Is Brian Sweeney the "Go To" Guy?

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Pecker

Guest
Is this guy the resident forum rangefinder expert? He says he has more than thirty rangefinders!!! (I'll hit him with all of the tough questions :) ) I'd better go check out his gallery.

Pecker
 
There's one guy here who has a freakishly large collection of cameras - he posted some photos of it a ways back and it was astounding.

I would say Brian is the resident mad scientist - if it's a camera, he's taken it apart at one time or another. If he offers a camera for sale - jump on it. I just bought and traded for a Canonet of his and it is awesome.
 
I'd better go check out his gallery.

Pecker[/QUOTE]

Wow Brian, just a couple pictures of Nikki, huh? :) :) :)
 
Yep,
Brian is the "Go To " guy all right. The fellow with the freakishly large collection (just teasing) would be Bill Mattocks. The rest of us make do with our own meager hordes. If there's ever any info you need this is definitely the place to ask, and welcome.
 
Thanks for the welcome. You probably won't hear much from me, I really prefer taking pictures to talking about them (my signature was going to be "shut up and shoot!" but I decided to tone it down :) )

Pecker
 
That's OK Pecker, whether the strong silent type or the friendly outgoing Canon P type (sorry Joe, I couldn't resist) all are welcome here.
 
Pecker said:
Thanks for the welcome. You probably won't hear much from me, I really prefer taking pictures to talking about them (my signature was going to be "shut up and shoot!" but I decided to tone it down :) )

Pecker
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welcome and i look forward to see your gallery, shooter.

joe
 
Brian has my endorsement of being RFF's rangefinder camera expert. How many peopledo you know about the average lifespan of a Bessa R2? :)
 
That's right - Bill Mattock has the huge collection. The pictures of his collection were spectacular - I think when RFF members die, they go to Bill's camera room to spend eternity.
 
JohnM said:
That's right - Bill Mattock has the huge collection. The pictures of his collection were spectacular - I think when RFF members die, they go to Bill's camera room to spend eternity.
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The Valhalla of RF addicts! Where the RF photogs live forever! :p
 
For the new guys - this could happen to you...

Bill Mattocks' Camera Insanity

Believe it or not, my collection has been somewhat trimmed down since moving from New Mexico to North Carolina!

Although...

I have been buying tons of moldy, smelly, old camera magazines - apparently an expansion of my evil addiction into other fields.

I have just purchased my umpteenth 135mm LTM lens - this one a Komura 135mm f2.8! HA!

And I am in the process of restoring a Graflex Speed Graphic (military edition) with a Aero Ektar 178mm f2.5 WWII-era aerial surveillance lens from a K-24. I know, I know, it's been done. But I am doing it too. Sounds like just too much fun!

The sickness spreads...somebody stop me...

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

PS - But I still think weirdcollector has more cameras than I do.
 
Brian Sweeney said:
That would be the "GO TO " guy, one of the last to still program in FORTRAN and Assembly language. (computer humor).

I try to give things my best dumb look. I earned my way through the 1st half of college (late 70's) working in a camera store and the second half of college programming computers in the optics lab. I am still programming computers (embedded controllers) in an optics lab. That makes me the "Mad Scientist". By the time I get home and pick up a camera, I do not want the lens to have been designed with the aid of a computer, let alone a computer be in the camera. Most of my cameras and lenses are from the time when computers were made primarily of glass vacuum tubes and had not yet replaced slide rules used in Ray Tracing calculations.
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Yeah! And although I write perl script all day these days, the wristwatch I wear is a wind-up Elgin WWI-era with a sterling silver case and a porcelain hand-painted dial!

Gotta keep the technology in its place, ya know?

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Brian Sweeney said:
Bill, I will be interested in seeing shots from the Komura Lens. F2.8! I will be getting shots from the Komura 200mm F4.5 back soon.
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I took a chance on the lens on eBoy. The seller had purchased it from Adorama, under the impression that it was a LTM lens - but he could never figure out how the rangefinder tab engaged! I could not see anything sticking out the bottom of the lens in the photos, either.

I got the lens and my first thought was that it was a typical low-end 135mm with a T-mount - and I have a bunch of those - they're fun, but only worth about $10 on a good day.

But then I saw that there is a counter-rotating screw inside the 39mm LTM thread, and it had come disengaged and dropped down inside the lens. The small set-screws around the lens had all been heavily buggered, so I knew someone had been in there more than once, and badly.

I took it apart, figured out how to get the counter-rotating screw to re-engage, and did my best to set it at an appropriate distance for infinity and 5 feet. Seems to be more-or-less dead on according to 'real' distance and the lens barrel distance readout. I found a couple of set-screws from a dead Canon FL lens and put the thing back together.

The lens elements were pristine, that was a nice bonus. I took them apart and cleaned them up to be on the safe side, but they already looked pretty nice. The rim has a dent - takes 55mm filters but can't really screw them on. Haven't tried to de-dent it yet.

I will be using the lens this weekend, perhaps, if the weather is willing. Some color, I think - just to get rapid results and if I don't feel like mixing up more D76 and Fixer this weekend. I'll post something if I get anything worthwhile at all. At 135mm and f2.8, this should be a real bokeh machine, but of course if the focus is off, that kind of spoils it!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Brian Sweeney said:
There is nothing like the satisfaction that a Computer Guy gets than the satisfaction of fixing something mechanical, and being able to fix it without the benefit of the repair manual.

Damn light bulb joke. It only takes one programmer, it IS a hardware problem, and we rarely electrocute ourselves. However that last issue is why they moved to 5v and 3.3v on computer electronics. I have repaired electronic flashes. Made sure the capacitor was discharged on the second one.
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Grabbed the flyback transformer coil wire on a television set once. ONCE.

Cost me 17 bazillion brain cells and all the mathematics I learned in high school, and one year of French. Parley-vous ah, hell.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
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