fernando_mcsoto

<p>I have to tell you that I bought 2 (two) Chevron and I was very disapointed. The shutter is crap. Go for a Medallist II instead. Good luck!</p>

I am split with my Contaflex Super BC. In 2004 it was upgraded with a new

lightmeter (taken from a old Pentax Spotmatic) and fully CLA'd. I have been

using it sporadically since then. (Once every two months). Now the leaf shutter

has detached.

 

 

The leaf shutter was cleaned at the time, so it is just a question of putting

it back in its place (I believe this is a quite common problem with

Contaflexes). Sending for repair will cost a lot of money just because it is a

Contaflex and everybody know that they are difficult. Is there any easy

solution that I can do myself or is it too complex for a normal photographer

without knowledge in repairs like me? Do you guys have a repair manual for this

camera that you could send me?

 

 

 

Finally how common is this problem with Contaflex Super BC and S?

I should also add that American Color is a professional E6 lab. Le Labo is a B&W lab (both in the Ixelles area of Brussels. For professional prints and C-41 processing of 120/220 film go to Limelite, 77 Rue Gachard, phone: +32.26460606.

 

 

The cheapest place to print and process 120/220 film (and 110 film too!)is MediaMarkt in the City2 shopping center in Rue Neuve in the city center of Brussels. They send the film to a professional labo in Germany and takes three days, but it is really unexpensive.

Go for any classic SLR is good state. You sholuld get it damm cheap.

The Rolleiflex Sl26 is an amazing camera and against what people may tell you it gives excellent results. Color print film of ISO 200 is not difficult to find in the internet, in several websites in the USA, UK and Germany. Look here in Photo.Net, you will find the addresses in other old posts about 126 film. You can also buy on eBay.

 

Processing is a little bit more tricky. ALL machine capable of processing 35mm can process 126 film. The problem is finding people who want to o it. I had a shop in my town that used to charge me teh same price as 35mm but now they simply don't want to do it. I now go to an expensive lab to process it.

Since I moved out of the UK I have not been able to find a real professional

camera repairer in Belgium. It is amazing that the UK has so many and this

country is completly deserted. I know that most people in Photo.Net have no

clue about Belgium, but I want to give a try and check the chances of getting

any good references.

Well since the 9/11 madness it has become extreamly difficult to take any picture in an EU urban area. You need to go to the Thrid World to take pictures.

Everything that has been said here is correct, including how short days are. Right now the weather in Atlantic Europe is being too warm and damm for the season (global warming). As a general rule, in Autum I would not worry if you are not going to climb the hills. If you are just a tourist touring the country your DSLR will be fine.

 

 

After almost four years in the counrty I move out a year and half ago. I now realise what a beatifull country it is. You cannot beat Scotland when it is not raining. Good luck!

You can use Retina IIIS lenses in the Bessamatic but you must change it a little bit. Rick Oleson explains how in his website. Look at: http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-150.html

110 is still being made by Fuji in ISO200.

 

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_1&products_id=5742

It has been many many years since the owner of photo.net (at the time it was Philip Greenpun's photo-blog) create it and its adminstration changed of hands. At the time nobody shooted digital and film autofocus was the state of the art. Therefore a camera from 1970 was aa classic. Honestly I would consider a FM3a or a Leica MP a classic nowadays. No so much the age but the old way to take a picture.

I think that we cannot trust much of this. It is the UK Government and more speciphic John Reed who is pushing the European Commission with a proposal for restrictions on carry-on baggage. They know that air travel matters are only a residual competence of the Member States and that if the European Parliament aproves what the UK has proposed we can forget about bringging the camera in the plane. There were declarations of Franco Frattini, Commissioner for Justice and home affairs, on the extension of the UK restrictions to all the European Union.

 

 

As for how much can the RPS do, Brussels is after Washington the town with the biggest amount of professional and amateur lobbyists. Everybody lobbies in Brussels, any asociation you think, any company or union lobbies the European Institutions. A club with 10000 members is powerful lobby if they act. Musician are doing it, we are photographers not doing anything?.

 

 

 

I am surpised about how little info there is in UK media about this. I could only find these two links about the Commission's proposal. French or Spanish speaking press was full of info about it this week.

 

 

 

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/68153.html

 

 

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5331694.stm

 

 

 

 

 

From BBC: Meanwhile, European Union nations have held discussions on bringing in EU-wide guidelines to hand luggage size.

Travel restrictions on carry-on bagagge in Europe are getting crazy. In mid-

August I was forced to check-in my camera on my flight from Brussels to

Brazil, via New York, because in Belgium photographic equipement is no longer

allowed as carry-on luggage on flights to UK and US. If it weren't because I

was the photographer of a wedding there, I would not have taken my expensive

equipment to Brazil. I was scared during all the flight.

 

 

 

The European Commission has proposed to the European Parliament to extend the

current non-sense restrictions on carry-on luggage that are only applicable to

UK and US flights to all EU flights. It seems that musicians are organising

themselves to lobby the European Commission and the UK Government. (See link)

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1869495,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1

 

 

 

What is the Royal Photographic Society (http://www.rps.org) doing to defend

photographer's rights on this issue? Why are we, European photographers, not

doing something?

My local shop still have them. I am gonna buy some few of them after my holidays and save them at home. As things go all the first alarms of the last two years that I have heard about in Photo.net have been confirmed.

Say you are looking for an unexpensive, light, small and electronic shutter

camera that you are not so much afraid to get stolen in your flight because

you are obliged to check-in all you photo gear before flying. Which one of the

above three would you take? I must say that the price difference between the

three is small with the most modern one, the Cosina/Nikon FE-10 being the most

expensive one. I hope that the camera will not get stolen and I want to but

whatever suits me better. I like manual focusing cameras and AE is a must.

 

 

 

I am travelling to Brazil via the USA. HUGE mistake travelling via the US, I

will not do it again ever. My friends are flying from Paris and are having no

issues.

 

 

 

 

On reccomendation by the EU Commission, Brussels airport no longer allows

photo gear to be taken as carry-on luggage to the US and UK. Film is not

allowed either but I managed to obtain a written exemption that should allow

me to take film as carry-on luggage unde rthe conditions that is X-rayed, hand-

inspected and checked with an special anti-explosive machine by the trace

department. I am onliged to be at the airport FIVE hours before take off to

allow teh trace department to verify my film. Rest of the passangers must be

only four hours before taking off.

 

 

 

 

You will tell me about Peli cases, TSA locks, etc. With 8000 laptops stolen at

Heathrow in the last week, I am not taking the risk of carrying an expensive

camera in a Peli case.

I recently discovered that Arsenal in Ucraine used to make and still makes

lenses with AIs mount and they are damm cheap. I assume that they no longer

manufacture the Kiev-19 but I have seen some wide-angles and mirror lenses on

eBay manufactured by them. Is there any old or brand-new Kiev lenses from

Arsenal that are worth considering for its quality and performance? I do not

expect them to be any similar to the new Zeiss AIs lenses but the truth is

that they are very unexpensive.

"Nikon is to expensive" "Canon AI is dead"

 

 

 

 

Nikon is damm cheap. Look at the prices for Nikon FG, Nikon FE-10 and Nikon FM-10 which are wonderfull manual cameras with everything someone who wants to learn photogrtaphy needs. Nikon AIS lenses (manual lenses) are not dead because they are still manufactured by Zeiss and Cosina/Voigtlander.

). I should have added another question. I have VR lenses (I cannot afford them) should I take a monopod with me too? I am sorry but I am a little bit scared about this "favour" I must deliver to my friend.

I am traveling to Brazil for two weeks where I will also photograph a wedding

for a friend. This is the first time I am shooting a wedding. I cannot take a

lot of gear with me so I have thought about taking my Nikon F100, an SB-27

flash, a Nikon AF 28-105 f3.5-4.5D zoom and a 50/1.8 AF lens. I will also

bring a an FG as back-up. My question is whether you think that the Nikon 28-

105 will deliver enough quality. Should I rent a better quality zoom? I only

have an AI-converted 85/1.8H as prime telephoto.

Surprise. The FG has no deep of field preview and no AE-lock. So the FE-10 is back in consideration.

Oh! I did not think about the Nikon FG. It's seems to be a better option than Nikon FE-10 because it has TTL flash although it has not 1/2000 speed. Now the FE-10 is out. The question is between a lightweight manual, the FM-10, and a lightweight electrinic the FG. Thank you very much for the suggestion of the FG.

Interesting. Instead the FM-10 was never marketed oficially in the European Union. It is in the Nikon US website but it is not in the EU website. Of course it can be found in the grey market too.

The FM-10 is a fully mechanical body with the same shutter as the Voigtlander Bessaflex TM or the Voigtlander Bessa R2. No batteries and you can still use the cmaera.

 

The FE-10 is an electronic shutter camera that also includes aperture priority. No batteries and you are left with only one shutter speed. It has the same shutter as the Voigtlander VSL 43.

KEvin I understand that Zdenek wants t buy a brand-new classic SLR. Otherwise I agree that there are great cameras in the used market.

As far as I know there only two manufactures of manual focus SLR left in the market, Cosina and Leica.

 

Cosina: Voigtlander Bessaflex TM (full metal good camera), Voigtlander VSL 43 (a cheap camera) and Nikon FM-10 (a cheap Nikon). The last two are sold with the 35-70mm zoom made by Cosina.

 

Leica: Leica R9 (great camera that can use film or a digital back).

 

If I were you I would look for a new in stock Nikon FM3a. They are still easy to find in many websites. It is a great camera.