The mystery box!

srichards

srichards

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Suz
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In the mystery box, apart from several crap compacts were a few possibly interesting things.

Minolta 16p
Ross Ensign Ful Vue
Kodak instamatic
Coronet 66 medium format thing
Bencini Comet
Vivitar 35EF
Minolta Hi-Matic E
Agfa Optima

Crap compacts included 2 Halina, 3 konica minolta, 2 canon and an olympus mju-ii which is probably the least crap of all.

Anyone know much about the interesting things?

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Had a new Bencini comet in my young teens....erm well it took pictures :rolleyes:
 
The Agfa Optima is a nice compact, I've got the 335 (without the flash unit) and it's a reliable performer, well designed and stylish.
 
Stick the Mju on eBay - there's been a slew of posts about them recently, I imagine you'll get a good price for it?
 
I've looked at the Ful Vue before as a donor camera because it's less than excellent lens would fit well with Instax film. I've never actually held/measured one but the internals would need to be gutted and a new back/rollers built and installed.
 
Ooh. One of the minoltas has a film in it. Batteries still work as well! Someone has carefully stuck a postcard with it with full instructions on how to use it. Bless. Will finish that roll as I have no idea what will be on it :)

The olympus is actually a mju105mm zoom that is 'weather proof'.
 
stevelmx5 said:
I've looked at the Ful Vue before as a donor camera because it's less than excellent lens would fit well with Instax film. I've never actually held/measured one but the internals would need to be gutted and a new back/rollers built and installed.
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The coronet looks like it would have a truly cack lens aswell but that is bakelite.
 
FishyFish said:
Where'd you get the mystery box from Suz?
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It was from a photographic auction. They sell all sorts. For some reason this particular box of crap kept calling to me so I bid on it. SAS in Newbury. Lucky they post out otherwise I'd have had a 300 mile round trip to collect it!
 
The Vivitar and the Minolta Hi-matic are both good little compacts. The Minolta I think has a Rokkor f1.7 lens which is very highly regarded.
 
I like the vivitar. I'm not so keen on the hi-matic as it is manual focus. I can just about manage zone focus :)
 
srichards said:
By the time I'd added on auction fees and postage, too much!
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Yep that's the problem with purchasing from auction rooms - they want an arm and a leg for postage with vat on top and Thomas Plant's (Bargain Hunt fame) SAS is no exception!!!
 
srichards said:
It'll make a reasonable paper weight...

By the time I'd added on auction fees and postage, too much!
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Noooo! Use the poor little thing, give it a good clean, wait for a nice sunny day in summer, load it up with Ektar 100 and get some classic 'old time' summer snaps at the seaside with it. :)

I find the fun is remembered long after the price is forgotten... besides, you might find that film contains some incredibly valuable photos of some world famous person... on the other hand, it might just be Auntie Mable's church outing to Cleethorpes! :D
 
Mr Badger said:
Noooo! Use the poor little thing, give it a good clean, wait for a nice sunny day in summer, load it up with Ektar 100 and get some classic 'old time' summer snaps at the seaside with it. :)

I find the fun is remembered long after the price is forgotten... besides, you might find that film contains some incredibly valuable photos of some world famous person... on the other hand, it might just be Auntie Mable's church outing to Cleethorpes! :D
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I've used the minolta AFS with the film in. Just sent it off and now had that sudden moment of panic of what if the person that used it last was a total weirdo :eek: I finished the roll as it was Kodak Ultra which seemed too good to waste :)
 
Well, you can always move house, change your name by deed poll and send your films to another lab in future! :LOL: Joking aside, I'm sure it will be fine, keep us posted. (y)
 
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Alastair said:
The Agfa Optima is a nice compact, I've got the 335 (without the flash unit) and it's a reliable performer, well designed and stylish.
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Nobody else likes the agfa Alastair, they're all nuts, its the sexiest thing there..:)
 
joxby said:
Nobody else likes the agfa Alastair, they're all nuts, its the sexiest thing there..:)
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Oh yeah! gotta love those red dot Agfas :D

 
The Agfa one I've got feels like a nasty plastic effort. Minolta AFS feels much nicer to use.

I've reappraised the Minolta hi-matic. Didn't realise it was a range finder so I might see if I can operate it as easily as the zone focus cameras.

AF is much easier though :)
 
Any news of the 'previous user' shots from the Minolta AFS yet? Anything interesting, or was it just 'family pets and back gardens'?
 
It was all people. 20 somethings by the look of. Sitting round tables, ice skating and opening presents.

https://mobile.BANNED/serichards/status/824707335847366656
 
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It's a shame the owner never got the film developed, we can only wonder as to why, probably just forgot when they bought a new digital compact and never got round to it.
 
srichards said:
The Agfa one I've got feels like a nasty plastic effort. Minolta AFS feels much nicer to use.

I've reappraised the Minolta hi-matic. Didn't realise it was a range finder so I might see if I can operate it as easily as the zone focus cameras.

AF is much easier though :)
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If you do move the cool and stylish, but plastic Agfa on, I'd interested in running a film through it.

I think it's a bit of a current 'hipster' thing the Olympus mju-ii , but It looks like the fixed lens 35mm is the desirable model.
 
mju-ii's go for silly money at the moment - well over £100 on eBay most of the time. I quite fancy one, but not at those prices. The idea of a good, but very compact, 35mm film compact is appealing - I have a few compacts, but they're either bulkier or don't have the sharp f/2.8 lens that the mju ii has. I have an Olympus Newpic 200 which has a very similar form factor (sliding clam-shell design), but it's APS format (and I've no idea what the lens aperture is - just that it's a fixed 27mm focal length).
 
The only issue with the Mjuii is that you have to turn the flash off every time you switch to back on again. I've had 3 in the past then remember each time that it does my head in! Assuming you remember to turn off the flash, the results from the lens are actually very good.
 
The one I have is the 105 I think. Flash pops up the moment you turn it on. Naff zoom lens by the look of it as well.
 
I bought that mju 2 in.......champagne...ugh, from a charity shop in Doncaster for £4.99

it has a light leak, so that was a waste, its just gonna block my junk box up now

although I want one, I'm not dooin a hundred quid on a wing and a prayer
 
I've stuck some cheap Kodak into the Hi-Matic. I think it still has mercury cells in judging by the size of them.

Wanged the focus ring and film speed rings back and forth a load of times and they're not quite as stiff as they were now. Focussing is still interesting so unless there is a handy edge to use it's basically guesswork. It's not got notched distances either so I can't treat it like the other zone focus cameras I have.

The panasonic compact zoom thing has a stuck battery door. Any ideas on how to unstick it without snapping it off?!
 
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