New York PhotoPlusExpo 2018

GEAR ALERT: I was a bad boy as usual. I just bought a Tower 45/46 (Nicca 5L) out of the RFF classified. This LTM camera from the late 50's features a lever film advance and a M3 style rear door.

I miss my IIIG's (over the years I've owned a few) but I did not miss the bottom loading. Now with having a rear door reloading should be like in a "M."

I get a free Gordy's strap of my choosing, so I'll be trying a vertical mount which utilizes one strap lug and the tripod thread.

This will be great for my black Canon 28/3.5; my 35/1.8 Nikkor in LTM; my 45/2.8 Supper Rokkor; and my Pentax-L 43/1.9.

The Pentax-L VF'er has frames for 43mm and 50mm, but the entire window can be utilized to cover 35mm FOV. Plus this VF'er has a wonderful diopter and IQ like a Zeiss finder.

Anyways this is my new found treasure. Kinda rare and a bit odd.

Cal
 
Range-rover said:
Bring it to a meet-up Cal, like to see it.
Click to expand...

Bob,

I'm really excited. Meanwhile it will be a few days for Gorden to fabricate my "Vertical" neck strap. I suggested adding a wrist loop to the lug end so that it could double as a wrist strap as well as a neck strap.

I like the design of the vertical neck strap that utilizes the tripod mount as the second anchor point. The vertical hang tucks the camera into my body more so I can protect it. Also because I'm so narrow shouldered when wearing a camera using a neck strap bandelier style it is most comfortable as an every day carry. Kinda like wearing a gun.

It is not as small as a Leica III A, but smaller than a "M." Faster loading is a blessing. The black Canon 28/3.5, the 35/1.8 Nikkor in LTM, and the 45/2.8 Super Rokkor are all small lenses.

Also for 135 I'm going all in with Kodak 5222. I'll be buying 400 foot rolls and bulk loading to get film cost down. This film has mucho exposure lattitude and makes great negatives. I shoot it at 400 ISO.

Cal
 
Hi Cal,
I presently have six 400' rolls of XX in my deep freeze. The thousand foot rolls offer no advantage as far as price is concerned.

Since you are in NYC, you could pick it up and save shipping $$$
 
Nokton48 said:
Hi Cal,
I presently have six 400' rolls of XX in my deep freeze. The thousand foot rolls offer no advantage as far as price is concerned.

Since you are in NYC, you could pick it up and save shipping $$$
Click to expand...

Dan,

I figured out that buying 1000 foot cans offered no cost savings too.

A while back I bought this Topcon spooler originally designed to load 250 exposure cassettes, but if I cycle 250 exposures three times I get about 100 foot of film. Seems really easy to respool 400 foot rolls into 4 100 foot rolls in a changing bag.

The cost of film becomes mucho cheap, and 5222 does very well in Diafine. About three dollars a roll.

I also have a triple beam scale and the formula to make ADOX.

Call me a CF but I want to remain shooting film on the cheap for "no-money."

I have not forgotten about Rollie 400S in 70mm either. I get nice negatives at 125 ISO in Diafine. Also about $3.00 a roll of 120 equiv.

I can be mucho happy just shooting these two films. The demise of Acros and the cost of Tri-X pushed me off the ledge. The only possibilities that remain are Ilford FP4 and HP5 in 120. For 135 all I need is 5222. I'm going all in.


I'm in "CF" mode saving every dime and quarter.

Maybe Berger Panchro 400 in 120 if the price is right. P30 is too much money. Too bad. I'm digging in.

Cal
 
jszokoli said:
Cal,

Does this mean that there will a screw mount category at the beauty contest?

Joe
Click to expand...

Joe,

Highly likely. LOL.

Pretty much this Tower 45/46 was a novel enough camera at about half the price of a III G. Also I have considerable LTM glass that is both small and rare to harness. My only big lens is the silver Pentax-L 43/1.9 of which only 800 were made.

I think going "all in" with Kodak 5222 makes an exclamation point to shooting screw mount.

The Pentax-L VF'er has 43 and 50 frames, but if the entire window is used it has the FOV of 35mm. I love this VF'er. It even has a diopter.

The pictures of this camera are still up in the classified's. Also I'm getting a free "vertical" Zoe strap that is both a neck strap and a wrist strap.

"Mucho style," I say.

Cal
 
**GEAR ALERT**
Oh it’s one of those threads...

So, on the way to the farmers market we pass various street junk sellers. It is always pretty much junk, so I didn’t look. On the way back I spotted an OM-3ti with a 28mm f2. I said yes to the price before picking it up. The lens unfortunately had a ‘sand papered’ Front element, so it is shot. The body seemed jammed, until I realized it had a roll of neopan 400 in it on the last frame. I brought it home and did some minimal cleaning and put in a fresh battery. It is perfect!
Price: $15
 
CNNY said:
**GEAR ALERT**
Oh it’s one of those threads...

So, on the way to the farmers market we pass various street junk sellers. It is always pretty much junk, so I didn’t look. On the way back I spotted an OM-3ti with a 28mm f2. I said yes to the price before picking it up. The lens unfortunately had a ‘sand papered’ Front element, so it is shot. The body seemed jammed, until I realized it had a roll of neopan 400 in it on the last frame. I brought it home and did some minimal cleaning and put in a fresh battery. It is perfect!
Price: $15
Click to expand...

Nice Chris that's one of Olympus's best Camera's 🙂
 
CNNY said:
**GEAR ALERT**
Oh it’s one of those threads...

So, on the way to the farmers market we pass various street junk sellers. It is always pretty much junk, so I didn’t look. On the way back I spotted an OM-3ti with a 28mm f2. I said yes to the price before picking it up. The lens unfortunately had a ‘sand papered’ Front element, so it is shot. The body seemed jammed, until I realized it had a roll of neopan 400 in it on the last frame. I brought it home and did some minimal cleaning and put in a fresh battery. It is perfect!
Price: $15
Click to expand...

Christian,

You lucky dog.

Cal
 
Spent a lot of time doing a film inventory, and looking at how to reload/restock.

Pretty much I have a lot of film to shoot and process before starting out with a cleaned out freezer.

I dug out my 45/2.8 Super Rokkor with scalloped focusing ring. I think this is an underated LTM that would sell for double the price if it had detents for the aperture. The lens is small and the single coated rendering resembles a 50/2.8 Elmar.

I figured our how an O-ring along with a 34mm-39mm step-up ring can be utilized to add friction to firm up the aperture setting so it does not float around.

This lens will look boss on the Tower 45/46.

Cal
 
Range-rover said:
Nice Chris that's one of Olympus's best Camera's 🙂
Click to expand...

It’s a seriously nice camera. Compared to the OM4, it is all manual, so the controls are simplified to the ones I actually use. The screen is a stop brighter, and the body is a lot lighter, and it doesn’t have the battery drain problem.
 
GEAR ALERT: I bought an Elpro close up attachment for the 100/2.8 Macro APO-R. Came boxed and is pretty much a Leitz era device that was never used offered at a savage discount over EBAY pricing at B&H.

The 100/2.8 Macro is said to be the sharpest lens Leica ever made, and has APO correction. The focus throw is two full turns to rack the lens stop-to-stop.

For use on my SL and SL2-MOT as a telephoto/portrait lens, but secondarily with the Elpro a digitizer for my negatives. I still have to get the 100/2.8 APO. Filter size is E60, so I need a 52-60mm step down filter ring to utilize my Nikon slide copy attachment.

So now film becomes more important; I already have a film negative archieve of a disappearing NYC that extends beyond a decade; and there is renewed interest in using all my film gear.

Of particular interest is exploiting my Linhof kit that has 70mm capabilities. I was studying my negatives last weekend and it seems like Rollie 400S (really a 160 ISO film; they lied) I pull down to 80-100 ISO using Rodinal as a one shot at 50:1. I get a compensating effect, nice shadow detail, and wonderful mids. I don't think I'll miss ACROS.

The best is being able to buy 70mm double perf 400S for little money (about $3.00 a roll per 120 equiv.), and that I can load 15 feet into a Linhof CINE to be able to shoot a Linhof like a Leica. In 6x7 over 60 exposures, and I even have a rare Linhof CINE for over 120 exposures in 645.

Really cool that with my 53/4.5 Zeiss Biogon I can get a 28mm FOV in 6x7 and a 35mm-43.5mm FOV in 645 by just changing backs.

Also have a 6x9 roll film back to create an ultrawide 24mm FOV using 120 film and a 6x7 roll film back. On top of this I accumulated ten 2x3 Graphmatics for FP4 and HP5 sheet films.

One outlier on film is I love Bergger Panchro 400 at 320 using Ilford DDX.

For 135 I'll be using exclusively Kodak 5222 at 250 ISO using ADOX that I will homebrew, and at 500 ISO with Diafine.

Of course I still have the Plaubel 69 Proshift, my Rolli 3.5F "Whiteface;" and my old Fuji "Texas Leicas."

Cal
 
Calzone said:
GEAR ALERT: I bought an Elpro close up attachment for the 100/2.8 Macro APO-R. Came boxed and is pretty much a Leitz era device that was never used offered at a savage discount over EBAY pricing at B&H.

The 100/2.8 Macro is said to be the sharpest lens Leica ever made, and has APO correction. The focus throw is two full turns to rack the lens stop-to-stop.

For use on my SL and SL2-MOT as a telephoto/portrait lens, but secondarily with the Elpro a digitizer for my negatives. I still have to get the 100/2.8 APO. Filter size is E60, so I need a 52-60mm step down filter ring to utilize my Nikon slide copy attachment.

So now film becomes more important; I already have a film negative archieve of a disappearing NYC that extends beyond a decade; and there is renewed interest in using all my film gear.

Of particular interest is exploiting my Linhof kit that has 70mm capabilities. I was studying my negatives last weekend and it seems like Rollie 400S (really a 160 ISO film; they lied) I pull down to 80-100 ISO using Rodinal as a one shot at 50:1. I get a compensating effect, nice shadow detail, and wonderful mids. I don't think I'll miss ACROS.

The best is being able to buy 70mm double perf 400S for little money (about $3.00 a roll per 120 equiv.), and that I can load 15 feet into a Linhof CINE to be able to shoot a Linhof like a Leica. In 6x7 over 60 exposures, and I even have a rare Linhof CINE for over 120 exposures in 645.

Really cool that with my 53/4.5 Zeiss Biogon I can get a 28mm FOV in 6x7 and a 35mm-43.5mm FOV in 645 by just changing backs.

Also have a 6x9 roll film back to create an ultrawide 24mm FOV using 120 film and a 6x7 roll film back. On top of this I accumulated ten 2x3 Graphmatics for FP4 and HP5 sheet films.

One outlier on film is I love Bergger Panchro 400 at 320 using Ilford DDX.

For 135 I'll be using exclusively Kodak 5222 at 250 ISO using ADOX that I will homebrew, and at 500 ISO with Diafine.

Of course I still have the Plaubel 69 Proshift, my Rolli 3.5F "Whiteface;" and my old Fuji "Texas Leicas."

Cal
Click to expand...
No shortage of gear around your place. KEH has an EX 100mm APO for $1429 to go with your Elpro accessory. Aren't you concerned with vignetting using the 60->52 adapter to your slide copier?
 
ptpdprinter said:
No shortage of gear around your place. KEH has an EX 100mm APO for $1429 to go with your Elpro accessory. Aren't you concerned with vignetting using the 60->52 adapter to your slide copier?
Click to expand...

PTP,

I looked into that last night when I got home. The pupil of the lens is way small on the front of the Elpro, likely about E46 in diameter.

As far as accumulating gear: on one hand I'm known to "day-trade" cameras like commodities: but on another hand I'm a CF and I only buy bargains (gear priced undervalued) that I can easily get my money back or profit.

I also tend to find remarkable gear that is interesting, historical, rare, novel, or in remarkable condition because I'm selective and picky. This pretty much makes purchases a "no-brainer" opportunity and little space for remorse. My fiend John has called my assembly of gear a "Camera Museum."

I owe much of this habit to a guitar dealer named Gary who taught me a powerful lesson. Gary always had interesting vintage guitars that were both rare, novel, or in remarkable condition, but his pricing held a premium. Realize I first met Gary when perhaps I was a 15 year old kid when he worked at Gracin's Music on 48th Street in Madhattan. Years later I would meet him again.

So whenever I tried to get a break on the pricing over the decades, Gary always repeated this, "If you can find another guitar just like this one at a lower price, I suggest you buy it." Gary's lesson was about value added and about premiums people are willing to pay for history, rarity, being novel, an unusual sample, and most of all for outstanding condition.

So now I have an eye for mispricing, and I gauge premium value in my purchases. I would consider myself a patient buyer who lurks and waits. Back prior to 2007 I only had one camera: a Nikon F3P.

Because of the stock market turmoil I happen to be sitting on lots of cash just after oil hit $147.00 a barrel, because earlier that day I sold off all my oil stocks when oil first hit $135.00 a barrel. Pretty much the only difference between my margin account and a hedge fund was a zero; where I only used three to one leverage; and hedge funds used thirty to one.

In a time when there was a cash crunch, I was sitting on a pile of cash, and that is when I started buying Leica lenses, even though I had no Leica cameras. I bought a German version 35 Cron V.4 for $1.2K and a German version 75 Lux V.2 for $1750.00. Realize this was a time when people were selling their treasures to raise cash, and I bought these lenses at a huge discount knowing the value.

It was about a year later after buying these lenses that I bought an unusual Wetzlar M6 that featured oddly a titanium top plate with the Welzlar markings. Even stranger is the serial number pre-dates the limited edition Ti M6 by 5 years, and the base material is zinc and not brass that was used in the limited edition. Evidently I own a M6 prototype, and I only paid $1050.00 BIN from a dealer.

The frame counter did not work. Oh-well. after about a year of shooting this camera heavily the rangefinder went out, and I sent it to Sherry for a MP finder upgrade and an overhaul. I had Sherry remove the 75mm frames also. Know that I still own and shoot this camera, but I ended up selling the two lenses mentioned above at a huge profit. Both were mighty clean examples, held the "German" premium, and are highly regarded lenses.

Kinda like seeing a twenty dollar bill laying on the sidewalk. Do you pick it up?

Cal
 
The Tower 45/46 should be delivered tomorrow. I'm pretty excited. Comes with an interesting Gory's Strap that is both a neck and wrist strap in one.

I took my 45/2.8 Super Rokkor that has this scalloped focus ring to work, and I filled it with an O-ring that gets compressed by this 34mm-39mm Heliopan step-up ring. This lens has no detents for the aprture setting, but this O-ring creates friction to secure the aperture setting. This lens renders like a 50/2.8 Elmar, is heavily built, but small and compact.

I'll be using the external VF'er that came with my 43/1.9 Pentax-L, the only Pentax lens ever made in LTM. Should look mighty evil.

Been obsessing over film, and I decided to think three moves ahead. Ilford has FP4 and HP5 available in 2x3 for my Graphmatics. Also seems to have the good pricing in 4x5 and 8x10. So sticking with FP4 and HP5 has legs for expansion as well as pricing benefit. If I bulk load I can enjoy $3.00 and $3.30 a roll prices in 135.

Then there is Bergger Panchro 400, another film I like that is mighty cheap in 4x5. I get great results with this film using Ilford DDX and get 320 ISO. While $6.00 a roll in 135 and 120, the idea here is don't be a CF, pay the premium/price and go with this film in 120 that has legs in 4x5. Price is $33.00 for 25 sheets 4x5. Cost is $1.32 a sheet, and even less If I bulk up on 50 sheet boxes.

Christian once said when I showed him some of my 6x9 negatives on a light table, "With negatives like these you don't need a 4x5."

I think I'll be going Ilford DDX and ID-11 for developing. Also ADOX for 5222 and Rodinol for 80 ISO FP4 and 70mm Rollie 400S.

Part of life is adapting to change and displaying resilience.

Cal
 
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