A slight case of GAS

klownshed

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Jan 18, 2012
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Hi,

I'm new to this forum, following a slight (major?) case of GAS...

I started a few months back with an itch to get back into film with an Olympus OM-2. I'd always wanted one of those, ever since my Grandad bought one back in the 70s. He never let me near it!

So, the OM-2 was followed by an OM-1 complete with a selection of Zuikos which started my Olympus itch...

I now have an XA2, which is beaten to hell, but cost me 99p. I've replaced the seals, run a couple of rolls of HP5+ through it, which came out pretty well, so that lead to an Olympus 35RC which I really, really like. I've replaced the seals in that too and have developed my first roll of FP4+ in it, which also came out OK considering it's only the third roll of film I've ever developed.

So now I have a lovely, lovely 35 LC which is waiting for new seals and some batteries and an EC too. Why not? It was less than a tenner in uk money, and is still untested.

I've also picked up a couple more 99p XA2s, one of which is nearly mint. It's a shame the A11 had a corroded battery in it that jammed the battery door shut.

Oh, and an Olymus trip 35. For 99p. Nearly mint! Just loaded with some APX100 ready for a run...

Yup. Got the bug.

A few more recent bargains (some not so much so) include a Konica C35, a Yashica MG-1 (I didn't realise it would b so big!), a Petri 7s and, I'm still not sure why, a Zorki 4.

Oh, and a Lubitel 166 universal.

phew...

Luckily my wife hasn't had me committed yet!

Most of them cost less than £10, the most expensive being the latest and hopefully last acquisition for a while.... An Olympus OM-4 which is yet to arrive.

so far the only one that didn't work fine straight out of the box is the zorki, which I'm planning to send to get a CLA.

THe OM-2, XA2 and RC have had a lot of use already and I'm loving shooting film.

So, who else has GAS? What have you purchases recently and how do you stop? ;-)
 
No idea how to stop. Looks like you're building a nice kit. I'm lusting after a 5x7 field camera & thinking of trying to swap my Bronica SQ-AM kit for a Bessa R - so just keep going! If we're lucky prices will start to rise & we'll be in good shape. Cheers!
 
I've been cutting down on GAS recently, as I've really got everything I need at the minute.

The working condition of each, is a different matter..
 
So far I've been lucky. Every camera I've run a roll through works well...

I have a quit a few more cameras to test though... As I'm trying to use the cameras 'properly' rather than shoot any old test roll, and then I'm developing them myself (which I'm also new to) it takes a while. I'm in no real rush though, and enjoying each camera 🙂

Which is the whole point of it really, isn't it!
 
Had that too. It's fun for a while but what definitely suffers from it is your photography as you end up shooting "test rolls" with different cameras all the time. To make it worse I also tried all kind of different films in different cameras.

So, once you've found a camera you really like, stick to it for a while, use one lens and learn to handle both automatically - it makes a big difference once you operate your tool automatically. Also - especially if you do self-developing - stick to one film for consistency.

Well, all that is if you want to improve your photos. If you just like collecting cameras, there's nothing wrong with that of course 🙂
 
Haha! I'm already making the mistake of trying too many different films!

Ilford HP5+ is the film I've tried the most, but I was given a couple of different films for my recent birthday so I used them as they were there.

I've just bought some APX100 as its quite a bit cheaper than HP5+ so will use that for test rolls, then probably HP5+ as my main film.
 
these are the 2 films i use in b/w as well. i'm mainly into colour slides at the moment, though. and don't get me wrong: it's good to try out all kinds of stuff if you just got back into film, but it's probably a good idea to do it systematically - otherwise you can't tell if it's a certain film you don't like or if it just sat in a camera with light leaks or inaccurate meter for example...
 
I just turned down a very cheap 35 ED. It was being sold as spares or repairs, but probably just needed batteries.

I already have an EC, RC and LC so a 'D' didn't fit ;-)

Maybe the GAS is subsiding. I hope so.

Time to actually use them now...
 
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