What's your latest new old camera ? (Part 2)

[elcabezagrande]

A Baby Gray Rolleiflex that I bought with part of the money that I received from selling some old early post-war Leica IIIc that was delivered to the US Army of the Occupation in July/August 1945.
I used the rest to buy a Rolleiflex K4 50, and a Nikon F3 with a dented prism.


Baby Gray Rolleiflex by Mike Novak, on Flickr

 

[cooltouch]

Hi

I just bought a Canon 7 on ebay. Looking for a lens now. This will return my love for film photography.

Great camera! One of Canon's finest rangefinders.

The 50/1.4 can be rather spendy these days. I own a 50mm f/1.8 Serenar and I can recommend it for its sharpness and contrast. Both are excellent. But if you're interested in one, be sure to ask about the clarity. From what I understand, this lens has a problem with cloudiness on an inner element, and apparently this cloudiness is not easily removed.

Regarding other focal lengths, often you can pick up a 135mm optic for fairly reasonable, but going the other way, toward the wide end of the spectrum, scant good deals are to be found, I'm finding.

 

[rrusso]

Nikon F4s. My second, after I broke the first one with the bonehead move of the century (long story).

I love these things, even though they're tanks and heavy as hell.

 

[TheToadMen]

Nikon F4s. My second, after I broke the first one with the bonehead move of the century (long story).

I love these things, even though they're tanks and heavy as hell.

I love the looks and handling of a F4s!

 

[Kyle M.]

I ordered a Canon Ftb from KEH the other day, should be at my front door when I get home. It was EX+ with a non functioning meter for $35, an I've got a Canon 50mm F=1.4 lens just taking up space. I've previously owned 2 AE-1 Programs, 2 AE-1's, and 2 T70's, but I've always been more of a fan of fully mechanical SLR's hence my OM-1, Nikon F, and F2, now it's time to try one from Canon.

 

[elcabezagrande]

Honeywell Pentax H3v with a Pentax meter, and 55/1.8 Super Takumar lens. by Mike Novak, on Flickr

 

[JW PHOTO]

Nikon F4s. My second, after I broke the first one with the bonehead move of the century (long story).

I love these things, even though they're tanks and heavy as hell.

I never thought you could break one. Wear it out maybe, but break it? I purchased one a few months ago for a song of under $50.00 from a City in Colorado, which was liquidating some of it's equipment. They had two for sale and I should have bought both, but have far to many cameras right now to begin with. How does it compare to my "all time" favorite camera the Nikon F2AS? It's a Cadillac to use and a Tank to abuse. The extra weight actually helps me since I have tremors. To sum it up....................FANTASTIC camera! John W

 

[Larry S]

Bronica ETRSi, 75mm ETR lens, AE prism and a 120 back.

I was not happy with the AE's LED brightness so bought an AEii with a broken case for £25 and swapped out the guts and put them in the AE's case.

Now I have a near mint, fully working AEii for a really great price!

From this basic kit all that is missing now is an SCA socket dust cover (Cannot find one anywhere, "Hens teeth" springs to mind) and a lens back cover (Which I can get from that sale site, We all know where I mean)

Also I bought a Minolta 800si body to make use of the Minolta fit lenses I have from my old 500si starter camera.

Larry

 

[film_man]

A mint and boxed Canon EOS 1N for £15...

 

[TheToadMen]

A mint and boxed Canon EOS 1N for £15...

Nice!

 

[rrusso]

I never thought you could break one. Wear it out maybe, but break it? I purchased one a few months ago for a song of under $50.00 from a City in Colorado, which was liquidating some of it's equipment. They had two for sale and I should have bought both, but have far to many cameras right now to begin with. How does it compare to my "all time" favorite camera the Nikon F2AS? It's a Cadillac to use and a Tank to abuse. The extra weight actually helps me since I have tremors. To sum it up....................FANTASTIC camera! John W

Yeah, well, me either, but I managed it.

I was shooting some Kentmere I'd loaded myself, didn't secure it to the spindle well enough, and it came off after the last frame. Took it into the darkroom in an effort to save the shots. Fumbled around and poked my finger through the shutter.

Cost of repair would be more than I paid for the camera.

I'm slowly disassembling it, taking my time because it's complicated inside there. I've got the repair manual, so maybe one of these days I'll pick up a "for parts" body cheap with salvageable shutter.

If it wasn't otherwise in such excellent condition I'd sell it for parts. So I just keep it in a box and work on tearing it apart when the mood strikes.

 

[cuthbert]

Found out at the local LEC a Nikkor 300mm f4.5 ED IF, they wanted 200 quid for it.

They also had a Nikkormat FT3 with Nikkor 50mm f2, they sold it for £10 and I was also able to convince them to give a Nikon strap and a roll of Ilford HP5 with the excuse to test the camera.

Both camera and lens are heeeavy.

 

[Nodda Duma]

To compliment the beautiful Nikon above...My Nikon FM3a camera body just arrived in the mail. Absolutely mint. Very nice.

 

[cooltouch]

I ordered a Canon Ftb from KEH the other day, should be at my front door when I get home. It was EX+ with a non functioning meter for $35, an I've got a Canon 50mm F=1.4 lens just taking up space. I've previously owned 2 AE-1 Programs, 2 AE-1's, and 2 T70's, but I've always been more of a fan of fully mechanical SLR's hence my OM-1, Nikon F, and F2, now it's time to try one from Canon.

The FTb is a great old workhorse, but half the fun of getting to use one is its meter. It has match-needle metering, a method I've always preferred. Plus its metering pattern is what you'd describe nowadays as partial. Only the central 12% of the viewfinder is measured, which can be seen by a rectangle scribed onto the focusing screen. I've always found this method of metering to be perfect for shooting with slides where difficult lighting situations may be encountered.

 

[Ricardo Miranda]

To compliment the beautiful Nikon above...My Nikon FM3a camera body just arrived in the mail. Absolutely mint. Very nice.

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I'll point out to you that your "absolutely mint" FM3A is missing the rear eyepiece.
I hope you don't use glasses.

 

[Nodda Duma]

Good eye, Ricardo.

Fortunately those are readily available. The eyepiece hadn't quite shown up in the mail yet.

 

[Sewin]

Found out at the local LEC a Nikkor 300mm f4.5 ED IF, they wanted 200 quid for it.

They also had a Nikkormat FT3 with Nikkor 50mm f2, they sold it for £10 and I was also able to convince them to give a Nikon strap and a roll of Ilford HP5 with the excuse to test the camera.

Both camera and lens are heeeavy.

Hi Cuthbert,

Am I reading this correctly, £10 for a Nikkormat !

 

[cuthbert]

Hi Cuthbert,

Am I reading this correctly, £10 for a Nikkormat !

£11 to be correct, even if I already have enough Nikon bodies and I am looking for a FM2T I couldn't leave it there.

To compliment the beautiful Nikon above...My Nikon FM3a camera body just arrived in the mail. Absolutely mint. Very nice.

Your shoulder will be happier than mine...

 

[JW PHOTO]

£11 to be correct, even if I already have enough Nikon bodies and I am looking for a FM2T I couldn't leave it there.



Your shoulder will be happier than mine...

That's being a thief! A legal thief of course. That's a real bargain. I have a mint Nikkormat FT3 that I don't use, but refuse to sell it for pennies either. It looks so much nicer on the shelf than the wife's knick-knacks and feels better in your hands when I get it down to dust it. All the Nikkormats were great cameras of professional build with the FT2 as my favorite. Maybe the Chinese can help their economy out buy inventing a wi-fi digi pack that fits inside of old film cameras like the Nikkormats and others????? Whoops, I just committed a mortal sin here. Well, it was just a thought! John W

 

[Peltigera]

Just bought a Zenit EM. Actually bought it for the Helios lens but the camera is in very good condition so I might keep it as a user.

 

[TheToadMen]

I picked up a Pentax 110 Auto set and it is as new! I loaded new batteries and the camera works. Also the flash and the motorwind. It's a complete set in the original box. And what a neat camera it is - and tiny. It will fit easy in my pocket. The view finder is perfect for focussing too.

I even got a free film with it so I'll be having fun this weekend.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I picked up a Pentax 110 Auto set and it is as new! I loaded new batteries and the camera works. Also the flash and the motorwind. It's a complete set in the original box. And what a neat camera it is - and tiny. It will fit easy in my pocket. The view finder is perfect for focussing too.

I even got a free film with it so I'll be having fun this weekend.

It is a really nice system that fell into your hands.

 

[elcabezagrande]

Another Nikon F3


Nikon F3 with Nikkor H 28/3.5 by Mike Novak, on Flickr

And a Rolleiflex K4 50


Rolleiflex Automat K4 50 (Borg edition) by Mike Novak, on Flickr

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Over the past four months...



Only body that was not acquired recently is the F2AS. I've owned that one for a while.

The F4 was acquired first in the past four months. Paid $50 for it. Had LCD bleed in the upper LCD, but worked fine. I wound up trading it, plus an FM2n that didn't turn out to be what I wanted, and an 18-55 zoom toward an 18-70 and a 50/1.4 Nikkor-S with AI ring. Surprisingly, got decent money for it, plus the FM2n. Not bad for cameras that I bought for less than $80 each.

The next one was the Nikomat FT2, which was a $45 camera. Needed an overhaul, which I had done. Wanted an FT series Nikkormat body that I could make my "last" one. So, I paid the $170, knowing that I'd never get that back if I tried to sell it. It has been equipped with the earlier "J" screen, which I find easier to use than the "K" especially with slower lenses.

Latest is the F3P. Got that camera for $150, plus $15 shipping. Well-used, but was serviced regularly, being a former Reagan administration press pool camera. Photos in the auction may've scared away other bidders, since it looked like there was something in the eyepiece. Turned out to be an odd reflection.

I also picked up a Spottie II recently. Camera needs to be refoamed and recalibrated to 1.5 volts before I start using it.



Now thinking about adding a black FTbn and black SR-T102 to have the early-mid 1970's consumer-level cameras of the "Big 4".

-J

 

[elcabezagrande]

Yeshiva-Mat EM by Mike Novak, on Flickr

Thank you, spellcheck.