New Camera, New House, New Test...

bmattock

bmattock

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Jul 29, 2003
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I haven't been able to get online as much as I'd like lately - while settling into my temporary digs in North Carolina, I'm stuck with dialup service. Plus, my wife and I have been spending a lot of time with our realtor, going through houses in the Wilson, NC, area.

We found a house and put an offer on it, which was accepted last week. Now all we have to do is wait for the bank (and VA) approval. This won't be a formality, my credit in the past was not so good, although I've been better for a long time now. We'll see, but at the moment, I'm on pins and needles - it's our first house.

It's a 1923 Craftsman-style Bungalow in the historic district of town.

Now, to the camera...

I have been trying to get my hands on a working Mamiya Super Deluxe, a fixed-lens rangefinder that had that 'atomic age' look to it, and was available with 2.8, 1.8, and 1.5 lenses. I finally found one that only (ONLY!) had a stuck shutter, and after a good working-over with lighter fluid, I got the shutter to start firing again. I cleaned it out as well as I was able, and took it out this weekend to shoot some pictures. Ann-Marie and I went to the Home and Garden show in Raleigh.

On the way home, we stopped a took a few photos of the house we're trying to buy, and also a 'toy' locomotive that the town of Wilson runs for the kids. Ah, small town living...

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

Here's Ann-Marie in front of the exhibition hall. 1/125 @ f8
 
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Ah, poor choice in footwear...my poor wife ended up with blisters on her heels. The price we pay for fashion! 1/125 @ f8. Oh, and by the way, these shots were all taken on Kodak Gold 100 color print film, scanned with a Minolta Dual Scan III.
 
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Ah, nice DOF! Inside, I was able to open up the lens - this is 1/60 @ f1.5. Focus is just where I expected it to be, so the rangefinder is adjusted properly, thankfully...
 
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Fresh fruits and veggies, anyone? An advert for the local farmer's market, looking very edible...yum. 1/30 @ f1.5
 
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Last one...

Here's the toy train. Pretty cool for the kids, but it looks like the adults like it too! 1/125 @ f11
 
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hi bill, nice to see you posting again.
it's nice to find a camera that you've been hunting for. i just got a konica c35, not the most exotic of cameras, but one i have been waiting to get. (a working one, that is), feels good.

that house looks beautiful, i wish you guys luck with the financing. i know what it's like to continue paying for the sins of the past.

the shots look sharp and contrasty with good colour saturation. that fruits & vege one is a knockout!

joe
 
Thanks, Joe!

I hope we get the financing as well - the house is fully restored, all hardwood floors (every room but the kitchen and baths!) and it has 9 1/2 foot tall ceilings, all done up in authentic Stickley style, it's really a winner. I'm all in knots over waiting to hear from the bank... we should hear something preliminary in about a week. Closing is May 21 if all goes well. Man, this waiting is agony!

Thanks also for the kind words on the camera - I like it, but the lens has a distinct tendency to flare out when pointed in the direction of the sun. Such a huge front element, it looks like the Yashica Lynx 14 in terms of the size of the lens vs size of the body, the lens really dominates the camera. It needs a lens hood really badly.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Glad you and your wife made it safely to North Carolina Bill! The photos are nice. The house looks like a winner.
 
Nice pictures, but those f/1.5 shots shows an amazing swirly background blur I've only seen on the Novar equipped Ikonta- is that the subject or the lens? Or me?
 
jdos2 said:
Nice pictures, but those f/1.5 shots shows an amazing swirly background blur I've only seen on the Novar equipped Ikonta- is that the subject or the lens? Or me?
Click to expand...

I think it might be a little of the lens, and a little of the jpeg compression I used, and the fact that I cropped it pretty severely. I reduced the size to 800 x 600 (approx) and then saved so that the file size was under 100k. Let's try this one..

This is non-cropped, resized smaller, and saved at a lower compression. Unsharp mask was applied after resizing. I still see the 'swirls' at f1.5 that you mentioned, but not everywhere. Strange, isn't it? The point of focus was one of the leaves on the plant in the center.
 
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The house looks nice. You will probably get a 30 year loan. Sit on that for 3-5 years of prompt payments, then refinance for 15 years. It won't be much more than your 30 year payments (anything from $125-$200 per month, probably less). Your payments won't be that much more, the term of debt will be a lot less.

Welcome to the world of 56K. :bang: :D
 
Bill, great to see you posting. I've got my fingers crossed for you on the financing. Sounds like a really nice place!

Cheers,
Gene
 
oftheherd said:
The house looks nice. You will probably get a 30 year loan. Sit on that for 3-5 years of prompt payments, then refinance for 15 years. It won't be much more than your 30 year payments (anything from $125-$200 per month, probably less). Your payments won't be that much more, the term of debt will be a lot less.

Welcome to the world of 56K. :bang: :D
Click to expand...

Good advice, thank you! But what is a '56K' ???

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Bill, I think Oftheherd was referring to the fact you are now using dialup service for the internet (as in a 56k modem).
 
Oldprof said:
Bill, I think Oftheherd was referring to the fact you are now using dialup service for the internet (as in a 56k modem).
Click to expand...

Oops - duh! Yes, dialup pretty much stinks. I was pampered in the past - we had high-speed cable modem at home, and most hotels I stayed in when I traveled have high-speed these days as well. We can't even make a long-distance calls from the temporary digs that my new employer is providing us! However, we have a lot to be thankful for - including being employed at all in this economy.

We're hoping everything goes through with the financing for our (hoped for) house, should be hearing something soon. If we get it, Wilson NC does have high-speed cable access via Road Runner, so we'll be back online at a higher speed as soon as possible!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
I just left the world of 56K dial-up myself just a month or so ago. Went with DSL and am loving it.

(Then got a Linksys wireless router a few days later that supports 802.11g so now I'm surfing from the sofa :) )

Once you leave dial-up...you never go back...
 
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