Worst piece of photography/darkroom equipment

[Aggie]

I was afraid of all of this. the lens is fixed mounted, and I bet he butchered it in the process of how he mounted it. Oh well off to SK Grimes if the guys around here can't fix it.

 

[razzledog]

Aggie,
you may want to check the view lever isn`t set to the open position, (red dot visible). That will have the effect of not allowing the shutter to fire, it will only remain open for ground glass viewing.
Cheers.

 

[modafoto]

One of my Lomo Cosmic Symbols...

It is too sharp and the distortion is not visible enough...damn!

 

[rbarker]

One of my Lomo Cosmic Symbols...

It is too sharp and the distortion is not visible enough...damn!

A piece of bubble wrap, duct-taped to the lens, should solve that.

 

[modafoto]

A piece of bubble wrap, duct-taped to the lens, should solve that.

Yes, but I have another which is GREAT

 

[Claire Senft]

Beseler MXII

My vote for the most frustrating piece of crap that I have ever owned goes to Beseler and their MXIII enlarger. It is a dog to align and will stay in alignment for all of ten minutes. I also have a Beseler/Minolta 45 A lighthead with it. The 45A lighthead could use more power but in terms of repeatibility has been a wonderful device. The Beseler has been replaced with a Durst 445 that is over 30 years old and has been moved at least four times and its alignment is as good as the day it left the factory...SUPERB.

The worst piece of camera gear I have ever owned was an Alpa 6C. A beautiful, nicely finished camera with its wonderful Macro Switar lens had a terrible film advance system that was completely unreliable. After the fourth breakdown within one year ...approx. 1962... I wrote a nasty letter to the importer...Karl Heitz about how stupid I was to have paid more money for said camera than I would have paid for a Nikon F or a Leica M3... They sent me a new camera body. It was beautiful and it was broken within 2 weeks...Goodbye Alpa. Karl Heitz thought was a fine outfit with which to do business.

 

[Lee Shively]

The motor drive on an early Nikon FM. The satisfaction I derived from smashing it on the sidewalk still makes me smile.

And a siphon-type film washer. It only siphons if the water flow is precisely right. Once someone flushes a toilet in town, it either does not fill or it overflows.

 

[rogueish]

My Nikon F-401x. Actually it may have been me for not doing the research into what kind of photography I wanted to do. The camera works good as intended but does lack functions I want, and has functions I never use. So I guess it's really me, not the camera, but I'll never admit to it. Ever.
I have a 2 bladed Royal easel that has alignment issues. replaced it with a Saunder 4 bladed that also has some issues
A Kodak 2 way safe light with a badly scratched #1 safelight filter. The clip at the top is bent and leaks light and the filter is so dark, (how dark is it) I had to hand hold it close to what I was doing just so I could see. PITA! Also replaced with a dome style that works great!
I also have a Spiratone 50mm 1:3.5 that has a loose f-stop ring. sometimes hard to tell which f-stop it's really at.

 

[roteague]

My Nikon F3. After replacing the system electronics in it 3 times, I just gave up.

 

[Thomassauerwein]

35mm film reels, I hate them! They work , but what a hassle.

 

[Flotsam]

35mm film reels, I hate them! They work , but what a hassle.

I don't mind SS. Me and plastic have never gotten along very well.

 

[eric]

Oh!! I got another one. Those 6 sheet 4x5 sheet holders that you use for 5 gallon tanks. if you agitate a little too much, you'll find some of your sheets on the bottom of the tank when you turn the light on. AND it was in the development tank.

And 2 blade easels. I think they are worthless. Anyone want a free one? Pay shipping and i'll send you mine

 

[Lee Shively]

Another comes to mind. The guy I bought my first Nikon from gave me a Miida 25/3.5 lens for free. I remember how much I liked the wide angle view but this soon changed when the lens elements came loose and half of every frame was out of focus at all apertures. Truly a piece of crap. I'd never heard of a Miida lens before and I've never heard of one since.

 

[WarEaglemtn]

Wisner View Camera... for many reasons from "service" to shoddy construction to falling off the tripod when the tripod mount came out of the camera.

Omega D5500 Automatic controller for dichro color head. I have four of these electronic paperweights if anyone wants one.

 

[Jorge]

Besler bordeless easel.....even new it was a POS.....

 

[Brian Bullen]

Horseman Woodman 4x5! My best description of the Woodman is limp. Weak all the way around, if only the Shen Hao was available when I bought this sucker new.

FOR SALE: Beautiful Horseman Woodman 4x5 made of fine "cherry" wood and handsome stainless steel. Magnificently crafted, made to take years of use and abuse. (Just don't drop the camera from a distance of 1 1/2 feet or higher) Only slight marks and one minor crack where the front standard broke off. Glued professionally and shouldn't affect performance at all. Rear standard has a few "bends" in the metal pieces really insignificant though. All and all like new. $450 or best offer
:rolleyes:

 

[Flotsam]

Horseman Woodman 4x5! My best description of the Woodman is limp. Weak all the way around, if only the Shen Hao was available when I bought this sucker new.

FOR SALE: Beautiful Horseman Woodman 4x5 made of fine "cherry" wood and handsome stainless steel. Magnificently crafted, made to take years of use and abuse. (Just don't drop the camera from a distance of 1 1/2 feet or higher) Only slight marks and one minor crack where the front standard broke off. Glued professionally and shouldn't affect performance at all. Rear standard has a few "bends" in the metal pieces really insignificant though. All and all like new. $450 or best offer
:rolleyes:

No Thanks. I've bad things about them somewhere

 

[Brian Bullen]

No Thanks. I've bad things about them somewhere

Don't believe a word of it, it's really worth that and so very much more.

 

[David H. Bebbington]

Horseman Woodman 4x5! My best description of the Woodman is limp. Weak all the way around, if only the Shen Hao was available when I bought this sucker new.

FOR SALE: Beautiful Horseman Woodman 4x5 made of fine "cherry" wood and handsome stainless steel. Magnificently crafted, made to take years of use and abuse. (Just don't drop the camera from a distance of 1 1/2 feet or higher) Only slight marks and one minor crack where the front standard broke off. Glued professionally and shouldn't affect performance at all. Rear standard has a few "bends" in the metal pieces really insignificant though. All and all like new. $450 or best offer
:rolleyes:

Joking aside, I can't quite understand what you're saying here. Are you saying that the Horseman Woodman is a lousy camera because it broke when you dropped it from a height onto a hard surface? I think all of us have had lucky escapes, but generally you really must expect this to happen, particularly with view cameras designed to be light and portable.

Regards,

David

 

[modafoto]

I don't mind SS. Me and plastic have never gotten along very well.

I use Paterson plastic reels in plastic tanks...works for me. I NEVER get jammed film or uneven development. 1 point to plastic from me.

 

[Adrian Twiss]

Two pieces of darkroom equipment come to mind a) a Jessops hand held vacuum cleaner that had no suction whatsoever and b) the multigraph head on my Durst L1200. It is restrictive, fairly difficult to use and all but unsupported for new paper types. Anyone with an Ilford Multigrade 500H head want to do a swap?

 

[dr bob]

Absolutely the worst equipment in "my" darkroom is the Mate's washer and dryer!

Time for small tank development only - no enlarging while in operation. (They do serve as a convenient table though.)

 

[bobfowler]

I would have to say that the worst piece of photographic junk I've ever had was a CDS light meter I picked up in East Berlin back in 1980. I don't remember the brand, but looked like an Eastern Bloc attempt at a Luna-Pro. The ONLY consolation was that I was able to exchange US Dollars for East German Marks in West Berlin at an incredible rate (about 10 East Marks to the Dollar), so it only cost me a few bucks. That same shopping trip also provided me with one of my best buying experiences, a 20mm f/4 Flektogon in M42 mount, also for next to nothing!

 

[rbarker]

Absolutely the worst equipment in "my" darkroom is the Mate's washer and dryer!

I don't know, Bob. Sometimes they come in handy.
Dead Link Removed

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

And then there was the lens that I hoped would have that smooth classic look, but turned out to be the essence of bad bokeh--

58/2.8 Zeiss Jena Biotar in M42 mount