What have you just BOUGHT?

Harry the K said:
After 3 months of waiting ("lead time" was only 6 weeks at the moment of placing the order), after 10 days of nerve-wrecking updates from DHL relating to the customs procedure (f**k Brexit!), tadaa!, the Intrepid 4x5 has arrived.

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Nice! And very blue! It definitely gets points for style.
I've been very curious about the Intrepid; reviews online (always a source of accurate and unbiased info 😉 ) seem highly enthusiastic or tepid. What are your immediate impressions regarding construction, durability, and ease of use? Oh, and weight, always an issue for a geezer like me...
 
Retro-Grouch said:
Nice! And very blue! It definitely gets points for style.
I've been very curious about the Intrepid; reviews online (always a source of accurate and unbiased info 😉 ) seem highly enthusiastic or tepid. What are your immediate impressions regarding construction, durability, and ease of use? Oh, and weight, always an issue for a geezer like me...
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My first impressions.....

It´s light, it´s absolutely carryable in a backpack or whatever. And it´s small for the film format, foldability is key. That´s also very important for me, often using a bicycle as means of transport.

The construction looks and feels well made, precise and tight. Small complaint: I had to shim the lensboard to keep it from rattling. A small rattling.

I have a Graflex I bought used some years ago and never liked it, don´t know why. The Intrepid feels much more friendly and likeable, with one exception: The bottom frame of the Intrepid is made from Aluminum, and with the many bolts and screws holding everything together, it makes for some flexibility of the whole matter, what the Graflex does not show at all. That´s even visible, for example when gentle force is used to insert the film holder. I don´t know if this impacts precision of focus "in the field". I will see.

All in all, it´s a nice and well thought out little machine. Maybe the appeal for me comes from the transparent mechanics (every part is visible and understandable) and the crafty feel of the camera, definitely no mass product. I like it from the start, it fits my keep-it-simple- character.

I reckon you want to scan your negs, so the canny enlarger unit is not relevant for you? If working in the darkroom, worth a look.
 
Harry the K said:
My first impressions.....

It´s light, it´s absolutely carryable in a backpack or whatever. And it´s small for the film format, foldability is key. That´s also very important for me, often using a bicycle as means of transport.

The construction looks and feels well made, precise and tight. Small complaint: I had to shim the lensboard to keep it from rattling. A small rattling.

I have a Graflex I bought used some years ago and never liked it, don´t know why. The Intrepid feels much more friendly and likeable, with one exception: The bottom frame of the Intrepid is made from Aluminum, and with the many bolts and screws holding everything together, it makes for some flexibility of the whole matter, what the Graflex does not show at all. That´s even visible, for example when gentle force is used to insert the film holder. I don´t know if this impacts precision of focus "in the field". I will see.

All in all, it´s a nice and well thought out little machine. Maybe the appeal for me comes from the transparent mechanics (every part is visible and understandable) and the crafty feel of the camera, definitely no mass product. I like it from the start, it fits my keep-it-simple- character.

I reckon you want to scan your negs, so the canny enlarger unit is not relevant for you? If working in the darkroom, worth a look.
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Thanks for the info! I've been down the Graflex route as well, and never got on with mine, either. This is food for thought... and GAS!
 
A Kodak Medalist II with a sticky shutter. I tore it down just enough to clean out the gears with a little lighter fluid on a paint brush and then brushed on a tiny bit of oil and voila it fired. Now I need to alter some 120 to fit it. I think I should be able to put the rolls on my lathe and just shave them down to 620 size in a few seconds. Might still send it in to Dan Daniels for a real CLA. I don't have the best reassembly track record when I get past a certain point.
medalist.jpeg
 
KoNickon said:
I've been bottom fishing some lately. A guy advertised a bunch of cameras, "mainly for display," for $65. There were about 20 of them and I'm still going through evaluating them. Indeed I think these were on display -- he said he had a camera store at one point -- so many of them are just inoperative, sadly, either from sitting around or they were dead to begin with. But there are a few that make it worthwhile, like a cute little Rival-35 (rebadged Baldini), an interesting Certo Dollina III (worst viewfinder I have ever looked through! But a cool and unusual camera), and the pick of the litter, a Retina IIIC. Also a Nikon Coolpix L20 digital p&s. Some are projects that may ultimately prove hopeless.

Also, from another guy, a Canon AE-1 Program with 50/1.8, Sakar 28/2.8 and three zooms -- Vivitar 85-205/3.8; Tokina 70-210/4-5.6; Canon 100-300/5.6. There was a Sakar 2x teleconverter and a funky, huge .6x wide angle converter (screws onto the front of the 50, with a step-up ring). $40. He opened up his hatch and I saw a typewriter case -- "you want it? I was just going to take it to Savers [a secondhand donation store]." Yes I did -- a ca. 1949 Smith-Corona Clipper. Needed some repair but working nicely now.
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Followup -- the same guy who sold me the Canon said he found a few typewriter ribbons. Still sealed up but who knows whether they're totally dry and unusable. He had also said he had some other cameras, which he brought as well. Kodak and Revere 8mm cameras, which I haven't looked at (though the Kodak had a couple of new in box reels of Kodachrome with it). One of the big old 110 series Polaroid cameras (are these entirely obsolete? I think so); an Agfa/Ansco Cadet box camera (116 format; oh well), and an Agfa Optima IIS rangefinder (early 1960s), which seems pretty good. Apotar 45/2.8 that looks to be in good shape (name ring is missing) and the meter seems to be working fine. Came with its case. All gratis.
 
Jbennett68 said:
A Kodak Medalist II with a sticky shutter. I tore it down just enough to clean out the gears with a little lighter fluid on a paint brush and then brushed on a tiny bit of oil and voila it fired. Now I need to alter some 120 to fit it. I think I should be able to put the rolls on my lathe and just shave them down to 620 size in a few seconds. Might still send it in to Dan Daniels for a real CLA. I don't have the best reassembly track record when I get past a certain point.
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That's a beautiful Kodak lumpkin! Love it! 😀

G
 
Got a replacement cover for my Zorki 1 and a 21/25 CV viewfinder. The Zorki 1 is finally working after figuring out all the weird issues i had with the rangefinder unit. I've been using the CV 21mm with a cheap plastic viewfinder, but saw this one pop up on ebay and saw that the size a lot smaller than the other 21mm viewfinders and had to snatch it.P3050182.JPG
 
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Vest Pocket Kodak, still boxed (after a fashion) and with instructions and far-too-loseable stylus for writing on your photos through the sliding hatch on the back.

Instructions include tear-off subscription form for Kodak magazine (2/- a year) date .... .... 192...

I'm having trouble opening the back. Do any VPK users out there have any advice?
 
I've got a 120 Kodak that looks to have a similar back, and I struggle to open it too! I think you need to get one end free first, then just jiggle gently until it comes loose - I'll unearth mine and have a go later if I get a few mins.
 
@Malcolm M - Right... open the catch, lift that end of the front bits (technical term) out of the back. When it gets to about 20 degrees, you should be able to slide the working bits upwards, at which point it should lift out. There's a tiny metal tag that seems to be there solely to make the process awkward.

apologies for crap photos, not easy working one handed! 20250310_200638.jpgView attachment 485816420250310_200653.jpg
 
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More GAS, I bought two Bessa L's for 50 dollars on Reddit. Both work, but the second one needs a pressure plate/rear film door replacement. Spent a few hours trying to figure out the Cosina CT-1 and its variants when a a broken FM10 with its pressure plate still attached popped up on ebay at a good price . You can go down a rabbit hole on how many models they made. Good thing a few older posts mentioning people having to swap rear doors out from their SLR counterparts onto their Bessas and the FM10 at 20 shipped was the easy ticket vs trying to see which Vivitar, Ricoh, model would fit.

I will say, you can feel the SLR origins on the Bessa L and it surprised me how cheap it feels, but nothing out of the ordinary from the plastic stuff coming out of 90s, including the wonderful sticky plastic! 🤣
 
p.giannakis said:
Currently trying to resist the urge to buy but I can see me giving in. It's there for almost 2 weeks now, selling for £6. My only concern is running out of space in my camera cupboard.

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Oh please. Just get another cupboard. 🙂 Kidding aside, I have never taken to these "zoom lens reflexes" just because they're so unappealing esthetically. But I think they are quite capable.
 
p.giannakis said:
Currently trying to resist the urge to buy but I can see me giving in. It's there for almost 2 weeks now, selling for £6. My only concern is running out of space in my camera cupboard.

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This album probably won't help your GAS either... Bloody heavy, and needs funky sized batteries, but good fun - wonky colours down to old film.
 
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