james_wheeler1

<p>As a long time user of Contaflex cameras, I would love the ephemera to read and cherish.</p>

<p>For more than 40 years, I've use various masking tapes, including some of the blue tapes without any problems that could be attributed to tape type.</p>

<p>Like Chuck Foreman, I live where the humidity is generally low and not a problem (Great Basin/Utah). Most of the 300 or so cameras in my collection reside in a temperature and humidity controlled vault, on shelves designed and built by me, and in the plastic mixed salad greens containers sold by Costco and others. The plastic salad containers are about the size of a shoebox and usually hold three 35-mm cameras. Because they are intended for food, I shouldn't have a problem with solvents outgassing from the plastic (none evident on cameras stored in the containers several years ago. Labels are easy to apply to the containers and the collection is reasonably well organized and inventoried. View cameras, press cameras, and other large cameras are stored on the shelves. Dust in the vault is not a problem.<br>

Most of the cameras are functional and I try to work my way through them now and then. Cameras in active use reside in our darkroom, either on shelves or in a gun safe repurposed with shelves for the cameras. Photography books reside in bookcases just outside the door to our darkroom. Photography magazines reside in bookcases I designed and built in our downstairs home theater/library, as do several thousand books we have accumulated.<br>

GAS strikes now and then, but less frequently as prices rise. Rather than create more storage, we are giving excess cameras, enlargers, etc. to folks who will use them. Three enlargers went away earlier this year and we a giving a number of user cameras to some photography students at a nearby (40 miles from here) high school.</p>

<p>Today: Yashica D with Arista.edu ISO 100 film. The Yashica is in near new condition, complete with original box. <br>

Tomorrow: Graphic View II with some Efke orthochromatic film. If time permits, I plan to experiment with some other 4x5 film.</p>

<p>Poor writing on my part. I meant to say that I will only count messages to the email address. With luck, that will avoid messages to Photo.net.<br>

This giveaway is payback for a very nice giveaway I received from Kevin Bourque.</p>

<p >Happy Sunday everyone. </p>

<p >This gear giveaway is for a nice Minolta SRT200 with "normal" lens.</p>

<p > Because this is a pretty good gear giveaway, the winner should respond with a similar offer.</p>

<p > One entry per person. USA only. Email to <strong>jtwheeler (at) gmail dot com</strong>. The fifth message will win the camera and lens. Posting here is of no consequence. Only the given email will count.</p>

<p>My Nikonos III has been in use for a long time without problems, but mostly in the west desert of Utah. Dust is a serious problem for most cameras used out here and the III is pretty much immune to that. Just in case, I maintain the O-rings in good shape for the pond or two we might come across. Sunny 16 works well out here, but I try to keep a meter handy for those odd situations. A good, solid, reliable camera.</p>

<p>My wife and I still have and use five of the six Topcon cameras we bought in the early 1970s. One body has a film advance problem that may have resulted from well over 600 rolls of 36-exposure film we ran through the camera. The remaining five are fully functional. Very well-made cameras and fun to use. </p>

<p>Hobbies and education keep our minds young. My parents always insisted that when we stopped learning, we might as well be dead. Anyway, that's part of my justification for the collections and hobbies (hard to tell one from the other) that are scattered about our home. <br>

My wife and I collect (and study) quite a few things, including books, cameras, quilts, music, movies, firearms, tools, land, etc. None are considered investments by us, other than an investment in learning. A few have proven profitable, but the best way to destroy a hobby is to make it profitable.<br>

Rather than build onto our house, we tend to "thin the herd" by trading, selling, or giving away duplicates and items no longer germane to our interests. Much cheaper and more satisfying than construction, permits, and increased taxes.<br>

If something is wrong with you, then something is wrong with most of the people we know and many people on this forum. Safety in numbers.</p>

<p>Two of my favorite camera makes, Topcon and Exacta! Very nice catch indeed. We still enjoy using ours and I am sure you will enjoy them as well. None of our Topcon lenses are less than excellent. If you see an f5.6 500-mm for a good price, grab it as well. Ours is a wonderful, if very heavy, lens that is fine for bird photography. I am about to modify an adapter to use ours on a Canon DSLR as well. Film is still the primary use medium around here, but the DSLR is a good way to check exposure, etc. <br>

Go Topcon!</p>

<p>Crappy images are the norm, as is the confusion between the cost of equipment and the quality of results. The equipment can be woodworking tools, quilting, art, or whatever. Gene M has shown us plenty of proof that crappy cameras can be used by a good photographer to produce quality images.<br>

Like Jason, I get irritated when someone compliments one of my images by saying "That's a great picture, you must have a really expensive camera." There is a certain joy in telling them that the camera in question is a $5 item from Goodwill.</p>

<p>Forgot to mention, we also have a large collection of vinyl recordings (over 2,000), a collection of laser video discs (over 3,000), a lot of books, and some antique tools. My wife shares in these hobbies and shares her quilting interests. One of my majors in college was history and it seems to have influenced me a lot.</p>

<p>The old "handshake across time" comes to mind. I like using old equipment because it is a link to the past and because some of it is stuff I couldn't afford when I was younger. There is something to using an old Conley sheet film camera that awakes the historian in me and links me to the original owner.<br>

The same logic applies to my using a cavalry carbine (trapdoor carbine) that served in the Indian Wars or a rifle from WWI (Enfield or Springfield) or WWII (M1 Garand). The sense of history is well worth the effort.<br>

Gene is right in that we tend to be older and appreciate the older equipment.<br>

Finally. It is fun!</p>

<p>Although it may not be a good idea, I have frozen, thawed, and refrozen film many times with no ill effect. If the film stays sealed and safe from humid conditions, there shouldn't be a problem. </p>

<p>My Graphic View takes standard film holders, Grafmatics, etc. as my other view and field cameras. Yours should be no different. BTW, Grafmatics are wonderful for those of us who started with roll film cameras and moved to large format cameras. With a little practice, they are easy to load and fast to use.<br>

Good luck with the new toy/addiction.</p>

<p>Cliff. That is a nice piece of work and a truly classic firearm. Nothing like that in my collection and I doubt that any cameras can match it for engraving.</p>

<p>Russ. If you know where to look, a WWII rifle can be bought for well under 100 USD (Soviet Mosin Nagant M91/30). <br>

Trigger control and telephoto lenses pair nicely. We have a Photosniper that responds very well to breath control, but seems to startle some people. One asked if it was a rocket launcher and I have to admit to a bit of temptation before telling him the truth. To do otherwise would have been risky. A game warden attempted to arrest one friend who was using a Photosniper to photograph moose.</p>

 

<p>The romance of history? A handshake across time? An appreciation of fine tools. All good reasons for owning classic cameras and firearms. There is a lot to be said for holding and using a tool that someone used 100 years ago and appreciating the history of the item.<br>

We have a darkroom and a reloading room. My wife and I use and appreciate a wide range of classic cameras, some of which use long-discontinued film and we must adapt, cut, and/or reload cassettes for. We also use classic, often antique firearms that use long discontinued ammunition that we must reload for. A collection of antique woodworking tools in our shop reminds us of the time before power tools, batteries, computers, Ipods, etc. We also us modern tools, even digital cameras and semi-automatic firearms. Celebrate diversity of all sorts!<br>

Today, I plan to load some 5x7 film holders for our beautifully preserved Conley camera and wander into the cold and snow to experiment. By the same token, I may take one of our rifles captured by the Finns from the Russians during the Winter War and fire a few rounds from a snow-covered hillock on our firing range. History is more fun and interesting if you relive just a bit of it at a time. <br>

No, I don't plan to give up our computers, home theaters, antibiotics, etc. As a cancer survivor, I can fully appreciate modern medical techniques and life-saving measures. <br>

Don't give up modern advances, but appreciate the past and all it has brought us.</p>

<p>Good question and responses, all of which made me think about my own "classic" activities this afternoon. I was taking a break from checking out my old Conley 5x7 and loading some film holders for it. Obviously, the first classic is old cameras, of which I have at least 200, mostly functional.<br>

My first car was an old, decrepit '49 Chevy that cost $75 and taught me a lot about car repair. It ran less than I did. My first real job ($1.50 an hour) was can lifter on a garbage truck (I was in high school and worked afternoon and weekend duty). I used some of that money to buy an old Kodak Tourist folder that saw a lot of use and was stolen. After retiring from a career at an Army proving ground a few years ago, I returned to my old interests in classic cameras, photography in general, reading, collecting movies and music, collecting and shooting old firearms (Civil War, Indian Wars, etc.), working on our land in a remote valley in western Utah, etc. As my wife has said, "We are trying to catch up on 25 years of projects delayed."<br>

At least we can get outdoors nearly every day of the year and work in the "yard", make images, hike our nature trails, and enjoy and active retirement.</p>

 

<p>I want one! All the folders I use are at least 50 years old and showing their age. The ability to pocket a camera that makes negatives that large would be really nice when we are exploring our Utah backyard.</p>

<p>I bought my first Exakta when in graduate school (a long time ago). Since then, another dozen Exa and Exakta cameras have joined the herd of over 200 cameras. We still use them now and then. <br>

With some of the lenses, the images can be quite good. They are just about the ultimate modular camera with a huge number of attachments, finders, focussing screens, lenses, etc. to play with. <br>

For all that, my wife prefers her Topcons and I tend to use Olympus Om series cameras, supplemented by TLRs, view cameras, etc. <br>

Support the economy by spending more on cameras? Did that. Now, we are spending more on film, paper, chemistry, darkroom gear, etc. <br>

Maybe I should get a buyout to support this habit. Are there seven steps for camera addicts?</p>

<p>When we built our present house ten years ago, the darkroom, sewing room, home theater, etc. were included in the design. All are still in use. The darkroom has four enlargers, seven-foot sink, etc. A copy of the "Darkroom Cookbook" and a supply of ingredients keep us in developer, etc. Negatives ranging from 16-mm to 4x5 are routinely printed during sessions that are quite enjoyable. Two freezers hold a lifetime supply of film and paper. <br>

The only problem, we bought three too many enlargers for our purposes. If anyone in the Salt Lake City area is interested in them, they can go out the door for the price of picking them up. No lenses, carriers, etc. would be included.<br>

Digital cameras, Photoshop, ink jet printers are in our computer room and are fine for snapshots. Serious work still involves film.</p>

<p>I have often been humbled by the quality of work that most of the folks on this forum seem to think of as test shots with a new-to-them camera.<br>

Although I haven't contributed any images and Gene M. is beyond my skills, I must remark that some of my best images were taken in the White Mountains of California when I had only one short roll of 35-mm left and little likelihood of ever returning to the site. Desperation breeds skill.<br>

Also to the point, most of us are nearly as old as our cameras (or older) and have had a few years of practice.</p>

I would go for it. Not long ago, I found some 120 film shot at Zion Park when by wife and a friend were up on a cliff in a precarious position. The photos had considerable sentimental value and turned out quite well. Images weren't great, but the memories were.

A broad question, if we consider thrift stores and not the big auction mess. Last week, my wife and I scored four SLRs at a thrift store for $5 US each. All needed light seal replacement, but all are otherwise in good functional condition. Which of the four is best, probably the Canon FTb with a zoom lens. Only two light seals needed replacement and that has been done. Even the battery was still charged. The Petri and Fujica cameras in the group will be given new light seals and put to use soon.