Hi! I've been lurking around APUG a while, but after watching a member here I know on a non-photo board have so much fun, I finally succumbed. 
So, my Canon A-1 outfit showed up today.... Man, didn't realize how much I'd missed this thing until I got it in my hands. I know its not a "great" camera in the long run, but I grew up on it, photographically speaking.
And this luck-of-the-draw hoping-for-the-best see-what-I'll-get ebay auction turned out a mint (looking) condition specimen with no obvious issues, plus a nice pile-o-accessories. Even has near-mint manuals for every piece. All the seals look great...it's really been cared for. The kind of owner that writes the serial numbers in the manual.
Other than the basic (but lovely IMO) 50mm 1.8, it came with a usable set of non-Canon 28-135mm and 70-210mm lenses, and their matching tele-converters. I'd prefer some different Canon prime lenses but these will work fine for what I'm capable of, getting back into things. (Two of the lenses had hard stuck aperture's... First time I've taken apart a lens, but the 50mm turned out pretty easy to get into and clean the oil on the blades up, and it's nice and snappy now. The 28-135 is going to be a bigger project with the mechanism buried in the middle of the elements, so going to return to that one this weekend.)
Now...just need to see if it really works. Dropped off a roll of snaps on color at the CVS just to see what turns out. (Also talked to the "last real lab in Houston" earlier this week...nice place...spendy, but nice. Also looks like there is still one place left around renting darkroom time.) Normally I've done mainly black and white, but I'd like to try working with some color too.
Sadly, I lost all my darkroom (and camera) gear to a theft and later someone else who didn't pay a storage bill...10 years ago? So I'm starting all over in the non-digital world.
Still. Even the quick snaps I was doing for a test felt like magic. I miss film, I just didn't reailize how much.
So. Hi!
So, my Canon A-1 outfit showed up today.... Man, didn't realize how much I'd missed this thing until I got it in my hands. I know its not a "great" camera in the long run, but I grew up on it, photographically speaking.
And this luck-of-the-draw hoping-for-the-best see-what-I'll-get ebay auction turned out a mint (looking) condition specimen with no obvious issues, plus a nice pile-o-accessories. Even has near-mint manuals for every piece. All the seals look great...it's really been cared for. The kind of owner that writes the serial numbers in the manual.
Other than the basic (but lovely IMO) 50mm 1.8, it came with a usable set of non-Canon 28-135mm and 70-210mm lenses, and their matching tele-converters. I'd prefer some different Canon prime lenses but these will work fine for what I'm capable of, getting back into things. (Two of the lenses had hard stuck aperture's... First time I've taken apart a lens, but the 50mm turned out pretty easy to get into and clean the oil on the blades up, and it's nice and snappy now. The 28-135 is going to be a bigger project with the mechanism buried in the middle of the elements, so going to return to that one this weekend.)
Now...just need to see if it really works. Dropped off a roll of snaps on color at the CVS just to see what turns out. (Also talked to the "last real lab in Houston" earlier this week...nice place...spendy, but nice. Also looks like there is still one place left around renting darkroom time.) Normally I've done mainly black and white, but I'd like to try working with some color too.
Sadly, I lost all my darkroom (and camera) gear to a theft and later someone else who didn't pay a storage bill...10 years ago? So I'm starting all over in the non-digital world.
Still. Even the quick snaps I was doing for a test felt like magic. I miss film, I just didn't reailize how much.
So. Hi!
) I can just dig into the drawer and play with something I already have for a while. 