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

[KerrKid]

Another Kodak V35 K12 for 99 cents on eBay. It works!

 

[titrisol]

My oldest friend was cleaning out an apartment in Queens this summer and he came upon a cache of photo gear, which found its way to me. An old fan-fold flashgun, Weston and Gossen light meters, an Agfa Clack camera, a Kodak Jiffy Six-16 camera... and a 1955 Leica IIIf with the collapsible 50mm lens! It's in seemingly perfect condition, I've got a test roll of Tri-X in it now.

Despite constantly being surrounded by cameras of all kinds since infancy, I have never really handled a Leica before. (Both my Jewish parents had served in WWII, and they weren't ever going to spend a cent on anything made in Germany, especially expensive Leicas or Linfhofs. Our photo gear was all American or Japanese.) So, I have spent a long time walking around carrying the camera unloaded, getting used to its even-more-manual-than-I'm-used-to controls. Frankly, with the current state of my vision (*), positioning my eye correctly with the rangefinder is really difficult, even with my better eye. And impossible wearing my glasses. That's a problem.

(* Recent exams found cataracts in both eyes, but they're not advanced enough for insurance to pay for surgery yet; besides that, I've got 20-30 vision in one eye, and 20-50 in the other.)

Is it one of the most historically important cameras of all time and an incredibly gorgeous piece of machinery? Yes! Do I envision myself shooting with it often? No. That is, unless the images from this test roll absolutely blow me away. We'll see.

After a lifetime of using Nikon and Olympus SLRs (and many other cameras, though hardly any with rangefinder focusing), I can't imagine that working this Leica will ever feel "natural" to me at age 68. That's MY limitation, not the camera's. It's amazing.

I got a similar Leica IIIF BD (1951) and lens in the same way
It is an interesting camera, easy to handle and feels nice.
Mine was capping at 500 and 1000 so I sent it out to YYe camera and came back smooth

 

[FriedLouisStudio]

Well, when I got comfortable enough handling it to put a test roll through, my Leica turned out to have problems. The shutter wasn't closing correctly every time, and the frame counter went up to 33 on a 24-exp roll.



And the negs I did get were underwhelming when scanned. To my eye, there's no "unique classic Leica lens imaging" that jumped out as being mega-special. And - no doubt partly because of my current eyesight issues - I never got comfortable with the miniscule rangefinder eyepiece and had difficulty focusing. Actually, despite the obviously amazing engineering and stellar reputation, I just never really got comfortable with this camera. I've used manual cameras for my whole life... but this one's a little TOO manual for me.

I know this is a heretical stance, but I simply didn't enjoy shooting it. While it can surely be repaired, it's NOT worth hundreds of dollars to me at this point. As I thought might be the case, this camera isn't going to be a user camera, but it'll be the king of my camera collection display.

 

[titrisol]

Well, when I got comfortable enough handling it to put a test roll through, my Leica turned out to have problems. The shutter wasn't closing correctly every time, and the frame counter went up to 33 on a 24-exp roll.

View attachment 356515

And the negs I did get were underwhelming when scanned. To my eye, there's no "unique classic Leica lens imaging" that jumped out as being mega-special. And - no doubt partly because of my current eyesight issues - I never got comfortable with the miniscule rangefinder eyepiece and had difficulty focusing. Actually, despite the obviously amazing engineering and stellar reputation, I just never really got comfortable with this camera. I've used manual cameras for my whole life... but this one's a little TOO manual for me.

I know this is a heretical stance, but I simply didn't enjoy shooting it. While it can surely be repaired, it's NOT worth hundreds of dollars to me at this point. As I thought might be the case, this camera isn't going to be a user camera, but it'll be the king of my camera collection display.

I agree with that, I had a Contax/Kiev system which was better IMHO but sold it.

Repair was ~$200 as I plan to keep the camera just for kicks. That is about what I paid for a Voigtlander Vitessa 20yrs ago

 

[FriedLouisStudio]

If I was still working, I could justify a repair a lot more easily.

But I'm retired and running at a loss, so even $200 is simply too much for a camera that - despite its historical importance and beloved reputation - I feel no particular desire to ever shoot with again anyway.

 

[AnselMortensen]

I, too, was given a Barnack Leica with a collapsible lens.
I found it to be a huge pain in the neck to operate, so I sold the body, kept the lens, and used the money to buy a Canon P.
I put the Leica lens on it, and it is a dream to use.
Loads like a Canon Ftb, and has a huge viewfinder with frame lines...and with a Leica lens.

 

[Cholentpot]

I was given a cleanout haul. Bunch of stuff in there that needed to be cleaned up. In the end I got a working Nikon FE out of it. MD-12 is dead but the humorously massive Sunpack 3600 is working too. Also came with a Vivitar 18mm f/3.5 and a 500mm f/8 mirror lens among other stuff.

The FE was a surprise as to how much I like it. It's a diet F3. It seems to me that Nikon over built the thing because it was their first electric camera. So many good features along with things to fall back on like the flip up AI tab, needle meter, little LED battery check light. Not a fan of the standoff meter on advance lever though.

 

[Tomwlkr]

Nikon N90s

 

[Kino]

Selfish bastard I am, I stumbled across this kit in a vintage store. It had been sitting in a closet for many years and required much cleaning and exercising of all components, but it sprang back to life and everything seems to work fine. Always liked the look of these cameras but never found one "in the flesh" until now.

Funny story: the shop owner was present at the estate clean-out and started telling me the former owner was a spy. Supposedly, they found multiple instances of things in her possessions that convinced them she was a spy. I was very dubious, but kept a poker face, because I really wanted this camera. After successfully negotiating a price, they once again insisted the former owner was a spy. Being roughly in the Washington DC area, I said that she might have worked for the CIA or NSA, but I'd be skeptical that she was an actual spy. After getting the camera home, I started digging out the system from the dingy, dirty white canvas bag it had been stored in for who knows how long. I noticed it was a Marimekko bag from Finland; not a cheap bag! But what finally convinced me they might be onto something was a bunch of notes on how to take surreptitious photos and finally, a SAP (leather billy club) in the bottom of the bag!

I have to wonder just how successful one could be taking secret photos with a Kowa Six! It's about as quiet as a Kiev 88 or a Hasselblad 500C.

Crazy.

Life is an adventure. Have fun...

it

 

[Rayt]

Leica IIIF RDST

 

[Donald Qualls]

I have to wonder just how successful one could be taking secret photos with a Kowa Six!

Well, with big film, good timing, and a good lens (and a steady stance or monopod) one could take detail photos from positions that could be mistaken for casual snapshots. A 6x6 is big enough film, Kowa had some good lenses for certain, and a grip and prism setup like the one pictured could readily give the steadiness (as well as accurate focus, another strong preference). So you get a 6x6 frame that looks like nothing special, but there's a 13x17 mm piece of it (same size as a Kiev 30 frame, but with much longer focal length -- capable of making useful 8x10 or larger prints) that includes some critical detail. And the whole while, you look like a tourist with more money than sense...

 

[Sean Mac]

My new to me 5x7 norma

 

[JWMster]

New to me: Mamiya RB67. Love it. 100% manual. But LOVE the lens's ability to separate the subject from the background. More so than many of my other old friends. The question is whether this will replace 4X5 as a bridge somewhere between and whether there is any advantage in portability to a degree that matters: Lenses are heavier, but the whole is more of a package. Time will tell....and ain't that part of the fun?

 

[Donald Qualls]

The question is whether this will replace 4X5

I have an RB67 with 50, 90, 127, 150 soft focus, and 250 mm lenses, waist level, metered chimney, and unmetered prism viewfinders, and (Mamiya and Graflex) film backs for 6x4.5, 6x6, 6x7, and 6x9 (the latter doesn't give much more than 6x7, but the negatives fit standard file pages); also left hand grip, both macro tubes, 2x teleconverter, 0.45x wide angle filter...

It won't replace 4x5 -- my Anniversary Speed and Graphic View II are in no danger of being pushed out -- but the sheer versatility means I hope to have my RB67 kit as long as I can haul the camera and one lens. Not to mention I can shoot a roll of color 120 for about the same money as a double side film holder of 4x5 color, and it's easier to process.

 

[JWMster]

Donald: Thanks for the input. I have a 50 and 180 with the 90 on order, waist level finder and 2 6X7 film backs along with the left hand grip. Thought about the 6X9 sheet film back but information is so scarce on this that I bailed on the idea for now. Likely the 4X5 will get thinned but not replaced, but like you said, the economics are better and the versatility. For 645, I have a Pentax 645N.... and it does the walk-a-round thing a bit better. I bought the RB67 to be complimentary to 4X5 in much of the approach.... only a little simpler.... kind of like a warm-up. I think of the Pentax 645N as pushing me to give up 35mm. Both the Pentax and Mamiya will instead push me to give up the Rolleiflex TLR 3.5F.... which is a sweet piece of hardware but a bit limited.

 

[Robert Ley]

I recently bought my first film camera in a very long time, a nice Nikon F4. I also picked up two lenses, a Nikon AF 35mm f:2 D and a AF 105mm f:2.8 D. I have shot Nikon since forever and have a slew of older Nikon MF lenses and a nice Nikon FA. I shot with F's and F2's and lusted for the F4, but at that time most of my gear budget was for medium and large format. I have to admit that since I got into Nikon DSLR's (D7100 and D600) I really like the AF. My old eyes aren't what they used to be
I purchased the above gear from a couple of dealers in Japan. They both gave great detailed descriptions of the gear and they were very conservative in their ratings and the prices were very reasonable. The thing that amazed me is how quickly the items were shipped and arrived at my house. One lens got to me in 3 days and the other two items came in 4 days.

 

[chuckroast]

Well, when I got comfortable enough handling it to put a test roll through, my Leica turned out to have problems. The shutter wasn't closing correctly every time, and the frame counter went up to 33 on a 24-exp roll.

View attachment 356515

And the negs I did get were underwhelming when scanned. To my eye, there's no "unique classic Leica lens imaging" that jumped out as being mega-special. And - no doubt partly because of my current eyesight issues - I never got comfortable with the miniscule rangefinder eyepiece and had difficulty focusing. Actually, despite the obviously amazing engineering and stellar reputation, I just never really got comfortable with this camera. I've used manual cameras for my whole life... but this one's a little TOO manual for me.

I know this is a heretical stance, but I simply didn't enjoy shooting it. While it can surely be repaired, it's NOT worth hundreds of dollars to me at this point. As I thought might be the case, this camera isn't going to be a user camera, but it'll be the king of my camera collection display.

I'm sort of your evil twin on this.

I just had my IIIf RD overhauled/CLA by YYE and it came back working flawlessly. Total cost with expedited processing and shipping was around $300.

Was it worth it? Not economically. The camera isn't that valuable. But it's worth it to me because I intend to keep it in my rotation of regularly used cameras until I photograph no more.

The "Leica look" varies considerably depending what lens you're using. My uncoated 1945 50mm Elmar has a really beautiful way of rendering specular highlights you will not see in modern multicoated lenses. My 50mm Summicron has a distinctive bokeh and contrast that render even average things beautifully. Both are tack sharp.

The problem is that you cannot overcome the limitations of 35mm no matter what you do. That's why I never made a huge Leica investment. As good as it is, it's not even close to an even OK medium format camera. Still, I love having this old Barnak to carry around for casual shooting.

 

[FriedLouisStudio]

Good for you. Enjoy your classic Leica. Everyone who loves them, enjoy them. But include me out.

It's an amazing, historic machine, but I wasn't comfortable shooting it, nor did I get any "special" images from mine that convinced me it's worth repairing.

Hey, there are plenty of great film cameras out there for all of us - we don't all need to have the same favorites, nor should we...

 

[chuckroast]

Good for you. Enjoy your classic Leica. Everyone who loves them, enjoy them. But include me out.

It's an amazing, historic machine, but I wasn't comfortable shooting it, nor did I get any "special" images from mine that convinced me it's worth repairing.

Hey, there are plenty of great film cameras out there for all of us - we don't all need to have the same favorites, nor should we...

Indeed, there is something for everyone. For example, there are actually people that actually like shooting ... digital of all things!

 

[FriedLouisStudio]

Right. And I've never owned a decent digital camera.

 

[chuckroast]

Right. And I've never owned a decent digital camera.

I actually do own one (a Nikon D750) and I have concluded two things:

1. Shooting digital is a whole lot like shooting transparencies from an exposure management POV.
2. Digital has its own look and the two media ought not to be compared directly. They are as different as oil painting and watercolors.

 

[markjwyatt]

May I ask where you sent the camera for a CLA?

Sorry- I never replied. Ross Yerkes in Los Angeles did it (mine is the VX1000, isn't yours also?).

 

[Kino]

No, it's a Varex IIb, but I wonder if it's in the same family?

Thanks!

 

[Yugtha]

Nikon F3... First new old camera in two years

 

[Sirius Glass]

On the way to me from KEH a Nikon Z7 II body to use with my Nikon lenses. I will have to buy extra lens adaptation plates and software.