A "Should I buy this Bessa" thread

She's probably too old for you AL, but make it a 50mm (f/2 or faster) and we'll think about it. ;P Come to think of it, her family hails from Georgia, so Florida is probably too close to all that. Sorry.
 
DanOnRoute66 said:
I haven't been to Photomark in ages. Good to know they still sell some used stuff.

I wouldn't be interest in the Bessa unless it were an R2S, as in Nikon RF mount.
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I haven't seen any Nikon RF mount cameras or lenses in any of the -3-, er 4 remaining shops that still sell used cameras. Tempe Camera is my favorite for hardware. Photomark is closest to my house and school, so I buy paper, film and chemistry there (or at TC if they don't have it.) Foroforum is still in business, but film is the only thing I ever buy there, except for the one time I needed a portfolio book fast. And then there is the CLassic Camera Clinic (or whatever they call it) up on Northern and 12th St. I've never been there when they were open. They must keep bankers hours.
 
Chris101 said:
I haven't seen any Nikon RF mount cameras or lenses in any of the -3-, er 4 remaining shops that still sell used cameras. Tempe Camera is my favorite for hardware. Photomark is closest to my house and school, so I buy paper, film and chemistry there (or at TC if they don't have it.) Foroforum is still in business, but film is the only thing I ever buy there, except for the one time I needed a portfolio book fast. And then there is the CLassic Camera Clinic (or whatever they call it) up on Northern and 12th St. I've never been there when they were open. They must keep bankers hours.
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Yeah, that's Collectible Cameras on Northern Avenue just a bit east of 12th Street. I think it used to be called Ritz Cameras -- the guy who owns the place is named Sandy Ritz -- but he changed it several years back for obvious reasons. They do close pretty early; around 4:30, I think, and they're not open on weekends.

Are you a teacher? I've been doing substitute-teaching in the Peoria Unified School District since last fall. I've enjoyed it tremendously but, because so many people signed up as subs in this wicked economy, I only got to work about 38 days all of last school year.
 
Yep. At PC, chemistry. That's funny about CC being owned by someone named Ritz! The guy who sold me my D100 at Guild Camera works at Collectible now.
 
The memories are flooding back!

The hours I used to spend with my dad in camera stores when we lived in Phoenix...

My dad used to haunt a studio/darkroom on Dunlap Avenue, can't remember the owner's name...

There used to be a 'huge' camera store either on McDowell or Indian School... I know we used to eat at Bill Johnson's Big Apple on Indian School a lot.

And Guild Camera definitely rings a bell...

And I lived in a trailer park in Peoria for year... one of the best years of my life.

Have not been back to Phoenix since 1987... and then things had changed so much I barely knew my way around. I remember when there was nothing north of Bell Avenue, Rawhide was in the boonies, and Pinnacle Peak Patio was a long way from anything.

Sorry for taking this thread off subject...
 
Substitute teachers are angels! Keep up the good work. Our kids, and us parents owe you a HUGE debt of gratitude! (I'm a regular classroom teacher.)
 
P. Lynn Miller said:
The memories are flooding back!

The hours I used to spend with my dad in camera stores when we lived in Phoenix...

My dad used to haunt a studio/darkroom on Dunlap Avenue, can't remember the owner's name...
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I remember that place! Corner of Dunlap, 7th St. and Cave Creek Rd. (a 5 way!) They had darkroom time for rent there. It closed in the late 80s.

P. Lynn Miller said:
... There used to be a 'huge' camera store either on McDowell or Indian School... I know we used to eat at Bill Johnson's Big Apple on Indian School a lot.

And Guild Camera definitely rings a bell...
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Sunland Camera, Lewis Camers, Wilson Camera ... coulda been any of those. The Guild on Camelback just W of 7th Ave. It went out of biz about 3 years ago when the new "light rail" line was being put in, right through their store front! The owner was in his 80s and decided it was a sign that he should retire.

P. Lynn Miller said:
... And I lived in a trailer park in Peoria for year... one of the best years of my life.

Have not been back to Phoenix since 1987... and then things had changed so much I barely knew my way around. I remember when there was nothing north of Bell Avenue, Rawhide was in the boonies, and Pinnacle Peak Patio was a long way from anything.

Sorry for taking this thread off subject...
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Bell Road is still pretty far North, but there is LOTS of development further to the North, in fact Phoenix is pretty much continuous all the way to Anthem, which they called New River when you lived here. They still call the part of New River that isn't subdivision and mall New River. Rawhide got swallowed by Scottsdale and closed 3 or 4 years ago. Only to re-open South of Chandler on the rez. Everything is the same there. There is development leading up to Pinnacle Peak, but the last time I went out there, it was still on the frontier. Only desert and ranches lie beyond.

Basically we are more a suburb of LA than ever before. I think I started with this thread off topic, so ... no problem!
 
Chris101 said:
I remember that place! Corner of Dunlap, 7th St. and Cave Creek Rd. (a 5 way!) They had darkroom time for rent there. It closed in the late 80s.
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That is it... just west of that intersection on Dunlap, a little hole in the wall. The owners name was Steve... I think. There used to be a 'Jack-in-a-Box' hamburger joint on the one corner of the '5 Ways'.

Chris101 said:
The Guild on Camelback just W of 7th Ave. It went out of biz about 3 years ago when the new "light rail" line was being put in, right through their store front! The owner was in his 80s and decided it was a sign that he should retire.
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I definitely remember Guild, was there all the time. They used to have a big cabinet along the East wall with all the big, I mean big Nikkor telephoto's in it, the old style with interchangeable heads.

Chris101 said:
Bell Road is still pretty far North, but there is LOTS of development further to the North, in fact Phoenix is pretty much continuous all the way to Anthem, which they called New River when you lived here. They still call the part of New River that isn't subdivision and mall New River. Rawhide got swallowed by Scottsdale and closed 3 or 4 years ago. Only to re-open South of Chandler on the rez. Everything is the same there. There is development leading up to Pinnacle Peak, but the last time I went out there, it was still on the frontier. Only desert and ranches lie beyond.

Basically we are more a suburb of LA than ever before. I think I started with this thread off topic, so ... no problem!
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Bell Road!!! not Bell avenue!

We lived in the North, just Southeast of the intersection of Cave Creek and Greenway. The sign 'Welcome to Phoenix' was about mile north of our place, I used to ride by it everyday going to and from school. The sign read 'Population 550,000' the first time I saw it and when I left 'Population 770,000'.

My dad idolised the father and son team of photographers, David and Joseph Muench. My dad's dream was to get an editorial in the 'Arizona Highways'. He also used to work with a well-known photographer who taught at Glendale Community College, the name escapes me.

One day I will get back there... I suppose.

That should take this thread far enough off topic to get me banned!
 
Guild's only been oob for a few years. I was looking for something in one of my 'rarely used equipment' boxes the other day and came across a "Lewis Camera" tag. Remember them? Rural, just north of the river? I will never forget them as the place that tried to rip me off on a Mamiya RB67!
 
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