fred_haeseker

Great look back as always, Marc! My compact outfit is a lot like Herb Keppler's -- a IIIf with collapsible 50mm Elmar, 35mm Summaron, VIOOH finder and small light meter.

Congratulations, Rick. Great results! Just thinking about fixing a Contax scares me.

<p>David is right. I'm lucky to have the orginal chart for Elektronenblitz, which also specifies the setting of 2. The IIIf (black dial) is one of my favorite cameras to use with interior flash. I use a Vivitar 383 on a rack, bounced with a diffuser fitted. The 1/30 shutter speed captures ambient light nicely and I find the light balance on color negatives pleasing. Another nice feature is the magnifier on the rangefinder, easy to focus in dim light. A great camera.</p>

<p>My father's IIIf is the first sophisticated camera I learned to use. I now have an M4-P too, but I still like the IIIf for carrying around. Very compact with the 50/3.5 Elmar and 35/3.5 Summaron.</p>

<p>At the newspaper where I worked, one of the photographers dropped his Nikon F2 in the Pacific Ocean and couldn't retrieve it for some time. Later he kept it on a shelf in the photo department in a fish bowl, submerged in fresh water.</p>

<p>Same as JDM von Weinberg for the same reasons, although my PC Nikkor is an older model, the original 35/3.5. An old one but a good one, amazingly sharp.</p>

<p>PS to john and others who may be looking for Jon Goodman -- I found a 2015 photo.net thread which also lists Jon's mailing address:<br> http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00dKrZ<br> Apparently he stopped selling through eBay because others were offering inferior kits that were copied from Jon's.</p>

<p>john: This is the last e-mail address I have for Jon Goodman:<br> JGood21967 at aol.com<br> Above may not be current -- it's the address he was using when I ordered my last seal kit, which was back in 2009. Searching through threads at APUG I also found<br /><br> jon_goodman at yahoo.com<br> Jon used to sell on eBay under the seller name interslice. I looked there but found nothing for sale. I hope he is still putting together those excellent kits.<br /></p>

<p>The Bessamatics are great cameras. A few years ago I was given one complete with the three-lens kit and found it was still working perfectly. Even the meter was accurate.</p>

<p>Richard: Excellent suggestion, thank you. I have a well-traveled M with strap lugs that are more than dodgy!</p>

<p>I have the 55mm, 80mm and 180mm Super plus the requisite hoods for my C330s -- a fine combination for me, but it all depends what you want to shoot. My 55m is very good, guess I was lucky.</p>

<p>A great selection from one of the great photographers.</p>

<p>Great b&w shots, Tony! I have the last of the series, an FT3 that I bought new in 1977 and has never let me down. The FT2 and 3 have the advantage of taking the S76 1.5 volt battery instead of the now banned 1.3 volt mercury battery. The FT3 was also the first to be capable of using the AI lenses. I've always liked the location of the stop-down button on top of the cameras. Of course any of the series give the same fine results with Nikkor lenses.</p>

<p>Sort of crude, but it works for me: If there is a large area of sky in the composition I want, I take a reading from a handheld reflective meter (I use a Gossen LunaSix) aimed at something that's close to 18% gray. Make sure the area you meter is in the same light as the overall light of the composition you want.<br> For instance I've found grass is a good equivalent to 18% gray. So is a worn roadway. If you want to be meticulous, use the 18% gray card that should still be available from photo dealers.<br> Another possibility is using an incident light meter. Most good reflective meters come with an opaque white-colored sliding feature for incident readings. Lots of info on the web about how to measure incident light.<br> As others have posted, comparing several meters will drive you crazy. Your results will soon tell you if a particular meter does a good job.</p>

<p>There's also a 55mm for the C330, which I have along with the 80mm normal and 180mm tele. Very nice MF outfit at a comparatively low price.</p>

<p>Any electronic flash with a PC connection can be used. I like the Vivitar 283 and 285. The synch adjustment should be set at X -- M provides the delay needed for flashbulbs.</p>

<p>Hi Raj, The 29mm lens cap should be OK. This KEH ad specifies the taking lens diameter on a Superb as 29mm:<br> https://www.keh.com/264247/voigtlander-superb<br> In any case the asking price is not high. I'd give it a try. (Nice rare camera!)</p>

<p>I wouldn't return the SBOOI. I have an ancient (1930s) 5cm Albada finder I use on a Leica IIIf and a Kiev 4A to shoot moving subjects -- you can keep both eyes open and follow the actopn.</p>

<p>Yes.</p>

<p>I like samples of different designs, so over many years I've gathered:<br /> Nikon FE, Nikkormat FT3, Nikon N2000 + 5 Nikkors<br /> Leica IIIf + 3 lenses, M4-P + 3 lenses (both inherited)<br /> Kiev 4a + 2 lenses. Always curious about the Contax design but couldn't afford a real one.<br /> Mamiya C330s + 3 lenses<br> Rolleiflex Automat + 75mm Tessar<br /> Voigtlaender Baby Bessa 6x6<br /> Moskva 6x9<br /> Crown Graphic 2x3 + 101 Raptar, rollfilm holder<br /> Speed Graphic 4x5 + 127 Ektar<br /> RB Graflex 2x3 + 127 Ektar, rollfilm holder<br /> RB Graflex 3x4 + 163mm Kodak Anastigmat, rollfilm holder<br /> Ansco 8x10 + 2 lenses<br /> All in good working condition. Too many cameras -- no more, the collection is now closed. Meanwhile it's nice to have lots of choices for different occasions.</p>

<p>I have an M4-P, which is identical to the M4 with the addition of 28mm and 75mm frame lines and without a self timer. I find the M4-P an excellent camera and have happily used one for many years with a 35mm Summicron, 90mm Tele-Elmarit and 21mm VC. I think the price for the M4-P tends to be lower than that for the M4.<br> Another difference is that the M4-P was made in Canada instead of Germany, which some see as a minus -- a collectors' quirk?</p>

<p>Me again. I found a scan of the original sheet of instructions for the Auto Up:<br>

<p>Check out Mike Butkus' website of manuals. Nothing on the Auto-Up feature, but the Koni-Omega Rapid is listed:<br> http://www.butkus.org/chinon/koni-omega/koni-omega_rapid/koni-omega_rapid.htm<br> Mike deserves the $3 donation.</p>

<p>My experience with the J-12 (bought new decades ago) has been that the f-stop markings are optimistic by about one stop, i.e. f/2.8 should be marked f/4, etc. This might be just an individual QC issue, but using the lens one stop slower works well for me. Has anyone else had this experience?</p>

<p>Nikon F2</p>