The Beach Party is back!

Whiteymorange said:

To see him walking around, you have to show up yourself, my friend. Can we count on you? I'll cook your veggie burgers myself!

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You know...I only missed one! ...not really a track record...

So, somehow I feel like I'm blind....

What time does this start? I know you said at "when pigs fly" for breakfast but what time is that? My breakfast usually starts at 11am.... Lol

And if not coming to breakfast when does the event start at the beach house and when does it end (in general).

Thanks.

Good timing. I was just about to bump the thread. Now I can do it with some information.

Breakfast, for those who like that sort of thing fairly early in the day, will be at When Pigs Fly Cafe, in Jordan Village, Waterford, CT at 9 on Saturday, June 21. Please tell me if you are coming for breakfast so I can tell them how many seats we need. It's not a reservation kind of place, I just don't want to sit in a small corner only to find we have a dozen people. I had breakfast there yesterday–still very good.

Shooting pictures in early morning light is, of course, not really all that compatible with leisurely breakfasts, so... if you want to shoot and then meet up, or if you are "lunch is the first meal of the day" type, come to the house directly. 45 Goshen Rd. Pleasure beach (Waterford) CT. the house is on the right at Perry Ave., just at the pedestrian crosswalk (the crosswalk sign is visible before the Perry Ave. sign comes into view). Big, tree-filled yard, small house. Park on Perry or on the lawn. Map attached.

We generally take eating and drinking as full-time activities, so there are no set meal times. Bring whatever you want to burn on a charcoal fire and any special beverage you prefer. I will have some basic beer, wine, seltzer available and other foodstuffs as seem appropriate when I finally get around to shopping. No one has ever gone away hungry from one of these things.

As I have tried to stress, children are most welcome at the cottage. The beach is 1/2 mile downhill from the place and very swimmer friendly. The roads are good for walking all around the area, so take a walk! And be sure to bring your bathing suit or at least some wading shorts and maybe beach shoes for the sandbars and shoals. This is nearby, as is this. The second one requires a steep parking fee, but carpooling there is worth the money. It's about 1 1/2 miles from the cottage. Eugene O'Neil theater and the Waterford Town beach (another great spot) is a tiny bit further away and New London, where the trains and ferries are, is about 4 miles. We can possibly arrange train or boat pick up and drop off if desired by you city or LI folks.

So come one, come all. I will set up a Petzval portrait spot on the lawn and I have LOTS of giveaway and trade materials for a table on the lawn. Box cameras anyone? Old european and Japanese 35's? Stuff? We got stuff! Some people come and don't move all day, some come and go off in search of adventure, some come and spend the day in the sand, getting toasted and soaking their heads in the water occasionally. (No glass, but beverages permitted on beach). If you get really bored, the casinos are about 15-20 miles away, along with another defunct state hospital that I would love to get to shoot.

If you are coming, a PM would be nice, but is not necessary. I understand this may be a "maybe we will" thing. I'd just like to estimate the food and drink needed.

Update on the give-away/trade/whatever table:

I have just gotten another really big box of series and non-series filters, adapters, hoods, etc. for all sorts of cameras. If you come, bring the measurements of whatever you need. They are free for the taking. Honest, it's over 20 lbs of the stuff in two boxes. I also have a few more expensive items that I will put here to see if anyone is interested:

––Polaroid 250 with portrait kit, flash, etc. Good shape- no corrosion at all in battery box. Battery available for $9 on line. Zeiss rangefinder, uses Fuji 100C or 3000B

––sx70 sonar one-step, with telephoto lens

––Various folders of diverse quality- from very good to acceptable. Box cameras too. I'll have a small assortment to see if there is any interest.

I'm thinking $150 each for the Polaroid kits; folders from $15-$40. I also have some brass lenses and assorted "stuff." You know you can never have enough "stuff!" These are PHSNE cameras, so I have to get money for them. I just sold an sx70 for that price the other day here on APUG.

If you bring your 4x5 holders I will give you film to shoot on Saturday (load in a bag- no darkroom at the house). I also have extra cameras for anyone who wants to try them- from toys to RB Graflex's in 2x3, 3x4 or 4x5.

Anything else you need? Tell me in advance, I just might have it and, if I do, it may be a give-away/trade/cheap deal. If nobody wants these things at the cottage, I will leave them home and sell them on line, so speak up if you want me to bring something in particular to look at.

You have a 210mm +- for sale?

I'm going to try and snag this antique view camera from a photo store in my area and bring it with me, it's supposedly 5x7 but the owner doesn't even know for sure, it does look bigger than 4x5 but I have no 5x7's to compare, if anyone would like to bring a few 5x7 holders and some film I would love to take a few images with it if it happens to actually be 5x7. I'm actually really excited about the filters! I have a bunch but need some more for various odd cameras etc.

I'll bring some loaded 5 x 7 holders, maybe even a 5 x 7 back for one of the 8 x 10 cameras. It could be a half-plate camera, Stone, or even a 5 x 8 (less likely) but we'll see. Gene, are you bringing your 5 x 7?

I'll check on the lenses, Drew. I don't know that I have the kind of "instantly usable" lens in shutter that you are looking for, but I'll look around the warehouse–there is more stuff there than you can imagine. I do have the lens wrench there already, so bring that problem lens and we'll finally fix it! I will have a Speed Graphic board with a Copal 1 (1 3/8") hole for you. I'll drill that out today.

Of course, there is an outside possibility that nature will not cooperate with us on that day. Since the house is tiny, the party has to be on a day when we can be outside. I'll stay on top of the weather and call a postponement if it becomes necessary. Right now there is no rain date.

Thanks Whitey!

whitey you might want to bring a few "brands / styles" of 5x7 holders
some of the olde cameras as you know had proprietary holders/light dams
so "normal" / "modern" ones might not work ...

jnanian said:

whitey you might want to bring a few "brands / styles" of 5x7 holders
some of the olde cameras as you know had proprietary holders/light dams
so "normal" / "modern" ones might not work ...

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Absolutely right, John, but I have what I have these days, having weeded out most of those which did not fit my cameras. If they don't fit Stone's borrowed camera, they don't fit. We can shoot them in another camera. Maybe I should search through the different models at the PHSNE warehouse, but...nah, not this time.

Yea, don't go out of your way, it's not even my camera. Lol. It's got a beautiful tiny brass lens though.

I was planning on bringing my Raji 5x7... I could also bring my Kodak 2D if anyone is interested.

I'll bring a camera or two, and probably some 5x7 holders to go along with.

I am looking for 8x10 holders for a camera I will be buying with my tax money. So if anyone has some that would be great, as well as any CHEAP 11x14 for my pinhole camera. I'm not picky about the 11x14 holders at all, but I want the 8x10's to be light tight and in decent shape (but not cost a fortune...)

But yes thanks to anyone who's willing to bring some 5x7 holders (and whitey you're right it could be half plate or whole plate or whatever those sizes are since I don't know to be honest) and could someone bring any spare 5x7 and 8x10 light proof boxes they are willing to give me? I'll need to stock up on those too.

I've been selling off a lot of my gas, but I have a bunch of 35mm stuff to bring and extra 4x5 holders.

midwest photo exchange (mpex.com ) usually has used 8x10 holders that will not break your bank.
call, and ask for JIM, he is the LF guy ( or was for years ) and he will go through what they have, and
make sure you get good ones, not wrecked ones. not sure if you know about bookbinders tape,
they sell it at gaylord brothers (gaylord.com ) it is the best thing for repairing film holder hinges...
( i tried to find the exact tape on their website, but couldn't so if you need it, call them )

It's coming up...! Any places like this near by?

Drew B. said:

It's coming up...! Any places like this near by?

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If by "nearby" you mean cape cod?

StoneNYC said:

If by "nearby" you mean cape cod?

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Well...if I could only get some people down the cape...first the Cafe Chew...then Sandy Neck....

I think we would riot in Australia if we had to have a pass to access the beach!

Not many dunes on the CT shore, I'm afraid, Drew. You'll have to look closer to home, my friend. Barnstable has us beat in that regard.

The beach pass thing is a pain, S M Booth, no doubt. New England beaches are in close proximity to high population centers and many of the people who own property on or near the shore can be quite possessive. CT is not at all like the state of Oregon, where all shoreline is considered state property and free access is required by law–you cannot fence off the beach there either. We should learn something from people like that, and from people like you guys down under...but then, there we have a lot to learn from the other side of the world!

Whiteymorange said:

Not many dunes on the CT shore, I'm afraid, Drew. You'll have to look closer to home, my friend. Barnstable has us beat in that regard.

The beach pass thing is a pain, S M Booth, no doubt. New England beaches are in close proximity to high population centers and many of the people who own property on or near the shore can be quite possessive. CT is not at all like the state of Oregon, where all shoreline is considered state property and free access is required by law–you cannot fence off the beach there either. We should learn something from people like that, and from people like you guys down under...but then, there we have a lot to learn from the other side of the world!

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I agree but also unstable the land owner perspective, people don't respect the beaches and leave cigarette butts and cans and glass bottles and trash and wrappers everywhere... And if I had a house on the beach I would say "hell no" to other people because not enough people have respect for nature or the land and would trash it almost immediately. So I understand both sides.

OK!! Some answers have been solved, I got permission to actually take the camera home, it's in much rougher shape than it appears on the shelf at the camera store.

The camera is a "Premo"

Originally the camera looked to be from about 1890's?



Interior of one of the holders.



But then I looked inside of the actual Darkside and found this stamp



So I guess Oct 14th 1902 is the official date of production?

It's really neat, the back stores a dark cloth and 2 holders, and though I won't fold it up, it folds into a nice box, really nice craftsmanship.



It has rear tilt and front fall and rise.



It's most certainly 5x7, I'm not even sure the shop owner ever opened it up!



The bellows are completely shot, the exterior bellows don't exist and all that's left is the interior cloth. I'm going to try and wrap it in duveyteen to use it as I cannot possibly repair the bellows, it's not my camera.



But I'll be darned if I won't give it he old college try!

The lens is also interesting...



It's "aperture" is a wheel that you rotate to choose the f/stop, and the shutter actually fires, though I haven't found a way to keep the shutter to stay open... Which is a problem...

I can't tell what the 0-5 is unless it's the shutter speed.

The red thing looks like a bulb hose attachment so I'm assuming that the bulb kept the aperture open?

Can anyone bring a bulb and hose??

I've never even seen another LF camera except my modern Toyo45a and the "oldest" lens I own for LF is my 150mm Shneider with a copal shutter, though I do own a few kodak folder cameras with ball bearing shutters, this one you do have to cock.



I'm sure you guys can tell me more about it, I'm going to do my best to try and clean up the optics as it's a shelf camera and hasn't been cleaned in years, I'll be careful of course and use only water, no modern solvents.

Seems it can be used with the ground glass but also has a frame viewer presumably for hand holding? And a distance scale from 7 feet to 100 feet.

So any info would be appreciated but at least I have 2 holders now, though being over 100 years old I'm not sure how light proof they will be... They load very "interestingly" with a spring at the bottom and looks like you just drop the film in and allow the spring to catch the bottom part of the film, doesn't seem to hold it all that flat, but I'm sure at the time it was convenient system.

Let me know stuff

Stone,

The Premo is an interesting beast, a self-casing camera that was the largest brother of a host of smaller versions–of which a 4 x 5 was my first large-format camera. Don't put too much stock in the 1902 date, it's a patent date on many of the Rochester devices, but it could be right. They were quite popular and there are many of them around. Rochester Optical Co. went through a number of permutations, detailed here. The designs were continued by Eastman after he bought the company and produced for many years.

PHSNE has a large number of these types of cameras that are ready to be sold, if anyone is interested. The last donation of cameras included boxes of self-casing cameras.

You won't need a bulb and hose, there is a trip lever on the shutter...have you cocked and fired it? The 1-5 for shutter speeds is a little confusing. I'm used to seeing numbered aperture holes, but not shutter speeds. It won't be accurate to any standard you know anyway, so guesswork is going to play a part in this adventure. I am bringing at least one bulb and hose anyway. Those air-regulated shutters are amazingly strong and long-working, but accuracy is not a selling point.

The holders are made for glass plates, and the spring at the bottom holds those up under a lip at the top. I have some sheaths that will allow them to be used for film that I can bring. Lacking sheaths, you can put in a piece of glass, or plexiglass, and then stick the film to it–Oli used to use jam to do this, others prefer post-it-note adhesive. Duveyteen may be sufficient to block out the light while shooting, it has been used before by many of us who shoot with these old things.

The weather forecast for Waterford on Saturday is for mostly sunny and in the mid 70's–pretty much ideal for the gathering. Of course, weather forecasters are never wrong, so we are all set. Party is on, see you at breakfast...or whenever.