[Jean Poitiers]

I had a really great Sunday at one field/boot sale ... it was at Pouzioux La Jarrie which is about 10 minutes west of Poitiers.

The "Préciscope" (metal & made in France) fine focus finder was 2€ and each book was 1€ ... thus a total of 7€. It should be fun to read the dark room book and there's 350+ pages ... and the color development book should be fun, too. I am tempted to try it out at home one day.

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Last edited by Jean Poitiers; 10-01-2018 at 06:11 AM.

[Jean Poitiers]

After buying the books, I came across a stand where a man and his wife were selling odds and ends ... AND there was some nice camera stuff to be had ... so, for 45€, I got on my first purchase :

- a very nice working Canon A-1 with a FDn 35-70.3.5-4.5 (15 €)
- a excellent working Yashica Minister (45/2.8) with OEM hood (10€)
- a very nice working Yashica Electro 35 G (45/1.7) with a dead battery (slightly bent filter threads) (10€)
- a quite nice working Minoltla Hi-Matic 9 (45/1.7), but the shutter sometimes will not fire, only 1 out of 20 times (10 €)
- and for "free" a ausJENA Pancolar 50/1.8 ... it was an "electric" lens, but everything had been removed there ... still good

I also "reserved" a few items since I had not a lot of cash. The gentleman said that he had some medium format stuff to sell, too ... so we agreed that I would go to a cash distributor and that he would go get the bag with the other things. Thus, my next post for the second purchase at this stand to follow.

[Jean Poitiers]

Purchase n° 2 ... upon my return from the cash machine and after a bit of haggling, I snapped up the following for two 50 € bills ...

- a very nice working Mamiya M645 with Sekor C 80/2.8 ... the focus screen is badly smudged, but all else seems AOK ...
- a very nice, but shooting at default shutter speed of 1/500 (even with a new battery) a Bronica Zenza ETR with handle, a working, but dim AE finder and a Zenzanon MC 50/2.8 ...
- a very nice working Tower Type 3 (Sears !?) with FED (in Cyrillic) 50/3.5 (one that I had "reserved") ...
- a Leica IIIf (serial n° 6300xx = 1952) with an Industar (in Cyrillic) 50/3.5 ( the other that I had reserved) ...

I was really surprised that he came down a lot on the initial prices for the Tower and the Leica ... wow. But it was still not done, because from the bag that came the medium format gear, he took out another Leica after we had exchanged cash for gear and go figure I was short on cash for what he was asking and I had to go home to fix lunch and take Charlotte to a b-day party ... so, we agreed to "reserve" it until I could get back from my obligations ...

[Jean Poitiers]

Last purchase, same stand ... good to his word the other Leica was waiting on me a few hours later. I had rapidly tested most of the gear at home and was satisfied enough. I knew that there was a problem with the Bronica, but I really wanted to have a good closer look at the first Lecia and the Tower. Both seemed OK for speeds and the like ... plus one cannot really complain for the prices that I paid !!!

So again, after a bit of gentle haggling, I picked up the following after again some quite nice price reductions.

- a Leica from 1938 transformed into IIIf (serial 293xxx) with a Leitz Hektor 5cm f/2.5 ... yes, a f/2.5, not the f/3.5 that I thought it was on first site. (70 € !!!)
- a Meyer-Optik Göritz Orestor 135/2.8 with hood - 15 blades (10 €)

Believe it or not, I turned my nose up at Minolta Autocord (not that nice and he would not come down on his price here) and a Rollei 35 ... I had to stop somewhere.

So, the 1952 Lecia IIIf already has film in it with the 5cm f/2.5 ... I forgot what lil' bricks these Leicas are and never thought that I would come along one like this ... and certainly not two "cheap" ... a very, very happy camper. Glad that I got up out of bed early enough last Sunday morning.

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[timw4mail]

After buying the books, I came across a stand where a man and his wife were selling odds and ends ... AND there was some nice camera stuff to be had ... so, for 45€, I got on my first purchase :

- a very nice working Canon A-1 with a FDn 35-70.3.5-4.5 (15 €)
- a excellent working Yashica Minister (45/2.8) with OEM hood (10€)
- a very nice working Yashica Electro 35 G (45/1.7) with a dead battery (slightly bent filter threads) (10€)
- a quite nice working Minoltla Hi-Matic 9 (45/1.7), but the shutter sometimes will not fire, only 1 out of 20 times (10 €)
- and for "free" a ausJENA Pancolar 50/1.8 ... it was an "electric" lens, but everything had been removed there ... still good

I also "reserved" a few items since I had not a lot of cash. The gentleman said that he had some medium format stuff to sell, too ... so we agreed that I would go to a cash distributor and that he would go get the bag with the other things. Thus, my next post for the second purchase at this stand to follow.

If there was one body I'd recommend for FD lenses, it would be the A-1. How much of a squeal does that one have?

[c.a.m]

Glad that I got up out of bed early enough last Sunday morning.

Bonjour Jean,

Wow! Félicitations!

You found some nice stuff there. Thanks for posting the three-part series of stories and pictures... I began to wonder how many more episodes you were going to post and what you must have been thinking during the birthday party!

- Craig

[Jean Poitiers]

If there was one body I'd recommend for FD lenses, it would be the A-1. How much of a squeal does that one have?

Hi, I would agree. It has a "moderate" squeal and I may intervene when time allows ... I have been successful with other Canon bodies and hopefully the A-1 will be not too hard. Cheers, J

[Jean Poitiers]

Bonjour Jean,

Wow! Félicitations!

You found some nice stuff there. Thanks for posting the three-part series of stories and pictures... I began to wonder how many more episodes you were going to post and what you must have been thinking during the birthday party!

- Craig

Salut Craig,

Yeah, I almost postponed going back to the house to make lunch and etc. The gentleman was really nice and to be honest, I was a bit worried that the second (black) Leica would be gone. If I had paid better attention and noticed off-the-bat the fast f/2.5 Hektor, one little girl would have maybe been late to a b-day party !

[UncleVanya]

... so I mounted the bazooka on the K-1 via an original M42=>PK adapter ring: focusing was spot on!

I assume you actually mounted the K-1 to the Bazooka rather than the other way around! LOL.

[Canada_Rockies]

Jean, vous êtes active <--- ACTIF! Maudite correctionneur

[cyberjunkie]

I assume you actually mounted the K-1 to the Bazooka rather than the other way around! LOL.

Yes, it's not small.
Though it has a stronger tele design than the Smc Pentax 4.5/500mm, because it's one fourth shorter.
It is also lighter, more transportable, and focuses to a minimum of 7 meters (10mt. for the Pentax).
Unfortunately it is much slower, almost as a catadioptric of the same focal length.
I love the mechanical side. Still not sure about the optical performance, I didn't upload the pics to my computer yet.
according to what I see at 10x on the screen of the camera, I'd say that at least it's good enough.
Maybe even more, considering the age and the design (4E/4G like the Pentax, of course without any special glass).
Under this point of view the Pentax is very good. A pity the size and weight require some form of support (at least a monopod or a bean bag).
The Komura is a bit more manageable, and if the light is sufficient it can be occasionally used handheld.
Unfortunately the mount does not shorten the pins, so it's not usable in catch-in AF mode.

[timw4mail]

Yes, it's not small.
Though it has a stronger tele design than the Smc Pentax 4.5/500mm, because it's one fourth shorter.
It is also lighter, more transportable, and focuses to a minimum of 7 meters (10mt. for the Pentax).
Unfortunately it is much slower, almost as a catadioptric of the same focal length.
I love the mechanical side. Still not sure about the optical performance, I didn't upload the pics to my computer yet.

Somehow it seems like it would be about as good as the generic 500/8 lenses.

[MikeyBugs95]

Finally bought a Sigma 50mm f1.4 EX DG for a decently reasonable price. At least a better price than is currently being asked for it on eBay. Should receive it in about 8 days.

[cyberjunkie]

Somehow it seems like it would be about as good as the generic 500/8 lenses.

Don't shoot me, please!
Komura's was at very top of japanese optical design. In all sincerity I expect it to be not so far from the Leitz 6.8/560mm (which in turn should not match the Pentax, at least optically). I've written it. I've done it!
The Telyt is an achromatic doublet after all. Nobody made miracles, not even Leica.
Not to say that the Telyt is a bad lens, I'd be happy to find a lens head and mount it on my Novoflex follow-focus system.
I'm just used to Komura's quality.
I found a single bad lens (4.5/200mm). All the others were ranging from quite good to very good.
However I still consider the Pentax 4.5/500mm the queen of old-school extreme telephoto. Not a surprise she's part of Kerrodown harem
I haven't used mine that much because I like to try to shoot handheld, if possible. Though on the Web I have seen very good pictures, far better than anything can be obtained from a mirror lens or one of those cheap japanese teles you refer to.

[timw4mail]

Don't shoot me, please!
Komura's was at very top of japanese optical design. In all sincerity I expect it to be not so far from the Leitz 6.8/560mm (which in turn should not match the Pentax, at least optically). I've written it. I've done it!
The Telyt is an achromatic doublet after all. Nobody made miracles, not even Leica.
Not to say that the Telyt is a bad lens, I'd be happy to find a lens head and mount it on my Novoflex follow-focus system.
I'm just used to Komura's quality.
I found a single bad lens (4.5/200mm). All the others were ranging from quite good to very good.
However I still consider the Pentax 4.5/500mm the queen of old-school extreme telephoto. Not a surprise she's part of Kerrodown harem
I haven't used mine that much because I like to try to shoot handheld, if possible. Though on the Web I have seen very good pictures, far better than anything can be obtained from a mirror lens or one of those cheap japanese teles you refer to.

The cheap ones aren't as bad as you'd think. They aren't exceptional, but they work fine, especially for, say, moon shots. If they came with a 2x teleconverter, though...I would avoid that.


I think the mirror lenses are also better than you suggest, but they are more difficult to get into their sweet spot for focusing.


I think I have a similar shooting style in that I like to shoot handheld more than anything