brag

[removed account4]

so you have a nice camera, it used to be used by a pro who
shot for vanity fair? you have 8x10 film holders purchased off of
legendary playboy photographers? you have a $80,000 hasselblad used
on the lunar landing? thats great !

what is the least impressive camera or lens you have? not a yard sale find
you bought for like $20 from a little old lady and it is worth $1500 ... but the most
unassuming camera you own, that you use, that is something you don't even think about, it just works.
and if / when it has to go in to be CLA'd, you use another camera and it just isn't the same
as your old dirty boots.

 

[Drew B.]

Yashica rangefinder

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Kodak 35 Rf, 1941.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

Probably the camera I use the most but generally ignore is an Olympus Mju II. I have other point and shoots, but the Olympus is a one hand wonder. I can pull it out of my pocket and take a picture without having to press any buttons to turn it on. The other point and shoot I use the most is a Contax TVS. A better camera for sure, but to use it I need that pesky second hand! I am used to the Olympus now, so other point and shoots annoy me....

 

[Sirius Glass]

Voigtländer Vito IIb

 

[bernard_L]

Voigtländer Vito IIb

Do you have a picture? I know about the VitoII, have a Vito IIa, but am curious about Vito IIb.

 

[BainDarret]

Olympus XA

 

[Sirius Glass]

Do you have a picture? I know about the VitoII, have a Vito IIa, but am curious about Vito IIb.

I forget what the difference is. I knew it a long time ago in a galaxy far away.

 

[Cholentpot]

Voigtländer Vito IIb

Got one of these and use it on occasion. Scale focus with a 50mm can be a challenge.

My brago camera that I love to hate to use is a Signet 50. The lens on mine is very nice and it's kind of fun to use. I had to learn scale focus with this stinker. I got it in a bundle along with 5 or 6 other cameras from a pawnshop for about $40. It's big, it's clunky and every summer I drag it out and run a few rolls through it. I like it but it's really only good for outdoor use. Same goes for my Argus C3s. Pain to lug around due to lack of strap lugs.

 

[guangong]

Retina 1B

 

[Young He]

Qingdao 6. Auto exposure is quite good.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Got one of these and use it on occasion. Scale focus with a 50mm can be a challenge.

My brago camera that I love to hate to use is a Signet 50. The lens on mine is very nice and it's kind of fun to use. I had to learn scale focus with this stinker. I got it in a bundle along with 5 or 6 other cameras from a pawnshop for about $40. It's big, it's clunky and every summer I drag it out and run a few rolls through it. I like it but it's really only good for outdoor use. Same goes for my Argus C3s. Pain to lug around due to lack of strap lugs.

The Voigtländer Vito IIb has a 45mm lens.

 

[Old-N-Feeble]

Hmm... okay...

So we buy a $1500 camera from a little old lady (old widow) for $20.

Should any of us be 'proud' of ourselves for doing such a thing?

 

[Craig75]

Qingdao 6. Auto exposure is quite good.

Never heard of one of those but google is showing me a very devil may care design of the 6.

It also showed me the very pretty Shanghai 58-2 with the word panda written on it and i now want.

 

[Arklatexian]

Hmm... okay...

So we buy a $1500 camera from a little old lady (old widow) for $20.

Should any of us be 'proud' of ourselves for doing such a thing?

Only if she was "pretty boy Floyd's" or Clyde Barrow's mother and he stole it so it did not cost her anything..............As a Texan, I am assuming that you have heard of these two though "Pretty Boy" may have been from Oklahoma.......Regards!

 

[Craig75]

and a pic of the quindao 6 - somewhat gigantic pic but its worth it

 

[Young He]

The 6 is quite an ugly camera compared to my 9x12 plate camera and my Zorki 3, but it works quite well and is pretty ergonomic. The quality is not bad, and the lens seems quite nice.

 

[Craig75]

its a crazy piece of design - i cant stop staring at it. It's business, but what its business is remains cryptic. I dont know whether you'd shoot an ultimate frisbee regional play off competition with it or Paris Fashion week.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Grandad's old Brownie Target Six-20, with a roll of exposed film in it from the 30's. It still takes sweet photos.

 

[Young He]

The 6's design is interesting, but it works. I probably would not use it if I had the time to meter and whatnot for every shot, as it does have some shortcomings. I have some better cameras to use if I'm not taking "snapshot" pictures. It does a great job at being a camera, so I'm not complaining.

 

[Cholentpot]

The Voigtländer Vito IIb has a 45mm lens.

Yep, just checked got the Vito II not the IIb...

IIb or not IIb

 

[AgX]

Probably the camera I use the most but generally ignore is an Olympus Mju II...., but the Olympus is a one hand wonder.

But it takes two hands to open.

 

[Nodda Duma]

My beater is my Seneca No. 2 4"x5" plate camera, bought off ebay for $20. It looks like crap but it works in all the right places. It's the camera I've used to figure out how to make dry plates.

 

[removed account4]

Hmm... okay...

So we buy a $1500 camera from a little old lady (old widow) for $20.

Should any of us be 'proud' of ourselves for doing such a thing?

hi ONF
i don't remember when but a little while ago
there was a thread about the ethics of purchasing
a vintage well loved leica ( or similar type ) camera
from a little old lady who had it in a box on a table
in the front yard for sale for a nominal price, i know
i find it weird that someone would rip a little old lady
off like that, but some people well ... it was a hell of a find !
and she sold me an alaskan whale hunting helmet for 3$ too ...

 

[removed account4]

My beater is my Seneca No. 2 4"x5" plate camera, bought off ebay for $20. It looks like crap but it works in all the right places. It's the camera I've used to figure out how to make dry plates.

i love this ..

i always find cameras to have a mind of their own, and they teach us something we don't expect.
like Mr. Miyagi ( wax on • wax off ) the camera with its quirks and ways it works ( materials as well as mechanics )
... mine is a falling plate(cyclone 3) box camera .. its taught me more about photography shooting paper negatives than
i could have imagined ...