An Old Woman Tells Me...

T

tedwhite

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Last week an elderly friend asked me to sell her deceased husband's camera collection for her (not much, really, a Pen F, Pen FT, lenses, teles, and a Rolleiflex, the latter I promptly bought). We talked about cameras for a time, and she told me that around 1960, while living in Hollywood, her husband at the time went out for a pack of cigarettes and never returned, a not uncommon occurrence apparently. In order to support her family she took a job at a fancy camera shop in Beverly Hills. She said she had sales ability but knew nothing about cameras and that the owner, recognizing that her good looks and sales skills would make him money, hired her.

She said the store owner gave her a different camera every few days, included its owners manual, and told her to take it home, play with it, read the manual and thus learn it and be able to answer questions about the camera and demonstrate its use. She said she soon learned how to use and demonstrate the inventory.

Most of the store's clientele were rather well off, obviously. One day a woman came in, accompanied by her chauffeur, and said, I'm taking a trip and my husband suggested I buy a camera and take pictures. My friend, sizing her up, showed her a Leica, explained its workings, and stressed the camera's quality, etc. In the end, she managed to not only sell the woman the camera, but several Zeiss lenses to go with it.

The lady paid her, then said, Oh, by the way, I'm going to Paris and Rome, so would you set it for Europe?

Ted
 
The female buyer got confused about the broadcast systems? (Thinking about video cams, no doubt.) She was probably also looking to buy one of these. Hopefully she went with a Sony DSR 570, or better :cool: .
 
For some reason I prefer ASA over DIN and I don't know anything about ISO. I just go by KISS. :cool:
 
He he! :D

"That'll be $10 for the adjustment."

I guess that is where the "more money than sense" comes from.

Drew

P.S. ASA=ISO and DIN has a linear relationship to ASA=ISO ;). Sorry, my brain is still in diffy Q mode.
 
Older cameras have manual "reminder" settings for DIN vs. ASA. The scales are different.

It would not have been a stupid, dumb or unreasonable request back then to ask the salesperson to set it for DIN rather than ASA back when.

This was long before ISO became "literally" the international standard!
 
That reminds me of the person who asked for a "left handed teacup" and the other one who called the mechanic when their car wouldn't start. When told that the battery was flat, they said "O dear, what shape should it be"
 
I am going to be in San Diego soon, any Ideas where the California setting on Bessa R is? I want to take it with me since FSU cameras obviously dont have these kind of settings, because people werent allowed to travel outside of the USSR.
 
I would have loaded the camera with Agfachrome.

Everybody in the '60s knew Agfachrome was best for the Colors in Europe.


In college I worked at a camera shop. One of the salesman dropped a roll of film as he was packing it for a customer. He replaced it saying "Oh, it's out of focus now."
 
I worked in a bar in London that sold snacks. An American tourist read the menu and asked 'Is Stilton english?' When I told him yes he ordered a glass of Stilton.
 
tedwhite said:
The lady paid her, then said, Oh, by the way, I'm going to Paris and Rome, so would you set it for Europe?

Ted
Click to expand...

No wonder my shots are all crap ... where was this tip when I needed it ? ;) That's hilarious Ted.
 
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Circa 1960 the Leica would have been what, an M2 or M3?

Regarding the Olympus Pens. It never occurred to me (Duh) that any RFF'ers would be interested in such an heretical (SLR) camera, so I put them on eprey.

Pen F w/38/1.8 is #7589809449 (no meter, double stroke - I think, seems to be the only way shutter will cock).

Pen FT w/20/3.5 is #7589801951 (has meter, single stroke, half case).

Olympus 100-200/f:5-32 telephoto for Pen cameras #7589795752 - looks new.

Photos are so-so as my son was out of town and I couldn't get into his studio where he has a light box for small stuff, so they were made by fading late afternoon winter light falling on the dining room table. As you can see (if you look) photos of tele lens are a bit off, which taught me the close focusing autofocus limits of the Pentax *ist DS.

People in this small town give me stuff to put on eprey for them occasionally as they know nothing about it and wouldn't have a clue how to do it (not that I'm much good at it, either).

The only thing I am personally going to get rid of presently is a very nice GSN, as I have two. The lens on these cameras is an amazing bit of work.

Ted
 
Ted,

What's the weather forecast for the next five or six days? We arrive at our house in Tucson tomorrow (Thursday) AM.

BTW: might pass through Bisbee one day if we do a day tripper to Nogales, MX. Had fun shooting up the town of Bisbee last trip out in January.
 
George: Pretty much changeless. No rain, 40s at night, high 60s to low 70s days. The only variable seems to be the wind - it either is (strong) or it isn't (nada). No clouds. Forecast shows no change. BYW, Bisbee would not be on the way to Nogales. From Tucson you go straight south on I-19 to Nogales. To get to Bisbee ya gotta go southeast (I-10 to Highway 80) 100 miles.

Ted
 
Ted,

Thanks for info. Weather forecast sounds exactly like we were hoping for - sunny 16! :D

Yes, Bisbee would be a "detour" if we were to head to Nogales. My mother-in-law will be visiting and has gotten rather frail - so she may not be "up" for a walking tour of Nogales - in that case - we might just drive down to Bisbee for lunch and a little "easy" sightseeing.

Have to play that part by ear.

Oh, BTW, is this the week of the gem show in Tucson?
 
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