A Rotten Egg Timer

[Roger Hicks]

All right, I only paid a euro for it, but as it didn't work at all, I feel more than a little aggrieved: not so much at the money, as at the fact there are people on earth who practise such petty rip-offs and besmirch the good name of absolutely brilliant products such as the Egg Perfect.

Then I fell to thinking of other useless products, such as the beautiful 6x9cm Voigtlander I bought without noticing that the pressure plate was missing. I was too busy checking the shutter... Once again, it was cheap (maybe 10-15€) but once again it was unusable.So if anyone has a scrap Bessa I, perhaps they'd be kind enough to mail me the pressure plate... What cheap items have you bought (photographic or otherwise) only to find that they didn't work?

There's also a new book review on the site: Tory Heaven by Marghanita Lasky, The Cresset Press, 1948.

Cheers,

R.

 

[charjohncarter]

Yes, I bought (on Ebay) a bellows unit for a Spotmatic. It had such rough thread and finish that I have never used it. I figured it would destroy my camera. But I did buy in the middle 70s a Mister Coffee, coffee maker. It never did quit on me. The crafe' broke after I left it on too many times over night. The next one fail in a month. I won't mention my XKE.

 

[ThreeToedSlothLuke]

My 'Zorro' sword!

Zorro was a fictional character, another masked man (but this time in Mexico) who, having successfully defended some poor peasant would use his rapier to slash a 'Z' in three quick strokes.

Thus when, as a child, I could get such a sword for the princely sum of two shillings plus some cereal box tops, well I kept on about it -- I was only five or six -- and finally my mother, who could really stretch the household budget, conceded defeat and sent of the tops and postal order.
After a few weeks wait the sword finally arrived. All it needed was a piece of chalk in a holder on its tip so as to write the 'Z' and I was away.

So I tried 'slashing' a Z on the house wall and the damn sword broke.

 

[sepiareverb]

Can't delete a duplicate comment on this ipad?

 

[sepiareverb]

My 'Zorro' sword!

Zorro was a fictional character, another masked man (but this time in Mexico) who, having successfully defended some poor peasant would use his rapier to slash a 'Z' in three quick strokes.

Thus when, as a child, I could get such a sword for the princely sum of two shillings plus some cereal box tops, well I kept on about it -- I was only five or six -- and finally my mother, who could really stretch the household budget, conceded defeat and sent of the tops and postal order.
After a few weeks wait the sword finally arrived. All it needed was a piece of chalk in a holder on its tip so as to write the 'Z' and I was away.

So I tried 'slashing' a Z on the house wall and the damn sword broke.

Magnificent. I had a similar experience with my Quisp propellor hat. Fully expected to fly. I've since paid top dollar for proper things.

 

[zuiko85]

A Coleman air mattress. Not cheap, about $130, used once, put away according to the instructions. Got out 14 months later, pumped up only to find it leaked now. Called Coleman, "sorry, out of warranty, nothing we can do for you."
Of course these companies are not real entities, just a name. So it's hard to find someone to grab by the throat and tell them you know exactly when man will return to the moon.

 

[Beemermark]

I bought a 3.5 cm lens for my Aries V at an antique shop maybe 6 or more months ago. Checked the glass out really good. Came home and put it one the shelf next to the Aries. Also came with a 4.5 cm 1.8 with lens caps. Never even looked at the 4.5 cm since I had the 1.5. Decided to sell the camera and lenses a month or so ago and after receiving an offer tried to mount the wide angle on the camera. Oops. No good at all. Took the lens caps off the 4.5/1.8 only to discover some of the mounting screws were missing. Had another RF member buy the outfit at a reduced price, the Aries was a neat RF.

Roger, I'd send you a Bessa I for an autographed book but shipping from the US is ridiculous. I don't understand it. I frequently buy my BMW motorcycle parts from Moto-Bins and shipping is very reasonable.

 

[farlymac]

I had a habit for a long time of perusing the charity shops (Goodwill, Salvation Army, Rescue Center) for any $1 to $3 P&S cams that might be decent shooters. There were quite a few that didn't work, but I figured that was going to happen to a fairly high percentage of them. The ones that did work made up for it. But the one that really got to me was the Canon MC, a little sliding-door type similar to an Olympus XA, only more square and fully automatic. The first one didn't focus, the second one wouldn't work at all, and the third one had so much corrosion inside it was a goner.

But just two days ago, I found a black body Nikon F2AS with the 3.5/55 Micro-Nikkor for $22.00. All I need to do to it is replace the finder release lever with one off my non-functioning DP-2, add some new seals, and it will be all set.

That kind of makes up for that box of junk P&S's.

I did get a timer once that was in the guise of a camera lens, Roger. It was great until the ringer quit working. I opened it up, but the guts of the timer were encased in a steel shroud with everything riveted together, so there was no way to fix anything.

PF

 

[Pherdinand]

Roger, from the looks of it, i expected that egg to show different levels of flotation (and not coloration) to indicate egg hardness... are u sure it was broken?

 

[Big Ursus]

" I won't mention my XKE"
Or my XK120