dennis_gallus

The mill wheel is rusting away<div></div>

The July 4th weekend seemed like a good time to walk around a unique

American village with an American camera. The village is Waterford,

Virginia, est. 1733, and the camera is a plain-as-a-mud-fence '50s

vintage Argus C-3. Although humble in appearance, the camera appears

to have better than average glass.

 

Thanks to a very strong historical society, the village is very much

like it was back in Civil War times, a delight to photograph.<div></div>

Andrew,

 

I posted a collection of Industar 61L/D and Jupiter 8 shots on Monday, I think that they show how well both lenses perform. In a very informal lens test, the Industar 61 was on par with both of my Jupiter 8s at f/2.8, but got sharper than the Jupiters when all were stopped down to f/5.6 and f/8. The Industar needed to have the helicoid re-greased, but all-in-all it is the best $10 I've ever spent on a lens.

 

see photos here: http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder.tcl?folder_id=508649

 

Dennis<div></div>

Chris,

 

These are all very careful compositions, and the camera has the kind of finish to make us all drool. Thanks for sharing, I hope to see more.

 

Dennis

In May, my wife Ann and I returned to Chincoteague, Virginia, one of

our favorite places, for a long weekend. Although I had my Nikon F-3

for telephoto work, a Fed 2C was my fun camera, and I had brought

along both a Jupiter 8 and an Industar 61-L/D. Fujicolor 200 was the

film.

 

Chincoteague and Assateague are barrier islands on the Atlantic coast,

along a major flyway, and less than 200 miles from the Washington D.C.

metro area. Chincoteague is reached via causeway from the mainland,

and there is a bridge from there to Assateague Island. Assateague is

a wildlife refuge and a National Seashore with over 14,000 acres,

countless birds and wild ponies (made famous by Marguerite Henry?s

?Misty of Chincoteague? and the subsequent movie). The area is a

mecca for bird watchers, beach-goers, photographers and seafood lovers.

 

Chincoteague?s true population is about 4,000 people. During summer

weekends, 8 to 10 thousand people visit. During pony penning in late

July, when the local firemen-cowboys round up the wild ponies and make

them swim from Assateague to Chincoteague, the population rises to

25,000, or so the locals say. I recommend you go at another time,

off-season if possible, for a calmer experience of the place.

 

I like the Fed 2 for its solidity, low cost and the availability of

lenses. Mine needed the usual rangefinder adjustments, lens helicoid

lubrication and other tweaking. (You will see shutter tapering on

some of the shots, light on the left and dark on the right. I think I

have fixed this now by re-tensioning the shutter rollers.) The

Industar 22 that came with the camera needed to have the mount

re-shimmed so that lens would focus with the same rangefinder

adjustment as the other lenses I acquired later. Even with this, my

specimen is a true dog. The Industar 61-L/D and both of my Jupiter 8s

are equally sharp at 2.8; the Industar is slightly sharper than the

J-8s at 5.6 and 8. Both Industars have a tendency to flare, even

though I keep a hood on the I-61. The Jupiter 8s are well-behaved and

have nice image quality.

 

Would I have gotten technically better pictures if I had just used the

F-3? Probably. But then I wouldn't have the right to inflict myself

on all you good classic camera folks.

 

We?ve been going to Chincoteague since 1981. I am happy to share the

place with you. For a selection of photos from the weekend, go <a

href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder.tcl?folder_id=508649">Chincoteague</a>.<div></div>

Evgeny,

 

Thank you for your interesting post, I like looking at your photos. Judging by the sharpness of focus, your Cintar lens is calibrated to the rangefinder, and you have a good lens. If you have a problem, it is probably that the shutter speeds are not even close to what is marked on the dial. I've tested three C-3s with my shutter speed tester after cleaning them. The best I can get at the 300 position is about 1/100 second. Yours might be similar.

 

I also find that the shutter release causes some camera shake, but that may just be my grip.

 

Please keep up the interesting posts!

 

Dennis

Gene,

 

When you have to go the extra distance to get such great shots with a primitive camera, you show that the real value is in the craftsman, not the tool. Congratulations on overcoming the technical difficulties and producing shots that we would all envy. Maybe I'll get the old C-3 out again and give it a try....

 

Dennis

Graham,

 

My family and I visited Yorkshire exactly five years ago last weekend on exactly the kind of day you describe. All of the locals were walking around with sun-burned noses and cheeks. Your shots make me want to go back to Britain and hopefully find such good weather again.

 

Thanks for this and your later post, the photos are great. You've got a classic camera that will probably out-perform anything sold today. It's nice to see pictures of places that I would some day hope to visit.

 

Dennis

Jorn,

 

Yes, it is our cabin. It was originally in Winchester, Virginia, but was dissembled, moved to our property and reassembled about 25 years ago. It has two additions. The roof is made of slate tiles, and is one of the few slate roofs in Loudoun County.

 

Dennis

Rainer,

 

My apologies, you are correct. The Agnar is different than the Apotar which I have. My best Apotar is a 50/3.5 which, although a triplet, is outstanding in every respect. Thank you for your close attention to detail,

 

Dennis

Top view. The meter deflects snappily, but the shutter speeds have become uncoupled. Sometimes, even changing the aperture won't move the follower needle smoothly. Now I know that with no more than a Leatherman tool and a 16 oz hammer I could remove the top cover and set all to rights...and then have another non-working German camera. I've been there before.<div></div>

And here's the camera itself.<div></div>

The camera is fun to use, not intimidating to subjects (nor am I, I hope!)<div></div>

The lens doesn't have any major flare problems either, here's a backlit shot at f/4.<div></div>

Here's an early-morning shot at f/2.8; there's plenty of detail there.<div></div>

Agfa made many Silette models, and even a few different LK variants.

Some (like the Super Silette) had rangefinders and either Solinar

f/2.8 or Solagon f/2 lenses. Enrico Barsetti posted some nice photos

from Sweden on 4-25-2005 using his Super Silette.

 

Mine is a simpler variant, with a scale-focus, front-element focusing

45mm/2.8 Color Agnar lens, a nice bright-line finder (of about .6

magnification) and a selenium light meter. The Pronto-LK shutter is

extremely quiet. Camera feel is excellent. Negatives: The counter

counts down instead of up, the body lacks strap lugs and the very hard

gray leather case does not have a removable front flap.

 

In his book on Classic Cameras, Ivor Matanle refers to the

less-than-exciting Agnar lens. Maybe my lens is better than his, I

think results are good even at f/2.8; see below. All photos are on

Fujicolor 100.<div></div>

Gene,

 

Those are terrific shots. You've got a good Cintar there, but moreover you have mastered all the C-3 quirks and gone beyond the limitations to produce superb photos. There are so few American-made classic 35s, I'm glad that contributors to this forum exercise theirs and post pictures.

 

Dennis

Craig,

 

The sharpness and color of those shots is amazing, and the subject is lovely too. Thanks for posting some of the higher-resolution images, they really make the point of what a fine lens you have.

 

Because of your posting of about three weeks ago, I fell off the wagon and acquired an Argus C-4, which arrived yesterday. It looks and tests great right out of the box. I will take some snaps today; hope I get the results you got with yours.

 

Sorry to hear about the unemployment situation, I hope that it all turns out very much in your favor.

 

Dennis

Daniel,

 

What a nice outfit! Thanks for giving it some exercise and posting your results. I've never seen the proximeter attachment.

 

The "feel" of the old Agfas, especially the Ambi-Silette, is addictive, they are tight and solid cameras. My Ambi-Silette is good as new without any CLA'ing at all (although the shutter speeds are a bit slow). I am finishing off a roll in my Silette LK and hope to post soon.

 

Keep on clicking,

Dennis

Sandeha,

 

You really wiped my eye with that shot! Beautiful! You caught the spirit of my somewhat mis-titled offering. That is a beautiful abstraction.

 

 

Thanks for the reponse,

Dennis

Donald,

Thanks for playing. Your image certainly conveys the essence of a thoughtful person. The slightly low contrast conveys gentleness too.

 

Lester,

Thank you for your response and the certificate. Your gesture, plus the quality and sensitivity of all of your PN postings, mark you as a gentleman of the highest order.

 

Sincerely,

Dennis

Mike,

 

You make me want to get out the Mamiya Universal and some B&W film. The tonality and detail of your prints, especially the basilica, are gorgeous.

 

Dennis

I was examining a snapshot-portrait I took of a colleague last summer

and asking what I might remove from the image to improve it. Then I

really took a flight of fancy: What is the maximum amount I could

crop from the photo and still convey the essence of the whole: an

attractive, perhaps mysterious young woman?

 

Here is my attempt in only 4.8 kb, 159 x 97 pixels. (I chose the

dimensions of the crop to approximate the dimensions of the golden

rectangle, 1:1.62. The number phi worked for the ancient Greeks,

maybe it will work here too.)

 

The camera qualifies for this forum, a Fed 2C and a Jupiter 8 at

about f/4. Film is Fujicolor 200.

 

Does anyone else want to play this game? Take a favorite photo,

decide what the subject means to you and then remove as much as

possible and still retain the same essence as the whole.

 

Have fun doing it. I am rarely this focused!<div></div>

Does anyone out there use a Mamiya ZE camera (early '80's bayonet mount)? I have a 28 mm Mamiya ZE lens that I'm not using. I don't have the camera.

 

Dennis

Gene,

 

A great series of shots. I particularly like the use of light and shadow on the last two.

 

Dennis