micah_henry

And here's some trees that caught me eye...<div></div>

Hi Brownie folk,

 

I have finally gotten 'round to making and scanning some contact

prints from Brownie negatives. These were made on 1999-expired Kodak

Tri-X last fall.

 

These aren't the best scans in the world and I'm sure quality of

detail would be better if scanned from the actual negatives.

 

--Micah in NC<div></div>

Conrad,

 

Hey, there. Nice to see other Argus users here (a considerable faction, I believe)! I agree with Mark Wilson: Superia 200 is a nice film, plenty of pop in the colors (for me).

 

--Micah in NC

David: Thanks, it was a very fun event. And I'm sure Del and the boys play "Orange Blossom Special" but not that day. Earl Scruggs was also at MerleFest--that's his song, I believe. I think he performed it quite well one day that weekend.

 

Mark Wilson: Thanks for the compliments. Nice image--I like the detail from that Retina. I was lucky enough to be a volunteer photographer and had Photo Platform access. This was one of the acts I wasn't scheduled to shoot, so I used the Argus instead of my much newer Pentax SLR.

 

--Micah in NC

And the last. NOTE: scanning was by Wal-Mart photo center CD I got back with my 4x6" prints. Minimal sharpening in Photoshop 7.<div></div>

A third...<div></div>

Another...<div></div>

Well, folks,

 

This is a bit slow in coming, but I'm finally getting around to

uploading some classic cameras images I shot at the end of April.

These were taken with my Argus C-44 and its 100mm telephoto lens. B&W

pictures were from Kodak 400BW and color were from Kodak High

Definition 400 films.

 

These are of the Del McCoury Band, a bluegrass group (my favorite)

who appeared at the 2005 Merle Watson Memorial Festival. That's an

American/folk music festival who the local community college hosts

here in Wilkes County, NC. This year they even had Loretta Lynn and

Allison Krauss in addition to legendary guitarist/folksinger Doc

Watson, who hosts the event.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

--Micah in NC<div></div>

Jen,

 

Starting from the left, I see an Argus light meter case (labeled $3.00, perhaps meter inside?), an unidentified folding camera, a Baby Brownie (I think). Behind the Baby Brownie is a Kodak Duaflex. To right of Baby Brownie is an Argus 75, and on far right is a Brownie Hawkeye. Does that help?

 

--Micah in NC

Hi,

 

The Minox 35 EL (I have one, too) uses a PX 27 or the "power pack" adapter available from Minox (replaces the 5.6 volt PX 27 with four 1.5 volt button-cell batteries, #386 I believe).

 

Note: the original PX 27 is 5.6 volt mercury cell--no longer available in the United States (environmental issue). Replacements are the silver cell PX 27 which is 6 volts and may slightly affect meter readings/exposure.

 

--Micah in NC

Carlos,

 

I obtained one Rapid cassette in the Minolta 24 Rapid I bought. To use the camera, I had to buy a cheap Agfa Rapid Isopak (simple) camera (for the cassette). No big problem.

 

--Micah in NC

Carlos,

 

I will echo Mike Connealy here and second the vote on the Minolta 24 Rapid. I have one. It uses 35mm film (getting a pair of Rapid cassettes might be difficult) and the meter doesn't work on mine, but otherwise this is a capable little shooter.

 

One can easily reload the Rapid cassettes in a film changing bag or darkroom by keeping the Rapid and 35mm cassette close together and stuffing the film into the Rapid cassette about an inch at a time.

 

I enjoy shooting with mine, never mind that the one-hour lab tech who I took my film to for developing wondered what strange camera malfunction had turned out square images on 35mm film... :-)

 

--Micah in NC

Donald & folks:

 

Hi there. I agree--the Pony series are durn good cameras. I was amazed at the sharpness of the prints I got back from a roll of chromogenic B&W I shot in my Pony IV a while back (T400CN, I think it was). I will have to dig that up and scan it.

 

What I like about the Kodak Pony IV is it's built-in Series V filter holder and retaining ring and the neat little film condition/settings cards that came with this camera (and the Signet 50, I believe). They have settings for daylight conditions on one side and flash distances on the other, one card for 10 Kodak films of the period (like Kodacolor, Kodachrome Type A, Plus-X, Tri-X, Pan-X, etc.) if I remember correctly.

 

I have a Pony Model C besides the IV and also a Pony 828. (I have yet to use the 828, though I plan to do so very soon.)

 

Donald--I bought a cord from Paramount http://www.paramountcords.com/default.htm via another party and found it of very good quality and handy for using electronic flash on classics with the ASA fitting (e.g. - for my 127mm Ektar lens in Synchro-Compur shutter on my Graflex, mine has the ASA bayonet). You may have to use the open flash method on "B" or adjust the Pony shutter for X-sync as I'm not sure if I've tried e-flash on a Pony.

 

Happy shooting!

 

--Micah in NC

Mark,

 

An update from www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Yashica_E I found:

 

"Yashica E: Yashica's 1964 attempt to make a TLR as simple to use as a P&S. Single shutter speed (1/60) withe the f-stop automatically set be the built in sellium cell light meter. Wind on is semi-automatic and there's even a built in flash that takes peanut flash bulbs hidden behind the E's name plate."

 

See also: http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/kb/yashica_e.html

and

http://www.tlr-cameras.com/Japanese/slides/07.%20Yashica-E.html

 

--Micah in NC

Mark,

 

Hi. I have a Yashica D, so it's good to know the lineage had something after "D."

 

From williamsphotographic.com/yashica.html:

"Yashica E: A somewhat rare autoexposure-only model based on the D, this model is best avoided as reliability of the metering system is highly suspect and there is absolutely no manual control available. The shutter speed is fixed at 1/60 sec. It also features a built-in flash. Best used only as a conversation piece or a paperweight (sorry...)."

 

Those are that author's words, not mine.

 

I would suppose the autoexposure is selected and powered by the selenium cell, and the battery is used for the built-in flash which the williamsphotographic.com site talks about. Is there perhaps a little tiny AG-1 bulb holder hidden on the camera? Those were popular in the 1960s and can be hidden elegantly on even a 35mm camera (say, with a flip-up or slide-up reflector covering the bulb holder), even more so with the large surface area of a TLR.

 

--Micah in NC

Nick,

 

No problem. Your answer is on its way to your email. (Push up the tabs marked "2" that focus the camera and the lens standard will pop out a tiny bit, then draw it out until it clicks into place (about 2 inches, more or less).

 

--Micah in NC

Walter,

 

At present, J&C Photography lists 70mm unperforated film on their website for sale. You could use this to "load your own" if you happen to have an old 616 spool & backing paper. It is Efke R100 30.5 meter (100 foot) long roll of 70mm Film.

 

I know they DID have plans to sell 616 film at one time--hope they will still do so.

 

--Micah in NC

Donald,<br><br>Hi. I had seen your post wishing there was a delay adapter to allow use of electronic flash in M sync shutters. There are several designs, here's one I found while surfing awhile back:<br><br><a href="http://www.rmm3d.com/3d.encyclopedia/repairs/flash.delay/flash.delay.html">Click here for flash delayer link</a><br><br>I hope this link works. Maybe you can whip up something similar for your Argoflex? I have a little box which I found for peanuts on that great auction site which supposedly fits atop flashcube (not Magicube) cameras and is secured with a little springy fabric strap. It provides a PC outlet (not hot shoe, alas) for using electronic flash on flashcube burners.<br><br>And yes, flashbulbs are neat! I love the look on people's faces when I pull out a huge flash reflector for, say, my Kodak Tourist...<br><br>--Micah in NC

Andrea,

 

Hi. Nice work! I like the tree image best (I love landscapes) but I think you captured a good portrait of your friend with a fine old camera, it seems.

 

So, does the Brownie D have a portrait lens built-in? Does the camera use 120 film?

 

--Micah in NC

John,

 

Hey, that's great!!! Just the info I was hoping to see. I'd been wanting J&C to start carrying 616 for months now. Now I can "roll my own."

 

Thanks for the good news!

 

--Micah in NC

Gene: Thanks for solving that little mystery! Now, if I visit Holyoke, I won't pass for such a bumpkin (my drawl will still give me away, however). :-)

 

--Micah in NC

B&W: Plus-X and Tri-X

 

Color print: Fuji Superia 200

 

Slide: Kodachrome 64 & 200

 

--Micah in NC

Grits? Yummmm.

 

Ooops! I just gave away that I'm from the South, didn't I? Since I brought my location up, as a Southerner, I have always wondered how one pronounces Holyoke.

 

Is it like Holey Oak? Holy Yoke? Whole Yolk? What is the proper way?

 

--Micah in NC

15. The weight is so great that the camera has inertia enough to reduce camera shake to nil at speeds low as 1/10 second. (Okay, would you believe 1/20? 1/30?)

 

--Micah in NC

Marshall,

 

Yes, the meter should adjust automatically when using the grey neutral density filter. That's what the owner's manual refers to as "the second measuring range," I belive. When the ND filter is in place, a resistor is introduced into the light meter's circuit, I've read. This decreases the voltage sent from the light meter cell to the needle readout, thus indicating use of a slower shutter speed.

 

If you hold the meter button down while looking at the top of the camera (where there is enough light to make the meter have a reading; i.e. not a darkened room, not outside at night), then keep holding the meter button down while pushing the knurled filter slide all the way in, my Minox B's meter deflects down one line. (I think mine is weak--it should probably deflect two lines.)

 

I suppose the resistor might be faulty or connection to it might be broken/dirty, making your meter not adjust to light. DAG (Don Goldberg) is a repairman who can probably fix that. See: http://www.dagcamera.com/index.html

 

In any case, if your meter doesn't deflect when using the ND filter, you can use the normal meter reading then adjust the shutter speed two stops slower (i.e. if meter says 1/200 and you use ND filter, set shutter speed at 1/50). This will compensate for the filter as I'm told the filter is a 4X (2 f/stop) light reducer. Some literature refers to 10X ND filter, which would require a little more than 3 f/stops more light (go down 3 shutter speeds slower on the dial) though my B seems to have the 4X.

 

--Micah in NC