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

We'll I have given into temptation and just bought a Bronica 50mm PE lens on that well known auction site. It was listed at a good price so I don't feel too guilty. Fingers crossed it is as nice as it looks in the photos. I have some annual leave coming up so it would complete my Bronica kit just in time for a last minute holiday booking. It's just a question of where to go.
 
A Mamiya/Sekor 500DTL SLR. Filthy dirty but a mixture of Brasso and ROR soon got it back to smart condition.

Has both a spotmeter and an average meter - which work well (meters seem to be the weakest link in old cameras). It is a centre-the-needle system so battery voltage will not be critical.

No lens but it is a M42 mount so I shall be trying it with one of my Helios 44 lenses in the morning.
 
I was aware that SWMBO had acquired her Grandad 's cameras when he passed away nearly 15 years ago. She's been having a clear out recently and asked me a few weeks ago if I would be interested in them. She only showed me 2 out of the 3 she had, one was a cheap plastic 35mm camera that was of no interest. The other was an Ensign E29 box camera, after a quick Google to find that film is no longer available I passed on that also.

Today she was getting ready to take all 3 to the charity shop when I discovered the third was a Kodak No 2 Hawkeye Model C. This one I am interested in! Seems complete and in working order with a take-up spool still inside. Gave it quick clean and have ordered some film. Will try and find a manual online, but I'm quite looking forward to trying this out!
 
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scook94 said:
I was aware that SWMBO had acquired her Grandad 's cameras when he passed away nearly 15 years ago. She's been having a clear out recently and asked me a few weeks ago if I would be interested in them. She only showed me 2 out of the 3 she had, one was a cheap plastic 35mm camera that was of no interest. The other was an Ensign E29 box camera, after a quick Google to find that film is no longer available I passed on that also.

Today she was getting ready to take all 3 to the charity shop when I discovered the third was a Kodak No 2 Hawkeye Model C. This one I am interested in! Seems complete and in working order with a take-up spool still inside. Gave it quick clean and have ordered some film. Will try and find a manual online, but I'm quite looking forward to trying this out!
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And nicely timed for you to join in with the Kodak brownie challenge on here [emoji5]
 
While I'm waiting for the 50mm PE lens to arrive it makes sense to get something more comfortable to support the etrsi so I have the Op/Tech Pro neck strap on the way too. I've had one of their tripod straps for years, unlike Theresa May it has proven to be strong and stable.
 
scook94 said:
I was aware that SWMBO had acquired her Grandad 's cameras when he passed away nearly 15 years ago. She's been having a clear out recently and asked me a few weeks ago if I would be interested in them. She only showed me 2 out of the 3 she had, one was a cheap plastic 35mm camera that was of no interest. The other was an Ensign E29 box camera, after a quick Google to find that film is no longer available I passed on that also.

Today she was getting ready to take all 3 to the charity shop when I discovered the third was a Kodak No 2 Hawkeye Model C. This one I am interested in! Seems complete and in working order with a take-up spool still inside. Gave it quick clean and have ordered some film. Will try and find a manual online, but I'm quite looking forward to trying this out!
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Usual place:
http://www.cameramanuals.org/kodak_pdf/kodak_hawkeye_no2_c.pdf

There's also this site:
http://www.brownie.camera/more/brownie_user_manuals.htm
 
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So a manager I worked for until last year has donated to me his old vivitar v635 camera and a few lenses. I can find precisely naff all about this camera except that it was made by cosina and uses a pentax k mount.
Even the mighty butkus doesn't have a manual for it, so I'm sort of just... guessing.
 
mothdust said:
Something really weird happened, I was looking at So Perfect Images' shop, and my finger must have slipped, because I seem to have ordered a 24mm Sigma Super-wide lens for my Pentax, for a simply bargain price. I think my computer is cursed!
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Very good lens...
 
VirtualAdept said:
So a manager I worked for until last year has donated to me his old vivitar v635 camera and a few lenses. I can find precisely naff all about this camera except that it was made by cosina and uses a pentax k mount.
Even the mighty butkus doesn't have a manual for it, so I'm sort of just... guessing.
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Very likely a Cosina CT1 Super - certainly looks like one externally. That excellent chassis was made into several Vivitar models (as well as the Nikon FM10, Canon T60 and Olympus OM2000).
 
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I was in a charity shop yesterday on the hunt for decanters when before I knew it, I was leaving with this little beauty for £20. Not too sure how that happened but it seems in perfect condition so I'm off to buy it a new battery and some film today [emoji5]IMG_9832.JPG
 
Andysnap said:
Mmm, all bar one of the shots (a close up of me... :D) are blurred, very blurred. I think it may possibly be user error though, a tripod test will be conducted to rule out any fault with the camera.
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Anyway... Another fillum has been sacrificed on the altar of Clack and I have to say that they are equally as crap. All taken on a tripod and with the correct settings so I have to retract my 'user error' insinuation, basically it is a bag of crap. Looks like we ended up with a very bad example or a lemon. :D
 
Andysnap said:
Anyway... Another fillum has been sacrificed on the altar of Clack and I have to say that they are equally as crap. All taken on a tripod and with the correct settings so I have to retract my 'user error' insinuation, basically it is a bag of crap. Looks like we ended up with a very bad example or a lemon. :D
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Told you that focus was out of plonk! ;) Banter aside, sadly it's probably not worth trying to sort it out... unless we have a long, cold, dull, wet, winter and you get really bored!
 
Clack... sniggers some more...

Incidentally home bargains are doing insulated coolbags with a trolley handle and wheels for £8. I thought they might be useful for storing film/cameras while on holiday and keeping it cooler. I got one for carrying food but I can see it's actually quite multi purpose :)
 
Got my Olympus XA4 back from Miles Whitehead, all cleaned and serviced - its first service in 32 years, thought I'd treat it... Just in time for festival season, when I'll be too busy to go out and shoot much. Oh well!
 
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mothdust said:
Got my Olympus XA4 back from Miles Whitehead, all cleaned and serviced - its first service in 32 years, thought I'd treat it... Just in time for festival season, when I'll be too busy to go out and shoot much. Oh well!
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Surely festival season is the perfect time to slip it on your pocket and get some serious use out of it?
 
Andysnap said:
Did you also rob a bank? :D I've been intrigued by those Plaubels for a while now but they are sooooo expensive.
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I looked them up after seeing they were the camera used by Martin Parr when shooting The Last Resort. I quickly decided that I'd get something a little less expensive!

How much did that one set you back @skysh4rk?
 
Andysnap said:
Did you also rob a bank? :D I've been intrigued by those Plaubels for a while now but they are sooooo expensive.
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FishyFish said:
I looked them up after seeing they were the camera used by Martin Parr when shooting The Last Resort. I quickly decided that I'd get something a little less expensive!

How much did that one set you back @skysh4rk?
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Yeah, well, like many other things in Japan, the good stuff comes at a price, unfortunately...

In this instance, the price was on par with what I've seen on eBay.

I came very close to buying a mint-looking Norita 66 instead, but that particular shop hadn't tested the camera, wouldn't allow me to test it, and wouldn't allow returns if it didn't work.

Going into the trip, I was looking for a unique and/or rare camera that was designed and manufactured in Japan and both the Plaubel and Norita fit this description. I saw tonnes of other things that I might have bought if we had been travelling in UK/Europe, as there are so many shops with many different used cameras and lenses (e.g., Rolleiflexes, Hasselblads, etc.), but my wife and I prefer to buy goods made in the country we're travelling in, so I was focused on Japanese products.
 
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Japan has lots of cameras I'd like to buy that you just can't find over here.
The Plaubel may have been comparable in price to those listed on ebay, but most of them are still in Japan so you have to factor in import charges and god knows what else.
By the time you've guessed that and added a bit for comfort, its getting daft, so in all likely hood a straight buy from Japan is gonna be a bargain.

You can put a roll of 35 through that RJ, and get Xpan negs...:D
 
On a side note, how much is Fuji film in its native country
Gets in my wick when Ilford film made in England is cheaper to buy in flippin Germany
 
joxby said:
The Plaubel may have been comparable in price to those listed on ebay, but most of them are still in Japan so you have to factor in import charges and god knows what else.
By the time you've guessed that and added a bit for comfort, its getting daft, so in all likely hood a straight buy from Japan is gonna be a bargain.
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Yeah, this much is very true. I would never have bought the camera off of eBay because of those headaches and because I wouldn't have been able to handle the camera first.

joxby said:
On a side note, how much is Fuji film in its native country
Gets in my wick when Ilford film made in England is cheaper to buy in flippin Germany
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Fuji films, which I easily purchased in Kyoto and Tokyo, are a little bit cheaper than prices here currently, at least for 120 format:
  • Fuji 160NS was ¥3300 or about £22.50
  • Fuji 400H was ¥3800 or about £26
  • Fuji Acros 100 was about ¥2300 or £16
Kodak film was outrageously expensive at about double UK prices. I bought some Cinestill 800T in 120, which was just a hair more than what I've paid here in the UK.
 
Acros is a right bargain at £16, there is nothing of that quality available in the UK for that money, not Ilford, not nobody.

Whatever you paid for the Makina, you won't lose selling it again in the UK, its probably and investment...:ROFLMAO:
 
joxby said:
Acros is a right bargain at £16, there is nothing of that quality available in the UK for that money, not Ilford, not nobody.

Whatever you paid for the Makina, you won't lose selling it again in the UK, its probably and investment...:ROFLMAO:
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Yeah, Acros is very well priced there.

With regard to the Makina, as long as it continues to work as it should, I'm sure that there will be a market for it. I'm hoping that I won't want to sell it anytime soon though.
 
joxby said:
Whatever you paid for the Makina, you won't lose selling it again in the UK, its probably and investment...:ROFLMAO:
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I take that (slightly man maths) view with most higher end medium format cameras - Hasselblad, Rolleiflex et al. - provided you didn't pay silly money for them, they continue to hold their value extremely well. Interested to see your results on the Makina - heard nothing but excellent things about the optics.
 
Well, I thought I had finally kicked my GAS as I haven't bought a camera in over 10 months now. But I find myself perusing the internet quite often now, itching for something new.

The only known cure for GAS is to buy something, right?
 
Carl Hall said:
Well, I thought I had finally kicked my GAS as I haven't bought a camera in over 10 months now. But I find myself perusing the internet quite often now, itching for something new.

The only known cure for GAS is to buy something, right?
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Makes sense if you want equipment that your existing gear can't do OR something that would improve the ability, for you, to get that shot.
 
excalibur2 said:
Makes sense if you want equipment that your existing gear can't do OR something that would improve the ability, for you, to get that shot.
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Or, if you just fancy trying something different and have some spare cash. It isn't always about improving or getting better shots Brian, sometimes its just fun to spend money on something you fancy. :D
 
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