Topic: for Vivitar wide and slim owners

[astrobeck]

Some of you have a Vivitar Wide and slim, and most of you know it's bad history of having the wind on mechanism break. Especially if you use a 36 exposure roll.
Seems the little plastic bits inside are a bit weak, so it's recommended to use 24 exposure rolls to avoid this.

However, if it does break...
Don't toss it, fix it.

You can do so by drilling a hole in the top of the camera just behind the "Vivitar" badge.
Put a winder in, (in my case a stick) and carry on. I had a nicer winder at one time, but lost it, and currently use this little stick.
A trimmed Popsicle stick works fine too, or a small dowel.


 

[astrobeck]

here's a front view...

[Francois]

Well that is one well loved Viv. And the chopped stick gives it a western look. All it needs is a bit of harmonica à la Ennio Morricone 

With this fix, is the frame spacing affected?

[astrobeck]

Frame spacing remains as it was.
The stick winder just takes over where the thumb wheel left off....

You can still turn the thumb wheel, but it doesn't do anything. It just spins and spins.
Yes, it is well loved. It was the first one I ever bought, and got it new for $7. It's been everywhere, dropped, sat on and lost temporarily...
a good life I'd say.

[chris667]

That's brilliant!

I am really pleased with mine. The best sort of camera!

[Bryan]

That's what I would call a hillbilly hack.  Becky, are you from West Virginia? 

[astrobeck]

Ha, no... Texas....a different kind of hillbilly I reckon. 

[John Robison]

Have on bought years ago at a Goodwill. So sorry to say I've never tried it out. Guess I should short load a cartridge but the only film I have in a loader is ancient Pan F. Seems to be about ISO 25 now.

[chris667]

Do it! They are such good cameras. I am so pleased with mine. I just wish I had some faster film so I could get out today!

I think the shutter speed is about 1/125sec, and the lens is f16ish. I need to work that out really. But the scans are promising!

[astrobeck]

https://www.casualphotophile.com/2017/03/04/vivitar-ultra-wide-and-slim-camera-review-the-widest-toy-camera-around/

Here's some info on it.
Seems f/11 is about right.

I tape a gel filter over mine when using B/W in it

[Francois]

The one thing I always liked about them is how unique the lens is.
I can't think of anything else that comes close to it.

[Sandeha Lynch]

The lens is astonishing, but so dependent on finding the right light.


080707_fuji2_16_copy by Sandeha Lynch, on Flickr


100313_sup2_18 by Sandeha Lynch, on Flickr

[cs1]

What a cool camera. I has this box camera vibe in a slim case.

[astrobeck]

it really has a happy go lucky spirit about it.

Let's do a collaboration after the first of the year and show off our Vivi love!

[cs1]

I really need to keep my eyes open for one. Even one of the biggest auction sites doesn't have one on its German site. The garage sale season unfortunately starts in April. I'll have to be patient until then.

[02Pilot]

If anybody's got a truly broken one I'd be interested in it as donor for an LTM lens hack. I did one with a 26mm f/5.6 lens out of a Fuji P&S of some sort a while back - it's a pretty simple thing to put together.

[astrobeck]

don't forget to look for the ones made by superheadz...they come in different colors, and can sometimes be found for not much money.
They are just the same as the Vivitar...I think.

I have a purple one that is just like the vivitar and shoots the same and is the same crap plastic.   

[cs1]

If anybody's got a truly broken one I'd be interested in it as donor for an LTM lens hack.

Do you simply superglue the lenses onto a LTM bayonet?

[02Pilot]

If anybody's got a truly broken one I'd be interested in it as donor for an LTM lens hack.

Do you simply superglue the lenses onto a LTM bayonet?

Basically, though it's not quite that simple. Using an LTM body cap, the trick is to space the lens correctly so you have proper registration at the film plane. To make it nice, I use a step drill bit to chamfer the hole in the cap, then build back using washers of various sizes to create an inverted cone that's wide enough not to intrude on the lens' field of view. Paint it black and call it done.

This is the 26mm I mentioned:

[cs1]

Looks brilliant. Good idea.

[Francois]

The hard thing with LTM cameras is getting infinity focus right.
But once you got this down, the rest is pretty simple.

[02Pilot]

The hard thing with LTM cameras is getting infinity focus right.
But once you got this down, the rest is pretty simple.

This is one area where digital cameras prove their worth. LTM adapter on my X-E1 makes things much easier.

[Indofunk]

The hard thing with LTM cameras is getting infinity focus right.
But once you got this down, the rest is pretty simple.

This is one area where digital cameras prove their worth. LTM adapter on my X-E1 makes things much easier.

Did he say the "d" word?? Without even starring out the letters for the benefit of sensitive eyes?? BANNED. 

[cs1]

But Satish, O2Pilot says that he degrades the digital camera to a mere focus adjustment tool for his beloved analogue camera. That degrading surely is a good thing, isn't it?

[p4portra]

I quite fancy one of these.

The ebay pricing suggests they have fallen into the hands of the bearded hipsters though.

[02Pilot]

The hard thing with LTM cameras is getting infinity focus right.
But once you got this down, the rest is pretty simple.

This is one area where digital cameras prove their worth. LTM adapter on my X-E1 makes things much easier.

Did he say the "d" word?? Without even starring out the letters for the benefit of sensitive eyes?? BANNED. 

Sensitivity is not my strong point.

[Indofunk]

The hard thing with LTM cameras is getting infinity focus right.
But once you got this down, the rest is pretty simple.

This is one area where digital cameras prove their worth. LTM adapter on my X-E1 makes things much easier.

Did he say the "d" word?? Without even starring out the letters for the benefit of sensitive eyes?? BANNED. 

Sensitivity is not my strong point.

 

[jojonas~]

way to go!!!



and if you ever have problems with a supersampler...

Supersampler Mod 01 by Justin De La Ornellas, on Flickr

[Francois]

Those are known to break... I'm lucky as mine still works.