Topic: I just picked up...

[hookstrapped]

From Russia, just came in the mail today. A diopter lens holder for my Kiev 2a




Now I just need to find, or cut, a lens. It's a 11-12 mm diameter housing (internal) and I can't find anything that size. I can find a 19mm and I've been reading up on cutting glass but I'm not sure how that would turn out. I need a -2. It's not that critical -- one of the reasons I like rangefinders is they are easy to focus even with my eyesight, but when it's dark I could use the help of improved focus through the viewfinder.

UPDATE:









Not the neatest job, but it works. Pieces started cracking off the lens while I was sawing, and I thought, That's a good thing unless... Part of my intended circular cutout did crack away and while it looks crap it doesn't affect my rectangular view at all. It's so nice to see clearly through the viewfinder! 

[Francois]

Well... that didn't go to plan...
But at least you have a second one to experiment with.
When I do this, I always like to cut a bigger circle and sand it down to the final size.
I always sand while rotating the disk between my fingers, using an up-down wrist motion to make the sanding as curve-like as possible.

But at least, it works so that is the main thing.

[Kai-san]

I'm getting lazy. Or maybe it's developing in style. It came with a small sample of Jobo Alpha developer and neutral fixer, has anybody tried this developer? The promo says very fine grain, high sharpness and eco friendly. It comes in two parts which mixes 1+1 with 18 parts of water.

[Francois]

That's not really laziness, but more looking for a more even development 😉

Before I used rapid fixer, I really looked into some way of automating agitation at that step.
And now that I do C-41, I'd really love to have the gear to do it optimally with constant agitation.
I really looked at the AGO processor, but at 439 euros, it's an awful lot of money for something I can do by hand.

[Kai-san]

I had a look at the AGO too, I seem to remember a favorable review in the German magazine PhotoKlassik. But my consumption of C41 is so low that I might as well give it to a lab. The Jobo Silverbase is made for B&W processing which suites me well. And then there is the uncertainty of these new small companies making photo gear, will they still be there when you need parts or repair?

[Francois]

That is always the big question.
It's funny because when I looked at the AGO, the wannabe engineer in me saw a few things that made my eyebrows raise.
Especially the sideways tank position. Engineering the gasket system so it won't leak seems to be an overly complicated task, especially since it's only half a gasket on that model.
I would have been more tempted to make the tank stand-up and maybe just re-design a spindle to facilitate agitation.

One day, when I have enough time to waste, I might make one of my own using an Arduino and some sort of motor.

[Mike (happyforest)]

The AGO processor can be used with the tank standing up in stick mode agitation.

See:

https://vintagevisual.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AGO-complete-user-manual_okt2024_A4-1.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOorqPGxtOLwM2LV-Aw_OLaOCNNSpsoFcEtTfdbsd84VWQJGyHjVV

I too looked at the design but my thoughts went to the raspberry pico, with stepper motor!

Mike

[Francois]

It's funny 'cause these days, I've grown to be even more DIY than I used to.
Lately, I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how I could make an adjustable focal plane shutter... the lengths you go to when you want a new camera but are just too broke to buy what you want. 🙄

[Wayne]

...my Jobo developing tank and put a roll of Foma 120 in it that I must have shot years ago. Hopefully will develop it someday too

[Francois]

Patience is of the essence

[Bryan]

I picked up this Sekonic L-98 light meter at an estate sale last weekend.  It still has a mercury battery in it and works great.  That's amazing considering mercury batteries were banned in the U.S. In 1996.  The battery check shows it has full power.  It's a simple match needle meter, easy to use. 

[Francois]

A mercury battery that still works like new... that's pretty incredible.
When it dies, there's probably enough space inside the meter to put a small voltage converter in it and use run of the mill alcalines instead.
Now, I always wonder where to send those expired Hg cells when they're dead?

[Bryan]

A mercury battery that still works like new... that's pretty incredible.
When it dies, there's probably enough space inside the meter to put a small voltage converter in it and use run of the mill alcalines instead.
Now, I always wonder where to send those expired Hg cells when they're dead?

I have done that conversion on an Olympus OM-1 when I had to repair a broken battery contact.  I still have plenty of diodes to do that. 

Around here we have Household Hazardous Waste collection events that we can take that stuff to.  It's free to just drop off your HHW. 

[Francois]

Here, you have to drive all the way to the other end of the city to go to the eco-center, formerly known as the city dump.

[astrobeck]

it will surprise no one that I picked up another Ricoh KR 10 Super yesterday.
The seller said it didn't work, but I really just wanted the cute littler Rikenon 50mm f/2 lens.
He sold it to me for $11.00.

So after putting new batteries in it, ( it only came with one dead one?) the shutter wouldn't fire.
I took off the bottom plate and did the push the lever trick and it would advance but still not fire.
So on a whim, I decided to just switch the battery cap out with another KR 10 that I have and Viola! It fired!
There was a tiny tiny bit of smudgy corrosion on the battery cap that looked insignificant, but after a dose of vinegar and a thorough wiping down, the original battery cap was in good order and the camera is a happy camper!

This got me to thinking about another camera, a KR 10 that would only work on X and bulb, so I tried the clean the battery cap trick again and guess what...it works perfectly again too.

Mind you the cap corrosion was barely visible on each of the caps, and I know I'm rattling on a bit about it, but I wonder how many " not working" cameras have been subject to the not working pile because of it.

Any way, here's a sample photo I made at an Italian deli yesterday with the set up.

[Francois]

That was definitely a good find at a great price.
And don't you just love an easy repair like that?
And just to think this thing has a K mount, that is definitely perfect for you 

[Bryan]

Found these at an estate sale last weekend.  it's a case of 72 of these plastic cans that are the perfect size for 120 film.  Probably a lot more than I will ever need but they weren't breaking up the case.  I like to have something to put the film if I'm out shooting and need to change rolls.  It says "light resistant" but they are not light proof, you can see a little light getting through, like a dark amber bottle.  Looks like they were intended for pills or tablets. 

[Francois]

Yeah, these definitely look like old pill bottles.
But like I say: if it works, it just works.
One thing's for sure, it's going to be neater than a bunch of loose rolls wrapped in rubber bands or green painter's tape.

Me on the other hand, it was something I found last weekend at a charity sale.
It's a teleconverter for my Minolta.
The thing was broken (separated in two) and the actuation arm was scraping the inside. I negotiated it for really cheap. I re-straightened the lever with some pliers, re-assembled it, clocked it properly and re-tightened the screws properly.
It now works just like new.

[astrobeck]

I am such a massive sucker for a bargain... 
Just picked up a Nikon N65 with a Nikkor 28-80 AF zoom, 3.3-5.6G
for a whopping $7.99!
Goodwill thrift stores often just want to get rid of film cameras, so I took a risk, and for under ten dollars I got a working camera.
It had a roll of Kodak colour Pro in it on exposure 8, so I finished the roll and developed it this morning.
NADA! Nothing on the roll, so it could be way expired chems, or it could be that the roll has been tortured like a poet.

At any rate I just developed another roll of T-Max 100 and the negs are drying as I type and they look good. I'll try to post those later today.
 The N65 is a cheesy silver and black poly carbonate body with a black sassy lens.
I think Nikon made a million of these "kits" .
There's a nice write up about the lens by Haruo Sato here, the designer of the lens.
It's worth a read if you like deep diving in to such things as history and stats.
https://imaging.nikon.com/imaging/information/story/0063/

[Francois]

What I like about these all polycarbonate cameras is just how light they are!
Perfect for those days where you don't feel like dragging around a boat anchor.

On my side, this morning I got a big point&shoot. A Minolta AF-Tele for 15$.
A bit on the expensive side but it was for a charity and I haven't bought a new camera in sooo long.

I also got two seasons of Mission: Impossible for 3$
I guess I'll spend a bit of free time watching Peter Graves burning-up tape decks...

[Bryan]

What I like about these all polycarbonate cameras is just how light they are!
Perfect for those days where you don't feel like dragging around a boat anchor.

On my side, this morning I got a big point&shoot. A Minolta AF-Tele for 15$.
A bit on the expensive side but it was for a charity and I haven't bought a new camera in sooo long.

I also got two seasons of Mission: Impossible for 3$
I guess I'll spend a bit of free time watching Peter Graves burning-up tape decks...

They're actually pretty nice cameras, just cheap body construction.  I have the N60 and N80, both with the same 28-80 lens.  It's so light weight I've made the N60 my snowboarding camera. 

[astrobeck]

This one is nice and I do enjoy a lightweight camera for hiking in the desert.

I also have the N80 and it is a champ, but I don't want to carry it to some of the border towns that I visit.

As far as the N65, it's working well, focuses quickly as par for these little Nikons.
I bought new batteries and a filter for it, so it's all jazzed up now.
It still has that stale sitting on a shelf for too long smell, but I know that will eventually fade.

[Flippy]

I saw this Wards econo 35, and had to have it.

Wards econo 35 (Ilford Sprint 35) by Berang Berang, on Flickr

Wards econo 35 guts by Berang Berang, on Flickr

Shutter was jammed so I took it apart and freed it up. I think it was just stiff from lack of use, plus being I've never seen one of these before I wasn't sure how much force it was supposed to take on the advance lever to get the shutter to reset. This is the same camera as the Ilford Sprite 35, but the American version - which I had never even heard of before. Not 100% sure the film advance is working properly, but I guess I'll find out. Frustratingly, parts of this camera are actually made of paper, so reassembly was a bit of task to avoid creasing or folding the paper bits wrong while fitting everything back into the outer body.

[Francois]

You can always judge a camera's quality through it's use of paper and tape 
This one was probably the house brand of the Montgomery Ward chain of department stores.

[Bryan]

A true toy camera.  1967 Fisher Price camera with picture discs.

Fisher Price Camera by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

[Francois]

Those picture disks must be the rarest part of the setup.

[Bryan]

Those picture disks must be the rarest part of the setup.

It had one loaded for viewing and the rest in the film compartment.  I was surprised they were all there, the colors are quite faded though.  I remember this camera from my childhood. 

[Francois]

When I was a kid, it was the Fischer-Price 110 camera... and their brown tape recorder that were popular.
Sadly, I never had any of them. But I did have my grandpa's "grown-up" tape recorder to play with. That thing survived a surprisingly long time!

[Pete_R]

You know how it is, you buy one then two (actually three) more appear. I used one as spares to fix the other three. Two bound for ebay. Will keep one for a while to play with.





Spot the difference: The one on the right is the export version. The other two are the Japanese domestic version.

[Nigel]

You know how it is, you buy one then two (actually three) more appear. I used one as spares to fix the other three. Two bound for ebay. Will keep one for a while to play with.

Spot the difference: The one on the right is the export version. The other two are the Japanese domestic version.

They're very fine-looking. I do like the grey finish.

[Francois]

OMG, it's the triplets of Yashicaville 

[Bryan]

This one has a lot of features for a box camera, focus, 3 iris settings, two tripod sockets, flash connection, bulb and instant shutter.  The shutter has some issues, it fires when you release the button, not when you push it.  I can work with that but for the bulb setting it won't work. 

Gevaert Gevabox by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

[Francois]

I repaired one once. The hardest part is removing the inside baffle that houses the shutter. You need to score the black paint with an xacto knife and then bend a cheap screwdriver that you use as a pry tool to make the baffle come out.

This one, from memory, uses a sliding shutter instead of a rotating one. The mechanism is quite easy to diagnose once you get in.

[Bryan]

I repaired one once. The hardest part is removing the inside baffle that houses the shutter. You need to score the black paint with an xacto knife and then bend a cheap screwdriver that you use as a pry tool to make the baffle come out.

This one, from memory, uses a sliding shutter instead of a rotating one. The mechanism is quite easy to diagnose once you get in.

The shutter only occasionally misfires.  Hopefully exercising it will shake the cobwebs out.  I was looking at how I would take it apart, looks like it could damage it.

[Francois]

From memory, it's hard but it doesn't damage anything.
All the maintenance is done from the inside and once you get the plate off, everything is pretty accessible as the buttons with the aperture and the B setting stay attached to the front panel.

The inside of the camera aren't much different from other box cameras. Think of it as reversing the construction steps.
The only hard thing is prying off the plate as it slides towards the side on tracks that are pretty glued with (probably lead) paint.

[Pete_R]

Just bought this. Am I mad?

[Nigel]

Just bought this. Am I mad?

I honestly can't think of anyone more suited to a camera like that than you, Peter! 
There's a level of precision required there that seems to fit perfectly.

Is it designed for architectural-type work?

[Pete_R]

Is it designed for architectural-type work?

Architechtural or anything else I guess. I was looking for a field camera but they're more expensive. Didn't want to spend too much in case I don't use it as I intend. I'm trying to scratch an itch I've had for a long time.

[Pete_R]

BU**ER! Just unwrapped the Toyo and it's been smashed in transit. Castings broken. Beyond repair. It's going back. Start again.

[Francois]

I just hate it when the postal service does a sh** job. And I hate it most when the seller doesn't wrap things properly.
I once bought a Kiev 60 and a Ricoh auto half. The seller just plopped them both loose in a box and shipped it like that. When it arrived, there were screws falling out of the bottom of the box. The Ricoh was in pieces and the Kiev was toast.

[Nigel]

BU**ER! Just unwrapped the Toyo and it's been smashed in transit. Castings broken. Beyond repair. It's going back. Start again.

Aghh! That's so disappointing. 

[Pete_R]

I just hate it when the postal service does a sh** job. And I hate it most when the seller doesn't wrap things properly.
I once bought a Kiev 60 and a Ricoh auto half. The seller just plopped them both loose in a box and shipped it like that. When it arrived, there were screws falling out of the bottom of the box. The Ricoh was in pieces and the Kiev was toast.

It's down to the seller to wrap things properly. If the box had been crushed then maybe I could blame the postal service but there were no marks on the box at all. This was sent by a reputable seller (Ffordes) who really should have known better.

[Nigel]

I just hate it when the postal service does a sh** job. And I hate it most when the seller doesn't wrap things properly.
I once bought a Kiev 60 and a Ricoh auto half. The seller just plopped them both loose in a box and shipped it like that. When it arrived, there were screws falling out of the bottom of the box. The Ricoh was in pieces and the Kiev was toast.

It's down to the seller to wrap things properly. If the box had been crushed then maybe I could blame the postal service but there were no marks on the box at all. This was sent by a reputable seller (Ffordes) who really should have known better.

They should know better. I had a disappointing experience with Ffordes a few years ago. I bought an Olympus XA2, which looked fine (when seen from the front). When it arrived, the previous owner had scratched their name and address into the back. Bearing in mind, an XA2 isn't big. When I complained, their attitude was, We said it worked properly, which it did. I felt that if they weren't going to take a photo of the back, they should have at least mentioned it. They effectively gave me the middle finger. So, I haven't bothered with them since. Which is a shame, as I'd rather buy from shop. I don't enjoy the ebay experience.

[Francois]

I must admit that my preference is always a place where I can drive to to take a look.
But they are getting to be pretty rare these days. There's one left in my area and I've bought quite a few things from them.

[Pete_R]

They should know better. I had a disappointing experience with Ffordes a few years ago. I bought an Olympus XA2, which looked fine (when seen from the front). When it arrived, the previous owner had scratched their name and address into the back. Bearing in mind, an XA2 isn't big. When I complained, their attitude was, We said it worked properly, which it did. I felt that if they weren't going to take a photo of the back, they should have at least mentioned it. They effectively gave me the middle finger. So, I haven't bothered with them since. Which is a shame, as I'd rather buy from shop. I don't enjoy the ebay experience.

I've had mixed experience with Ffordes but, when I've had an issue, they have always taken an item back (and paid the postage) without argument so I've continued to use them. But I don't buy a lot from them.
I do use ebay because, sometimes, it's the only place I can find what I want. I also buy from Japan but postage and VAT can be a killer.

[Pete_R]

So, in the end, Ffordes did me a favour by breaking the camera they sent me as I found a better one for less money. I bought a similar Toyo, but a later model, from Japan and even including postage and VAT, it was still cheaper. (Lens was not included).

[irv_b]

BU**ER! Just unwrapped the Toyo and it's been smashed in transit. Castings broken. Beyond repair. It's going back. Start again.

ARGGH!! If only I could have known this earlier. I am getting my Linhof 5x4 ready to flog on ebay you could of had it at mates rates!

[Pete_R]

BU**ER! Just unwrapped the Toyo and it's been smashed in transit. Castings broken. Beyond repair. It's going back. Start again.

ARGGH!! If only I could have known this earlier. I am getting my Linhof 5x4 ready to flog on ebay you could of had it at mates rates!

Thanks Irv. That's life I guess. I'm sure you can sell it without any trouble.