July 16, 2017 - Vacations and camera searches

Summer Vacation and Camera Searches Jun 29 - Jul 13, 2017
July 16, 2017

It's not everyday I get to search other cities for cameras while on vacation.  I won't get into what we did in other cities on this vacation, it can be found here:  https://teamitchyfoot.blogspot.com  but I will talk about what I found and will share some of the awesome things that happened this trip, even though I haven't had any film developed since June. One of the things that came in the mail via Amazon was an adapter for my Eos M camera to mount my legacy Minolta lenses, once i figured out to leave the camera in AV mode, it works great with them. 

Va Beach--we stayed with good friends this trip and learned about the different styles of beach on the Atlantic--most have boardwalks--this is a good thing, boardwalks with bike lanes separating them from pedestrians--even better thing!

Did some fishing, checked out the Main Beach, went with family, sweated, took pics, played cards, laughed, drank beer, left to go to Annapolis. 

Nothing biting today

Neptune statue
Va Beach
Canon EosM

Fishing pier stop on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to Eastern banks Virginia. That'll be $15 to cross this thing

I wasn't able to find anything in Va Beach while perusing the ads on CL, Letgo, and Offerup.  I did find an old Diana plastic for $20, but felt that was too much and I'd hopefully have better luck at the local thrifts. 

The local thrifts did not happen because Rob forgot to get rear drum brakes fixed on the toyota pre-trip.  Guess what made the clunking noise as we left the next day?  My rear brakes. Had to hit Midas locally (the only store open on a Saturday) and pay about $300 to get them fixed.  Disc brakes, fix in an hour and a half and can do it my self--Drums, naw--too many things to screw up. 

We also got to visit with my good friend Greg, who joined us for dinner and we caught up with his daughter, our neighbor down south, who was staying with her dad for the month of June. 

So, I'm 0-1 so far. 

The second stop, after a long day on the road checking out the Delaware coast and eastern Virginia, was my friends house in Annapolis with a trip to the holocaust Museum in DC. Beautiful home, beautiful people here too, and another strikeout for cameras. 0-2.  We stopped in Ocean City, MD on the way so avery could catch up with a friend she hasn't seen in quite a while.  What are the chances that they'd be there the same time we were?  Crazy!

Then we went to Rehoboth Beach to stop at Dogfish Head eatery and brew pub.  The brewery was expensive at $30 a pop with no kids allowed so that disallowed us to tour that place.  Delaware is very expensive.  Coupled with that, the traffic for Jul 4 celebrations, I wasn't too happy, knowing we were still 2h away from Annapolis. Dogfish makes great beer, but I'm a little disappointed in the cost of stuff there-you'd think you could get it for cheaper, when it's actually touristy and more expensive!

Sunset on the way to Annapolis

A stop at Cape Henlopen beach, couldn't access the lighthouse due to being tired and having to hike a mile down the beach--another bust for Delaware

Sunset on the Chesapeake bay Bridge, entering Annapolis
Taken by Jen, using the Canon EosM

the metro to DC
Motorola G4 Cellphone

Heading to the Holocaust Museum
Moto G4 cell phone

Nothing to be found in Annapolis either with the exception of swimmer's ear on my son.  Lovely.  After two days, it was off to Philadelphia for the July 4 celebration and to hang with friends from Austin that were also in town on vaycay. 

All I found in Philly was a local camera shop blocks from the hotel.  The staff was friendly, but short--I was hoping the store would have been like my store down south, but basically a print shop, development shop, and film shop.  I bought some HP5, because I was out of it. One roll. $7.99. We did plenty, and I'd recommend strongly the Philadelphia pass!

My kind of fireworks--moon and Fountains, July 4, Philadelphia, Pa

Avery from the rooftop, Philly Pa
Canon EosM 22mm

The Liberty Bell.
Canon EosM 22mm

City Hall, PHiladelphia

Avery in the fountain after the rainstorm. 

Rocky Sculpture--YO ADRIAN

Loggerhead at the Camden NJ Aqarium

Street Photo--Fire Dept had to put out an apartment fire near our hotel. Exciting
Canon EosM 22mm

From the Museum of Art steps.  Photo Credit Avery Lutz
Motorola G4

Philly was quick, and there were no cameras to be had.  0-3.  After a week of running and gunning and going, it was time to relax with the relatives and my very cool cousin and her husband for the rest of the trip. 

Williamsport was awesome this year--at least for camera searches. 
We arrived on July 6, and hung out with Vicki and Dave, had a few beers, caught up on the front porch, then went to bed. Not long into Friday morning, we hit some estate sales and garage sales, but didn't really find anything. 

Near the end of workday I found HoyerPhoto on Washington Blvd. They had recently moved from their downtown location to a smaller lower rent one.  I walked in and first thing I noticed was a box of free cameras lying inside the door--take what you want, the sign read--basically a bunch of broken cameras and a Rebel Xs digital I did not need. I passed up the Canon G7X thnking i'd be back on Monday. 

When I got inside, a very friendly older gentleman asked if I was looking for something in particular.  I told him I was looking for Roninal developer for black and white processing. I remember his eyes lighting up a little bit as we talked a little shop. After stating 'you're not from around here are you?' he said he would have to check his stock but wouldn't be able to do it until Monday. I told him that was fine, but we were leaving to go back home Tuesday. He then asked my how I developed my film. I told him I use a universal tank, Xtol developer, and Ilford stop and fixer but wanted more grain, and that Rodinal lasts basically forever! I also told him most photo shops don't ship it which is why I was asking for it. I also told him I then scan the negative for printing purposes.  Then he asked me if I'd be interested in an enlarger. What? Seriously?  I think I would be, it just depends on how big it is because I only have so much room in the minivan.  Then I asked him 'how much?'
He said he'd give it to me, free of charge.  I was elated, and looked forward to meeting up with him on Monday after he gave me his business card.  If you're ever in Williamsport PA and need Camera info, I'd strongly recommend Rob Colley of Hoyer's Photo. He is incredibly awesome!

My aunt Kate turned 60 on 7/7. She gets this billboard every 10 years :)
Motorola G4

Little League District Championship Game.
Motorola G4

Checking out my cousin's newly acquired 21 acre farm
Canon EosM 22mm

Crazy Dave and Taylor in the pool--my shutter speed wasn't fast enough

Avery at the train trestle
Canon T3i 100mm

Teen Angst--power line tower, Lewisburg, PA
Canon t3i 10-18mm lens

I decided to mess with my adapter on the Canon EosM and use my newly acquired Sigma 70-210mm lens F4 while at the cabin to see how close I could zoom to subjects. Pretty much a testament here.  I was across the creek as Avery tested the water, much to Garrett's excitement.   

Water Test part 1

Water test part 2

water test part 3

water test part 4 :)
Canon EosM with Sigma adapter and legac lens F4 70-210mm

Playing with the Sigma 70-210mm in macro mode

So yeah, needless to say, i went down int he cellar and decided (I had my choice) on the Omega 11x14 enlarger--it didnt' take up too much room in the minivan and only needs a negative holder, which I'll send Rob the model number, and maybe he'll be able to find and ship, or will just look for it on ebay. 

my enlarger (and timer's) new home :)

Also needless to say, i bought another roll of Kodak Film from his store, along with?  Yep--a well used Olympus XA2,

which i'd been looking for over the past few months. I immediately placed the new roll of Kodak inside and started snapping away, spending the next two hours doing research.  It'll be fun to set up a darkroom and actually print pics from a negative.  The dang Omega enlarger is selling anywhere from 150-375 bucks on the internet.  What a beautiful day it was.

 Vicki said she likes to garage sale on Saturdays, but I did not know she goes for hours with her friend. We did not find a dang thing, but we did learn about 'the street of shops' which is opened on Sunday, in nearby Lewisburg, about 24 miles away. GT stayed home, so Jen, Avery and I decided to hit Lewisburg for a shopping endeavor--After eating at Perkins pancake house I noticed a GoodWill store next door which opened at 11am. We did the street of shops, which was very cool, especially after noticing that the flea market on the other side of the street was no longer a flea market, but a bunch of vendors selling China shit. That flea market was much cooler 20 years ago. Basically multiple garage sales of antiques all rolled up to the outdoors. I saw cameras in the street of shops, but in crappy condition and well overpriced. 

We left after the ladies bought some gifts for friends back home. Jen said she could spend a LOT of time in there.  As we were leaving, I noticed an old train trestle in a park (or what seemed to be) and HAD to get pics of it, and Avery posing, and me and Jen there too. I love Lewisburg--never really got a chance to explore it. I wouldn't mind if Avery went to Bucknell, either!  

Finally we hit the goodwill store which had just opened. There were already people shopping and I was a kid with white polaroid 600 and rainbow design on it at the checkout.  There had to be more cameras here.  No luck as Jen and I walked through the store though, then just as we were leaving the main display, I saw it.  Something appeared to be a camera case, however, at first glance it appeared to be a video camera case.  Waiting patiently, I then asked the clerk what it was as it was in the glass case.  She pulled it up and lo-and-behold, a mint X700 Minolta, with auto-winder, 70-200 F4 sigma lens, Sakae Flash, and the prettiest 50mm F1.7 lens Id ever seen. It was all so clean!  Yes, I'll buy this for $26.  A good day in Lewisburg too.  Happy with the way the trip turned out. Can't wait to develop these films!