What have you just BOUGHT?

[TenEleven]

A Rollei XF35. Got the itch for film. Will see how it fares with XP2 and orange filter. My Contax Ts all gave up.
EUR 65...and seems to work just fine. Will take it for a proper spin next week. My Coolscan 8000ED is not cooperating right now (Ubuntu does not recognise it anymore) - hope its just the firewire cable...

Sadly the scanners not being recognized is likely one (or both) of the communication chips failing.

Luckily the chips themselves are not bespoke to Nikon and can still be gotten on ebay/aliexpress etc. Then it's just about finding someone who can do SMD solder work. I had to do both in a Coolscan 9000 which uses the same two chips. The USB Coolscans are exempt from this issue.

 

[Peter_S]

Sadly the scanners not being recognized is likely one (or both) of the communication chips failing.

Luckily the chips themselves are not bespoke to Nikon and can still be gotten on ebay/aliexpress etc. Then it's just about finding someone who can do SMD solder work. I had to do both in a Coolscan 9000 which uses the same two chips. The USB Coolscans are exempt from this issue.

Oi. Well, I have a new cable coming and will try that. Ubuntu sees something and the firefire wire port is active, but...well. Will see over Christmas. Would be a bummer if it fails now!

 

[splitimageview]

Aah. Surface mount rework. Brings back memories…🤣

 

[Cascadilla]

What you say is true and I agree. However I am not going to be walking long distances with this bag. It was chosen primarily for airline under seat stowage with good gear carrying ability. The backpack idea is good but I fear vulnerability to theft while it is being worn as a backpack.

When I went to Peru in 1987 the advice was to wear your backpack in front rather than on your back so you could wrap your arms around it in places like train stations where thieves operated fairly brazenly. That worked for me, along with wearing my Rolleiflex under my parka and only bringing it out at waist level to take pictures.

 

[TenEleven]

Oi. Well, I have a new cable coming and will try that. Ubuntu sees something and the firefire wire port is active, but...well. Will see over Christmas. Would be a bummer if it fails now!

Well as said it's completely salvageable in that case. Basically don't throw away an otherwise perfectly good scanner if it turns out to be a firewire comm issue!

 

[Leon C]

I know everyone likes a pretty picture so here is the free Vito CL cleaned up, it really does feel nice in the hands.

And yes the selftimer doesn't work 😎

 

[CMur12]

I know everyone likes a pretty picture so here is the free Vito CL cleaned up, it really does feel nice in the hands.

And yes the selftimer doesn't work 😎

View attachment 4882834

View attachment 4882835

View attachment 4882837

Wow! I didn't know that any Vito could be had with an Apo Lanthar lens!

That is precious, indeed.

- Murray

 

[p.giannakis]

Wow! I didn't know that any Vito could be had with an Apo Lanthar lens!

That is precious, indeed.

- Murray

It's "Lanthar" - the postwar coated triplet. Very good triplet, in par with Novars. Apo-lanthar is a different beast.

 

[CMur12]

It's just Lanthar - the postwar coated triplet. Very good triplet, in par with Novars. Apo-lanthar is a different beast.

Thanks for that bit of information! I had never heard of a Lanthar triplet.

- Murray

 

[Muggins]

From a camera fair last weekend where I also had the pleasure of meeting Ed Trzoska, who fixed my Contax III for me. Oh, and being given a Portrait Brownie No 2 about an hour after I'd bought one!

Just look at the condition of this - it's hardly been used!
Kodak Portrait Brownie No 2 by gray1720, on Flickr

Kodak Portrait Brownie No 2 by gray1720, on Flickr

Kodak Portrait Brownie No 2 by gray1720, on Flickr

 

[Muggins]

Also...

Halina 35X - to use as a template to prove I can fix the other one. I may regret that... Unusually, the focus ring on this is as smooth as any other camera.
2nd Halina 35X by gray1720, on Flickr

Finally - a Zorki 11. Selenium cell probably kaput, I haven't actually read the manual yet, but I'm not expecting it to miraculously start functioning. Anyone ever replaced one of these?
Zorki 11 by gray1720, on Flickr

 

[poortmanc]

Two beautiful "vintage" flagships. 1D Mark II and 1D Mark IIN.

 

[JeffS7444]

Finally - a Zorki 11. Selenium cell probably kaput, I haven't actually read the manual yet, but I'm not expecting it to miraculously start functioning. Anyone ever replaced one of these?

I'd first verify that the galvanometer was functional: A multimeter set for continuity checking ought to provide safe low voltage and current sufficient to make it twitch.

I've just completed my second successful replacement of a selenium photocell with modern silicon. The sensible way would be to start with a flexible, thin-film photocell designed to be cut to size with ordinary tools, such as a pair of scissors. Max voltage for individual silicon photocells is typically ~0.5 volts, not so different from the old selenium part. But comparing cells with the same dimensions under similar lighting conditions, silicon produces much more current, hence, the replacement part can be a fraction of the size of the original. Taking a wild-a$$ed guess, I might start with a flexible cell covering 1/2 the original area of the original part, and reduce output as needed by partially blocking the cell until exposure looked about right.

Because I didn't have a handy supply of flexible cells, but had a whole box of rigid crystalline cells (even higher output, virtually unlimited life but oh so fragile), I cut mine to size using this video as a guide:

If you're like me, prepare to create a bunch of useless shards before finally kinda getting the hang of it. My part ended up being about the same size as the original, and I had to reduce it's output by about 2-1/2 stops. No way that I could replicate the ring shape of your original using this technique, but I wouldn't have to: A smallish rectangle would probably suffice.

 

[p.giannakis]

I'd first verify that the galvanometer was functional: A multimeter set for continuity checking ought to provide safe low voltage and current sufficient to make it twitch.

I've just completed my second successful replacement of a selenium photocell with modern silicon. The sensible way would be to start with a flexible, thin-film photocell designed to be cut to size with ordinary tools, such as a pair of scissors. Max voltage for individual silicon photocells is typically ~0.5 volts, not so different from the old selenium part. But comparing cells with the same dimensions under similar lighting conditions, silicon produces much more current, hence, the replacement part can be a fraction of the size of the original. Taking a wild-a$$ed guess, I might start with a flexible cell covering 1/2 the original area of the original part, and reduce output as needed by partially blocking the cell until exposure looked about right.

Because I didn't have a handy supply of flexible cells, but had a whole box of rigid crystalline cells (even higher output, virtually unlimited life but oh so fragile), I cut mine to size using this video as a guide:

If you're like me, prepare to create a bunch of useless shards before finally kinda getting the hang of it. My part ended up being about the same size as the original, and I had to reduce it's output by about 2-1/2 stops. No way that I could replicate the ring shape of your original using this technique, but I wouldn't have to: A smallish rectangle would probably suffice.

Wow. Maybe there is hope for my dad's long dead selenium meter on the Yashica Minimatic-C. Family heirloom.

 

[splitimageview]

Very cool! Maybe I'll try that on an old Leicameter. 🙂

 

[Anthony Harvey]

Good luck with the second Halina 35X. I had one in the early 1960s and it worked well and was reliable. I naively felt it was like having a Leica and I loved it. It was my first 35 mm camera after having made great use of my Agfa Isola which took 120 film, and before which I had cameras that used 127 film. I processed the films using a Johnsons of Hendon Home Photography Developing and Printing Kit that I had been given one Christmas.

I remember using Johnsons/Paterson Unitol - a very good developer in its day, well balanced for sharpness, grain and contrast as mentioned in Troop and Anchell - and contact printing the negatives on Kodak Velox paper that had been specially designed for contact printing in artificial light. I had a wooden contraption with an internal ordinary lightbulb and a wooden flap that acted as a shutter, operated by a revolving knob that allowed me to time how long to expose the negative that was held against the developing paper by a bakelite device that used a small sheet of glass and a spring loaded back. Many happy hours. I would have been eleven at the time, in late 1956. I've still got some of the contact prints.

I got the Halina in the early 1960s and used FP3 at the then Ilford rating of 125, an earlier emulsion of FP3 having had a rating of 64. When I was twenty-one there came what was for me a breakthough, a Praktica Nova 1B, an SLR with a 50/2.8 Domiplan lens, later upgraded to a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50/2.8, which served me very well until I bought a Pentax SP1000 with a screw-mount lens, the Super Takumar 55/2 and a Super Takumar 28/3.5, both fabulous lenses with lovely rendition on B&W film, especially HP4 and Tri-X (with the emulsion the latter had in the early 1970s). After this it was all onwards and upwards until I stopped buying cameras several years ago, ending up witth a fully working 35mm collection that gives great pleasure.

 

[Leon C]

It's "Lanthar" - the postwar coated triplet. Very good triplet, in par with Novars. Apo-lanthar is a different beast.

Apparently nice enough that people remove them and remount them on modern cameras, this one is too nice for such surgery but if a £10 one should turn up....

 

[Muggins]

Good luck with the second Halina 35X. I had one in the early 1960s and it worked well and was reliable. I naively felt it was like having a Leica and I loved it. It was my first 35 mm camera after having made great use of my Agfa Isola which took 120 film, and before which I had cameras that used 127 film. I processed the films using a Johnsons of Hendon Home Photography Developing and Printing Kit that I had been given one Christmas.

I remember using Johnsons/Paterson Unitol - a very good developer in its day, well balanced for sharpness, grain and contrast as mentioned in Troop and Anchell - and contact printing the negatives on Kodak Velox paper that had been specially designed for contact printing in artificial light. I had a wooden contraption with an internal ordinary lightbulb and a wooden flap that acted as a shutter, operated by a revolving knob that allowed me to time how long to expose the negative that was held against the developing paper by a bakelite device that used a small sheet of glass and a spring loaded back. Many happy hours. I would have been eleven at the time, in late 1956. I've still got some of the contact prints.

I got the Halina in the early 1960s and used FP3 at the then Ilford rating of 125, an earlier emulsion of FP3 having had a rating of 64. When I was twenty-one there came what was for me a breakthough, a Praktica Nova 1B, an SLR with a 50/2.8 Domiplan lens, later upgraded to a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50/2.8, which served me very well until I bought a Pentax SP1000 with a screw-mount lens, the Super Takumar 55/2 and a Super Takumar 28/3.5, both fabulous lenses with lovely rendition on B&W film, especially HP4 and Tri-X (with the emulsion the latter had in the early 1970s). After this it was all onwards and upwards until I stopped buying cameras several years ago, ending up witth a fully working 35mm collection that gives great pleasure.

Thanks, Anthony! I had a (venerable, even then) Paulette Electric as my first "proper" (ie better than a Boots 126 cheapie) camera, and it served me well for several years.

I suspect a lot of the 35X's bad reputation is from worn-out ones with decades-old grease in - while they were certainly built down to a price, when you compare them to what the likes of Coronet could offer...

 

[Dralowid]

The Halina is one of those cameras that one hopes will be better than it is...but I'm sorry to say mine at least wasn't.

I'd put it in the same category as the Bencini Comet etc except the Halina looks a lot nicer.

 

[Muggins]

The Halina is one of those cameras that one hopes will be better than it is...but I'm sorry to say mine at least wasn't.

I'd put it in the same category as the Bencini Comet etc except the Halina looks a lot nicer.

TBH, I enjoy the process of unbuggering them even if they then turn out to be a bit pants. Halina No 1 was so filthy that I felt I had to take the challenge on!