ClassiCameras

The lost cameras (VI, Agfa Optima 335)

2012-01-21T21:37:00.002+01:00

Since the beginning of my relationship with photographic gear in 1979 I lost lots of equipment.
Some cameras died, some were sold, some I gave away as gifts. Luckily the photos survived.

The Agfa Optima 335 is the cheapest model of the Red Button Optima series (335, 535, 1035, 1535).
It´s a scale/zone focus camera with a Agnatar 3,5/40mm lens.
I used it for street photography on slide film in the early 90s of the 20th century.

Yashica Electro 35CC

2012-01-21T15:39:00.004+01:00

Cute!

The lost cameras (V, Yashica Electro 35 GTN)

2012-01-17T08:51:00.002+01:00

Since the beginning of my relationship with photographic gear in 1979 I lost lots of equipment.
Some cameras died, some were sold, some I gave away as gifts. Luckily the photos survived.

The Yashica Electro 35 GTN was my first serious rangefinder camera, bought on a flea market in 1990. I purchased later the Tele and wideangle accessory lenses with the external finder, but these are not funny to use. The camera was sold after some years in need of money.

The lost cameras (IV, Porst Reflex FX3)

2012-01-17T08:45:00.003+01:00

Since the beginning of my relationship with photographic gear in 1979 I lost lots of equipment.
Some cameras died, some were sold, some I gave away as gifts. Luckily the photos survived.

The Porst Reflex FX3 was my fathers SLR that he gave generously to me when my interest in photography got serious.
It was equipped with a Porst Color Reflex lens 2,8/50mm (Domiplan).
When I got my own Nikon, the Porst was used as a backup until it´s shutter stopped working.

The two upper photos were taken with the 2,8/50mm, the lower with a Porst 2,8/135mm.

Statistics for 2011

2012-01-17T08:35:00.001+01:00

The year 2011 is over and I have finished the frame count for the year:

My archive contains the following films:

120 B&W: 3 rolls > 36 frames
135 B&W: 137 rolls > 4932 frames
The Rollei project: 76 rolls > 2736 frames
Complete digital: 7500 frames

Complete analogue and digital: 16004 frames

Bencini Comet NK135 (II)

2012-01-15T12:02:00.003+01:00

Nikon L35AWAF

2012-01-10T19:50:00.001+01:00

Olympus Superzoom 120 (II)

2012-01-06T13:29:00.002+01:00

Polypan F

2012-01-06T12:57:00.001+01:00

In the next months many cameras I showed before will reappear in this blog. The difference to the former posts is, that all pictures will be shot on the same sort of film, the Polypan F.

The Polypan F is, so I´ve been told by the distributor, the emulsion of the Ilford Pan F on a thin, clear polyester base. It is normally used for copying cine films and is available only in rolls of 90m and 152m. Polypan F on Ebay Germany

I load the film into metal cartridges and usually shoot it at 100 ASA. The developing is done in APH09 (Rodinal recipe), dilution 1:100, one hour stand development with ten initial agitations. I don´t use stop bath, only water and the fixation is done with Adox Adofix.

The price of a roll is ca. 33 Eurocents, which is hard to beat.

Canon AF35ML (III)

2012-01-05T17:29:00.001+01:00

Ricoh R1 (II)

2012-01-02T13:55:00.007+01:00

Chinon Bellami

2011-12-05T21:15:00.005+01:00

The Chinon Bellami and it´s clone, the Revue 35CC

Minolta Hi-Matic AF

2011-12-04T12:00:00.002+01:00

Mamiya 135AF

2011-11-05T15:23:00.005+01:00

Nikon F90x

2011-09-30T15:44:00.005+02:00

The F90 x has anything a boy could wish to play with; it has the usual sticky back of the 90s Nikons too, but gaffer tape fixed it.
The camera came with a Sigma 28-105, that is a fine lens and gives a counterweight to the massive body (well, not so massive, compared with the F2 Photomic)

Early AF

2011-09-30T15:39:00.001+02:00

Early AF cameras of the 70s and 80s with the features AF and manual advance are my personal faves, although the use is not really satisfying. The cheap plastic bodies , the wobbly controls and the "sound" are evil. The lens quality is much better than the handling, especially the lens of the Konica AF3 is great.

Just for fun

2011-09-24T17:56:00.000+02:00

Minolta SRT 100X with Rokkor 35mm/2,8

2011-09-12T14:03:00.001+02:00

Dacora-matic 4D

2011-09-08T13:30:00.004+02:00

The Dacora-matic 4D from 1960 is unique because of it´s four shutter release buttons. Pressing one of them sets the lens to the according distance. The aperture is set automatically by a selenium light meter, the exposure time is combined with the film speed setting. Is this AF or is it scale focusing or is it zone focusing?

Rollei 35 LED

2011-09-08T11:40:00.007+02:00

The Rollei 35LED was developed and produced in Singapore since 1978. It featured the Triotar three-element-lens known from the Rollei B35 and C35. Shutter speeds ranged from /30s - /500s and B. The camera shows the right exposure by LEDs in the finder. The meter is started by pressing the shutter halfway. To avoid battery drain, the shutter release button can be locked. This is a feature of the later models of the 35 LED.
The most annoying things when using the 35LED are the misplaced finder and the fact that the lens release button is placed beside the lens, not on the top as at the original Rollei 35. You waste too much frames by releasing the shutter instead of the lens when you use both cameras.

(rant on) The Waaske design of the original Rollei 35 ~~was~~ is perfect, so any "enhancement" ~~was~~ is ergonomically a desaster (rant off)

The other side (VIII)

2011-09-01T23:35:00.000+02:00

The main reason for me to buy a Micro 4/3 camera was the ability to adapt older lenses. Not only interchangeable lenses, but although fixed lenses that I ripped off various cameras.Here are my Franken-lenses:

Top left:The 17mm/f11 lens from an Agfa LeBox Panoramic disposable camera, mounted into a Leica bodycap. Gaffer tape and superglue

Top middle:The 26mm/f2 lens from a Canon 110ED pocket camera, mounted into the helicoid of a Industar-61. I wound gaffer tape around the lens to get the internal diameter of the Industar.

Top right:The 27mm/f8 lens from a Pentacon K16 pocket camera. The K16 is was a nice camera, but the standard 110 films don´t fit, so ....

Bottom left:The lens from an Agfamatic 300 camera for 126 cassettes. I own two of them; well, owned. The mount is a provisional cardboard/gaffer tape mount on an M39 to M4/3 adapter. When finished it will be mounted into another m39 body cap.

Bottom middle:The Rollei 35 40mm/f3,5 Tessar from the last post.

Bottom right:A plastic lens from a Nippon K147 plastic camera, mounted with gaffer tape into a M4/3 body cap.

The other side (VII)

2011-08-23T19:29:00.004+02:00

I own a damaged Tessar 3,5/40mm from a Rollei 35. The focus ring is missing, but it can be focused by turning the front ring. The aperture is in function but can only be set by a tiny rod at the lens´ tube.
Glueing a bent nail into this rod let me set the aperture easier.

I used the bayonet of a Holga-for-m4/3-lens to mount the Tessar to my Lumix G1. Glue, tape and some plastic lens caps were used to give it some housing. A little plastic piece with three dents holds the nail and sets the aperture; only 3,5 - 8 - 22 are possible.

Some examples @ f8:

100% crop:

Some bokeh @ f3,5:

Nikon F2 Photomic

2011-07-29T14:17:00.003+02:00

The other side (VI)

2011-07-02T18:52:00.001+02:00

I ripped another part out of the Holga lens:

This makes the lens a 4/25mm with very soft rendering:

Against the light, first without shade, second with shade (hand):

The other side (V)

2011-06-24T20:51:00.003+02:00

The Holga lens for m4/3 features a sieve-plate-like aperture, that changes its distance to the "glass" when the lens is focused. The effect: the vignetting is nearly invisible when the lens is set to infinity and heavy when the lens is close focused:

You can even see the sieve´s pattern around the center:

I removed the sieve plate and the lens seems to create sharper photos with some distortions and no vignetting:

The third way to use the sieve plate is to place it deeper in the lens, closer to the "glass". The vignetting is visible, but not too extreme:

The other side (IV)

2011-06-03T15:03:00.002+02:00

The Holga 25mm lens for Micro 4/3 cameras.

The other side (III)

2011-06-01T17:09:00.001+02:00

Me on the other side; Lumix G1 with Chinon 55mm/1,4

Agfa Optima 1535

2011-05-30T19:21:00.000+02:00

Lubitel 2

2011-05-28T19:32:00.004+02:00

Look, feel, handling: OK
Focus ring, finder: Horrible
Lens quality: Surprise!
All examples are shot on Fortepan 400, developed in R09, 15 min.

Nikon AF 600

2011-05-23T21:11:00.001+02:00

Konica Big Mini HG

2011-05-17T15:49:00.001+02:00

Kodak Vest Pocket Model B

2011-05-17T15:38:00.000+02:00

The Vest Pocket Model B took 4x6,5cm photos on 127 film. The lens in mine is a Doublet f8, fix focus. The camera has to be loaded through the front side, after removing the whole bed and bellows unit, which is a pain! The camera has the "Autographic" window on the back, that could be used to scratch notes into the backing paper of the autographic film. The notes were burnt into the film by the sunlight, some early version of a data back.

Canon MC

2011-05-13T20:25:00.000+02:00

A cute looking early AF camera, but beaten with the curse of Canon, a too noisy advance motor; the rewind is even louder!
It is powered by two AAA batteries. In size and lens (35mm/2,8) it can be compared with the Minolta AF-C. The AF-C is much more silent (manual advance), the Canon has the better handling and construction quality.

Canon EOS 620

2011-05-04T18:45:00.000+02:00

Kodak Retina Ia

2011-05-02T20:06:00.000+02:00

Lens is a Retina Xenar 50mm/3,5, the frame counter is stuck, but everything else is fine, even the bellows.

Film stand developed at room temperature for 25min. Fresh mixed baths (Tetenal colortec)

The other side (II)

2011-03-10T19:08:00.001+01:00

Shooter and pointer

Gorilla and chimp(er)

Olympus 35 ECR

2011-02-20T10:44:00.000+01:00

I bought the 35 ECR in 2009, shot two rolls with it and forgot it. Shame on me, it´s a fantastic camera. It only has the common ECR disease, a corroded battery wire. When I tape the batteries to the rest wires, it fires away, only the battery change is tricky.

Watameter Rangefinder

2011-02-16T15:58:00.000+01:00

I bought it for the use with my Rollei 35 but found that an external rangefinder isn´t my toy.

Statistics for 2010

2011-01-05T19:24:00.001+01:00

The year 2010 is over and I have finished the frame count for the year:

My archive contains the following films:

120 B&W: 12 rolls > 120 frames
135 B&W: 95 rolls > 3420 frames
135 C-41: 77 rolls > 2772 frames
The Rollei project: 133 rolls > 4788 frames

From January to August I used digital too:
January: 123 pictures
February: 816 pictures
March: 1680 pictures
April: 465 pictures
May: 476 pictures
June: 392 pictures
July: 1974 pictures
August: 525 pictures
Complete digital: 6451 pictures

Complete analogue and digital: 17551 frames

Used cameras:

Analogue:
Linhof 220, Nikon F-301, Beauty Lightomatic II, Olympus mju-II, Konica Off-road, Olympus Trip, Nikon FM, Vivitar 35ES, Canon AF35ML, Chinon CE-II, Chinon Bellami, Ricoh 800EES, Zorki 1, Nikon 801s, Ricoh R1, Nikon F-601, Nikon FG, Nikon FG-20, Nikon F-50, Olympus XA4, Konica FS-1, Pentax ME, Lomo LC-A, Konica AF-3, Yashica 35GS, Yashica T5, Olympus mju-I, Kiev 4A, Canon AV-1, Olympus 35RC, Konica C35, Konica Recorder, Rollei 35, Olympus OM-1, Nikon Pronea S, Canonet 28, Nippon, Contax 137MA, Contaflex Super, Karat 36, Nikon 35AWAF, Praktica MTL5B, Retina Ia, Agfa Ambi Silette, Porst Hapo 36,

Digital:
Minolta Dimage 7i and Nikon Coolpix 5600

Things to come

2010-11-20T19:34:00.000+01:00

The first six months of my exclusive use of the Rollei 35 are over, but I did not stop buying cameras.
Here is a first teaser for the things to come after August the 14th, 2011:

1)
Kodak Retina Ia with Schneider Xenar 3,5/50mm
I had a Retina with a Xenar 2,8 before, but it broke. Luckily I found this one on a flea market.
2)
Agfa Optima 1535 Sensor with Solitar 2,8/40mm
I had several models of the Agfa Optima Sensor series but a nice working rangefinder model is top of the list!
3)
Penti I with a brick of Orwo NP 20 SL cassettes
Agfa Rapid and Orwo SL are identical film systems and the Penti I with it´s unique film transport rod is a nice toy.
4)
Pentax Spotmatic SP II with Takumar 1,4/50mm
No need to say anything about this camera and lens, except the fact that some guy sold it to me for five Euro!
UPDATE: While playing with the Spotmatic, the aperture of the Takumar blocked:-(
5)
Nikon Af 600
A small and light P&S with 28mm lens
6)
Canon EOS 650 with Sigma 3,5-4,5/28-70mm
The worlds first AF-SLR, a big and heavy beast with a great handgrip and surface.
7)
Watameter rangefinder for the use with the Rollei 35 in the dark season
UPDATE: This doesn´t work for me! I used it a few times and found that it doesn´t match with my photographic style!
8)
Konica Big Mini
9)
Canon MC
10)
Sigma 28mm/2,8 in Nikon Ai mount
11)
Canon EOS 620 with 50mm/1,8 II (and Data Back)

Rollei 35 and Polypan F

2010-08-22T11:10:00.000+02:00

There will be not much action for the next months, because I started a project called
"Rollei 35 and Polypan F".
The according blog is here: CLICK
The task is to shoot exclusively the Rollei 35 and the Polypan F for one year.
Exposing (50 ASA), developing (stand development in APH09 1+100) and scanning (Canoscan 8400F @ 3200 dpi)
shall be done under the same conditions for the whole year too.

Agfacolor CNS

2010-08-14T18:32:00.000+02:00

I showed my son some of my old cameras and films, including a 126 cassette and a roll 120 of Agfacolor CNS. He asked me if it could still be developed.
I knew that there are some labs that still do C-22 for insane prices, but what I wanted to know was if it could be done at home.
What I found in the net was a manual for mixing the chemicals an advice to develop the film as a B&W (which I had done before, getting blank negatives) and some discussions about using C-41 chemistry. The advices were very academical and controvers. Some told to harden the film before developing, some said the temperature had to be hold low to avoid damage, some told to harden the film before blix, some said the blix of C-41 would loosen the emulsion.

To make this short: I put the film (120) onto the reel, filled in my expired developer at room temperature and let it stand for one hour - no agitation! I did the same with the blix. On the film, that I had bought with a Agfa Box, I found four frames, somewhat underexposed but visible. They hang to dry now, scans will follow tomorrow.

Summary at this point: Stand developing at room temperature in the C-41 process gives useable negatives from C-22 films.

The examples show the color aberrations that can be expected from a film that was stored in the camera for 20 years and then on my shelf for another 15 years, estimated time!

Minox 35GT

2010-07-02T15:18:00.000+02:00

Nikon FG-20 and Industar-50-2

2010-06-23T21:50:00.000+02:00

The smallest of my 50s, bought with a Zenit B for 5,- Euro some years ago and seldomly used until I got a Nikon FG-20 with a M42-Ai adapter last week. The tiny FG-20 and the tiny I-50-2 make a great pair.

Pictures on Agfapan 400, stand developed in Rodinal 1+100 for one hour.

The lost cameras (III, Kodak EK 2)

2010-06-14T16:18:00.001+02:00

Since the beginning of my relationship with photographic gear in 1979 I lost lots of equipment.
Some cameras died, some were sold, some I gave away as gifts. Luckily the photos survived.

You remember: Kodak once made Instant cameras and films too! Okay, only as long as Polaroid let them do so;-)
My first Instant camera was the Kodak EK2. See here:
It´s the model that didn´t have a motor to throw out the picture, no, you had do do this by winding a crank! When Kodak stopped producing instant films, Polaroid had a change-your-camera offer here in Germany and I gave away the EK2 and bought an Image (Spectra) instead. I still have some photographs from the EK2:

Use and abuse of a C41-kit

2010-06-09T18:29:00.000+02:00

I started with a fresh mixed Tetenal C41 kit (1l).

After using it for some films in the standard 38 deg C/ rotation method,
I decided to try the developing at room temperature
(20 deg C).

Some searching in the web gave me a starting point at 15min with one agitation every 30 sec.
At 18 deg C I developed 30 min with identical agitation and found no difference in the negatives.
Blix time was 30 min, same agitation.

Then I changed to stand development at 20 deg C. First films were developed 60 min with ten initial agitations, then I reduced the developing time to 45 min. Blix time always one hour.

I developed in the kit 33 films so far. Whenever the developer went under 1l, I filled in water to get the litre again.

The scans came out in very different ways. Some pictures could be used without any correction, some had a strong red haze.

C-41 (VIII)

2010-05-29T20:30:00.000+02:00

This one after PS

C-41 at 18 deg C, stand developing with ten initial inversions; developer and blix bath one hour each.

C-41 (VII)

2010-05-28T07:29:00.000+02:00

Pictures straight out of the scanner (Canoscan 8400F).
Expired film, expired chemicals (Tetenal Colortec), bath temperature 18 deg C; developed 30 min, blix 30 min.

The lost cameras (II, Polaroid 680 SLR)

2010-05-14T18:32:00.001+02:00

The lost cameras (I, Seagull 4B-I)

2010-05-14T16:24:00.001+02:00

Since the beginning of my relationship with photographic gear in 1979 I lost lots of equipment.
Some cameras died, some were sold, some I gave away as gifts. Luckily the photos survived.
The following pictures were taken with a Seagull 4B-I TLR from China that I bought in 1986 and sold in the mid 90s.
It was the model with separate transport and shutter cocking, a feature that made multiple exposures easy. The used film was the Ektachrome 64, a film with lovely colors.

This was the only street shot I managed with the Seagull - and it was a pure piece of luck! I was composing a shot of the stairs and had just finished the settings when I heard the childrens voices. Just click and then start breathing again!

This is a sandwich of a boring sunset picture and a boring tree shot. This time the synergy effect worked well!

C-41 (VI)

2010-05-05T18:52:00.000+02:00

These were developed as described in the former post, but this time with fresh chemistry. The negatives needed only minor corrections.

C-41 (V)

2010-04-30T20:41:00.000+02:00

Another try to modify the C-41 processing:
This example was developed in the Tetenal Colortec kit at 20℃. The kit was used for 20 films in standard development before. I found some advice for 24℃ in the net and decided to go down to 20℃.
Developing time was 15 min with an agitation time of 30 secs in the beginning, then one agitation every 30 secs.
The blix time was 30 min with identical agitation.
The negatives came out very thin, but I think this could be the consequence of a badly exposing camera (F-601 with some problems).
There is heavy blue color aberration, but the fix in PS was possible. The blue cast doesn´t show up in every frame.
The last photo shows the 100% crop with the grain. The film was a expired Polaroid 200.

More examples will follow

Nikon FG

2010-04-30T11:03:00.000+02:00

Beside the F50 the FG is one of the ugly ducklings from Nikon. Prices are much lower than for the FA, the Nikkormats or the F/F2.
The FG is tiny, nearly too tiny to fit my hand well, but the small grip is helpful.
The lens here is the same Sigma AF 24mm/2,8 as in the post before, but without the shade.

Nikon F50

2010-04-30T10:47:00.000+02:00

Not the most beautiful Nikon SLR, but a trusty one. My wife uses her F50 since the mid 90s and it´s AF and exposure system are great (she uses slide film exclusively!). Nothing to say against the sturdiness too: In 1998 my then one year old son poked his finger into the shutter and slipped out two of the lamellas (first day of our holidays!) We could fix it with the tweezers of my Swiss Army Knife! No further service! Nikon!
In my eyes the only pita of this camera is the use of these tiny knobs to set the functions.

Leitz Summaron 3,5cm/3,5

2010-04-20T11:35:00.000+02:00

Olympus XA4 macro

2010-04-13T21:18:00.000+02:00

All the advantages of the XA series combined with a 28mm lens. I found a nearly mint XA4, it even came with the measuring rope; the only drawback is a broken frame counter.
Edit: After exposing several films the counter came to life again and works since then!

Panagor 90mm/2,8 Macro

2010-04-13T21:03:00.000+02:00

This lens focuses down to M 1:1; but it´s a long way to go from infinity and the length increases so much, that I was afraid it could fall apart when using it first.
My lens has the Pentax K-mount and I use it with a ME, that lacks a DOF control knob. This makes focusing a bit tricky. Holding the tiny ME with the full extended lens is not really nice, so I bought a winder for the camera; this combo is perfect to hold, but the noise of the winder is ...!

Olympus LT-1

2010-01-28T19:40:00.000+01:00

The mju-I in a brown leather skin. Feels good, but the "tongue" is very annoying when you use the camera. Be careful not to cover the lens!

Nikon F-601 AF

2010-01-28T19:32:00.000+01:00

C-41 (IV)

2010-01-16T22:28:00.000+01:00

Shot with a Konica Off-road on Kodak Farbwelt 200. Developed in Tetenal C-41 baths that stood in dilution for more than one year. I had expected blank negatives or much heavier color aberrations while developing.

This one is after photoshopping.

Nikkor AI 43-86mm/3,5

2010-01-15T20:57:00.000+01:00

I saw this lens first in 1979 when I bought my first Nikon, but a test I read made me buy a Tokina 35-70 that time.
The 43-86 is much heavier than the Tokina (that did not survive!), but the feeling and handling is great.

Canon AV-1

2010-01-14T20:46:00.000+01:00

Jupiter-8 50mm/2

2010-01-14T20:28:00.000+01:00

I own three Jupiter-8 lenses, two for the Kiev and one for the M39 mount. All three are soft wide open , but very sharp when stopped down. The stepped aperture of the Kiev-lenses are easier to use than the stepless one of the M39 lens.

The little wooden piece under the infinity lock makes the distance setting less frustrating.

The Zorki 1 with the J-8, an Altix 35/50mm finder and a selfmade handgrip.

The other side (I)

2010-01-07T11:22:00.000+01:00

There are more and more DSLR photographers out there, who make very interesting subjects. So sometimes I will post photos of their equipment and (hopefully) their behaviour, which seems to be very similar.
These are photos from the Tiergarten in Nürnberg, where young tigers can be seen.

The most interesting thing was, that there seemed to be much more cameras than photographers.

The guy in the foreground had a really fast camera. While I took these four pictures he stood at the same place and snapped approx. 50 photos.

Zeiss Ikon Contessamat SBE

2010-01-04T18:57:00.000+01:00

Bencini Comet NK135 (I)

2009-12-31T13:34:00.002+01:00

A scale focus camera with a fake prism. Big and surprisingly heavy, with an uncommon front shutter release button. Speeds B, 30-250, Bluestar lens 2,8/50mm.

Konica C35

2009-12-29T08:48:00.000+01:00

Gossen Lunasix 3

2009-12-29T08:46:00.000+01:00

Yashica T5

2009-12-29T08:40:00.001+01:00

A P&S with a great Tessar 3,5/35mm and an additional angle finder called "Super scope" on the top.

Contax 137MA

2009-12-21T20:34:00.000+01:00

The 137MA suffered of the normal Contax disease, the damaged body cover. So I applied blue leather.
The 137MA is one of the quietest motor cameras I own. It features aperture priority AE, manual control, AE memory lock and a DOF preview button. The finder shows not only aperture and speed, but also the frame number. The body came with a detachable handgrip.

Beauty Lightomatic II

2009-10-25T19:32:00.000+01:00

Elikon

2009-10-10T20:17:00.000+02:00

Two sisters from the East. The Elikon AF is another clone of the Konica C35AF, the Elikon 35 is a full AE scale focus camera.
Unfortunately both are not working, so you´ll have to wait for pics:-(

Yashica Electro 35GS

2009-10-08T13:29:00.001+02:00

Built in 1968 this Yashica is still in perfect cosmetical shape. Like many other Electros it suffered from the well known "Pad of death" illness.
After replacing the rotten pad the whole system works well again. I replaced the original mercury battery with one CR123A and two LR44 batteries. This combo fits in the battery chamber without any space problems. The higher voltage against the original battery seems to be no problem (when using B&W film).

Konica Recorder

2009-10-08T07:25:00.001+02:00

The "Recorder" is the same camera as the Konica AA-35: Half frame, AF, motor wind forward and backward. Hexanon 24mm/4, shutter speeds from 1/60 to 1/500s. It uses two AA cells. After my AA-35 stopped working I could get this "Recorder" as a part of a camera bundle. It´s in much better condition than the AA-35 and gives me the same fun in creating photo patterns.

50mm

2009-08-05T13:12:00.001+02:00

I´m a big fan of 50mm lenses. They are light, small and useable in most photographic situations. They force you to go instead of zooming in. I almost never used one that was really crappy. Most of them are cheap, and that´s the result ...

Linhof 220

2009-05-29T11:38:00.000+02:00

The Linhof 220 is a 6x7cm rangefinder camera with a big grip, that makes it great for portrait oriented shooting, but not for landscape orientation. The lens is the famous Technikar 3,5/90mm, that is available for the Alpa cameras too.

A full frame:

And a 100% crop:

Fomapan 400, scanned at 2400dpi (Canoscan 8400F)

Konica A4

2009-05-29T11:28:00.000+02:00

Olympus 35RC

2009-05-29T11:24:00.000+02:00

Konica MR640

2009-04-17T17:04:00.001+02:00

A weatherproof camera with a dualfocus lens 40/60mm.

Agfa Isolette III update

2009-04-17T16:54:00.000+02:00

The Isolette shown here: (Click) had a very bad bellows. I removed the lens/shutter and the top housing from the camera and assembled it to the body of a Isolette II with a stuck lens. Fortunately the lens needed no shimming to get the right focus. All worked fine at the first try.

Olympus Superzoom 140S

2009-04-10T16:10:00.001+02:00

Revue 500AF

2009-04-10T15:59:00.002+02:00

Ricoh R1 (I)

2009-02-24T16:37:00.002+01:00

A very slim P&S from Ricoh with an aluminium front. The handgrip is the only part of the camera where is room for a 35mm film cassette. The camera has two lenses, a 30mm/3,5 and a 24mm/8. The 24mm is designed for the use in panoramic mode, in full frame pictures it shows heavy vignetting.
The R1 has a passive AF-system with seven AF points. It needs good light and contrast to focus quick. Other little cameras like the Olympus mju-II do the job much easier, the shutter lag of the R1 is long too. The camera focuses down to 30cm.
A nice feature is the infinity mode which sets the flash off and makes the R1 a great hipshot camera, especially with the 24mm/8 lens.

The switch on the left shows the three possible settings, standard full frame, panoramic mode with 30mm and panoramic mode with 24mm. The two panoramic modes are useless, because the film is only reduced to panoramic size by two sliders in the film window.

In the web there are several manuals how to block the sliders and to use the 24mm lens full frame. The simplest way I found was to put two tiny pieces of plastic in the two holes in the red circle. This lets the lens switch untouched and after doing it you have a real 24mm lens in a P&S (I mentioned before: with vignetting and unsharp corners!) I like the effect, which is dependent of the light situation and the used film.

Against the sky there is a heavy vignetting

In other situations the effect is less visible.

Zenit-B with Mir-1 2,8/37mm

2009-02-20T09:11:00.000+01:00

Konica C35AF2

2009-02-20T09:02:00.001+01:00

Agfa Karat 36 with Xenon 2/50mm

2009-02-20T08:54:00.000+01:00

Electro Bewi Standard

2009-02-15T11:03:00.001+01:00

The other of the pair is a Electro Bewi Standard from Bertram/Germany. The selenium cell has a built-in sunshade, that pops out when the meter is opened. There are two aperture lists (old and new), cine metering and even a datasheet for calculating the depth of field.

Werralux

2009-02-15T10:53:00.001+01:00

Recently I found two very nice lightmeters on a fleamarket. Both were in working condition, approx. one EV off, which is not bad for a 45 year old selenium meter. Both are very elegant little machines too. The first is a Werralux in brass and red leatherette. It features a diffuser sheet for indirect metering.

Minolta AF-C

2009-01-27T13:13:00.000+01:00

The AF-C combines an active AF, a quiet shutter and a 2,8/35mm lens in a light and handy body. A great camera for everyday use. The camera has a program AE and can be set from 25 to 400 ASA. Film is transported by a thumbwheel, not by a noisy motor!
The front plate has to be slided down to activate the camera. The distance setting can be locked by pressing the release knob halfway. The finder shows a green light for correct distance setting and a red light as a shake warning.

Ricoh 800EES

2009-01-26T21:49:00.000+01:00

Full AE rangefinder, nearly identical to the Olympus 35ED. Shutter speeds up to 1/800s.
Very quiet shutter, smooth, but not loose advance lever.

Konica Off-road

2009-01-10T20:57:00.000+01:00

Konica Autoreflex TC

2009-01-10T20:52:00.000+01:00

Contax 139

2009-01-10T20:45:00.001+01:00

Chinon 35F-A

2009-01-05T14:02:00.001+01:00

Early AF point and shoot camera; AF memory via shutter releasa button and distance symbols in the finder.
The design with the square lens housing is quite unusual. The shutter release button can be locked.
The lens is the usual 2,8/38mm, the shutter speeds are 1/8 - 1/500s.

Zuiko 100-200mm/5

2008-12-30T14:39:00.000+01:00

The technical data of the Zuiko Auto-Zoom are not spectacular: 100-200mm, biggest aperture 1:5, a minimal distance of 2m are not stunning. On the other side the lens has a built-in shade, it is light and handy and can be equipped with filters in the standard Olympus 49mm diameter. The most spectacular thing is the increase of the lenses length. The upper picture shows the lens set to infinty with the shade slided in, in the lower picture it is set to the nearest distance an the shade slided out.

200mm/5

Full frame shot at 200mm/8 200 ASA film

100% crop from the picture above

40mm

2008-12-26T22:28:00.001+01:00

Three ways to shoot with a 40mm lens: A Rollei 35 (scale focus), a Olympus 35RD (rangefinder) and a Konica FS-1 (SLR)

Olympus Trip 35

2008-12-25T17:48:00.001+01:00

The Trip I bought was in perfect cosmetic condition, but after the first film it appeared, that the meter was dead.
In the net I found a way to modify the camera to get the two manual speeds of 1/40 and 1/200sec. Different to the advice there I decided to move the speed control onto the top of the camera using a angled rod. After doing this I have a full manual Trip 35 and can use the excellent lens and the silent shutter of this camera. Another highlight is the perfectly formed body.

100% crop from the photo above

Canon AF35ML (II)

2008-12-23T19:42:00.002+01:00

As stated in my previous post on the AF35ML I dislike the fact, that the camera beeps when the light is low. So I tried to cut the beep off. After discovering the position of the signal-giving element I cut off the light brown wire from the solder. The beep is set off! The drive is still loud, but shooting low light is less annoying now.

A picture taken in low light; the 100% crop shows the performance of the lens wide open.

The bokeh is nice too.

Olympus 35 RD

2008-12-12T17:07:00.001+01:00

Canonet 28

2008-12-12T16:56:00.000+01:00

The Canonet 28 is a Rangefinder with programmed AE which blocks the shutter release when there is too low light. To override the AE you have to switch to the flash mode which gives you apertures from 2,8-16 at a fixed speed of 1/30.
The rangefinder is good, the release smooth and the film loading support is nice. Put the film in, close the camera, wind three times and you´re on. The feeling of the camera might be the best in the 2,8-lens-class; notice the lever on the aperture ring that lets you switch easy between manual and automatic. The output is enjoyable. Replacing the mercury battery by a 1,5 volt alkaline didn´t make any problems on CN film when setting the ASA-dial 1 stop lower (200ASA film > 100 ASA setting).