What's your latest new old camera? (Part 1)

[dotyj]

Just an FYI. After running a roll thru the ol' brick I figured out why you see those cocking levers on backwards. I probably have three or four frames that will be over exposed because my middle finger was in the way of its return trip when I released the shutter causing the shutter to stay open longer than needed. I just adjusted mine to be reversed so it points toward the lens......

I think you're right. I did the same thing playing with mine.

Thankfully I didn't have any film in it yet.

 

[smieglitz]

Although I picked this up a couple years ago I've never used it. Yesterday I loaded some film sheaths with FP4+ and intend to expose the first few today.

Eastman #2 whole-plate format (6.5" x 8.5") The lens is a Wollensak Voltas 8x10 triple-convertible (12", 20", 28.5") in Autex shutter. I only have 3 plate-holders that fit although 7 different whole-plate sizes are present in the various film/plate holders shown behind the camera. This camera has lighter wood than the familiar Kodak 2d (d for dark) that replaced it in the product line.

 

[dotyj]

That's pretty cool.

 

[dotyj]

I found out Mr. Baker more than thirty years ago by bitter experience as I've often written on this forum that buying more and more and better equipment doesn't solve the problem and make you a good photographer you can't buy creativity, and most hobbyist own more and much better equipment that the great photographers we all admire ever had that they became legends with.
The problem and sad fact is when a person eventually has all the best and most expensive equipment that their heart desires, and their work is still crap, they have nowhere to go, and nothing to blame.

I will never be a great photographer. Oh sure I'm continuing to learn to be exposure and processing savvy, but I don't have an artists eye.

Still, I like to collect old cameras, I like to take photos, I like processing my own film. Besides, the one who dies with the most camera equipment wins!

 

[benjiboy]

I will never be a great photographer. Oh sure I'm continuing to learn to be exposure and processing savvy, but I don't have an artists eye.

Still, I like to collect old cameras, I like to take photos, I like processing my own film. Besides, the one who dies with the most camera equipment wins!

People can spend their money on whatever gives them pleasure, it's not my place to criticise them but if they spend it in the expectation that owning more expensive cameras/lenses will make them better photographers, they are going to be very disappointed.

 

[dotyj]

People can spend their money on whatever gives them pleasure, it's not my place to criticise them but if they spend it in the expectation that owning more expensive cameras/lenses will make them better photographers, they are going to be very disappointed.

In all honesty I agree.

I've seen this pattern repeated in other pursuits. There's no substitute for hard work and effort.

 

[fstop]

People can spend their money on whatever gives them pleasure, it's not my place to criticise them but if they spend it in the expectation that owning more expensive cameras/lenses will make them better photographers, they are going to be very disappointed.

true, however its takes money to buy good quality equipment that works correctly.I've shot Minoltas for years,can you save money on aftermarket lenses but they are not as good optically or mechanically as Rokkors.
The Rokkors don"t make a better photographer but give me better images.

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Would I do fine using a dented old Nikomat FTn and a lens or two? Sure. A camera is just a light-tight box to hold film and mount a lens to. At least with cameras pertaining to this site. But, now that film gear (especially 35mm) is so cheap, there is a tendency to get GAS and buy stuff that you never were able to afford before. That's part of the reason why I have twelve Nikon film bodies (three not listed in my .sig) and one off-topic Nikon body. Does it mean that I'm going to shoot every camera each time I go out to shoot? Nope. In fact, frequently, I have the D200 with a 24/2.8 AF on it, and whatever film body and a lens or two, loaded up with Ektar 100, Portra 160, etc. I do tend to cycle through the gear. At the moment, I'm shooting a roll of Portra 160 through my FT2. Up next is my very clean-looking chrome FTn with a roll of Ektar 100. Might also whip out the FM2n, which currently has a roll of Delta 3200 in it. I try to avoid spending more than about $120 or so on a camera. Only exceptions as of late have been the latest F2AS and the F5. The F2AS, I did pay cash for, whereas the F5 wound up having stuff traded toward it, dropping the price to $125+tax, from $250. The Nikkormats are very easy to get for cheap. KEH keeps selling them on their kehoutlet eBay store in lots of six or seven, which keep going for $37-$56+shipping. I usually check them out when I get them, part out the duds, fix up the remaining bodies, sell the ones I don't want, and keep the ones I do want.

Anyway, getting back on-topic: Latest is a Nikon EL2 that I picked up for $15. Works fine, except for a slightly twitchy meter, which is probably the FRE being dirty.

-J

 

[benjiboy]

true, however its takes money to buy good quality equipment that works correctly.I've shot Minoltas for years,can you save money on aftermarket lenses but they are not as good optically or mechanically as Rokkors.
The Rokkors don"t make a better photographer but give me better images.

I'm not trying to suggest that people should work with cheap crappy after-market lenses, only that the equipment is only a means to an end, that of making good photographs, not an end in its self, and that once you have reasonable quality gear buying more and more is counter productive.

 

[Yashicano Alemán]

I'm not trying to suggest that people should work with cheap crappy after-market lenses, only that the equipment is only a means to an end, that of making good photographs, not an end in its self, and that once you have reasonable quality gear buying more and more is counter productive.

Ben,

I could not agree more with you. One of my pals on flickr once compared that 'collector's itch' to an addiction, and I guess he's right. At any rate, it's a prestige thing, and a surrogate thing. In the words of German philosopher Erich Fromm, we're basically trying to replace being with having through this constant craving for more and more and still more...

One caveat though; I think by buying into different camera systems you can also--by trial and error, as it were--learn a lot, namely, what type of shooter you are and where your individual preferences and strengths might lie. In other words, how do you know what you're really looking for unless you have the opportunity to give things a try?

Come to think of it, it was sheer GAS, this typical 'must-have' itch, that led me into buying the handful of cameras that I really love working with, e. g., the Kiev 4A (a Ukrainian Contax II rangefinder copy) or, quite recently, the Pentacon Six. When the latter arrived in the mail, a couple of weeks ago, and I unpacked it and opened the viewfinder, I knew immediately, this it it...! (I find myself sort of 'moving back in time' anyway, preferring solid mechanically-operated cameras over gear stuffed with electronic gimmicks, but that's another issue.)

Then came the hard part, that is, parting from some good cameras which I had that collector's pride of owning yet never really got the hang of. And--hooray!--I actually made it, sold off my minty Yashica Electro 35 GX rangefinder and my medium format Pentax 645 which I knew I would hardly ever use again, and was rewarded by a completely new sense of pride, the pride of being reasonable, for a change.

And it is some relief to rid yourself of things you don't need (and even get back the money you invested).

So I've now made a vow to myself (and my wife), saying...

...(1) for each of my five favorite cameras I am allowed one--and only one--backup or organ donor
...(2) for each new camera I acquire another one must go
...(3) every camera I do not use within one year will have to be sold.

I know this might seem pretty childish to some of you, but I guess camera junkies like me must simply learn to discipline themselves, some way or other...


Michael

 

[benjiboy]

Ben,

I could not agree more with you. One of my pals on flickr once compared that 'collector's itch' to an addiction, and I guess he's right. At any rate, it's a prestige thing, and a surrogate thing. In the words of German philosopher Erich Fromm, we're basically trying to replace being with having through this constant craving for more and more and still more...

One caveat though; I think by buying into different camera systems you can also--by trial and error, as it were--learn a lot, namely, what type of shooter you are and where your individual preferences and strengths might lie. In other words, how do you know what you're really looking for unless you have the opportunity to give things a try?

Come to think of it, it was sheer GAS, this typical 'must-have' itch, that led me into buying the handful of cameras that I really love working with, e. g., the Kiev 4A (a Ukrainian Contax II rangefinder copy) or, quite recently, the Pentacon Six. When the latter arrived in the mail, a couple of weeks ago, and I unpacked it and opened the viewfinder, I knew immediately, this it it...! (I find myself sort of 'moving back in time' anyway, preferring solid mechanically-operated cameras over gear stuffed with electronic gimmicks, but that's another issue.)

Then came the hard part, that is, parting from some good cameras which I had that collector's pride of owning yet never really got the hang of. And--hooray!--I actually made it, sold off my minty Yashica Electro 35 GX rangefinder and my medium format Pentax 645 which I knew I would hardly ever use again, and was rewarded by a completely new sense of pride, the pride of being reasonable, for a change.

And it is some relief to rid yourself of things you don't need (and even get back the money you invested).

So I've now made a vow to myself (and my wife), saying...

...(1) for each of my five favorite cameras I am allowed one--and only one--backup or organ donor
...(2) for each new camera I acquire another one must go
...(3) every camera I do not use within one year will have to be sold.

I know this might seem pretty childish to some of you, but I guess camera junkies like me must simply learn to discipline themselves, some way or other...


Michael

I like " replacing being with having " very much Michael it's very apt. even though I have only bought two cameras in the last 25 years I recently got rid of 2 cameras and two light meters that I haven't used for a long time and I found it strangely liberating I now have five Canon FD 35mm SLR bodys, three of which are F1's, that are all in good working order and a set of lenses, my outfit makes sense to me because all the lenses fit and work correctly on all the bodys, and I doubt very much if I will ever buy another camera.
Obsessive collecting like any obsessive behaviour Isn't a healthy thing, and in it's most extreme form can become a mental illness, but I admit I'm not qualified to say at what point.

 

[dotyj]

I don't expect to use every camera I have. I collect inexpensive cameras that appeal to me. I especially like Smana cameras and use them often.

I have a Kodak Tourist that my grandmother gave me back around 1977 and I've only put three rolls of film through it since. But I don't see myself selling it.

Collecting cameras is fun. At least I'm not collecting cats.

 

[-Oy-]

Hi all - new here!

This week added this nice Nikon FA to my collection. Really looking forward to whapping a film through it

 

[MartinCrabtree]

2002 Nikon F5.

 

[Kerik]

Graflex 5x7 home portrait with 300mm Heliar

 

[smieglitz]

Sweet Kerik. What's the max f/stop?

I've wanted one of those ever since I peered through Jamie's that had a 10" f/3.5 Xpres on it.

 

[Zathras]

View attachment 69344

Graflex 5x7 home portrait with 300mm Heliar

Hi Kerik,

How is that BagMag working out for you?

Mike Sullivan

 

[AgX]

Obsessive collecting like any obsessive behaviour Isn't a healthy thing, and in it's most extreme form can become a mental illness, but I admit I'm not qualified to say at what point.

I still can stop when the fun vanishes.
But that term GAS has not been invented for nothing...

 

[Ian Grant]

I still can stop when the fun vanishes.
But that term GAS has not been invented for nothing...

I'd stopped but had to re-start as my wife was pinching cameras I wanted to use (in the UK) to put on display in our apartment in Turkey. The upside was I only paid peanuts (typically £2/$3.10) to replace the recent ones, and I think I've already posted about the bargainRollieflex Automat.

These days I buy at flea markets and camera fairs and only buy when the price is right. Typically a body here @ £2, a lens there at £10 and then I have a camera worth at least £40, or a £2 camera that sells for $70 in the US

The only vice recently has been the5 or 6 British SLRs I've acquired in the last 6 maybe 9 months (all inexpensive) , I don't mean 35mm all pre-WWII one 6x9 made 1929 the rest are larger formats, but then I specialise in restoring Thornton Pickard shutters and supply shutter curtain material to leading US restorers. Somehow I recieved a Compact Reflex Graflex as well - from Paris (France not one of the many in the US).

Ian

 

[unohuu]

Canon P that I bought just a week ago. FP4 loaded.

 

[benjiboy]

I've got rid off everything recently I've accumulated that I don't use regularly again , the last time I did it was over 20 years ago, I've unloaded a Canon A1 with powerwinder A, an FTbn, a Gossen Profisix (Lunapro) and Weston Euromaster meters and a Vivitar 19mm f3.8, 3 canon FD 50mm f1.8 lenses and
I find it strangely liberating to divest myself of stuff I don't use.

 

[GRHazelton]

A Pentax LX in Bargain condition from KEH. The camera does show a little brassing, especially on the self-timer boss, but only a few minor scratches and no dents. Its obviously used, but not abused. (Just like me!) I blew a little dust out of the viewfinder, installed a new battery and was ready to go! The camera included the strap lugs, and cost about $170. When a winder came up at a good price I bought that, also. I just couldn't resist it...Bwahahahaha! This now makes three LX machines in my stable, two with winders. Is there a 12 point program?

 

[nbagno]

My latest is the lovely Fuji Gw690iii. Here it is next to my Olympus EM-5

 

[Lamar]

Two new to me bodies from Adorama arrived today. Black Nikon FM in the original box with paperwork and another Nikon F2, black this time...... and again with a bad meter. I'm 0 and 4 on F2's. This is the 4th F2 that has been delivered with a bad meter. I kept one of the other bodies and sent the finder to Sover Wong for rebuild. This black one is in really nice shape for the price so I'll keep it too and send the finder to Sover.

 

[dotyj]

My latest is the lovely Fuji Gw690iii. Here it is next to my Olympus EM-5

View attachment 69428

Is that medium format?

I know could just look it up.