Tim Murphy
Well-known
Dear lxmike,
I have 2 Ebay Retina IIa's. They both work to varying degrees, but I will soon send them to Paul Barden to get one fully functional one back. A restored IIa and my Retina IIIC that Paul did for me a few months ago will serve me well until I expire.
Regards,
Tim Murphy
Harrisburg PA
ddutchison2
Well-known
Oly's and Canonet's are the best of the breed IMHO. It was a Dacora 35cc, my first ever 35mm camera (only 620, 127 & 126 before), first fully adjustable manual camera, and first camera with a "fast" f2.8 lens. I've had a running search on ebay for one for years just for sentimental value, but it's a rare bird and over priced being just a keepsake.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
The Retina IIc remains to this day one of my favorite cameras.
G
cary
Well-known
I went to college at Brooks Institute we all had cameras, hee hee...
Out to Lunch
Ventor
Most of my friends were into motorbikes: Zundapps, Kreislers, Puchs, and Yamahas. My first camera was a Lubitel. I had the film developed and printed by the optometrist on the corner.
Darthfeeble
But you can call me Steve
Oh to be able to go back! I didn't start with a camera until I was nearly 30 and that was some 40 plus years ago.
lxmike
M2 fan.
Your enthusiasm reminds me of my late uncle Freddie, he was a massive cine enthusiast shoot consistently through the 1960s and 70s
pvdhaar
Peter
One of my friends had a Praktica SLR. What I found cool about it, was that it had through the lens metering. The Zenit-E that I had, depended on an uncoupled meter with a selenium window above the lens and a match meter read-out on the top.
In hindsight, the difference seems less relevant than I thought at the time. I've learned not to ride the exposure, which TTL metering tempts you to do, but instead measure once and adjust for changing light when necessary.
In hindsight, the difference seems less relevant than I thought at the time. I've learned not to ride the exposure, which TTL metering tempts you to do, but instead measure once and adjust for changing light when necessary.
lxmike
M2 fan.
I used to think a lot of the stuff I shot in my youth was boring and of no interest, however as time goes by this changes, my photos show people who sadly are no longer here and places long gone, mundane now has some interest.
lxmike
M2 fan.
Those were the days when you could pop locally to a chemist etc to get your film 'done', a ot of my older friends had bikes, Yamahas were very popular especially the RD400 and RD125 and the hallowed Fs1e
lxmike
M2 fan.
I would love to go back just at least for a day and stand in a couple of camera shops that were local to me, look at the rows of film and especially the cabinets full of second hand cameras
lxmike
M2 fan.
I have a Retina IIa too, would love a IIIC, very nice camerasDear lxmike,
I have 2 Ebay Retina IIa's. They both work to varying degrees, but I will soon send them to Paul Barden to get one fully functional one back. A restored IIa and my Retina IIIC that Paul did for me a few months ago will serve me well until I expire.
Regards,
Tim Murphy
Harrisburg PA
lxmike
M2 fan.
I'm not familiar with the Dacora, I must do a bit of research, looks very nice though.
wlewisiii
Just another hotel clerk
Sometimes not gone but times and places that are foundational to who we've become today. A snapshot of a old girlfriend that you suddenly find yourself dating again 42 years after you first met for example ...
lxmike
M2 fan.
Kodak had some great glass
lxmike
M2 fan.
Brooks institute, please tell more, was it a techincal college?
Archiver
Veteran
What an awesome thread.
When I was at school in the 80s, I had a 110 cassette camera that I used on rare occasions. A few decades later around 2011, I found it in a box and discovered that it still had a roll of film in it! When developed, there were photos of our house in about 1985 and my best friend at the time. The images were so grainy and badly exposed, but it incredible to see them.
In 86, I took a Kodak disc camera to school a few times, and I still have those photos. Sadly, I never used a film camera again during school or uni, missing so many opportunities to capture memories.
During a photography class in 87, I took photos of friends and classmates around the school, and I still have those images. In hindsight, I wish I'd had the urge to get an Olympus XA2 or similar and document my life with it back then.
As for others who had cameras, there were less than a handful. One was a kid from a wealthy family who brought a fancy Polaroid camera to school one day. Another was a girl in our final year who brought a film point and shoot to music camp. My best friend at the time and I quietly took that camera and made a couple of photos of our own, which she only discovered after getting the photos developed, hahaha. One of the teachers at that same music camp brought a camera, and he gave me a few photos later, which I still have and treasure.
I later learned that a friend in the year ahead of me brought a camera to orchestra at least once, and captured images of our conductor. They featured in the school's end of year magazine.
I'm envious of all of you who used cameras regularly in your teens and early adulthood, but I guess I make up for it now.
When I was at school in the 80s, I had a 110 cassette camera that I used on rare occasions. A few decades later around 2011, I found it in a box and discovered that it still had a roll of film in it! When developed, there were photos of our house in about 1985 and my best friend at the time. The images were so grainy and badly exposed, but it incredible to see them.
In 86, I took a Kodak disc camera to school a few times, and I still have those photos. Sadly, I never used a film camera again during school or uni, missing so many opportunities to capture memories.
During a photography class in 87, I took photos of friends and classmates around the school, and I still have those images. In hindsight, I wish I'd had the urge to get an Olympus XA2 or similar and document my life with it back then.
As for others who had cameras, there were less than a handful. One was a kid from a wealthy family who brought a fancy Polaroid camera to school one day. Another was a girl in our final year who brought a film point and shoot to music camp. My best friend at the time and I quietly took that camera and made a couple of photos of our own, which she only discovered after getting the photos developed, hahaha. One of the teachers at that same music camp brought a camera, and he gave me a few photos later, which I still have and treasure.
I later learned that a friend in the year ahead of me brought a camera to orchestra at least once, and captured images of our conductor. They featured in the school's end of year magazine.
I'm envious of all of you who used cameras regularly in your teens and early adulthood, but I guess I make up for it now.
Archiver
Veteran
That reminds me, in the early 90s I went to our high school reunion and was the only one with a camera, the family's Nikon L35AFD.
Around 2000, I used disposable cameras briefly, but it wasn't until 2002 when I got a digital camera that things really took off.
wlewisiii
Just another hotel clerk
I think the only time I willingly bought a disposable camera was when I was trying to make a homemade 35mm finder for my Kiev cameras with the plastic VF from it.
Archiver
Veteran
As I've written in other posts, my grandfather was an avid snapshooter who carried a camera much of the time. He would sometimes take family group photos and he would bring prints later in the day, thanks to the proliferation of one hour photo labs in the 80s. Granddad gave each of his children a camera, and in each of their families there is at least one child who is into photography.