what waS your last photography related purchase?

IMoL

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I just picked up a fully working (including the meter - not even jumpy) early Nikomat FTN for basically pocket change. It needs a good external clean and new light seals, but I will do that over the next couple of days and test it this weekend.

It must be a pretty early one as the shutter release doesn't have the "external" threads for adding an AR-1 etc.
 

eli griggs

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Good news there, I hope your new canisters will give you the protections you're after.
 

xkaes

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I picked up a Vivitar (Kobori) 120-600mm f5.8/8 zoom a while ago for about $40 -- mint condition in original case. I don't need it, but too good to pass up.

I finally got around to testing it. I wasn't expecting much, but was very surprised. I compared it (wide-open) at 500mm (about f7.6?) to my Sigma APO 500mm f7.2 with a resolution chart.

I was amazed at how good the resolution is -- wide-open. Sure, it weighs almost FIVE POUNDS (half the weight of the Sigma), but it's much more versatile, and worth every penny.
 

eli griggs

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It's always nice to hear of old Vivitar lenses that have good to excellent resolution and are affordable.

Shoot us some pics of shots made with this lens, whenever you've got them; we'd love to see what you've discovered.
 

Mal Paso

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A 26" extension rail for my Cambo SF 4x5 bringing my largest rail assembly to 42". The 600mm will focus to 5 feet and the 1200mm to 25 feet.
I also fabricated 2, 25" stabilizers that clamp between the monorail ends and tripod legs to brace for wind/vibration. Finishing those is what got me to check my watchlist and see that the monorail extension had dropped in price enough to be affordable.
 

Kino

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Nicholson's Peerless Dryspot 5 pack of retouching colors, 3 sable brushes and 4 rolls of 400 Rerapan in 127.

I have never spotted my prints and figure it is time to learn how to do it.
 

Kino

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Don_ih said:
I only spot fb prints. I find rc hopeless. Matt fb prints are the best for spotting.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm... That's too bad. I dislike matt textured paper, but might have to learn to like it...
 

eli griggs

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Kino said:
Hmmmm... That's too bad. I dislike matt textured paper, but might have to learn to like it...
Click to expand...

Your fb papers can be give a beautiful gloss or semi gloss look, just ask that guy and his buddies that are reading this now.
 

MattKing

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Don_ih said:
I only spot fb prints. I find rc hopeless. Matt fb prints are the best for spotting.
Click to expand...

I do almost all my printing on RC, so it was either become okay at it, or give up!
I use Spot Tone pens, and significant amounts of patience!
 

eli griggs

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MattKing said:
I do almost all my printing on RC, so it was either become okay at it, or give up!
I use Spot Tone pens, and significant amounts of patience!
Click to expand...

You can also try Japanese sumi inks instead of the prepaid liquid inks.

With RC prints, some photographers will use a very sharp scaple or Exacto, to scrap away the thinnest surface of the photographic paper which they make sure is free of messy residue first surface debris.

Then, using very fine tipped, loaded brushes of the right colour and colour temperature, retouching is done, with an original, unedited print at hand, to help guide the process.

This method, first used by painters and named in Italian, works in some cases but practice is recommended.

I suggest you sacrifice some RC prints, throw aways are good, and practice by making random tones ready in the above way, and try matching what is still there.

A few sessions should see a improvement in doing this, but don't cheap out with a dull blade and bad Sumi, if you go that way.

Cheers and Godspeed.
 

Don_ih

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Kino said:
Hmmmm... That's too bad. I dislike matt textured paper, but might have to learn to like it...
Click to expand...

Spotting glossy fb paper is fine, just not as good as matt. With rc, I find the fix is so noticeable afterward, I feel I would have been better off leaving the spot. But I'll freely admit I'm no good at spotting rc paper.
 

Tumbles

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I recently got some custom machined parts from S.K. Grimes for my Chroma Camera Snapshot. I had them make custom spacer bars, a rangefinder adapter, and a custom lens plate.

It's taken me awhile to get all parts and lenses together to make it a fully function camera. It has a light meter and rangefinder focusing, so I don't have to carry any extra accessories. I want to make the whole thing self contained. I can actually get accurate focusing out of this 100 year old rangefinder. That's the one thing I had doubts about this whole time.

It's set up for 3 lenses: a 47mm f5.6 Super Angulon, a 90mm f6.8 Grandagon-N, and a 150mm f5.6 Symmar-S, which I plan to use with an 1.33x anamorphic adapter. I haven't had a lot of time to mess around with the anamorphic adapter, but from what I can tell so far is the focusing is tricky, but possible.


 

MTGseattle

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4 used 52mm filters, a used small lowepro backpack and an older Minette cable release (which seems really nice).
 

mshchem

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That's very cool!
 

DannL-USA

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Purchased a Crown No, 4 Tripod and a Packard-Ideal No. 5 Shutter off eBay. They should show up sometime next week. And now, if I can figure out how to mount the shutter to my iPhone, I'll be all set.
 

Kino

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DannL-USA said:
Purchased a Crown No, 4 Tripod and a Packard-Ideal No. 5 Shutter off eBay. They should show up sometime next week. And now, if I can figure out how to mount the shutter to my iPhone, I'll be all set.
Click to expand...
Spot welding and Liquid Nails should fix you up...
 

DannL-USA

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Kino said:
Spot welding and Liquid Nails should fix you up...
Click to expand...

Anything like epoxy . . . sticky and smelly. The camera that's actually getting the shutter (Eastman View No. 2), just arrived from Harrisonburg, Virginia. I'm guessing that's perty close by.
 

mshchem

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I purchased a 50 sheet box of Kodak Ektalure, 11x14. Some of the last of it, G surface, D (cream) base. Dated 12/95, unopened, I'm reasonably certain I can make a go of it. This is my favorite paper, well my current favorite is Fomatone, but Ektalure is a great old time paper.
 

jtk

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Pentax 100/2/8 macro zoom . True macro. Not very utilitarian because it hunts more than I'd like so I rely more on manual focus.

The auto focus function is incredibly accurate when I take the time or when my subject stands still (e.g. not a livin bug or a tiny flower on a windy day). Additionally it's more bulky than I'd like, though it appears to be more rugged than most zooms and 100 degrees can be a hassle. I doubt that any other zoom (or 100mm prime) is as exquisitely "sharp".
 

Andrew O'Neill

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Does shutter repair and calibrating for my RB67 50mm lens count?? Just under $300 Canadian.. $40 for parts which was just a bloody spring, and the rest is labour and taxes... Still cheaper than buying a used one, though!
 
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