vdp

I took a look at the site you provided and am very impressed by this man's work. I'm not familiar with his name or his work (though the abstract print of the NYC skyline seems somehow familiar to me). If I come across anything on him I will be glad to pass it along to you.

Anthony, I both ask and don't ask depending on the situation. I live in a big city and go to a lot of parades. At these parades you can pretty much shoot to your hearts content and not worry about asking. I ask when I want to take a portrait of a person. Other situations I don't ask as I feel it might ruin the shot. I've also walked down the street in midtown and photographed people without asking. Most people are too busy to notice or care. I also use parades as a cover to photograph people in the street as I almost never photograph the people marching.

 

As for children, I don't unless like yesterday at the Muslim-American Day parade the parent is right there and is letting others photograph her kid or if the kids are in costume for a stage presentation and the chaperone is there.

About 15 years ago I was walking on 3rd avenue and 104 street in East Harlem and noticed a baby Rollie situated on a blanket on the sidewalk. I asked the seller for the price and he said $3.00. So I had myself a baby Rollie that worked perfectly. If I remember correctly I was able to date it back to the early 30's. The lens was uncoated (it was either Zeiss or Franke & Hiedekie) and took very sharp photographs. It used 127 film.

 

Just the other day I got a Kodak No2 folder with the original instruction book, for $10.00. It takes 120 film and I'm in process of trying it out.

Saturday 7/29/06 I took an early AM walk before the real heat kicked in up 9th

Ave. to the flea market on 39 st in Manhattan. One of the venders was selling

a Kodak No.2 along with its instruction booklet. I normaly would have ignored

the camera as I'm not a collector and I shoot 35MM. Four things attracted me

to this folder 1) It had the instruction booklet -- copywright April 1924. 2)

Inside and out the camera seemed to be in near mint condition as if someone

purchased it way back when but hadn't used it much -- the instruction booklet

however, while usable may have had something spiled on it years ago and is on

its way to turning to powder. 3) The price was right $10.00. And, 4) It takes

120 film which I thought was commonly available but found out that only a few

stores carry it anymore since so many have gone digital.

 

The bellows on this camera seems to be fine and it seems that the shutter

works. The shutter by the way, has a patent date of 1910. I wiped the lens

with some cleaining fluid and soft cloth. When the weather gets better I will

go to Adorama or B&H to get a roll or two of 120 film. This camera comes with

it's own spool which was made of metal and wood.

 

When I get around to shooting a roll or two and have it developed I will try

to get it scaned in to show you folks.

Cameraquest for about $175.00 and Bob Shell for about $150.00. I think there is a German company also that manufactures high quality C/Y adaptors for the Canon digital. I read somewhere that one should keep away from "bargans" for this product that appear on Ebay as the tolorences for the Bargan basement adaptors are not exact. Good luck.

Melissa, In NYC I think there are a few options. Dugall on 23rd off of 5th ave, manhattan. Then there is Spectra-- they have branches all over. I know for sure they have an outlet on Laguardia place and another on Christopher Street, between 7th ave and Bedford St.

The Yashica AF cameras are not compatable with the Contax N system (NX,N1, N Digital). From what I read recently on the Cees DeGroot site, there is some kind of adapter that would allow the use of manual focus C/Y mount lenses to be used on the Yashica AF cameras.

As my Uncle Joe LaMura used to say "smart,smart,smart,smart, very smart."

 

I have Zeiss lenses -- so you know that I'm gonna use a filter on my babies.

Wayne, The Yashica FX3, Fx3 Super or FX3 Super 2000 are all manual bodies and they generally go for a song on ebay. There are many bodies to choose from including the FXD which was the cousen of the Contax 139Q. You can get some fairly cheap Contax bodies in KEH or on ebay depending on your budget. Look at CDeGroot's Contax/Yashica site http://www.cdegroot.com/cgi-bin/photowiki. Every camera Contax/Yashica came out with is there. Good luck.

Dan, The Phoenix is crap. I have one in the C/Y mount. Mine is the 500 Mirror lens. It doesn't cost much for a reason -- it doesn't deliver much. My advice is to go to the KEH website and look under Canon manual focus lenses or Pentax manual focus lenses and see what comes up. If you buy a stinker from them it won't cost you so much. You just might luck out and find a Canon or Pentax 500 for a reasonable price. The Pheonix (and probably Opteka too) is like throwing your money away.

Congratulations Erica, I look forward to seeing the show. I looked at your album and I found some very moveing and beautiful work. The lady on the rock by the sea was especially lovely as were many others.

Beautiful. A work of abstract art.

Panorama Camera Center 124 West 30 Street, NY,NY 10001

1-212-563-1651.

 

They are licensed and did a good job on a friends Canon AE1 and on my Yashica. They also display an assortment of old cameras including old rangefinders for sale. Their hours ar M-F 9am to 6PM and during the winter they are open on Saturdays 11AM to 3PM.

OK I just saw the headline on the MSN site. I'm truly sorry for his passing. He was imho a very fine photographer and a lovely man.

I did a search just now on the Washington Post Obit page and there is no listing for Gordon Parks. What gives?

When did Gordon Parks pass away? I found nothing on the Washington Post site as of 3/8/06. He was/is (?) one of the most couragious photographers and one of my favorites.

Sure Ernie, lots of us have had run ins from time to time. Most people are cool with your photographing them. Some however, can be testy. I usually keep walking when someone says something or even gives a dirty look. I try not to be combative and I try to be as respectful of the people I photograph as I can be. Most persons either don't care if they walked into your shot (either they are not aware or they don't care that they loused up you shot.) or they are contrite because they think they walked into your picture.

I don't know where you live but if it is anywhere near New York you might consider the following:

 

RTS, RTSII

ACE Photo Camera Service,Inc.

163-02A Northern Blvd.

Flushing, NY 11359

718-886-6459

 

Also KEH can be contacted on the web - the advertise a repair department.

 

Best wishes and I'm sorry your RTSII is broken.

I tend to agree with RML, the bigger the print the more people think it is somehow art. Of course big huge prints can be art but more often than not I have seen that big huge mural size prints are a cover for mediocre work.

Zeiss Yashica/Contax mount lenses are the best value for the money you spend imho. They are well made and sturdy. The 50 1.7 according to some users is a better lens (whatever better means in this case) than the Leica 50 at much less cost. You can find some very good prices on the KEH website. I own the Zeiss 25 2.8, 35 2.8, 45 2.8, 50 1.4, 50 1.7, 85 2.8, 28-70 zoom and the great 35-135 Vario Sonnar zoom lenses. Add to the the very good Yashica 100 3.5ML lens. I've never had trouble with any of these (knock on wood) and with the exception of the 35 2.8 all were purchased used. In the case of the 25 2.8 and 50 1.4 -- these were my Dad's lenses that he bought new in 1977. I still use them. I also use the Contax RX,Aria, S2 and 139Q bodies. Again, they are sturdy.

Charles, The CZ 28-70 is a decent performer that has noticible destortion at 28. Still, the lens renders an image in that warm, romantic Zeiss manner. The Yashica 35-105ML is a very good lens and I am sorry I traded mine in. The other Yashica lens that is very good is the 100 3.5 ML macro, which I still own. All my lenses (with the exception of the CZ 35 2.8) and Contax cameras were purchased used. I use the RX every chance I get, it is one of the great cameras ever made. The Yashica lenses, by the way, render the image in a cooler way than the Zeiss lenses. I would stay away from third party lenses as much as possible. Your RX deserves only the highest quality lenses. Good luck to you and happy shooting.

Willoughbys went under years ago but the name was purchased by the new owners and was a non union shop.

 

Olden indeed is gone -- was it a victim of the success of Ebay?

 

Camera Barn went out of business in the early to mid 90's when the owner Hersch retired.

Ben, Look at the KEH website and see if their prices meet your expectations. I think they have better deals than Ebay or any other Camera store.

Miguel, I own the Contax RX, Aria, S2 and 139Q along with the Yashica FX3 Super 2000 and the Yashica 109MP. The Contaxs are sturdy, well built and excellent machines that you can get rather inexpensively nowadays at KEH or even on ebay. The lenses are superb. I own both the 50 1.4 AE and the 50 1.7 MM along with many other Zeiss lenses. The Yashica lenses render the subject in a cooler maner than the Zeiss lenses do but, as was stated above, the ML 35-105 (not the DSB version) is well worth having and I would add that the Yashica 100 Macro is also a very nice lens.

 

I have even seen cameras like the 167 MT for under $200.00 and certainly the 139Q can be purchased for under $140.00. I find the RX to be a great camera. Good luck with whatever system you choose.

I think KEH is your best bet if you don't want to go the rout of Ebay (which is a sellers market these days). I once took in a whole bunch of gear to Adorama to trade towards something and they insisted they had plenty of the things I offered them including a Rollikin, an item that converts the rolliflex tlr from medium format to 35mm format. All of these stores are in business to make money and will offer you bottom dollar in order to make the most profit for themselves.