wvl

<p>Lucky day at the yard sale...<br>

About ten years ago I happened by a yard sale for the benefit of the town library. I spotted a plastic bag containing two Vitessa T lenses, the 35mm and the 100mm. The bag had a tag marked "10". My pulse began to climb as I approached the cashier extending a ten dollar bill. He wrote me a receipt and gave me $9.90 change!!.<br>

I bought a T body with the 45mm lens for $60 from a Shutterbug camera store. I took the completed kit to the next big San Francisco Camera swap and sold the kit at the firfst table for $400.</p>

<p>I am also a fan of the original Vitessa cameras. I have owned and traded, and regretted three over the years. I was stunned by the Ultron/2.0 lens wide open. I found a Focal Press book about lens that rated the Ultron as the number one 50mm. I have had a summicron 2.o and still think the Ultron was better. On vacation in Washington, DC I asked a woman to take my picture with the Vitessa. She exclaimed "this camera is made of metal. I didn't know there were metal cameras!".<br>

I still have the Kontur viewfinder and use it with a Kiev4. The Tumbler? 35/100 finder went with the T kit. Another example of original design.<br>

Bill Lawlor <a href="mailto:wvl194@gmail.com">wvl194@gmail.com</a></p>

<p>Well, the III L is going back to the seller. The shutter sticks and takes 3 or 4 tries to work. It needs a CLA. Film advance is very heavy. I got a few pics with it and the lens is superb! I was going to send it to Clarence Gass for work but now I don't have to.<br>

Today the Aires V with45mm 1.9 lens arrived. Ebay seller expressed it to me from back east. He didn't know if "it worked". It sure does! It's almost new. Just the usual dust and grime found on old cameras, even in a case.Film advance is light, focus is easy, viewfinder is clear, rangefinder is very nice, and the original selenium cell built-in meter is accurate!! Lens is pristeen. When I removed the lens all the surfaces looked factory new. Not even a speck of dust or any scratch. Same inside the camera. I can't see any wear marks in the film compartment or pressure plate. The shutter works like new<br>

I put a roll thu it and will get results tomorrow. Now, where can I get the 35mm and 100mm lenses?<br>

Lucky Bill</p>

<p>Got my III L, it will probably go to Clarence G. Meanwhile, the rewind button dropped out and I can't find it. Does anybody have a spare?<br>

O yeah, Thursday an Aires V with 45mm 1.9 arrives. Can't wait to see what condition it is in. Anybody have V lenses for sale?<br>

Bill Lawlor</p>

<p>I just had to find an Aries III after reading all these posts. Fortunately I turned one up and will be the proud owner in a few days. I was a high school camera-nut in the 50's and fondly remember the great fixed lens rangefinders of the day. Maybe I'll have to retire my Canonet G III QL!<br>

Bill Lawlor</p>

<p>I just had to find an Aries III after reading all these posts. Fortunately I turned one up and will be the proud owner in a few days. I was a high school camera-nut in the 50's and fondly remember the great fixed lens rangefinders of the day. Maybe I'll have to retire my Canonet G III QL!<br>

Bill Lawlor</p>

<p>My uncle had one in the 1950's. He bought it in New York City to celebrate his discharge from the army. The next day he went up the Hudson R. testing the camera. One of those shots of a big mansion was bought for a cover by Architectual Digest. Ever after he laughed at us camera snobs in the family. I guess it is true; F8 and be there.<br>

Bill lawlor</p>

<p>August, what a nice coincidence. I found my CZJ 25/4 Flektogon a few days ago.My lens does not have the zebra markings. It has a nice black leather pebble finish. I had not used it for years.I bought it at a flea market in Rome in 1991 fo $100. Seller had the 20mm too but I couldn't afford two lenses at the time. My camera was a Pentax Spotmatic which was perfect with the Flektogon. I loved the lens for black and white and did great work all over Italy that Summer. It was almost welded to my Spotmatic for many years. Recently I got the old Spotmatic and a few M42 lenses out of storage. The mercury battery is still good!For the first time I shot color with the Flektogon-Fuji Sensia. It is beautiful. I tried the lens on my Pentax K10D with the adapter and it works very well.<br>

The lens is not very common here in California. I never met anyone who had one. Now, I want to get the 20mm!<br>

Regards, Bill Lawlor</p>

<p> </p>

Beautiful work Michael. I am having trouble using M lenses with the K10D. How did you set up the camera? M or other exposure mode? Did the camera meter accurately at all stops?

Thanks, Bill Lawlor

wvl@comcast.net

Tina, I have an Epson 1270, almost the same as the 1280 I believe.I had heavy magenta cast and oversaturation when using my favorite Double Sided Matt paper on the Heavyweight matt selection. Eventually I solved the problem by going to custom>advanced> and entering -15 Magenta and -10 saturation and saving the changes as HVY MATT. Now my prints are right on with my Spyder calibrated monitor. It took five test prints to get the right correction.

Bill Lawlor