Which "beauties" do you have?

Ambermile said:
Cheeky git - that's proper leather that - I know cos I had to stitch the boody thing back together this morning for the Radix! Smell's more of the laquer I used to seal the stitches actually.

Arthur

PS - mind you, the 10D's got some seriously cheap rubber leather-look stuff on it!
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That's one thing missing with new/modern cameras - they don't smell...
I don't know if it's from the leather/leatherette or decomposing beef-gelatin (with the attendant microbes and bugs feasting-on and dying) inside the cameras themselves...or a mixture of both...
 
I doubt they get used long enough to work up an ambience before they get ditched for the latest speed-stripes, eh?
 
I think one of the things I like the older kit for is the fact that everything had it's own little dedicated hand stitched (or usually re-stitched now) case. None of your one-size-nearly-fits-most Lowepro stuff, with a little pocket for small stuff to slide around in. Was never a great fan of the (n)ever-ready case though... and the monstrosity that came with the Fed 3 hasn't done a lot to convert me - it weighs nearly as much as the camera - which is saying something! It's also pretty much essential, seeing as they neglected to fit strap-eyelets to the camera. There must be enough metal to drill and tap a hole for an eyelet either end, surely :thinking:
 
Know exactly what you mean there BY, lookee here - this is the Vitomatic IIa in roll-out mode:

vitomatic.jpg


Top left, filter ring with removable/changable filters - UV fitted

bottom left, two Focar closeup filters, green and yellow filters for the filter ring

middle, Vitomatic IIa

bottom right, lens hood and another UV filter - press fit this time

top right, backup rangefinder


Everything fits exactly, no room for wobble, no adjustable packing bits! And all proper leather too :D

Incidentally, looking for a flash case if anyone's seen one - gotta be electronic flash though not the lotus/bulb type. Oh yeah, I got the Proxirect viewfinder attachment too but need a little case for that as well ...
 
Talking about bags, I liked that cream coloured one with the brown diagonal stripe, its the type of bag I'd buy....strange but specifically functional..:cool:
 
:LOL: Definitely strange! Came with the number two Rollei body - whic only fits inside if you take the case off of it ... I'll get rid one day.
 
Ambermile said:
I doubt they get used long enough to work up an ambience before they get ditched for the latest speed-stripes, eh?
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Sometimes; my two D3 bodies that I got last year have a nice patina to them now they've been bashed around Helmand for six months.
As it happens, with the issue of the D3, it looks as though for the first time since 2001 we'll not be having to upgrade our cameras every two years - these will be replaced only when they break.
I've actually taken a step backwards this time, having sold one of my D3x bodies so I could buy another D3 instead as it's better for the kind of general-purpose photography I do most of...
I can see this one lasting a lot longer than previous DSLRs I've had...
 
Arkady said:
I can see this one lasting a lot longer than previous DSLRs I've had...
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I was always under the impression that the top end Nikon / Canons were bullet proof? :thinking:

Or is it a case of the more extreme environment you work in which cause them to not last as long?
 
Arkady said:
Sometimes; my two D3 bodies that I got last year have a nice patina to them now they've been bashed around Helmand for six months.
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See? Let's be fair here... you're not exactly your average Sunday driver are you... :LOL:
 
Knikki said:
I was always under the impression that the top end Nikon / Canons were bullet proof? :thinking:

Or is it a case of the more extreme environment you work in which cause them to not last as long?
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The cameras are fine, better than fine, in fact. Just that because of the rapid advances in digital technology, we're forced to keep upgrading before they actually wear out in order to keep abreast of the competition.

Now we're finally seeing those tech-advances plateau a bit - there won't be such a need to upgrade as rapidly as previously.
With a D3, D3s and D3x I have all bases covered - fast, high-iso bodies for general and press work and a slower but high-IQ body for studio.

Remember that Nikon initially introduced a new pro camera every 12-15 years in the days of film.
We were only up to F5 by the time the D1 came out.
Now we're already up to D3x, which if you took each DSLR Pro-camera individually would be like a D5 or D6 (in old money) - in 9 year period...

Incidentally the D2x bodies I used three and four years ago are still in use by a tier-2 photographer here in Germany...
...and I'm still using Nikkor AF-lenses which I've owned for 15 years...

And film cameras don't age in the same way - my F5 is still as cutting-edge as when it was introduced in 1996 - the only limitations are those that the recording-medium (film) imposes...as for the F6 which came out in 2004...who bought those? You want a smaller film-camera? Buy an F3 instead...
 
That's the thing - the tech advances are starting to plateau at last - much the same as I assume advances in colour film technology did a few years after it became available... Film was a mature technology for pretty much the last 40 years of the 20th century. How much did camera's really need to change. In fairness, the camera parts of (say) the nikon D1 through to the D3 aren't massively different - a very similar magnesium casting, maybe a couple more holes for extra buttons and bigger LED's, but in themselves, more of a version change than a model change. Compared with the massive changes in the electrickery bits, the hardware barely changed at all.
 
Arkady said:
I'm not really interested in selling it, TBH - if we ever have a household crisis it might get put up for sale, but I'm going to keep it in the hope that it'll get put back into service a few years from now.
Plus, with prices for the body stable at around £900 and £1800 and up for a 'mint++' lens (which mine is, having been bought new to replace an earlier one which was destroyed), I'd be entertaining offers around the £3k mark for lens & body combined.
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I could see £3k if you had the Lux, but not the cheaper Cron.
 
Laudrup said:
I could see £3k if you had the Lux, but not the cheaper Cron.
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A quick scour of the online 2nd hand shops show how surprised you can be then...
I was quite surprised as well...
 
Wirgin Edinex, made in late 40s early fifties.
35mm Coupled Rangefinder, with telescopic lens
Never used it but it looks a real pain to load the film as it loads from the bottom and a small panel comes of the back so you can push the film onto the teeth of the winding spool
4565511620_5f9c777629_o.jpg
 
That looks fun, seems to be the same lens/shutter as my Retina - 'cept mine only does 300 elephants tops!
 
Ambermile said:
That looks fun, seems to be the same lens/shutter as my Retina - 'cept mine only does 300 elephants tops!
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Pedantic mode on - surely you mean 1/300th of an elephant - maybe half a trunk?? - Pedantic off...

:LOL:

Lovely looking camera BTW, Groucho... Those wierd loading camera's just scare me off somehow... I can destroy a film quite easily on my own, without having to winkle the thing in from strange angles...:LOL: Was bad enough with the Fed-3, until I sussed that the take-up reel actually is detachable.
 
TheBigYin said:
Pedantic mode on - surely you mean 1/300th of an elephant - maybe half a trunk?? - Pedantic off...

:LOL:
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Nah - didja never see Gregory's Girl then?

Anyway, I think it's a dead pretty camera, I love that period of design.
 
Ambermile said:
Nah - didja never see Gregory's Girl then?
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Ahh, gotcha... I remember that film, yep!

I thought you were referring to the thread derail that happened in here, around post 21 and below...

It was probably Gregory's Girl that got me started counting elephants for time exposures, come to think of it :LOL:

Think it may have happened while you were having a couple of days off!
 
well heres my few
Nikon F3 HP & motordrive
Nikon FM
Nikon F4s
Nikon F100
 
New update!

DSLR: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

SLR: 2x Leica R8

RF: Leica M7

Medium Format: Contax 645 + Carl Zeiss Planar T* 80mm f/2 + Back Polaroid | Zeiss Ikon + Novar-Anastigmat 75mm f/6.3 | Hasselblad 500CM + Sonnar 150mm f/4 | Kowa Six + 85mm f/2.8 + 150mm f/3.5

Compact Cameras: Konica Big Mini HG | LOMO Cosmic Symbol | LOMO POP9

Lenses: Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.7 | Carl Zeiss Tele-Tessar T* 200mm f/3.5 | Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/1.4 | Carl Zeiss Tele-Tessar T* 300mm f/4 | Super Takumar 55mm f/1.8 | Leica Vario-Elmar-R 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5 | Leica Elmar-M 50mm f/2.8
 
Lordox, made by Leidolf in Germany.
35m roll film camera made in 1953.
Its really well engineered and made for a compact type camera.
I like this camera, got it about 25 years ago from a boot sale for £2, complete with a rangefinder attachment.
I stood behind another guy who had it in his hand, but he put it down as the shutter would not work, so i bought it just out of interest and thought maybe it needs a film in it
and the shutter only cocks when the film is wound on.
Took me ages to work out how to open it up, you turn the strap lugs half a turn and the whole back including base comes off, making it one of the easiest cameras to load film in.
And i was right, it does need the film wound on to cock the shutter and it works perfectly.

4565570831_4d8bafcd63_o.jpg
 
Heres my lot at this current moment

Contax 167MT with Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.7 Planar T*
Voigtlander Brilliant "TLR"
Halina Paulette Electric
Canon EOS 50E
Canon EOS 1000FN
Mamiya Sekor 500TL
Kodak Instamatic 167

Used to have a Canon EOS 1n but sold it recently
 
My lot is being streamlined:

Contax G2
28mm f2.8
45mm f2
90mm f2.8.

Now need to flog my oly (again! after an ebay idiot episode) and eos 650. I should imagine they will soon be appearing in the for sale section.
 
Voigtlander Bessa R3A
Voigtlander Vito B & C
Nikon F3 & F401
Ross Ensign 12-20 & 16-20
Yashica TL Electro & T3 (for sale in the classifieds)

Andy
 
Well - I still don't have more than the one "beautiful" camera - the Voigtlander Perkeo i that I mentioned a few pages ago. It seems that I just go for function over form

Canon EOS-3, 17-40L,24-105L,70-200L,50mm f1.4
Canon EOS-30, 28-105 f3.5-4.5,50mm f1.8
Canon A-1, 50mm f1.4SSC, 28mm f2.8, 135mm f3.5, 35-105 f3.5, 70-210 f4.0
Bronica ETSRi, PE75mm f2.8 & 40mm F4.0 Zenzanon MC
Yashica 108 multiprogram, 35-70 f3.5, 70-200 f4.5
FED-3, industar 5.2cm f2.8
 
My lineup has changed a bit since 10 posts ago :p

Now ive got
Canon A-1 with 28mm f2.8
Mamiya RB67 with 50mm and 90mm
Fujica STX-1 and 50mm f1.9
Mamiya 500TL with an Industar 50mm f3.5
Canon EF lenses - 85mm f1.8 and 28-80mm f2.8 L
 
just bought a refurbished Canon AT-1, so my line up is

Canon AE-1 with A winder
Canon AT-1 with A winder
Canon AT-1 with DataBack
Canon A-1 with MA drive
Canon AV-1

7 FD lenses from 24mm - 200mm

Nikon F3 with 2 Ai primes
Nikon EM with 50/1.8 E

must stop now..:D
 
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Wow, a few of you have some real impressive collections on here!
I'll only write about my film collection →

I think I own eleven cameras {off the top of my head}.
A few of them are ancient/useless but I've kept them none-the-less.

Phenix DC303K SLR
Phenix 50mm f/1.7
Phenix 28mm f/2.8
Phenix 28-70mm Macro

Fujica ST605N
Fujica 55mm f/2.2
Chinon 200mm f/3.5
{These were my late grandad's ~ none working}

Model B {1935}
Hand made working pin hole camera.
Various polaroid cameras {one working with impossible project 600 film}

My favourite camera to use is without a doubt my little manual Phenix
DC303K SLR with the 50mm f/1.7 lens attached.
 
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Well as things have changed a bit since I last posted in this thread, here's mine.

Nikon F3
Voigtlanders B, C, CLR, Bessamatic and Bessa R3A (All right, so I like Voigtlanders :LOL:)
Yashica FX-2 & 35ME
Minolta Riva 105L
Olympus Trip
Ross Ensigns 12/20, 16/20 and Pocket 20
Holga 120N

Too many? not enough? who knows but I love them all. :nuts:

Andy
 
Here's a list of mostly just-working cameras :p

Nikon FE
Nikon FM
Canov AV-1
Olympus Trip 35
Zenit E
Koroll 24 s
Praktica something
Tamashi something
Yashica Electro 35 rangefinder
Zorki 4k r/finder
broken Zorki 4k

Mamiya C33
Yashica Mat 124g
Kodak 6x9 bellows thingmy
Pentax 67

& one big old lovely wooden plate camera!
 
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