[ChrisPlatt]

The Spiratone warehouse was on Northern Boulevard near Main Street in Flushing, Queens.
They had a small retail store there. IIRC it was so small you could barely turn around in there!

Chris

[BigMackCam]

Sent another PM a few minutes ago

PM received and reply sent, Les

[WPRESTO]

The Spiratone warehouse was on Northern Boulevard near Main Street in Flushing, Queens.
They had a small retail store there. IIRC it was so small you could barely turn around in there!

Chris

I have described on this thread or another the original Spiratone store on Manhattan. A door with the name Spiratone on it as I recall (might have been above it) that was tightly sandwiched between two street-level retailers. Open the door and there was a stairway leading up to a second door through which was a small display space and a small counter behind which there were shelves of merchandise. You could look at some of the products in the small showroom space, but walk up to the little counter and ask to see something, they'd find & bring one out-of-box you could handle, or if you wanted to purchase, they'd fetch an unopened box. As I recall, they also had storage space on a least one floor higher up. Late in the time that Spiratone existed they moved to a street-level location that had some display windows. It was located out the back door and across the street from Willoughby's, at that time one of the largest and certainly the oldest (1898) camera store in NYC. The original walk-up Spiratone was not far from WIlloughby's down the block and across the street more or less.

[c.a.m]

Right, I just got off the phone with Otto customer service. They'll pick up the lens hoods on monday and I got a 50€ rebate code.It's not exactly maximising profit but it's decent money for next to no effort and I did get a good laugh out of it...

@Boris_Akunin, It seems that you have a relative in Winnipeg, Canada -- selling plenty of lens hoods. Are you interested?

Various camera lens hood | Other | Winnipeg | Kijiji

CAD $25 each !?

[pepperberry farm]

I know that Spiratone was a re-badger of lens, not a manufacturer - the 28/2 I have was made by Mitake and sold as a Spiratone...

[IgorZ]

I won a film back for Mamiya rb67, so the only thing I need now to get this thing operational is a viewfinder. Maybe I should post it on the Wanted items page in case someone has one lying around that they don't need...

[BigMackCam]

I won a film back for Mamiya rb67, so the only thing I need now to get this thing operational is a viewfinder. Maybe I should post it on the Wanted items page in case someone has one lying around that they don't need...

Definitely post a wanted listing. You've nothing to lose... and it counts towards the monthly 40,000 post target for the K-1 raffle

[BigMackCam]

Three lenses arrived today

First of the three is this little 2013 KMZ MC ЗЕНИТАР-Н (ZENITAR-N) 2.8/28 in Nikon mount (hence the "-Н" suffix).

I've mixed feelings about it, really...

It's decent enough quality, but not as well built as the older models. Although it appears to be all metal, it's less substantial than the older Zenitar models... The aperture ring and its action have a slightly flimsy feel (rather like a Pentax A-series lens when compared to an M or K). But the focus action is lovely and smooth, with quite heavy damping, and it covers minimum distance to infinity in about 100 degrees of rotation - so it snaps into focus very nicely. Seven elements in the optical formula (not sure of the groupings). The manual diaphragm covers f/2.8-22, and minimum focus distance is specified as 0.3m - though the focus ring moves past this and it seems closer to 0.2m MFD.

Optically, it's quite interesting... Wide open, it's surprisingly sharp in the centre, with very soft borders and lots of vignetting. It also produces renders out-of-focus highlights as "bubbles" (reminiscent of some triplets), and the bokeh is a little busy, though not distracting. Looking at the "cats eye" bubbles toward the borders, I think there's potential for inducing some swirling. Stopped down, it sharpens up well across the frame, but it never feels tack-sharp. I really like it, especially wide open...

It's certainly quirky enough, and I think it offers some nice creative possibilities

[Boris_Akunin]

A friend brought me back something from his trip to the Haute-Provence:



I've missed this stuff (brings back good memories...), certainly the best Pastis I know.

[Canada_Rockies]

A friend brought me back something from his trip to the Haute-Provence:

I've missed this stuff (brings back good memories...), certainly the best Pastis I know.

You have great friends, Boris.

[Jonathan Mac]

I finally got the BP-300 battery grip I've been looking for to go with my EOS 30 film cameras, allowing me to use AA batteries as well as having a vertical grip.

[neokind]

I've had a good week for acquisitions. The first was a 35/2.8. The second was a Peak Design strap set. And the third was a new Mindshift Ultralight Dual 25L backpack for our trip to France and Italy next week. Looking forward to putting all three through their paces on the other side of the pond.

[Cerebum]

I got my hands on my edixa flex and steinheil munchen cassaron 50mm yesterday. The lens is a little hazy but the whole lot only cost me £20. Also, last night I won an auto mamiya sekor 50mm f2 for £12 I am also awaiting an e ludwig 50mm and a very cool Schneider kreuzach edixa xenon 135mm. I am having a good week

[BigMackCam]

The second of three lenses that arrived yesterday...

This is an odd one. I posted on the forums a few days back asking if anyone knew about this lens, but it's a bit of a mystery.

It's a Lomography Zenit 2.5/32 "Lomogon" made by the Krasnagorsk factory in Russia. This is a full frame lens in brass (perhaps with a protective clear coat lacquer - I can't tell for sure) for Nikon F mount. There's no diaphragm - instead, the aperture is controlled by a thin rotating disc with circular f/2.5, 4, 5.6, 8 and 11 apertures cut out of it. I thought initially that this disc might be removable, but it's not.

It seems to me that this was intended to be part of the same series as the Peztval and Daguerreotype models, but unlike those I can find no mention of it on Lomography's website, on Kickstarter (where they fund some of their projects), or even with Google searches. Maybe it was a prototype for a model that was never released? But the serial number suggests there are at least 269 others somewhere, perhaps more. Very strange.

Optically, it's fun. Soft at f/2.5, noticeable vignetting, and a huge amount of (presumably intentional) coma, but good contrast. Colours are very saturated and pronounced. Sharpness and vignetting improve as you stop down. At f/11, it's sharper than the Zenitar-N 2.8/28 I posted about yesterday.

It's a beautifully made lens... Definitely a "Lomography" product

[Canada_Rockies]

Pretty lens. I like the metal versions -- one of these days I will see the preset 55/2.2 that was on my first Pentax and buy it. I think it would look just fine on the K-3, and it would certainly work to the maximum flexibility it had in 1961 when I bought the camera and lens in a pawn shop.