OFFICIAL I HAVE A NEW (FILM RELATED) TOY THREAD!!

I've been looking for an Ensign Selfix 1620 for a while now, but as I wanted one with the flip up Albada type viewfinder at a reasonable price it slowed my search down a bit! I've finally managed to bag this one, in nice condition and complete with leather case, for £32 and it arrived in today's post. :)

Ensign Selfix 1620 by J White, on Flickr

All seems good so far, the Expres f/3.5 lens has cleaned up nicely and the shutter speeds seem to work ok apart from the 1 and 1/2 second ones, which sometimes take a moment to trigger. It's obviously not been used for many years as it still had a metal spool inside it from the last roll of film, so I'll have to raid one of my box cameras for a plastic one until I get round to doing my own film developing again and get some spare placky spools! I plan to run a roll of XP2 through it and see if the lens is focussing ok, if not I'll send it off to see its Uncle Miles for a CLA. Wish me luck! :)
 
Last edited:
Funnily enough I picked one up a couple of weeks ago but the non flip up type. £10.50 in a similar condition to yours I suspect, same shutter problem as well. :)
 
It'll seem funny getting 16 shots out of a roll of film instead of the usual 8 or 12 I get out of my other roll film cameras... I won't know what to take photos of next! :snaphappy: :D
 
I managed to fix the light leak in my Mess Ikonta using the latex fabric paint I bought, but then discovered the rangefinder was out of alignment (note to self: always check infinity focus!). I think I've managed to fix it though - it's possible to move the patch by loosening three small grub screws on the focus dial, so I did that and aligned it at infinity with a pylon about a mile or more away. Then, by loosening the screws futher, I was able to re-align the distance markings on the dial to match the new setting before re-tightening everything. It now seems to focus ok in the rangefinder (at infinity and close distances), although it may need a tweak depending on the results I get, I suppose. Now I just have to hope that the focus on the actual lens isn't out of whack.
 
Last edited:
Big matey said:
Is that a 139Q?
Click to expand...

Sorry, been out working :)

Yep, a 139. One of my favourite cameras. It's looking a bit battered. I've not looked after it with kid gloves. It's been all over Europe for the last few years.
It needs a new coat and the seals are in need of replacing too. I just have to finish off a roll of FP4+ that is in it.
I have a day off tomorrow, so, weather permitting ... :)
 
kendo1 said:
Sorry, been out working :)

Yep, a 139. One of my favourite cameras. It's looking a bit battered. I've not looked after it with kid gloves. It's been all over Europe for the last few years.
It needs a new coat and the seals are in need of replacing too. I just have to finish off a roll of FP4+ that is in it.
I have a day off tomorrow, so, weather permitting ... :)
Click to expand...
I have one sat in my cupboard that needs a clad. I should get around to it, some day :D.. Nice lens you have.
 
@eeyore . what have you wrote on that polaroid, it looks like one of my darkroom intermediate jobs with all that working out and notes on it...:)
 
ChrisR said:
Excellent Colin, do please come back and share some of the results with us. I need more Pentaxian friends as most here seem to be unreconstructed Nikonians, if they're not Olympians!
Click to expand...

16710015.jpg

Almost 2 and a half years late Chris but . . . . took this with the first roll of 400 TX that I put through the MX. I don't think I have gotten results this good on my Nikon D700
 
I have just bought a Nikon 50mm f1.4 to play with alongside the 10 rolls of Kodak Vision 3 ISO 1.6 film I have ordered from Northern Film on eBay. I messaged him today as he hadn't posted it after 3 days and he threw in an extra roll of my choice, a Kodak Ortho ISO 3.

Has anyone had any experience with either of these films before. I have a few cameras that can handle the Vision 3, the F90 and F801 variants go down to ISO 6, as do the EOS 300x, 5 and 10. With these it's a case of adding 2 stops. The Yashica FX-D has a low of 25 but can go +4 stops.

The Nikon F3 only goes down to 12 but can only go +1 stop past that. I'll probably use the Ortho in it as it has some latitude (ISO 0.2 - 25).
 
Well, exposure is just a calculation, it doesn't matter the camera can't meter directly iso 6 and you don't need exposure compensation.
I remember shooting some Rollei IR at iso 12 with my mam 6, it only meters down to iso 25 but that calc is dead easy, meter at iso 25, go manual and set shutter speed a stop slower than the meter.....easy..:)
 
joxby said:
Well, exposure is just a calculation, it doesn't matter the camera can't meter directly iso 6 and you don't need exposure compensation.
I remember shooting some Rollei IR at iso 12 with my mam 6, it only meters down to iso 25 but that calc is dead easy, meter at iso 25, go manual and set shutter speed a stop slower than the meter.....easy..:)
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'd figured that out, I was wondering more if anyone has used it before. Since the Agfa Vista well dried up I'm trying different film types/brands. I have some Adox Silvermax 100, Rollei RPX 25, 100 and 400. The Kodak Vision3 2254 is on the way along with the Ortho 3, Adox CMS 20 II and a set with some Adox Rodinal R09, FT12 50, Kodak XX 250 and Orwo UN54 100. The CMS 20 II and the kit were ordered from Nik and Trick on eBay, so I guess I've taken my first step towards developing my own film.
 
Yeah, I suppose you have..:)

Its a double edged sword though, its good to try different films and developers, A. for the experience and B. to formulate an idea of what you actually like in your film dev combo.
On the other hand, its a lot to take in quickly, its tough enough just fixing your film choice to one and experimenting with exposure & dev, adding the variable of multiple emulsions and manufacturers is a long route to zeroing in on your preferences.
Still, it isn't a race, and you can't be sure about best selection from a tiny pool, they've got to be in it....to win it.
I would say that if you see something in that lot you like particularly, shoot the hell out of it till you know it inside out...:D
 
Just bit the bullet and bought an Epson V700. Also won a pack of FP4+ (24 exp x 10) on eBay for a bargain price that is dated 2022. I know that not everyone likes 24 exposure films but I have the option to develop and scan my own so development costs are less of an issue and there's the bonus that I will finish the rolls faster.
 
Back in the era of 'film only', I usually went for 24 exp rather than 36 exp, as I didn't want to be tied to one type of film for 36 photos and I'd get the results back quicker too. These days of digital, you can monster through 36 shots without even thinking about it! How times change. :LOL:
 
I prefer 24 exposure films for colour. For mono I generally roll a 12 exposure cassette. 36 exposures is just too many. The one time I tried a half-frame camera, 72 frames was a nightmare!
 
john.margetts said:
I prefer 24 exposure films for colour. For mono I generally roll a 12 exposure cassette. 36 exposures is just too many. The one time I tried a half-frame camera, 72 frames was a nightmare!
Click to expand...
Self loading is my next step. I have a bulk loader that I'm pretty sure should work. Just getting the kit together for developing my own before I splash out on 100ft of HP5 probably.
 
Just got an Exa 6 (or 1.6, Exa did not have clear model numbers). Very tarnished but 20 minutes with Brass and ROR and it is looking tip-top. No lens, but I already had a couple so no big deal. Has the waist-level finder which I rather like - encourages a very different composition to an eye-level finder. More importantly, it has the take-up spool which is detachable to allow the use of a second cassette for film take-up so there is no need to rewind. Can't imagine many people made use of that, though. Lever shutter speed selector - up to a dizzy 1/150 seconds! And the mirror acts as a guillotine shutter - works better than you might think. Knob film advance and rewind which I find to be better than OK. I don't rush my photography so the whole two seconds required to advance the film is not an issue.
P1040203.jpeg P1040204.jpeg P1040206.jpeg P1040207.jpeg P1040208.jpeg
 
Utilitarian possibly.
 
Currently has a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar on it. Should run a test film through it at the weekend.

Very easy to hold the rhomboid shape and the shutter release is left-handed allowing your right hand to concentrate on grasping.
 
Last edited:
Picked up a Photon Beard 16x20" 4 blade easel for £60 buy it now on bay of e, though postage came to £30. Practically brand new. Only bad thing is I'm now hunting for a new enlarger as it's not possible to position the easel on the baseboard and make any reasonable enlargements (image projected too close to column.)
 
They did 3 different versions Nige, No 1, 2 & 3, each with varying degrees of magnification/close-up range (I'm sure an internet search will give you the info on them so you can decide which ones will suit you best). I picked a No 2 set off eBay a couple of years back but I've not seen as many advertised lately. Come to think of it, I've not used them yet other than to make sure they fitted OK!

Edit: Here you go, keep scrolling down till you find close up lenses. http://www.yashicatlr.com/AccessoriesYashicaTLR.html Seems I had memory failure and they made 2 different types, not 3!
 
Last edited:
Stephen Devine said:
I was gifted a Hasselblad 553 ELX yesterday for my birthday, body and magazine in mint condition but I will need to add a lens and prism viewfinder. Unbelievably excited to get shooting.
Click to expand...
WOW :cool:
 
an1uk said:
Picked up a Photon Beard 16x20" 4 blade easel for £60 buy it now on bay of e, though postage came to £30. Practically brand new. Only bad thing is I'm now hunting for a new enlarger as it's not possible to position the easel on the baseboard and make any reasonable enlargements (image projected too close to column.)
Click to expand...
Are you able to reverse the column on the enlarger?

I know some can do this to allow you to project on to the floor to make big prints.
 
I noticed that the other Bronica Zenzanon-S 50mm f3.5 lens was reduced from £89.99 to £59.99 in the Cash Converters where I got my Bronica SQ-A Kit, so I bought it. It came complete with case.

They also had a Rolleimat Universal enlarger for £9.99 with a box that said Rollei filters, (for the enlarger). The filters also had £9.99 on but may have been part of the package. If I'd had a darkroom, or even room to store it and some way to get it home it wouldn't be there now.

The Cash Converters is in Redcar but the enlarger isn't on the website AFAIK.
 
Similar to this, though I did notice they had assembled it with the head upside down. The lens was pointed to the ceiling.IMG_20171217_003214_489.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top