jlw
Rangefinder camera pedant
Okay, this is weird, and probably not exactly on-topic -- but I thought I'd share it with my fellow Canon nuts as an example of how far obsession can go!
Last night I had a short but extremely vivid dream in which I was examining a Canon rangefinder accessory, trying to decide whether or not I should buy it.
The accessory was beautifully finished in black and lettered in the style typical of the VT/VIT/P era. It was a flattish, wide, rectangular-sectioned block finished in glossy black, with an accessory shoe mounting foot on the bottom. Neatly engraved in the usual style on the top were the words "Canon Filter Previewer." There was a viewing eyepiece on the back, and on the front was a small satin-chrome turret with a knurled edge, mounting five small, round filters: red, yellow, orange, green, and a clear position, each with the equivalent Wratten filter number engraved next to it.
On top of the body was a transverse slot with a small chrome knurled knob in it; this was engraved "BW" with an arrow, and when you slid the knurled knob in the direction of the arrow, a rectangular, bluish-tinted filter would slide into the light path behind the eyepiece. From the label I deduced that this filter was to help you visualize the tones produced on black-and-white film.
Obviously the purpose of this device was to sit in your RF Canon's accessory shoe and help you determine the effect various filters would have when photographing the scene.
Anyway, as I said, in the dream I was fingering this device, wondering whether I should spend the asking price ($10, as I recall) to buy it. On the one hand, I remember thinking, it's not in Dechert's book and thus might possibly be quite rare; on the other hand, I seldom use filters, so I don't really need it. And at that point the dream ended.
What's really weird is that, as we all know, Canon NEVER made any such accessory or anything similar to it. So why did my subconscious mind "design" it in such exacting detail? I can still picture exactly what this figment-of-my-imagination looked like, right down to the style of knurling on the "BW" slider.
I suppose what my subconscious mind is really trying to tell me is that I need to get a girlfriend or a life or something! But I'll bet some of you other far-gone Canon enthusiasts have had similar dreams (if not of a non-existent accessory, then maybe of finding a mint-in-box P in a yard sale or something.)
Or if not, then I must be REALLY loopy!
Last night I had a short but extremely vivid dream in which I was examining a Canon rangefinder accessory, trying to decide whether or not I should buy it.
The accessory was beautifully finished in black and lettered in the style typical of the VT/VIT/P era. It was a flattish, wide, rectangular-sectioned block finished in glossy black, with an accessory shoe mounting foot on the bottom. Neatly engraved in the usual style on the top were the words "Canon Filter Previewer." There was a viewing eyepiece on the back, and on the front was a small satin-chrome turret with a knurled edge, mounting five small, round filters: red, yellow, orange, green, and a clear position, each with the equivalent Wratten filter number engraved next to it.
On top of the body was a transverse slot with a small chrome knurled knob in it; this was engraved "BW" with an arrow, and when you slid the knurled knob in the direction of the arrow, a rectangular, bluish-tinted filter would slide into the light path behind the eyepiece. From the label I deduced that this filter was to help you visualize the tones produced on black-and-white film.
Obviously the purpose of this device was to sit in your RF Canon's accessory shoe and help you determine the effect various filters would have when photographing the scene.
Anyway, as I said, in the dream I was fingering this device, wondering whether I should spend the asking price ($10, as I recall) to buy it. On the one hand, I remember thinking, it's not in Dechert's book and thus might possibly be quite rare; on the other hand, I seldom use filters, so I don't really need it. And at that point the dream ended.
What's really weird is that, as we all know, Canon NEVER made any such accessory or anything similar to it. So why did my subconscious mind "design" it in such exacting detail? I can still picture exactly what this figment-of-my-imagination looked like, right down to the style of knurling on the "BW" slider.
I suppose what my subconscious mind is really trying to tell me is that I need to get a girlfriend or a life or something! But I'll bet some of you other far-gone Canon enthusiasts have had similar dreams (if not of a non-existent accessory, then maybe of finding a mint-in-box P in a yard sale or something.)
Or if not, then I must be REALLY loopy!
