is referring to a camera just like the one below. The film he is talking about appears to be of the brand "Perutz", judging from the contact prints reproduced in the book. Edited February 24 by Niels - NHSN 7 Niels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Rather than go to the gym this weekend I decided to run a film through this Kiev 88CM wearing the enormous 150mm Kaleinar-3B f/2.8 lens. This is probably the heaviest lens in my possession and the total outfit is about as much as I can reasonably hand-hold. I'm used to fairly clunky cameras like the Bronica S2a and the Kiev 60, but this outfit takes things to a whole new level of clunkiness. However, with a little effort some reasonable images were captured, and later I'll post some in the current weekly thread. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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