jon_b.1

It does not really look like a red window leak to me...they show up more as triangular streaks rather than consistently down the side like that, ind the window on your Yashica is in the center of the frame rather than the side. Yashicas are generally not very leaky cameras, and if you are keeping the case on that shouldn't be a problem. If I were to guess, it looks more like a developing error...maybe not enough juice in the tank, and the top portion getting developer only during agitation. I know I've made that very mistake with the same results.

And the Arista film is pretty blue.

I also have a Yashica A...it is one of my favorite cameras. The "red window" film advance is much more dependable than the other Yashica TLRs and it is a bit lighter than the others as well. The shutter button (on mine at least) only takes a very light touch, so camera shake does not seem to be a problem. You will get much more than $70 worth of fun out of it. Another good thing about medium format...snapshot sized contact prints.

I have a Minister III, it is a great camera, but the meter is quite dead. It is fully manual, so I can still use it with a hand-held meter. It has a great feel to it. It has a parralax correcting viewfinder, which is a nice feature.

I bring my 110 film to the local CVS or Walgreen's for processing. It takes a week, though, as they send it out. Walgreen's also sells 110 film under their own brand name. You can also process it by mail from Clark Color, York Photo, Dwayne's Photo, Vermont Color Lab, or Blue Moon Camera.

Love that teapot!

S400PX available here:

http://www.photobattery.com/

Congratulations! I share your enthusiasm about seeing the images on the film, it is quite a thrill. When I first started developing my own I could not believe how easy and cheap it is. I learned it from a Library book. Oh, the money I had spent at photo labs! So far, I've developed hundreds of rolls and only screwed up 2 or 3...over-used fixer. Next I want to get an enlarger and start printing.

I have a Foldex 20 and I have used it to re-spool 120 to 620. It works OK, but there are two problems: The Foldex does not make the tightest wound spools, and also the untaped end gets hung up sometimes (but not always) in the camera on the return trip through. The way I usually do it, is first wind the film through a better quality 120 camera to get a tight wind, then, in the darkroom I will unroll it just enough to find the untaped edge of the film, tape it down, roll it back up, and then run it through the Foldex onto the 620 spool. You end up with a roll of 620 which is taped at both ends, but this does not seem to be a problem.

I still use my Minolta 16 and the film and processing for those went out of production about 18 years ago. I also make my own 828 film for the Kodak Bantam. Probably most everybody, except the die-hard enthusiasts, have already given up on their 8x11 Minoxes. Often, when I am using mine, I will encounter someone who says they have one in a drawer that belong to their Father or grandfather, but when I explain how (and how much $) to get the film and processing, they quickly lose interest. Minox Labs in New York has done their best to kill the format with their high prices and horrible service. There is not likely to be very many "new" Minoxers.

The Sears TLS (made by Ricoh) is practically bullet-proof, has an all metal shutter (no leaky curtains as with cloth shutters) uses M42 screw-mount lenses, is simple to use, and has a somewhat reliable meter (match needle) and can be had on eBay for less than $20. I got my 6 year old started with a simple box camera (Ansco Shur-Flash) and I will let him use the TLS I bought for $10 when he is ready for that sort of thing.

Mine leaks light through the little door on the back for the "autographic" feature. I tape it up with black tape.

You are lucky if your order only took two months. My last (and final) order with MPL took 5 months. Every time I called them they had a "if-you-don't-like-the-service-go-somewhere-else" attitude. I am very happy with the service and quality from Blue Moon Camera.

For processing and printing in the U.S the best place , by far, is Blue Moon Camera in Portland, Oregon. Perhaps they will be able to help you with empty carts...I always ask for mine back and they always return them, and once they even sent me a couple of extras without my asking. They are great folks and very dedicated to Minox. What you might end up doing, though, is buying your first few rolls new and re-using those carts. Blue Moon is also the only place I know that still processes Minolta 16.

If you want to shoot pack film The EE100, "Reporter", and ProPack models all use AA batteries available anywhere. They do not have a rangefinder, so you need to be pretty good at guessing distance, and they can have pretty leaky bellows. If a $15 battery is all thats keeping you from using a camera you already have, that might be the way to go.

#3 is great!

Blue Moon Camera in Portland Oregon sells film and processes via mail order. (bluemooncamera.com) The quality and service there is great, and they are very dedicated to Minox. The service at Minox Labs in new York is horrible. The last roll of film I sent them took over 5 months to develop, and when I would call to ask the status their attitude was "if you don't like the service go somewhere else."

I like the softness. It is a great shot. It is very wise to pay a little bit more for something that is film tested and in good working order, rather than gamble your money away on as-is eBay buys.

I tried to get my 6 year old son started with the Holga, but the shutter button was too hard for him to press. He uses my Rollei 35 sometimes, which fits his hands better, but he can only use it with my supervision. The SLRs are a bit heavy for him. He has a cheap point-and-shoot of his own and seems to take good care of it, so I will keep an eye out for a cheap rangefinder. He always requests Black & white film. I got my first camera...a used Brownie Holiday...when I was about his age, and still have one picture from my first roll of film. I hope to keep him a film photographer as long as possible!

A few more frames from my found Minox film. What is this box camera? It seems to

have a box-like thing in front of the lens. Also, can anyone tell if that is a

real Oscar? It smells fake to me. In another frame there was a can of "Tab" on

the desk, so he or she was definitely on a diet.<div></div>

About 3 years ago I bought a Minox B, which had a roll of film still in it. It

was one of the older metal cartridges, which haven't been made for years. I

never developed the film, as I only recently started developing my own, and

until yesterday I did not have a Minox tank. I don't know what type film it was,

so I just guessed at 6 minutes in T-Max developer. About 20 of the 50 images

survived (they also haven't made the 50 exposure film for a while) and this was

my favorite one. She looks like her name would be Judi, or Terri, or Kathi, and

she no doubt dotted the i with a flower or happy-face. Hopefully I can get a

friend to help fix her chin in Photo Shop, but for now I present her to you

as-is. There were some pictures with cars, and the newest one was a 67 Camaro,

so the film was no older than that. There was also a picture of an odd box

camera on a desk, which I will post after I get a decent scan of it.<div></div>

120 and 127 films are quite different and are not interchangeable. You can get 127 from Freestyle Photo for $3.99 a roll. If you do not develop your own, send it to Vermont Color Lab or Dwayne's Photo. Penlight batteries are AA. The flashbulbs, however, are obsolete and have not been made for a while. Flashbulbs only worked one time and then were thrown away. You can get them sometimes on eBay or at camera shows, but they can be a bit pricey, especially for something expendable. The camera will work fine without the flash outdoors in the daylight. And you are NOT a moron.

When I was in high school in the 1970's I saved the money I made from mowing lawns and shoveling snow and bought a Rollei 35. I shot mostly Kodachrome25 or Panatomic-X and became very good at judging distance, as the Rollei does not have a rangefinder. A few years later I took a photography course which required me to have an SLR. I argued and argued to let me take the course with the Rollei, but the teacher would not relent, so I traded it in on a used Nikkormat. Looking back I realize the Rollei would have worked just as well for the course.

If you are interested in seeing the rest of the salvaged images, I have posted them on my Flickr page:

First let me just say this: Gene M. makes this look easy. Since following his

posts I've been developing the film I find in old cameras, but usually the

images have not survived the years. What a thrill, though, when you see images

poking through the black negatives. A few months ago I found a Pho-Tak Traveler

120 which came with 2 boxes of Var-I-Pan film expired in 1968. Today, for a

lark, I thought I would shoot the old film, when I discovered that the rolls had

already been exposed and put back in the boxes! All of the shots were quite

blurry, and most are of things we've seen before...people at the table smoking

cigarettes, mom and the dog, dad and the car...but this one sure caught my eye:<div></div>

The square film was discontinued recently, but your local camera store may still have some on the shelf. Flashcubes have not been made for years, but can be found on eBay. You won't need them outdoors in daylight, anyway. Batteries, should just be AA on that model, are required in almost all Polaroid cameras for the shutter to work. They are fun to use, and if you can find a few packs of film you will get your money's worth. It will have little or no value when the film vanishes from the shelves. I hope this helps.