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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
04-18-2022, 05:29 PM
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My dad was in Korea from 1952-54, and he carried a Pony while he was there, so I'm guessing it was a Model A -- dunno whatever happened to it. He shot quite a bit of B&W and Kodachrome, all of which I have now. That Pony did a decent job, especially with the Kodachromes. A couple years back, I picked up a Pony 135, just so I'd have something to go with his photos. Didin't realize there were different models, though. Might have to get another one if I want to be authentic about it.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
04-15-2021, 05:56 PM
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The X-700, like the A-series Canons (except the AT-1) is handicapped in that way. Its meter is not fully cross-coupled. This is why I, and others in the know, prefer the X-570 to the X-700. The X-570 has a fully cross-coupled meter. True, you give up the P mode. But big deal. If you're manually setting the meter, you're not using P anyway.
The Canon A-series, being shutter priority cameras, show the shutter speed in manual mode, but they only show the recommended aperture value, not the actual one set. The Minolta X-700, being an aperture-priority camera, shows the aperture values, but only the recommended shutter speed in the viewfinder, not the actual one set. Of the two series, the Canon AT-1, which is a manual-exposure only model, and the X-570, which retains Aperture priority, are the models that provide the most functionality for users who prefer manual mode. I'm not sure about the X-370; I've never owned nor used one.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-21-2021, 10:22 PM
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Nice looking Pearl, Tony. I'd really like to find one for that price.
Hey, just a tip for you. There's a product called Plasti-Dip that comes in liquid form or in aerosol cans, and it also comes in a variety of colors. I prefer aerosol and black for photographic use. It is a rubberized compound that is used to insulate tool handles. I've used it to plug pinhole leaks in shutters and in bellows. For bellows leaks, I've found that spraying multiple thin coats works very well. Because it's flexible, it tends to stay put, too.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
08-29-2020, 06:26 AM
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I don't know what powers them, but Vivitar made 352 and 3900 handle-mount flashes. They also made a 365 that looks like a 285 mounted to a handle, which does use a battery pack of some sort. Plus, Vivitar made an ergonomic flash handle, complete with cable, that can be used with many flashes. I have one of these, in addition to all the potato mashers, that I use with my Vivitar 283 and other traditional-mount flashes. (Canon 199A, Pentax AF280T, etc.) -- if I feel the need for a handle. Often it's the camera I'm using, like my original Canon F-1s or my Pentax 67.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
08-28-2020, 12:25 PM
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I've become a collector of potato masher style flashes -- unintentional, but that's the way it worked out. I have a Metz 60 series, two 45 series, three Braun F900s, and a Sunpak 622. They all work, but the Metz 60 and the Brauns need battery packs.
I used to bounce the Brauns and the big Metz out of umbrellas for studio work. With GNs of 200+ (feet) they had plenty of >oomf< for umbrella work.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
08-02-2020, 09:09 AM
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Years ago, I duped a bunch of slides using a Canon Auto Bellows with slide duplicator attachment and a Canon FD 50mm macro lens. For film I used Kodachrome 25. I chose it because of its extremely small grain. The downside to using Kodachrome or most any other slide film not made specifically for dupes is the shadows block up. And if you make dupes of dupes, the blocked up shadows increase. To reduce this tendency, some folks who used Kodachrome 25 would prefog the film by using a brief, dim strobe. This prefogging apparently did a good job of reducing contrast. I never tried it, but my results were excellent and the blocking up of the shadow detail was minimal but noticeable.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
07-25-2020, 12:08 PM
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I'd like to revisit the topic of field guides, because on further analysis I also regard them as necessary photographic tools -- thus they can be considered "gear."
I know I have at least a couple of Kodak field guides, but I could only find one. However, I found a couple of others that are worth noting, so here's noting. You'll see what I pulled from my stack of camera manuals a few guides in the photos below. The Kodak guide is called the Master Photoguide, copyright 1962, first printing apparently. It has several different calculator dials, a couple of pages of which I've shown below. I know I have at least one more of these Kodak guides around here somewhere -- I just don't know where offhand. I also found a National Geographic Photographer's Field Guide, copyright 1981, second printing 1983, revised edition 1988. And the coup de gras is a Wellcome Photographic Exposure Calculator Handbook and Diary 1924. This latter document is in remarkably good condition. It contains pages where the photographer can input data, and a previous owner input data in pencil on only a single page. The rest of the guide is in amazingly pristine condition for being 96 years old. It has over 140 pages of encyclopedic discussions on development and exposure, all from a 1924 perspective. When you open the guide, there's a photo. It is of a Mount Everest Expedition and shows what I can only describe as a hill, so this must be a base camp. The photo is labeled Scenery in the Chislung Valley between Tinki and Shekar. This guide was published by Burroughs Wellcome and Co. and something I discovered because it is referred to early and often is that the term "Tabloid" was a made-up word, trademarked by Burroughs Wellcome and Co. It would appear that the word "tabloid" has made it into the common lexicon through frequency of use the way "aspirin" did and the way Kimberly-Clark is fighting hard to prevent "Kleenex" from doing likewise. It would also appear that, back in 1924 Burroughs Wellcome Co was one of the premier suppliers of photo chemicals, as this guide points out in various locations. The guide has a blotter in the front and an exposure calculator wheel in back. I've had this guide for years most probably and I have no idea where it came from.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
07-23-2020, 10:12 AM
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I have a couple of those old Kodak guides. Wonderful bits of photographic history.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
05-05-2020, 06:47 AM
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You might try Dwaynes -- or however they spell it. Seems like they're the go-to lab for odd stuff.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
03-16-2020, 08:51 AM
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Did this battery module come with the camera? Is it available separately?
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
03-15-2020, 05:08 PM
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I hope you're right. It's the shutter than needs the CLA. The slow speeds are quite a bit slower than they should be. Like 1/4 second takes just a bit over 2 seconds to complete. And 1/2 hangs. I'd try cleaning it myself, but I haven't had very good luck CLA'ing leaf shutters. There's a good repair shop local to me that is fast, reliable, and reasonably priced, so I'm gonna take it to them.
The TE is, I'm guessing, one of the later models cuz it has a built-in meter and all. Takes a PX 27 -- a 5.6v battery, sort of unusual size. And unfortunately, the original PX 27 was a mercury battery. Replacements are 6v -- I hope that small overage in voltage doesn't affect the meter too much. Not a big deal really. It's an all-mechanical camera, so I can just use the Sunny f/16 rule for outdoor work or, if necessary, I can use an external meter.
Because the 35 TE is a range-focus camera, it seems to me that it would be ideally suited for candids and street photography. The 40mm lens focal length also adds to its usefulness for this sort of work. 40mm is a little wider than normal and a little longer than wide so it should work well for this sort of work.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
03-15-2020, 11:19 AM
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My latest yardsale find. Cost me a whopping $5. Needs a CLA, but at that price, I reckon I can afford it.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
03-15-2020, 11:16 AM
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I bought one of those mortar tubes this past December. They are just a bit on the big side. But I don't mind. I'm used to dragging around big lenses.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
07-26-2019, 07:57 PM
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You suspect correctly. I also have just a plain prism for my old Photomic F and it makes a BIG difference in looks and feel.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
07-24-2019, 10:12 PM
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The old Photomic T was Nikon's first TTL finder for the F. No centerweighting. Very convoluted and idiosyncratic, you really gotta want to use that finder, cuz of all the strange hoops it makes you jump through. It's also just plain huge. But if you're into working with the early stuff, it can be kind of fun. I have an F with the plain Photomic finder -- the non-TTL model with the big round window in front. I bought mine just because I wanted to experience what it was like using this early form of tech. Since my finder works and is reasonably accurate, I've actually had fun with mine.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
07-20-2019, 01:48 PM
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I'm the same way with regard to fast glass. I do own a Canon FD 55/1.2 SSC like yours, plus an FD 85mm f/1.2 Aspherical. These two are fun for the narrow DOF stuff, especially the 85. The 300/2.8 Tamron is no slouch in that department either. For street stuff, I prefer substantially more depth of field. I prefer a moderate wide angle -- a 35mm lens in 35mm format, and I'll dial in enough depth of field such that I can use the hyperfocal setting on the lens. That way I don't even have to bring the camera up to my face and I can shoot from the hip or shoulder or what have you, for more incognito shots. Plus, I prefer that slight distortion caused by the moderate wideness of a 35mm lens.It adds a slight exaggeration to a scene which can often increase its drama slightly.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
07-19-2019, 08:57 PM
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Nope, I was a freelance motorsports photographer back in those days. I walked all over the race tracks I shot at. For street stuff, I had lighter cameras. One of my favorites was a Canon IVSb rangefinder with 50/1.8 Serenar. I didn't have any of that exotic fast glass like you have back then. But I didn't need it for what I did, either. My most exotic lens back in those days was a Tamron SP 300mm f/2.8 LD IF. A great lens for motorsports, it was.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
07-17-2019, 06:05 PM
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Jonathan, you mentioned you have a Tamron. Why not pick up an Adaptall-2 mount for Nikon for it, and give your F100 a spin with it?
Cuthbert, you ain't lived as an old-school Canon pro until you've schlepped around an old F-1 with Motor Drive MF and a big heavy lens like that 55/1.2 or even an 85/1.2 -- or 300/2.8 or . . .
When I was about 30 years younger, I didn't think anything of it. These days, well, I do try.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
07-16-2019, 10:39 AM
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Jonathan, I recently bought an F100 and I've been thinking about adding the bottom battery pack/grip to it. It's a big enough camera where it fills my hand nicely, but the grip would make it roomy. Just curious what you think of yours?
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
07-06-2019, 09:18 PM
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The early 80s were something of a golden era when it came to camera gear prices -- before Reagan devalued the dollar against the yen. It was like about 250 yen to the dollar back then, and I did my share of buying gear from the ads in the back of the photo magazines. I was a Canon shooter back then, but I was paying attention to the prices of most of the popular makes. I bought a Canon A-1 body for about $220. And I can recall Canon F-1s and Nikon F3s selling for not much over $300. I bought my share of lenses and other items from the NY discount houses too. Canon as well as aftermarket. Vivitar, Soligor, and Tamron, mostly. By the late 80s, the golden days were finished, not to be revisited again until the bottom fell out of the film camera market with the advent of digital gear. Suddenly it was like the early 80s all over again. Except for this time I was buying gear for several film formats, including Pentax now. So what, most of the stuff I'm buying is 30 years old -- or more? I'm happy, and that's all I care about.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
07-02-2019, 04:46 AM
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Another K body fan here. I have a complete set of all the good ones: the KX, KM, and K2. While I like the K2 for its convenience -- reminds me of a K-mount Nikon FE, or more accurately, a K-mount Nikon EL2 -- I prefer the KX for its solid, robust, mechanical nature with all the important bits.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
06-23-2019, 08:14 PM
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I have a Chinese made Nikon lens to Canon FD body adapter I bought off eBay several years ago. It has worked fine with all Nikkors I've tried, except my AIs 24mm f/2.8. There's something on the back of that lens that prevents the breechlock ring from turning far enough to secure the lens. I can hold it onto the camera if I must. But this is no big loss, since my Canon 24mm is a better lens than the Nikkor anyway. Far as that goes, my Tamron 24/2.5 is a better lens than that Nikkor, which is notoriously unsharp in the corners.
I bought the adapter, figuring that one day I might have a Nikkor that I had no equivalent Canon FD or Tamron to match, but so far that day hasn't materialized. Maybe one day I'll get an AIs 180mm f/2.8 ED, where I can actually see using a Nikkor that Canon didn't make an equivalent of. Unless I find a deal on the Tamron 180/2.5, in which case . . . never mind. :cool:
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
06-09-2019, 07:04 PM
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Very nice, Dukatigaz. May I ask, what film did you use for the falcon shot?
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
06-06-2019, 07:47 AM
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I haven't bought any Pentaxes lately, but I did pick up another Minolta XD-11 for a great price the other day. The unremarkable Vivitar zoom was basically a body cap for the camera. I already own an XD-11, but couldn't let this one just sit there at such a low price. Especially since it included the Minolta XD winder. It shows dirt and smudges in the photo, but cleaned up nicely.
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