Time to take inventory

Jo, congrats on the CL. Wanna see it next to a cup of Java ;)

Have you taken it out for a spin yet and if so how was it?
 
oh man rover, and i don't even drink!
i completely misread that post.

was this a post re. 'summer' purchases or for the past year?
i may have added too much to my list if that was the case.

i gotta slow down the reading and up the comprehension.

joe
 
Doug said:
No additional cameras for me either, though I did discover a "treasure" in a bag of junk cameras my wife bought a couple years ago for theatre props... Kodak Junior 620 folding 6x9. Had it CLA'd, need to get a roll of 620 for it.
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Doug,

You are aware of the many creative ways that 120 rollfilm can be used in a 620 camera, yes? One of the best is to get yourself a Rollex 620 camera on eBoy for about $5 - make sure it has the 620 empty spool inside. Roll a 120 onto another 120 inside the camera (don't bother taking photos, obviously), then put the 620 spool in and roll again. Now your 120 film is on a 620 spool and you can use it in your Kodak Jr. Do the same thing when you turn the film in, and you can turn it in on a 120 spool, so you don't lose your 620 spool. Buy a couple of spare 620 spools on eBoy and you're all set.

Lots of websites out there describe it better than I could.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
I had thinned out the inventory before we moved this spring and sold most of my Yashica collection, the Mamiya 6 and my CL. I figured that I had what I needed in usable cameras. Then sitting home one day just trolling through the internet I found a store in the UK with a Plaubel Makina 670 that they described as excellent. After a couple of e-mails and some pictures, I bought it. My only regret is not doing it when the GBP was only worth $1.40

Gerry
 
Gerry, have you received the Plaubel yet?

It's an intriguing camera but I was always afraid of the problem with the thongs on it.
 
Brian - "Chrome GTN"???

I, personally, bought this summer my first rangefinder:) a yashica gsn. And my second one too:) a non-working canonet 28, which works now in auto mode (in aperture priority it only works with the 1/30s speed). The latter i got it for the shipping costs only, and wanted to "check what's in there"...

And i seriousl thought of a bessa r + cv 35/2.5 ...but i resisted! :D
Oh, and I also bought an orange filter for my rolleicord;)
Finally, i am waiting for the delivery of a few 5-packs of 135 fuji nph (2 euro / roll) with the expiry date being this month...
That's all! Not much, i know, and i'm proud of that!
 
rsilfverberg said:
Jo, congrats on the CL. Wanna see it next to a cup of Java ;)

Have you taken it out for a spin yet and if so how was it?
Click to expand...

Thanks Richard ! Would it be fine next to a Murphy's pint ? :D

A couple of walks so far but were those occasions when interesting scenes seem to hide from me :)

Impression so far, an astonishingly bright finder, very smooth winding, great shutter release 'touch', pretty quiet shutter, and seeing that TTL meter needle moving in the finder is somewhat... new for me :)

It took me two weeks to finish my last XP2 roll, I guess I'm not a very fast shooter :p
 
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Re: Plaubel

Re: Plaubel

FrankS said:
Ah, yes. The thong problem!
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Thong problem? Is that the one about the primitive tribesman who felt ill and went to the village witch doctor for help? Doc gave him a strip of leather and told him to chew off an inch or so each day. After a week the guy revisited the healer and complained, "Doc, the thong is ended but the malady lingers on."
 
Hi Rich,

I've received it and shot a roll of Provia 100F. If anything the seller, who gives a six month warranty on used equipment, underrated it. The camera is probably KEH like new minus and came with a leather case and instruction booklet. The roll of Provia came out well exposed, very sharp and properly spaced. One of the things I did when I got it was give it the level test and everything is fine.

It's a bit of a brick so I don't think I'll use a whole lot as a carry everywhere camera but now that I live in Arizona it will be just fine for desert landscapes in b&w. Now I have to violate all my principals and buy a tripod.

Doug, The thong problem is guys my age using the camera to photograph young ladies in thong bikinis. There's a huge rate of blown pacemakers.

Gerry
 
I started off all right - I got rid of a lot of cameras before the summer started. The more cameras I had, the less likely I was to use them. I don't know why.

I whittled it down to an Olympus RD and a Konica Auto S1.6. Life was simple and good.

Then, things went to hell in a handbasket - ten days later, in the shadow of Labor Day, I have a Bessa R2, a CV 35/2.5, CV 50/2.5 and a CV 90/3.5.

I almost made it to the end of summer without buying anything. Almost. :D
 
"Chrome GTN" Yeah, you know, if the Black version of the GSN is a GTN then the Chrome version of a GTN is a GSN. Did any other company give different names to their Black versus Chrome Camera?

Now corrected to Chrome GSN. I bought the BLACK GT in the Spring, which does not need pad work.
 
It has been a slow summer for me compared to some here. This summer brought me a Leica IIf with 5 cm Summitar F2, Minolta Hi-Matic E and a black Yashica MG-1.
 
I made a semi-firm commitment with myself that I'd buy more film instead of more cameras.

SOooooooo.

The summer started off by trading in a couple of Mamiya 645AF lenses for a Leica M-3 and 50 Summi.

(Of course, it's broken, shutter issues and has been at the shop since April)

SOOO. Needed something to take PICTURES with! Traded the rest of the Mamiya 645 kit to a local store for a Leica M-6TTL and 35mm Sumi ASPH.
Ew. I like SHARP pictures, not like the ones out of THIS camera.

SOoooo. I traded IT for a camera and lenses I remembered as being sharp- a Contax G2 (BLACK this time) and the Popular Three (28mm, 45mm, 90mm). It wasn't as sharp as the Leica and is currently in NJ receiving an "accutance injection."

So I really didn't BUY so many cameras, as trade them.

Here's what I've decided to do. I trade cameras. I like to play with them for a while, then I seemingly get bored, but here's now what I remember about them:

1) The Mamiya RB setup I have (2 bodies, most of the lenses) take beautiful pictures. It's good for portraits, and studio work. I LIKE it. Don't trade THIS one away for a light leak- get it fixed instead, unlike the last one, that you TRADED.

2) Mamiya Universal setup I have (2 bodies, most of the lenses, most of the backs, many accessories) provided me with the initial reason for getting into rangefinders. They take awesome pictures, and are more portable than the RB's. KEEP THEM, and get them fixed when they have problems (like my 100mm is starting to stutter on slower shutter speeds).

3) I HAVE TO REMEMBER THE SELLERS REMORSE I felt on the way HOME from MPEX after trading in my initial Contax G2 (for a Mamiya 7- no slouch of a camera, but it's traded away, and I don't miss it at all!). I liked it. I liked the pictures from it. Very sharp.

So that's it. Those are the three I can't sell, period. Everything else is game. I'm tired of trying to figure out how to get various cameras BACK.

Now, what to do with the Canon FTbN's and lenses, or even that broken M3... Hmmm. Anyone wanna trade?
 
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What an oddissey Jeff ! So now the M3 is at the store with that shutter problem while the black G2 is under servicing as well. And what was exactly the problem with the M6 ??

Hey, if you really wanna get rid of that M3 I could trade you my fixed lens RF collection for it ! :D
 
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Heeheehee! Tempting... Sooo... Tempting...

The M6ttl? It's gone. That's the one I traded for the Contax. It had, perhaps, 5 rolls of film through it before I bought it. It wasn't... Sharp. Prints from it looked just like the ones from my Kiev 35mm J-12. That's NOT a bad thing, of course, that lens being very sharp for the price, but even blown up, the only thing the Leica was good for was the lack of flare, and there was even plenty of that if I kept the filter on it. In other words, it just didn't look all that great for as much as I paid for it, and I never got to the point of being enamoured with the camera/lens combo (35mm ASPH f/2, remember). That's all on me, of course, but when I look at slides, or I look at prints... Well, I have about 30 different pictures in front of me at my office, stuck up with pins. Many are Polaroid black and whites from my experimental days, mostly the Mamiya Universal, and as much as I grouse about the Tessar wide open, they were all shot with... a Tessar. They are pretty. The larger format 4x5 Polaroids were all shot with a Speed Graphic on a tripod. They are nice, too. Many of the color shots are of NY and other places, and were shot with... A Mamiya Universal with the Topogon-design 65mm lens. The 35mm shots I have posted, all from the Contax G2 (the first one). There's nothing wrong with the Leica. Except the finish that wore off WAY too easily (even kept in the never-ready-case, I had a spot of zinc showing after owning it for a couple weeks). Several rolls of film all showed the same thing though- not "REALLY" sharp, not like a razor that cuts "kindly," as it were, like my experience with the G2. Different tools for different people, and all, but the shots really didn't look sharp to me in the same way that the Contax did, so someone else can take great Leica pictures, and at a pretty good cost. I'm now set with the 135 tools I really like to use.

This is not Leica bashing, by the way. I still have that M3 and it'll serve it's intended purpose, being the lens butt to a Summicron 50mm and 90mm Elmar. It'll be the QUIET camera, and it takes sharp pictures (when the shutter works).

I'm convinced that I've bad Kamera Karma. Everything I have bought recently has had trouble, needed to be "looked at" or simply didn't work. I'm glad I have a Kiev that does, that the Universals keep puttering along and producing the pictures that make folks smile, and the RB's haven't failed me after leading what can only be described as a "hard life" at the hands of the professionals at the local store. I thought that by buying "nearly new" would help keep that to a minimum, but now I'm coming to accept it as part of life- that I need to send the cameras somewhere.

I'm thinking of getting the M3 back from the boys at the local shop and just sending it off to DAG or someone else. I've also got to send all my Kievs off to Henry to see if he can't smoosh 'em together to make one REALLY good one, and with it the CZJ 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar that has a spot RIGHT in the middle of the lens- so that you can't really see it unless the diaphram is closed down all the way, and then it's more obvious.

Then I'll be ready for a trade.

Mamiya 35mm RF. That's next. :)

P.S. Always gotta carry a camera around. Today it was the converted Polaroid 110a, tomorrow might be the Universal, or if I'm slumming, the Mamiya 645 1000s.
 
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