Treasure found.
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nikon_sam
Shooter of Film...
A year after moving into our current home I found a floor safe while converting a hall closet into a camera/darkroom gear closet...it was locked so I called a locksmith...he was able to open it and upon doing that we found it was empty...
I can only imagine what finding this treasure trove must have felt like...my only question is how did it not get discovered sooner...???
I can only imagine what finding this treasure trove must have felt like...my only question is how did it not get discovered sooner...???
"The discovery, which was reported by the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, has drawn interest from the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, a photographer at the Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States, and several other photographers and technology fans wondering if Mr. Whitcomb had found old lenses and other equipment."
Haha, lens geeks bothering this guy.
Haha, lens geeks bothering this guy.
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
Some years ago in country Australia I came across a faded wall painted sign for a long-closed photo studio. A faint outline of a roll film box - Kodak Verichrome, the older9orthochromatic) film - drew my curiosity, so I went in to make enquiries.
The cashier at the front counter (it was now a sandwich shop) told me there was a back room full of old goods, including a fridge full of film and paper, from the 1970s-1980s. I was okay to browse if I wanted - the family had "sort of plans" to sell it all anyway.
There were no cameras or lenses but I found boxes of accessories including many Kodak items dating to the 1940s. A few cartons of old portrait negatives on large roll film (116, 616 or 122), also negatives of local buildings (I eventually donated those to the town library), and old Nikkor filters and Nikon F leather camera straps, as new.
Fast forward to a few weeks later and I was the new owner of the entire contents of the room, the fridge and all its goodies. I had 200+ long-expired rolls of 120 film, cans of bulk 35mm film, old darkroom chemistry and 25 unopened boxes of Kodak FB enlarging paper.
I sorted out what I wanted and then posted on Ebay to sell the rest. Unwisely, I mentioned the items were from a closed studio - not a good idea.
Within days 100+ queries landed in my inbox - the "are there any cameras or lenses" questions, and a few dozen lowball offers from Ebay bottom-feeders trying to sniff out a super-cheap bargain to flip on at a nice profit.
Most annoying were the "duh" questions - "have you tested the enlarging paper?" (from unopened boxes, sure!) and inevitably, "if I buy five rolls will you do a bulk offer discount?" (ha!). GAS and greed.
In the end I kept all the Kodak films and paper and chemistry and sold the rest. Kodak Medalist and Azo papers produce truly beautiful images full of rich tones, unlike today's RC papers which produce mostly soot and whitewash.
As the NYT article shows, there are treasures out there if one has the time and patience to look or (as in my case) the luck of happenstance. I did wonder why the new owner went public with his find - to sell, maybe. One thing I learned from my Ebay experience was the good sense of keeping certain information to myself.
The cashier at the front counter (it was now a sandwich shop) told me there was a back room full of old goods, including a fridge full of film and paper, from the 1970s-1980s. I was okay to browse if I wanted - the family had "sort of plans" to sell it all anyway.
There were no cameras or lenses but I found boxes of accessories including many Kodak items dating to the 1940s. A few cartons of old portrait negatives on large roll film (116, 616 or 122), also negatives of local buildings (I eventually donated those to the town library), and old Nikkor filters and Nikon F leather camera straps, as new.
Fast forward to a few weeks later and I was the new owner of the entire contents of the room, the fridge and all its goodies. I had 200+ long-expired rolls of 120 film, cans of bulk 35mm film, old darkroom chemistry and 25 unopened boxes of Kodak FB enlarging paper.
I sorted out what I wanted and then posted on Ebay to sell the rest. Unwisely, I mentioned the items were from a closed studio - not a good idea.
Within days 100+ queries landed in my inbox - the "are there any cameras or lenses" questions, and a few dozen lowball offers from Ebay bottom-feeders trying to sniff out a super-cheap bargain to flip on at a nice profit.
Most annoying were the "duh" questions - "have you tested the enlarging paper?" (from unopened boxes, sure!) and inevitably, "if I buy five rolls will you do a bulk offer discount?" (ha!). GAS and greed.
In the end I kept all the Kodak films and paper and chemistry and sold the rest. Kodak Medalist and Azo papers produce truly beautiful images full of rich tones, unlike today's RC papers which produce mostly soot and whitewash.
As the NYT article shows, there are treasures out there if one has the time and patience to look or (as in my case) the luck of happenstance. I did wonder why the new owner went public with his find - to sell, maybe. One thing I learned from my Ebay experience was the good sense of keeping certain information to myself.
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DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
So yet another blast from the past, good-oh!!Lliving in the past can be fun, especially when the present seems so dismal.
Anyway, I had entirely forgotten about my long ago post here - now, almost five years down the track, a sort of progress report seems due. So read on, please.
I still have almost all the old enlarging paper. This paper, still in unopened boxes, resides in one of my two darkroom fridges. Among the treasures I had acquired from my original purchase, were six packs of Ilford Galerie paper, the old first version, in 11x14 and 16x20 25 sheet packs. Still sealed and carefully put away in a cupboard, but alas! too big and bulky to fit into the fridge. I last used some of it during the Covid lockdown to print from my old negatives, and found it was as good as new, tho' it had lost a bit of contrast and was more into mid-greys now than hearty blacks and clean whites. Still very usable, but vintage.
I doubt I will use up the rest of this stock in what remains of my time on this dismal planet. So yes, there may yet be one last Ebay ad in the not-too-distant future.
The films have been mostly moved on. I've kept the 120 rolls and the bulk cans as it's Kodak Plus-X and Panatomic, rare brands indeed. One buyer took all my other stocks, and later told me it was still almost as new. So good news there.
The accessories are in two boxes in our garage. When I have the time and feel so inclined, I will scavenge thru that lot, and maybe post an ad here to move them on. Posting boxes of photo paper to buyers here in Australia is now prohibitively expensive, but for smaller items it's still (sort of) affordable.
In a similarly related topic vein, I noted with interest that 2020 and 2021, years 1 and 2 of the Covid lockdown, were good years for op shop finds. Many people were stuck mostly at home for extended periods of time and passed the time by cleaning up and turfing out goods. By 2022 the glut of quality items had largely passed. Now our local op shops get many donations of ex-Reject Shop items but not much of collectable value. But then I've mostly lost interest in haunting these shops and acquiring yet more stuff to fill up our garage (already 90%+ overfull anyway) and house, so it's no loss for me.
My last truly good find was a box of 40+ 6x9 packs of Kodak Velox contact printing paper, all sealed in original packets. I got it at a reasonable if not exactly cheap price (some op shop managers are canny-savvy people!) and passed it on to an artist friend who is slowly using it up to print small hand-made postcards of local scenes to sell in a community services shop. So it's going to a good cause, and it greatly pleases me that it went to someone who is still willing to go to the time and bother of printing in a darkroom. A vast-vanishing breed...
The times they's a'passin'... too quickly for some of us, but as they say, there you are.
Anyway, I had entirely forgotten about my long ago post here - now, almost five years down the track, a sort of progress report seems due. So read on, please.
I still have almost all the old enlarging paper. This paper, still in unopened boxes, resides in one of my two darkroom fridges. Among the treasures I had acquired from my original purchase, were six packs of Ilford Galerie paper, the old first version, in 11x14 and 16x20 25 sheet packs. Still sealed and carefully put away in a cupboard, but alas! too big and bulky to fit into the fridge. I last used some of it during the Covid lockdown to print from my old negatives, and found it was as good as new, tho' it had lost a bit of contrast and was more into mid-greys now than hearty blacks and clean whites. Still very usable, but vintage.
I doubt I will use up the rest of this stock in what remains of my time on this dismal planet. So yes, there may yet be one last Ebay ad in the not-too-distant future.
The films have been mostly moved on. I've kept the 120 rolls and the bulk cans as it's Kodak Plus-X and Panatomic, rare brands indeed. One buyer took all my other stocks, and later told me it was still almost as new. So good news there.
The accessories are in two boxes in our garage. When I have the time and feel so inclined, I will scavenge thru that lot, and maybe post an ad here to move them on. Posting boxes of photo paper to buyers here in Australia is now prohibitively expensive, but for smaller items it's still (sort of) affordable.
In a similarly related topic vein, I noted with interest that 2020 and 2021, years 1 and 2 of the Covid lockdown, were good years for op shop finds. Many people were stuck mostly at home for extended periods of time and passed the time by cleaning up and turfing out goods. By 2022 the glut of quality items had largely passed. Now our local op shops get many donations of ex-Reject Shop items but not much of collectable value. But then I've mostly lost interest in haunting these shops and acquiring yet more stuff to fill up our garage (already 90%+ overfull anyway) and house, so it's no loss for me.
My last truly good find was a box of 40+ 6x9 packs of Kodak Velox contact printing paper, all sealed in original packets. I got it at a reasonable if not exactly cheap price (some op shop managers are canny-savvy people!) and passed it on to an artist friend who is slowly using it up to print small hand-made postcards of local scenes to sell in a community services shop. So it's going to a good cause, and it greatly pleases me that it went to someone who is still willing to go to the time and bother of printing in a darkroom. A vast-vanishing breed...
The times they's a'passin'... too quickly for some of us, but as they say, there you are.
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DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
Recently I went to the home of a (deceased about six months ago) long-standing friend. He had a large collection of photo gear and his widow is now unable to deal with the logistics of cataloguing it and arranging for its sale. Alas, most of it is film cameras, largely old Pentax SLRs, Russian crap and one or two TLRs from the 1960s, Mamiyas of an early vintage, with two of the first version of the Sekor lenses.
I was expecting treasures. I found dross. Shelves and shelves of it. Many Pentax SLRs from the '70s and '80s, some accessories, all bought super cheaply o nEbay when everyone was dumping film gear at giveaway prices. Most cameras untested for 10-15-20 years.
My late friend had a Leica M6 with three lenses. As it turned out he gave it away to an old friend about a year before he passed. Ditto a 1930s Contax kit, the best I had ever seen, lenses and accessories complete in a custom Contax bag. Ditto gifted to a family member who said she "liked" it and quickly flipped it on via an auction. So there we were, there I was. Stuck between a log jam and a hard place.
I had a good look (which took three hours and two generous drams of good Kentucky bourbon) at the stash and then phoned a reputable dealer. Not much interest. They told me they have to guarantee all gear they sell and old SLRs are prone to breakdown. So no go. Lenses yes, if no fungus or stiffness in the settings. Camera bodies, $30-$50 each on Ebay (no thanks).
So on a cash sale, maybe $500. Widow wants $2000+. No go. Consignment-wise, the Pentax Takumar lenses will sell, for not much. The bodies no. A ton of 1980s-1990s film era mags in vinyl folders, nyet. Photo books, largely charity shop finds, ditto no. The Mamiya C3 with an old 135mm lens, maybe $300. All Australian dollars. So 65 cents to the US$. Bargains galore.
I did acquire a Leitz turret finder from the early 1950s, jammed, and about 20 rolls of well-cooked 35mm B&W film. Which I paid for BTW. Took my friend the widow to lunch at the local pub. Two mains of so-so fish and chips, a small glass of beer and a lemon lime and bitters, AUD $75. Blah to that.
The sooner I get away to SEAsia and a more affordable lifestyle, the happier (and mentally more healthy) I will be. Sad about my friend, but well. Well.
To say I'm disappointed is to put a polite veneer on what I really felt as I drove home. Two humongous gins and tonic barely sufficed go put me in a better mood.
I was expecting treasures. I found dross. Shelves and shelves of it. Many Pentax SLRs from the '70s and '80s, some accessories, all bought super cheaply o nEbay when everyone was dumping film gear at giveaway prices. Most cameras untested for 10-15-20 years.
My late friend had a Leica M6 with three lenses. As it turned out he gave it away to an old friend about a year before he passed. Ditto a 1930s Contax kit, the best I had ever seen, lenses and accessories complete in a custom Contax bag. Ditto gifted to a family member who said she "liked" it and quickly flipped it on via an auction. So there we were, there I was. Stuck between a log jam and a hard place.
I had a good look (which took three hours and two generous drams of good Kentucky bourbon) at the stash and then phoned a reputable dealer. Not much interest. They told me they have to guarantee all gear they sell and old SLRs are prone to breakdown. So no go. Lenses yes, if no fungus or stiffness in the settings. Camera bodies, $30-$50 each on Ebay (no thanks).
So on a cash sale, maybe $500. Widow wants $2000+. No go. Consignment-wise, the Pentax Takumar lenses will sell, for not much. The bodies no. A ton of 1980s-1990s film era mags in vinyl folders, nyet. Photo books, largely charity shop finds, ditto no. The Mamiya C3 with an old 135mm lens, maybe $300. All Australian dollars. So 65 cents to the US$. Bargains galore.
I did acquire a Leitz turret finder from the early 1950s, jammed, and about 20 rolls of well-cooked 35mm B&W film. Which I paid for BTW. Took my friend the widow to lunch at the local pub. Two mains of so-so fish and chips, a small glass of beer and a lemon lime and bitters, AUD $75. Blah to that.
The sooner I get away to SEAsia and a more affordable lifestyle, the happier (and mentally more healthy) I will be. Sad about my friend, but well. Well.
To say I'm disappointed is to put a polite veneer on what I really felt as I drove home. Two humongous gins and tonic barely sufficed go put me in a better mood.