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

With the proceeds I bought a Canon 7, Canon P and a couple of lenses. In terms of handling they are much more convenient than the Leica and they are very well made and solid. The lenses have reputation for being pretty good as well according to my research. I did keep my Leica 90mm Elmar to use with the Canon bodies.

They look great - congratulations on your purchases. What are they like to shoot with?
 
Since I had my cataracts fixed I've found it a struggle to operate some of my cameras. The Leica IIIA was the hardest because all the controls have tiny engravings. I got fed of up constantly having to switch between spectacles and no spectacles when I was using it (it was almost impossible to frame pictures with spectacles on). So just before Christmas I decided to sell it off and buy an alternative which was easier to operate. The Leica went for a decent price and at the same time I managed to sell off a Yashica Electro. With the proceeds I bought a Canon 7, Canon P and a couple of lenses. In terms of handling they are much more convenient than the Leica and they are very well made and solid. The lenses have reputation for being pretty good as well according to my research. I did keep my Leica 90mm Elmar to use with the Canon bodies.
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I got the camera bodies and lenses from the ebay seller eljaybe2018, he seems to specialise more or less in Canon rangefinders if you look at his ebay shop. I've also ordered a 135mm Canon lens from MW Classics. I'm a bit worried because I haven't received it yet but the money has been taken from my Paypal account. I'll have to harass them next week as I ordered it about three weeks ago.
It might be worth dropping them a line or a quick phone call, I ordered a couple of things from them before Christmas and he managed to get them posted out to me so they arrived in time. I know people have had some problems and to be fair I nearly alway go to their premises and collect, but they’re generally very well priced and I’ve never had a problem if I’ve had to return something. I think the positives outweigh the negatIves. (Apologies for the unnecessary pun)
 
Lots easier to use than the Leica. Both have nice big viewfinders. The 7 has projected frames for different focal lengths selected by a dial and the viewfinder is also parallax corrected. So there is no need for auxilliary viewfinders. The P has a simplified viewfinder, still parallax corrected, with frame lines for different focal lengths which aren't individually selectable. The cameras don't have rotating shutter speed dials or slow speed dials and loading is much easier as they have hinged backs. They are both a comfortable size, not as discreet as the Leica of course. From the shooting point of view I can't praise them enough.
 
Re: MW Classic, I’ve ordered quite a bit from them over the years (two lenses, a Leica M3, an external finder, a 6x12 roll film holder) and they’ve generally been quite quick aside from the film holder where I had to remind them it needed to be sent otherwise I’d just get PayPal to issue a refund.
 
Years ago I owned a similar style drop plate camera in quater plate format ( houghton butcher). It was large, heavy and cumbersome in use although the lens did offer a good sharp contrasty image.
i sold it due to the not so easily available filmand the fact that I was, at the time , more into roll film formats and cameras.
Since returning into LF as a ole format for my togging, I have had the occasional yearn to adopt a detective camera, basically the same as the houghton but 9x12 format and of course French / European.
Much as they can be found in excellent condition, they demand a hig price ( for a box camera!).
The majority that become available even at a moderate cost usually have faults or lack the plate holders.

Anyway I came across this one :
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Dating back to circa 1900, it is for its age in vgc.

The lens is clean with no fungus.
The sliding lens protector is present and functions correctly.
The viewfinders are reasonable, a little breaking up of the mirror silver I think but perfectly usable and let’s be honest they were never great for seeing through back in the day anyway.
The diaphragm is smooth ( adjuster located above the lens) and offers apertures from f/8 to f/64 interestingly marked in two stop increments.
The shutter cocks and fires just fine using the arme key to cock it . The shutter release being located alongside with P and I modes.
Even the fastest shutter speed of 1/60 sounds to be spot on!!!
The shutter speeds can be made slower using the knob on the side which effectively slows the guillotine speed quite literally by a brake like system.
The half moon configuration of numbers relate to focus distance min 2.5 meters ( about 8ft) through to 20meters...... after that with the aperture stopped down and brings infinity into focus.
This mechanism is a tad stiff to operate but it is functional and may simply need cleaning.
There are two bubble levels, both intact although only one appears to work.
The other panel on the side near the rear of the camera with a key like attachment is the mechanism for dropping the exposed plate inside the camera.
There is a frame counter 1-12......unbelievable that it still works flawlessly after more than a century.
There are however only 8 plate holders remaining with this camera.
The interns need a good clean and the holders require treating before use of which I have suitable products so it shouldn’t be long before I get chance to try obtain an exposure on film, bah no, not film why I use film when the j lane glass plates are available in 9x12....... what better way to give this camera a new lease of life than to use glass plates like it was destined for well over a century ago :)

The policeman ( Detective :LOL: ) has survived its overhaul...... probably its first in its long life, and is ready to take an exposure.
Cleaned up, the focusing mechanism etc moves freely, the ´braké fir the shutter speeds has been adjusted and the rusty areas of the interns and the plate holders have been treated.

‘Thé viewfinders i have left alone, one is cleaner/ clearer than the other and tbh the fact that the two viewfinders both offer the exact same 28mm square composure, I wonder why there is a portrait and landscape orientation available.
Also why a square composure when 9x12cm plate / film size is far from square?!!

Abyway although the incorrect format, I tentatively tried the edge of the exposed J Lane plate that I have and once I get the correct size purchased, I could well be having some fun.
In the meantime , to test for lightightness ( the rear door felt looks good) , I am going to cut some paper down to size to use as negs.
A little bit of packing may be needed to account for the thickness difference to plates .

Seeing as the drop plate mechanism works fine I may load all 8 holders .
With plates, I doubt more than a couple of a time.
The beauty is that the camera will function with any number of holders installed up to its original maximum of 12.
This is something that Grafmatics won’t do, they require all six septums to be in place for the holder mechanism to work properly.

Edit, barring one bubble level that is clouded over and unusable, the only thing that doesn’t work sadly, is the air shutter release. It is a shame but no surprise as behind the front panelwhich I am not going to remove, is a small leather air sack which when filled with air using a Bulb attachment attached to the nipper on the side of the camera, would operate the shutter.
Exposures will possibly be a challenge at times but it will be interesting and fun I reckon.

Édit Édit:Weight with 8 empty holders 1.9kg so a couple of kilos loaded with plates.

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Postman just delivered the makings for Cyanotypes, perhaps a series called 'Lockdown Blues'
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Finally got round to mixing some of the chems, coating a bit of paper and exposing through a rather thin digital negative as the 2 UVA 8W LED bulbs just arrived, Fitted them to my old copy stand. Put the neg in a nice old wooden half plate printing frame.

One Goth feeling blue. (reminder try 15 mins exposure not 20 and a denser negative)

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Took the plunge on some more glass plates in the larger formats of 5x7 and 10x8.

9x12cm plates for the refurbished detective camera will wait until I order again as I haven’t yet been able to test the functionality of the camera with paper negs.

Of course if I’m to shoot more plates then a purpose drying rack had to be a must have ;)

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Took the plunge on some more glass plates in the larger formats of 5x7 and 10x8.

Of course if I’m to shoot more plates then a purpose drying rack had to be a must have ;)

I hate to ask how much the plates cost - I recently saw the price of some 5x4 film and nearly fell over.

Nice drying rack!
 
I hate to ask how much the plates cost - I recently saw the price of some 5x4 film and nearly fell over.

Nice drying rack!

iirc the 5x4 plates work out at about 4.50 euros each so about 4 quid.
Thé 10x8 are like 15 quid a piece .

Sheet film as you found out can have a high price tag but don’t forget that a 5x4 neghas a surface area equivalent to approx 14 times that of a 35mm neg.
The prices simply relate to that.
LF isn’t actually more expensive than smaller formats.
The kit can be had at a price often less than that of some 35mm and MF outfits.
The film does work out more costly for each exposure but LF isn’t about taking several frames each outing..... I often take no more than one and can be out all day wandering around.
Like film photography in general is a completely different experience in many ways to digital, so is LF when compared to other formats.
 
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Finally, after a wait during which the trees which provided the plywood were grown, my intrepid has arrived. At first inspection, seems pretty much what I expected. I'm liking the inbuilt spirit levels, though I'm not convinced how reliable they will be. Fixing the front riser is a bit fiddly, though when I get it on a tripod that may improve.

Everything seems to be there, and in roughly the correct place, lens/lens board fits and with the aperture wide open I could vaguely see something in the ground glass. If it ever gets light again that will hopefully improve too :)

dark slides slot in nicely with no movement, and the magnets are all there for the rotation between landscape and portrait formats

I'll have a proper mess if it ever stops blowing a blizzard so i can retrieve my tripod from the car

Order placed for stearman dev tank and associated chemicals, sometime in the next 2 or 3 weeks I hope to have a negative. Then I just need to make a decision on the method of digitising and there may even be a picture!!
 
Finally, after a wait during which the trees which provided the plywood were grown, my intrepid has arrived. At first inspection, seems pretty much what I expected. I'm liking the inbuilt spirit levels, though I'm not convinced how reliable they will be. Fixing the front riser is a bit fiddly, though when I get it on a tripod that may improve.

Everything seems to be there, and in roughly the correct place, lens/lens board fits and with the aperture wide open I could vaguely see something in the ground glass. If it ever gets light again that will hopefully improve too :)

dark slides slot in nicely with no movement, and the magnets are all there for the rotation between landscape and portrait formats

I'll have a proper mess if it ever stops blowing a blizzard so i can retrieve my tripod from the car

Order placed for stearman dev tank and associated chemicals, sometime in the next 2 or 3 weeks I hope to have a negative. Then I just need to make a decision on the method of digitising and there may even be a picture!!

I carry a tiny plastic spirit level as one of the the levels on my 10x8 is I’m sure not set correctly but also depending on the height / position of camera, if the rear standard needs to be redressed vertically ( for architecture), i am simply too short to see the built in levels .
If I was to have the camera low enough to view them then I would need Nick @RaglanSurf :pto help compose on the groundglass so that I don’t break my back crouching down.:LOL:

Fixing the front standard never poses me a problem but I only have small hands / fingers so perhaps if you have shovel hands, getting into the limited space to turn the wing nut may well be more awkward.
If the rise/fall mechanism is a tad stiff, polish the metal uprights with mr sheen or similar. ( Same product is excellent for stiff darkslides too)

Operating a a LF camera is always more practical / easier on a tripod;)
 
good tip on the spirit level @Asha, can you hire sherpas in the UK? all this gear to carry....

You ain’t gunna get much lighter than an intrepid !
A bit of bulk to carry perhaps though I’ve seen other non LF togs carry much more!
Worth it in my opinion especially if you intend to print large.
Sherpas / porters / assistants are generally unreliable..... I had one ( a partner) who was never around when I needed her most :LOL:
 
I use a (now discontinued) Billingham photographers' waistcoat to carry filters, exposure meters, loupe,film holders, cable release (and all the normal stuff like wallet, keys, phone, pen etc.). I then either add a backpack for camera, lens(es), tripod and focussing cloth, or just sling the cloth over my shoulder and use my hands.

I switched to LF because it was lighter - seriously!
 
Err, I *seem* to have bought my first MF camera! A slightly tatty Ikoflex TLR.

Whilst waiting for that to arrive, I need to order some 120 film. Then the camera will turn out not to work, so I'll need to buy a different camera to use up the film. And on, and on...
 
Err, I *seem* to have bought my first MF camera! A slightly tatty Ikoflex TLR.

Whilst waiting for that to arrive, I need to order some 120 film. Then the camera will turn out not to work, so I'll need to buy a different camera to use up the film. And on, and on...
.... and so it goes. Build a 4x5 camera then lo and behold you end up buying

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For collection purposes or do you have some means of obtaining disc film?
Defo one for the sub mini collection. I don't have a secret stash of film but I'm told the Kodak, 3M and Fuji disc films stand up to time very well owing to a chemical used in the original formulation. I guess a film, development and scanning would cost over £25 so not for me.
 
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This mornings deliveries (from 2 ebay sellers) having had a clean up, re-label and check over. Two minor repairs needed , one darkslide handle a little loose (drop of superglue) and a small chip off the base by the hinge on one of the Liscos (filled in with black ABS from 3D pen). So now I can do 10 sheets at a time.

Puzzle time .... using something an old professional photographer showed me back in 1977 I can tell at a glance that all the holders are empty (which they were not when delivered, I'll use those sheets for loading practice ).
 
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Took the plunge on some more glass plates in the larger formats of 5x7 and 10x8.

9x12cm plates for the refurbished detective camera will wait until I order again as I haven’t yet been able to test the functionality of the camera with paper negs.

Of course if I’m to shoot more plates then a purpose drying rack had to be a must have ;)

<SNIP>

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<SNIP>

I have been using a slightly older model for drying 4x5 film.

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This was my wife's grandfather's. He moved on from plates to film about 1910 but I do have his original plates and have managed to scan quite a few of them despite the depredations of mould, snails and the effects of sitting in orange boxes in the damp WW2 Anderson shelter that was still in their garden. The films had all long gone.
 
Two new 35mm toys...

Robot Junior
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I couldn't resist this one. I managed to source three 35mm take up cans for it, one is in the camera with a film. The more 'desirable' Robot Star has a rewind so that the exposed film can be returned to the standard film cassette.

The take-up cassettes were very difficult to take apart so I cleaned them up and treated the mating surfaces with a wax polish. It seems to have done the trick.

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The robot's winder is very tight. Might work better with time, hopefully. At the moment I can get no more than 8 shots on what I think is a full wind. Perhaps that's as much as I can expect. In any event the wind on, without clockwork, works fine as does the shutter.

Don't think the lens is top of the range but I'm sure it will deliver. 50+ shots per roll of film reminds me of my Olympus half-frame camera. Like film powered image notebook.

Argus A2B

The camera has a missing extinction meter cover, but overall it is in excellent working condition.

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I owned an 1937 Argus A previously and sold it to fund another purchase. The Argus 35mm cameras are great users, such simple, effective cameras. The camera is now loaded with film for a shoot tomorrow.
 
Puzzle time .... using something an old professional photographer showed me back in 1977 I can tell at a glance that all the holders are empty
I wasn't sure if this was something you wanted us to try to work out? My guess is that it's to do with the position of the C & D etc. If they are together, it is empty.
 
Can you talk me through this repair..? A couple of my retainers are more than a little loose [emoji20]

Easier to show, but I was talking about handles on the slides rather than retaining lugs, Just checked and I was missing lugs on one ! Fixed!

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I wasn't sure if this was something you wanted us to try to work out? My guess is that it's to do with the position of the C & D etc. If they are together, it is empty.

You solved it (mostly). His system was - Letters match = loaded and unexposed - Black side out = loaded and exposed. They came out of darkroom with slides out, which he said was way many folks left them. He however liked to clean them up ahead of time ready to load and have slides in to keep dust out, so - Letters don't match = unloaded and cleaned.
 
Canon FTb SLR from 1971. Mechanically and cosmetically in superb condition. I have yet to get the light meter to work, mainly because I do not have a battery that fits properly. It takes FD bayonet lenses (or FL) of which I already have a couple.
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You won't be disappointed. I have an FT-QL, it's built like the provebial. I didn't us mine with the built in meter, although is seems to be working correctly. I always used a hand held meter. Interestingly, when I tried to sell it on eBay it got no interest whatsoever, even with a lens. So I kept it. The lenses are outstanding, I kept a selection to use with my Canon F1.
 
Ebay sales are strange. I have sold broken cameras for small fortunes and failed to get a single bid on excellent cameras with low starting bids.
 
My Intrepid 8x10 arrived!

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It's so light compared to my Deardorff, I can get away with using my ball head instead of my Manfrotto pan and tilt. Interestingly it seems that my Gitzo 1 series travel tripod can hold the setup easily as well, will have to do some testing but it looks like it'll make for a very light hiking setup.
 
That's a bit lovely isn't it! Lovely lens on it too :D

Can I ask, where did you get the Sinar (?) to linhof lens board converter from? Did it come with the camera?

Edit: Nvm, just seen that intrepid sell them :D
 
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That's a bit lovely isn't it! Lovely lens on it too :D

Can I ask, where did you get the Sinar (?) to linhof lens board converter from? Did it come with the camera?

Edit: Nvm, just seen that intrepid sell them :D

Yeah the lens is so small considering it's a 5.6, it isn't a modern lens with a huge image circle but it works for the stuff I do with it (portraits, mostly).

Intrepid sell the boards but the one I got was faulty (the lip on the bottom was very loose), to their credit they refunded me straight away. I saw a long term review of the camera + board on Youtube and the reviewer didn't have any complaints about the board, must have been a faulty print on mine. The one on the camera is by a company called Luland, they're a bit sturdier since it's aluminium, on the other hand the notches on the bottom mean that one of my boards won't fit, so it's time to get a file out.
 
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Yeah the lens is so small considering it's a 5.6, it isn't a modern lens with a huge image circle but it works for the stuff I do with it (portraits, mostly).

Intrepid sell the boards but the one I got was faulty (the lip on the bottom was very loose), to their credit they refunded me straight away. I saw a long term review of the camera + board on Youtube and the reviewer didn't have any complaints about the board, must have been a faulty print on mine. The one on the camera is by a company called Luland, they're a bit sturdier since it's aluminium, on the other hand the notches on the bottom mean that one of my boards won't fit, so it's time to get a file out.

It is indeed small for a 5.6 lens.

Did you buy the board converter in the UK per chance? I'll consider all options, but the price of the intrepid one is certainly attractive.
 
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