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Forum: Vintage Cameras and Equipment
09-29-2022, 09:57 PM
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For several years, there was a screwmount Pentax that traveled the world from artist, to artist, making photos and being enjoyed by numerous Pentax enthusiasts around the world for the mere cost of film, developing, and postage. All that you had to do to enjoy this piece of Pentax history was to add your name to a list and Wait for the camera to arrive. Once you had shot your rolls of film, you found the next name on the list and forwarded the camera on for the next artist to enjoy. Of course, you had to post your results with the camera once your shots were developed.
I was the last in the queue to participate in this awesome opportunity, but when I received the camera, it was not working properly. I don't remember the exact problem but I think that it had something to do with film transport. Anyway, the camera was supposed to be repaired and returned to service but this has been several years ago and I never heard what happened to it.
Ffwd to today. I have a gorgeous S1a in perfect, almost showroom new condition, CLA'd camera that I've been trying to sell for about 3 weeks and there has been zero interest. If it has not sold by the 9th of October, when my access to the classifieds ends, I am planning on Donati it and one of the several, also exceptional, lenses to the group as the next "sightseeing screwmount." Why would I just give away $200-300 worth of gear to this cause? Because I thought the idea was outstanding and I very much appreciated what the organizer of the first such event did for the group. If the camera doesn't sell, it will languish in a box in my garage until I die and my kids sell it for 2 bucks at an estate sale anyway, so what the hell? Since you all are too cheap to even make an offer on a near perfect S1a, then I'll just give it to the group for FREE! No, this won't get me the money I need to fix my wife's broken car or pay for groceries that my family is currently ALWAYS over budget for, but at least my wife won't see it sitting on the shelf anymore, wondering why we bust our budget every single month while I have all of my expensive toys sitting unused, collecting dust on a shelf.
There's one catch though. I do not have the ambition to manage the list. I will need someone to step up and volunteer to do this. If you want to know what this entails, just search for the original thread about the "sightseeing screwmount" and see what is involved. If you feel like you are up to it, send me a message. After some consideration I will decide which volunteer I will entrust the camera to and send it on its way.
Also, I will need to know which of the perfect, collectible lenses you all will want to use with this as-new S1a. Once the poll results are in, I'll confirm the kit here in the thread so you will all know what to expect once the new sightseeing screwmount starts on its way.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
12-06-2020, 06:38 PM
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Fresh from Mark Hama's workshop. I can't wait to get out and take her for a spin.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
06-30-2018, 08:34 PM
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My grip arrived todyay. It totally changes the handling of the camera for me. I should have done this a year and a half ago when I first got the camera.
Attachment 408436 |
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-25-2019, 10:32 PM
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Here's one that Eric declined as irreparable. I sent it to Mark Hama in Georgia. Mark had it for a very long time but would not give up on it. $173 and 15 months later and she's good as new. Back in my hands for about 6 hours now, I can't wait to run some film through her.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
06-17-2018, 03:14 PM
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Here you go.
Youtu.be
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src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iY3dbBZH5M0?controls=1" allowfullscreen>
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
04-04-2019, 08:53 PM
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I'm pretty confident that 'Chickentender' didn't make that video.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
09-14-2018, 11:47 PM
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Having been a weapons system mechanic in the USAF for 21 years, I have worked on far more complex electro-mechanical systems than most people (F105 Thunderchief, F4 Phantom, F16 Falcon, A10 Thundrebolt, F15-E Strike Eagle). The difference is that if I made a mistake, people could die, and the widows and orphans that my mistake would leave behind would not accept the excuse of "nobody's perfect." Since these cameras aren't life or death, I don't expect perfection, but I do expect good customer service and a business that stands behind their work.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
03-14-2019, 05:33 AM
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Yes. I would suggest finding a diagram that will show you where the wire is attached on the other end. You may find a disassembly video on Youtube that will allow you to see how the wire is routed through the body. If it is a straight shot with no significant bends, you may find that you can just remove the top cover, secure the new wire to the old wire and pull it through so you won't have to do any further assembly.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
03-12-2019, 05:41 PM
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I'll cast another vote for the RB67. I have the PRO model and I LOVE it. It makes beautiful images. Here is one from my first roll. I don't remember all of the exif, but it was shot on Pan F 50 at probably f16 with roughly a 1/2 second shutter speed. The tripod was a Manfrotto X-PROb with a Vanguard SB100 head. Developed myself. Scanned on Canoscan 9000f ii and cleaned up the dust in Photoshop. Zoom in and fall in love with the detail!
Crane Falls, Idaho | Taken on Ilford Pan F+ 50 ISO with Mami? | Flickr |
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
09-14-2018, 07:27 PM
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Many people come here looking for recommendations on a repair facility for classic Pentax cameras. Historically, Eric Hendrickson has been the number one recommended guy, and I have even recommended him in the past but now, it seems that he is possibly losing his touch and I will not be recommending him in the future.
Of nine bodies that I have sent to him over 2 years, I have had problems with 4 of them. One was returned as unrepairable. It was not, in fact, unrepairable. Eric simply chose not to repair it. I'm sure that he has his reasons but if he is as good as the rave reviews say he is, I would have expected an effort to repair it. Another was returned as unrepairable without any consultation before the return. He didn't have parts on hand so he returned it immediately without any communication to me beforehand. I happened to have the parts on hand for the repair so I ended up shipping it back to him and he repaired it. I had to eat the shipping on it because he returned it before contacting me.
The third and fourth, a KM and KX, were CLAd with the usual shutter speed calibration indicated on the invoice. When I got them back, NEITHER of the shutters were working properly. I returned both and he returned them back to me, supposedly in working condition. The KM has proven to be reliable, but the KX has a serious shutter issue. Having over 20 cameras in my collection, I did not get to using the KX far a few months after the warranty repair so when I discovered the problem, it was out of warranty. I contacted Eric and he would not honor the repair. He told me that I could send it in though. I would have had to PAY AGAIN for shipping AND a repair that was supposed to have been done TWICE already. I'm glad I didn't just bow down to this "god" of Pentax repair, because when I questioned him on it, he replied that he had annotated on his copy of my invoice when he performed the warranty repair that it had a serious shutter failure and was not repairable.
I challenged him on this. He never notified me that the warranty repair could not be performed, and returned the camera to me in an assumed repaired condition. When he told me that he had deemed it as unrepairable under warranty, I asked him why then, at the time he discovered the unrepairable problem, did he not issue at least a partial refund, under warranty, for the initial repair. He has chosen to ignore my dissatisfaction as a customer and has not yet replied to my last email on this subject.
I know that there are many of his fans here who worship him and would never entertain the possibility that he is not perfect, so I fully expect the flames to begin. That's fine. I just want any potential future customers to know that he's NOT above poor mechanical service or customer service, for that matter.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-26-2019, 10:42 PM
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I promise you that after 35 years of shooting film in Pentax cameras, including an AP, K, SV, S1a, Spotmatic, K1000, ME, ME Super, Super Program, K1000, Km, KX, and LX, that I am not short stroking the advance lever. No camera in good working condition had ever given me the trouble that I experienced with the "sightseeing screwmount." The fact that more than one experienced photographer has experienced trouble with the camera should be enough evidence that a problem exists. After I posted this thread, other Pentaxians came forward in PMs, telling me that they had experienced similar troubles with cameras "repaired" or "serviced" by Eric. They expressed concern with making their complaints public because they still had cameras in the shop with him and didn't want to jeopardize those repairs by making public complaints. My guess is that either Eric made some adjustment to this SV ("adjusted the speeds" means he fixed something) and said that he found nothing wrong, or that I will experience further malfunctions when I get it back. The camera was not functioning correctly when I had it. I guarantee it.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-07-2019, 09:38 PM
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I'm looking forward to getting it back. In the mean time, I'm stuck with the dilemma of whether to be shooting with the S1a, the Mamiya RB67, the Contax III, or the EOS 1v. Then there's the EOS 5D IV or 7D2. First world problems...
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
01-27-2019, 06:35 PM
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I had one with the same problem. I sent it to Eric and he sent it back as repaired. It wasn't. I sent it to him again to fix under warranty. He returned it again as repaired. Again, it wasn't. When I contacted him about the issue, he said that it wasn't repairable. I never heard from him again about it. I decided to give up on it, so I sold it on Ebay with full disclosure three weeks ago for $22, after investing over $100 in it just in repairs and postage back and forth to Eric. If you recently acquired the camera on ebay from seller billyp732 in Florida, and it has a serial number 8161258, you need to get your miney back because he knew that it had been deemed as unrepairable.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
01-16-2019, 06:36 AM
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That looks perfectly normal to me... as long as the shutter has only been cocked about half way. If you complete the wind cycle, it shouldn't look like that.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
12-02-2018, 10:20 AM
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Or perhaps people are cheap. If they would rather pay $70 for a K1000 of unknown condition and then send it to Eric and HOPE that he can fix it for only the cost of a CLA, than purchase one that is in film tested condition and already CLA'd by Eric for $125 shipped, that's their business I guess. Once you figure in the cost of shipping, and CLA, they are basically getting the MIJ K1000SE for about $20. I don't feel like that's too much to ask.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
11-07-2018, 10:26 PM
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Ironically, these are the ones that got me back into film photography. I think that the closest you will find is the Canon EOS 1v. I have one and I LOVE it!
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
10-24-2018, 08:53 PM
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Looks just like the black one above, but here's the brown one. The S1a is wearing it in these photos but I used to carry the SV in it as well until I sold the SV. Fits both cameras like a glove!
---------- Post added 10-24-18 at 09:57 PM ----------
P.S. Chris, you are going to LOVE the SV. Just my opinion here but it is absolutely the very best of the meterless M42 Pentaxes. I only sold mine because I was downsizing and I didn't need both an SV and an S1a (same exact camera, except for the self timer), and I had gotten the S1a from a dear friend who recently passed on. The SV was just a camera that I had gotten on Ebay.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
09-20-2018, 04:31 PM
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You must not live anywhere near the mountain west. Some of us buy them because a 900 pound elk doesn't fit very easily into the back of a Prius.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
08-27-2018, 08:41 PM
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Here are two of the same shot taken on Ilford Delta 400. The first was copied with an EOS 5D mark iv, Super macro Takumar 50mm f4. The second was scanned on my Canoscan 9000f ii.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
08-25-2018, 04:34 PM
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 untitled-0642 by Chris Trouten
Ilford Delta 400
Canon EOS 3, 24-105L
"Scanned" with EOS 5D4, Pentax bellows, SMC Super macro Takumar 50mm
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
08-19-2018, 09:30 PM
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They aren't upside-down. Everybody knows that the handles go on top!:D
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
08-11-2018, 02:54 PM
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Cross-processed a roll of Seattle Filmworks 100 speed color film that's been sitting around my house for 18 years. 15 minutes in D76 1+3, fixed with TF-4.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
08-12-2018, 12:01 AM
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If you are looking for a good balance between bokeh and price in a 50mm lens, any of the 50mm 1.4s should be the sweet spot. I have the A and two of the Super Takumars and they are great. If you want a nice walkaround zoom, the SMC Pentax-A 35-105mm F3.5 is my favorite. It's a bit slow, being a two-touch zoom, but it has great range, produces nice images, and I prefer the fixed 3.5 aperture. If you prefer a one-touch zoom and can live with less range and a variable aperture, the SMC Pentax-M 35-70mm F2.8-3.5 would be another great choice. If I were looking for a dedicated portrait lens, I'd look in the 85-150mm range with as wide a max aperture as possible. I prefer a longer lens for portraits, so I would look hard at the SMC Pentax-A 135mm F2.8. It's far more affordable than say, the SMC Pentax A* 85mm F1.4 but should produce great portraits with nice bokeh. If you don't mind using an M42 lens, I have the Super-Takumar 135mm F2.5 and it is a wonderful portrait lens at a very reasonable price.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
07-29-2018, 11:11 PM
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I heartily agree with 1-4. After that, it doesn't really matter.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-27-2018, 09:09 PM
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Every time I see that gold LX, this is how my mind interprets it.
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