james_wheeler1

My wife loves her Topcons (six bodies, a wide range of lenses, and quite a few focusing screens) and still uses them on a regular basis. None of the lenses is less than excellent. Although heavy, the 500 f5.6 is a real gem. Her Topcons have taken falls onto rocks and continued to work well. Once upon a time, I bought her an Olympus OM2 because a lighter camera seemed like a good idea. I got to keep the Olympus and she still uses the Topcons.

Yes. Kiev 88, Kiev 60, Zorki 4, Zenit E (rarely), Horizon 202, Horizont.

Although simple packratism could explain some of our collection, having a full darkroom that can deal with negatives ranging from 9.5-mm to 5x7 inch is part of the explanation. Amazing how many of our visitors are fascinated by the wet chemistry "magic" and want to try a film camera while here. Many have never used a real film camera before and are curious about the old technology. A darkroom is also a great way to interest a younger person in the field of chemistry.

 

That is all "justification" for indulging our (my wife and I) love for photography in any form. We both use film cameras. I tend to mess with digital now and then, but prefer film for serious work.

 

We live in a remote desert valley and have turned about 80 acres (our land) into a sort of nature preserve for ourselves. Walking trails with great views have used up a lot of film.

 

Time to take another camera for a walk.

Kerry has it right. When sorting our stuff, we keep coming across articles/books that we should reread, movies we should watch again, music we want to listen to, etc. Despite that, the sorting is nearly done, the collections inventoried and on shelves, and we have a library (books, cameras, fabric, etc.) open for our perusal. We designed and built our new house in this isolated desert valley with our hobbies in mind and forced ourselves to organize during the unpacking process. We gave away several pickup truck loads of stuff, including a truckload of computers and gear. So far, so good.

 

Thrift stores, including the online version of Goodwill are still our downfall. After all, who could (or should) resist a copy of "Brass, Glass, and Chrome" for two dollars? Who can resist a nice, near mint Nikon telephoto for $25 US?

 

Add in a "yard" that is enclosed by two miles of fencing and you have another "hobby", yard work. Just checking the fence line is a nice brisk walk. Add wandering bison (neighbors a few miles away have a herd), mule deer, horses, cattle, etc. to the mix and life is never dull.

Packrats? Collectors? My wife and I have nearly 300 film cameras, nearly 4000 cookbooks, thousands of books on a variety of subjects (science fiction, nature, history , biography, etc.), about 4000 movies on laser disc and dvd, a sewing room with enough fabric to stock a quilt store, enough vinyl records to fill more than 25 feet of shelving, too many CDs, etc.

 

We have the freedom to wander into the library and pick out a book to read, music to listen to, movies to watch, cameras to try out, etc. Why is this a problem?

 

Seriously, we live in a remote valley in the west desert of Utah and have no local library, no stores, etc. and must supply our own entertainment. That we can do quite handily. I spent part of this evening fiddling with a Mercury II camera and finding it to be in perfect working condition. Tomorrow, the Mercury will go on a walk with me to our north fence (just under a mile one way) and get a little exercise. If I fire up the darkroom, we may even have prints in the evening.

 

One thing for sure, we will never be bored.

Thanks for the Lincoln Highway images. We live on the Lincoln Highway in the west desert of Utah. Our stretch is even paved. Alternate routes were given for wet weather and dry weather. In one stretch west of here, the road log told travelers to build a fire if they got stuck in the mud and a local rancher would bring a team of horses to pull them out. Yes, he charged for the service and was known to pull vehicles back into the mud if the travelers refused to pay his fee.

Mine works fine and is a neat little camera. The lens is more than adequate. The only problem, with so many cameras, I don't get back to it often enough.

Excellent recovery of a classic. Glad you were able to retain the original covering for a future purist.

 

I cherish my Exaktas and their history. Some of mine were used when I was in graduate school working on a Ph.D. (Yes, a long time ago.) They really were the scientist's camera, although much superceded by the time I was in school.

 

Time to bring my veterans back into service. Thanks for providing the inspiration.

I have to second the Topcon Super D as a beauty. Solid, versatile, clean, and fun to use. That said, I like my early Olympus OMs and still have use for the Exaktas.

My first "serious camera" was a Zeiss Contaflex IV bought from my graduate school advisor. It taught me a lot about camera use and (with a diopter lens) was great for close-up photography. I still have a Zeiss Contaflex IV (the original wore out) and still use it. After graduating to a Topcon SLR and the joys of a through the lens metering system with interchangeable screens and finders I stayed with them, as did my wife. We even bought several Topcon bodies when the line was discontinued. One wore out, but the others are still in use. Nothing like metal and glass cameras for sturdiness.

My condition is terminal. Quite a few of our cameras are wood, brass, leather, and glass. Early 20th century cameras have a certain class that plastic cannot match.

Might as well add me to the "old man" category. I used a Rollei in graduate school. A friend owned it, but needed money and sold it to me for a reasonable price. We still own and use several Rolleis. Great lenses on excellent cameras. What more can you ask for?

 

We have one of Bunny Yeager's books "How I Photograph Myself" and it includes several pictures of her holding a Rolleiflex. View camersa, field cameras, etc. are all shown in the book.

Until now, I didn't feel that our collection of over 240 cameras was organized. Thanks for brightening my day.

 

We have some cameras in a safe in the darkroom, some on a shelf in the darkroom, some scattered about the house on display, but the bulk are on shelves in our vault. The latter are organized by make and model.

 

For all that, many have been used within the last year. The real joy of a collection of classical and antique cameras is in using them. For me, using these historical items is a real handshake across history. Same for our Civil War revolver, Indian Wars Trapdoor rifle, etc. History is fun.

I really haven't tested the shelf life because we use our D76h pretty quickly. One batch set on the shelf for four weeks in a partially full bottle and worked fine. Normally, we mix developer every week or so. I tend to store exposed film in a freezer and run a processing session when time permits.

 

For what it is worth, we found a batch of Orwo film shot at Zion Park in the mid 1980s and frozen until this month. All the images survived fine and we plan to print them this week. Not a suggested procedure, but it did work. These were backup rolls that we simply forgot.

D-76h has been working very well for me. I mix up a liter, use it up within a week or so, and repeat. Making up a liter of D76h takes only a little longer than mixing up a Kodak envelope and is much less expensive.

 

For a balance, I use an electronic scale favored by cartridge reloaders for gunpowder. It reads out in grains or grams and is more accurate than needed.

My order for the Efke film from Freestyle is on backorder.

A dangerous question.

 

For us, the Topcon Super D or Super DM is the camera of choice. Built like a tank, excellent lenses, good range of accessories, and fully manual. I introduced my wife to Topcons when we met and had to buy another because she immediately adopted my Topcon Super D. She has six Topcon Super DMs and allows me to use some of them.

 

We are biologists and make a lot of wild flower images. Thus, the lens of choice is the Macro Topcor. Excellent macro lens and good for landscapes, our other photographic pleasure. Living in the Great Basin desert of Utah improves the opportunities.

Collecting is an afflicton my wife and I share. Most of our collections are historical in nature. One of my college majors was history and I never recovered.

 

We have over 100 classic cameras, mostly users. In the quilting studio, we have nearly a dozen old sewing machines, may of which are treadle machines. Books, old and new, line the walls of several rooms. Curio and relic firearms include Arisaka, Mauser, Mosin, Enfield, Trapdoor Springfield, etc.

 

Classic radio programs, movies dating back to the early 1900s, vinyl records, movie memorabilia and the like are in the home theater. We even have set dressing from films like "Tremors".

 

Very nice thread that seems to indicate that collectors of classic cameras cannot limit themselves to one hobby.

Joaquin,

 

According to Edward Romney's Topcon Super D Repair manual, this problem occurs when the rewinding shaft lead screw loosens. Although the manual details the repair, the safer route would be to take the Topcon to a good repair person. If nothing else, the technician can also check the camera for other problems.

 

BTW, Topcons are amongst the best 35-mm SLRs and well worth the repair. They are tough. One of ours failed after 700 rolls of film. The film advance mechanism wore out. My wife adopted them when she found that the cameras worked well for her. That was 30 years ago and she is still using the Topcons.

Joaquin,

 

My wife has an accumulation of Topcons, including RE Supers. I checked one and the shaft does rise when the rewind knob is pulled up. Not sure what must be done to repair the problem and I suspect that taking one of her cameras apart to find out is not a good idea.

 

I think she has a Topcon service manual in the library and will see if that has any suggestions.

 

Jim in Skull Valley

I have it on laserdisc and it is fun to watch. Very loosely based on Weegee, or at least on his personal legend. Did this one ever make the transition to DVD or are we laserdisc users the last to see it?

Todd,

 

My wife and I have several Horizonts and one Horizon 202. Image quality has always been good with both models. We have had one Horizont since the late 1970s and still use it. Maybe we have been lucky in the lottery, but quality has not been an issue.

 

The only problem has been with a Horizont we bought used from China and repair can be a problem. However, we live in the west desert of Utah and a panoramic camera is the only film camera that can capture some of the beauty we see every day. Thus, the arsenal of Horizonts and the Horizon.

 

Good luck in your quest.

 

Jim in Skull Valley

The older cameras represent a handshake across time to the folks who used them when they were new. They help me increase my awareness of the past and the skills required to use the old cameras. I have no desire to live in that past, if only because I am alive today because of our current medical science and technology.

I have lived in the Great Basin desert for nearly 30 years. During that time, we have used a wide variety of color slide films (also print and B&W films). All films (Kodak, Agfa, etc.) worked for the results I wanted and I agree with David, it depends upon how you want the desert to look. BTW, sunrises and sunsets can be especially spectacular.

Mold has never been a problem with our safes or vault. However, we live in an area where the relative humidity is normally below ten percent. For higher humidity locations, a dehumidifier is strongly suggested. Silica gel, a Goldenrod, or other such device is usually available from the safe companies.

 

There is quite a range of prices for secure containers. Size and level of security strongly affect price. Inexpensive gun safes made of thick sheet metal and set up with key locks are about $80 US.

 

You may want to consider the value of the items to be stored and select the container accordingly. A home security system, safe/vault, dogs, (attack cats) etc. are all layers of a system the burglar must take time to defeat. Most burglars are smash and grab types who will bypass difficult targets.