January 7, 2018--More Acquisitions..
January 7, 2018
They Keep FINDING ME !
I've been trying to keep my hoarding nature to a minimum. Staying off the letgo.com and the craigslist sites, now the facebook sales sites after I bought my Canon A2. I've been somewhat content, actually, learning the ins and outs of the newly acquired A2. Shooting it often.
Last week I got a text pic from my sister in law (who very rarely texts me) about three cameras that her dad wanted me to have. A late Christmas present. In the glee of the moment, I noticed a Pentax Spotmatic SP with the Super Takumar 50mm 1.4 (I think it's the 8 element one) and a staple Pentax K1000 with a Sigma Macro 50mm f2.8. I really couldn't tell what the other one was until a blew up the picture. A little research and some heavy borrowed bi-focals showed me it was a Kodak Retina IIc.
From the research I've done I noticed the camera was made around 1954, and is a great rangefinder from Kodak, with a german f2.8 lens. No batteries operate this baby. Use your sunny 16 rule or take your meter with you.
I picked them all up last Wednesday on my way to our weekly local trivia competition, and couldn't wait to get them home to give them more of a once-over.
Obviously the batteries in both Pentax cameras were dead. The spotmatic had that beautiful 50mm f1.4 lens on it and I did not notice any gunk or fungus. It is the first Pentax I've ever owned and after a cleaning, I put my first roll of new Fuji Superia 200 color in her.
Unfortunately the same wasn't as true for the K1000. It appears to function on all shutter fires, and the lens is nice, but when I look through the view-finder I see what appears to be some type tree or fungal or inky looking thing in the viewfinder. Luckily it only takes up the middle bottom of the viewfinder halfway through the focus center. I have no idea what it is, but I loaded film inside anyway and hope to shoot a roll and get results for all three cameras back next week. Scans to come.
The cool thing was I love finding rolls of film inside older cameras-whether it be at a thrift store, or whatever--this one was a little more special because it came from a family member , but I had no way of telling how many pics were taken on it. It'll be a gamble for sure, but it was a well expired roll of Kodak 200. Hopefully we'll find some pretty cool older pics on it, but for now, we'll wait and see.
The retina IIc was the one that caught my attention the most. I am in love with old rangefinders, and this one appeared to be in good condition. I attempted to shoot a roll of black and white through it, but I must have loaded it wrong (the film into the cartridge from the bulk roll--not the film into the camera) because I was only to take about 4 shots before the winder tried to seize. I quickly took it to the dark room and unloaded the cartridge, and rewound it, checking for any kind of problems, but couldn't find any.
I really hope to have results in a week or two, and I really hope these cameras are in good working condition. The shutter click on the Pentax K1000 compared to the delicate leaf of the Kodak are sooooo different. I'm just hoping they work for my needs. I'll definitely have to start getting rid of some on ebay soon too, as my collection is getting a little out of control. At least the fever to buy a new camera is currently on hiatus.
------
Last week I also took the Polaroid SX-70 and the EOS A2 over to Bayview Park in Pensacola with the kids, knowing the days coming were going to be frigidly cold and rainy, and figured that it would be good for the family to walk around. While shooting the kids in the park I noticed a beautiful old oak tree with branches the size of small trees. Luckily the kiddos thought the tree was cool too and actually allowed me to take pics of them in the tree, which got me to start thinking about a new #kidsintrees series. All of these photos were taken with the Canon EOS A2 using a 50mm F1.8 Canon Lens and a roll of expired Polaroid color 400 film from 2004.
A funny thing happened on the way to the camera store when i went to drop off the film. There is an old garage on a main thoroughfare with refurbished gas tanks and signage. The place is basically a replica of a gas station from long-gone days. I couldn't resist stopping to take a pic when I saw the 64 1/2 Mustang Convertible out front. I broke out the Polaroid first and took a fantastic pic of the station in all it's glory. Black and White 45 year old camera taking a pic of a beautifully restored 55 year old vehicle. I just couldn't resist.
All of a sudden I noticed the shop owner come out and I told him I just had to take a pic of the car and the shop. He invited me in the garage. Turns out he restores all kinds of muscle cars and although they were beat up at the moment, they were a sight to behold. We talked shop, along with my love for older muscle cars-growing up in the 70's and having a neighbor up the street that used to rebuild them all, from the Shelby's to the Mercury Cyclones--you name it. It was a great chat with the owner, so I couldn't help but give him the original polaroid I took. He loved it! Contacts were made and I went outside and burned another pic for my own. The rest was history.
I also noticed my prior pics have an element to them--I stop and take pics that usually happen on my commute to work, so I'll also start a #commuter photo project. The goal in this one is to take a picture that occurs on every mile of my commute. So, between the house and mile 1, I'll stop and find a place to compose some type picture. I find I'm always stopping on the country roads to snap a sunrise, or animals, or something, so I'll set a roll aside, using one camera for my commuter project camera. It'll also be a challenge to take interesting pics, especially if I only have a mile between them to decide what to shoot. The other part of this, will be that it could last months to find the perfect condition and subject matter. So--that's what will be on my plate for the next couple of months. Hopefully we'll make something interesting happen out of it.
***
I'm deciding to use pics I've taken previously and will combine digital and film pictures I've taken over the years. The pics will be shown later.
They Keep FINDING ME !
I've been trying to keep my hoarding nature to a minimum. Staying off the letgo.com and the craigslist sites, now the facebook sales sites after I bought my Canon A2. I've been somewhat content, actually, learning the ins and outs of the newly acquired A2. Shooting it often.
Last week I got a text pic from my sister in law (who very rarely texts me) about three cameras that her dad wanted me to have. A late Christmas present. In the glee of the moment, I noticed a Pentax Spotmatic SP with the Super Takumar 50mm 1.4 (I think it's the 8 element one) and a staple Pentax K1000 with a Sigma Macro 50mm f2.8. I really couldn't tell what the other one was until a blew up the picture. A little research and some heavy borrowed bi-focals showed me it was a Kodak Retina IIc.
From the research I've done I noticed the camera was made around 1954, and is a great rangefinder from Kodak, with a german f2.8 lens. No batteries operate this baby. Use your sunny 16 rule or take your meter with you.
I picked them all up last Wednesday on my way to our weekly local trivia competition, and couldn't wait to get them home to give them more of a once-over.
Obviously the batteries in both Pentax cameras were dead. The spotmatic had that beautiful 50mm f1.4 lens on it and I did not notice any gunk or fungus. It is the first Pentax I've ever owned and after a cleaning, I put my first roll of new Fuji Superia 200 color in her.
Unfortunately the same wasn't as true for the K1000. It appears to function on all shutter fires, and the lens is nice, but when I look through the view-finder I see what appears to be some type tree or fungal or inky looking thing in the viewfinder. Luckily it only takes up the middle bottom of the viewfinder halfway through the focus center. I have no idea what it is, but I loaded film inside anyway and hope to shoot a roll and get results for all three cameras back next week. Scans to come.
The cool thing was I love finding rolls of film inside older cameras-whether it be at a thrift store, or whatever--this one was a little more special because it came from a family member , but I had no way of telling how many pics were taken on it. It'll be a gamble for sure, but it was a well expired roll of Kodak 200. Hopefully we'll find some pretty cool older pics on it, but for now, we'll wait and see.
The retina IIc was the one that caught my attention the most. I am in love with old rangefinders, and this one appeared to be in good condition. I attempted to shoot a roll of black and white through it, but I must have loaded it wrong (the film into the cartridge from the bulk roll--not the film into the camera) because I was only to take about 4 shots before the winder tried to seize. I quickly took it to the dark room and unloaded the cartridge, and rewound it, checking for any kind of problems, but couldn't find any.
I really hope to have results in a week or two, and I really hope these cameras are in good working condition. The shutter click on the Pentax K1000 compared to the delicate leaf of the Kodak are sooooo different. I'm just hoping they work for my needs. I'll definitely have to start getting rid of some on ebay soon too, as my collection is getting a little out of control. At least the fever to buy a new camera is currently on hiatus.
------
Last week I also took the Polaroid SX-70 and the EOS A2 over to Bayview Park in Pensacola with the kids, knowing the days coming were going to be frigidly cold and rainy, and figured that it would be good for the family to walk around. While shooting the kids in the park I noticed a beautiful old oak tree with branches the size of small trees. Luckily the kiddos thought the tree was cool too and actually allowed me to take pics of them in the tree, which got me to start thinking about a new #kidsintrees series. All of these photos were taken with the Canon EOS A2 using a 50mm F1.8 Canon Lens and a roll of expired Polaroid color 400 film from 2004.
 |
| I tried to match up the yellow box car with the yellow bridge, the black gate was a bonus and the fact that the face is looking right over the "seeing is believing" graffiti was an added bonus. I like this pic--a LOT :) |
A funny thing happened on the way to the camera store when i went to drop off the film. There is an old garage on a main thoroughfare with refurbished gas tanks and signage. The place is basically a replica of a gas station from long-gone days. I couldn't resist stopping to take a pic when I saw the 64 1/2 Mustang Convertible out front. I broke out the Polaroid first and took a fantastic pic of the station in all it's glory. Black and White 45 year old camera taking a pic of a beautifully restored 55 year old vehicle. I just couldn't resist.
All of a sudden I noticed the shop owner come out and I told him I just had to take a pic of the car and the shop. He invited me in the garage. Turns out he restores all kinds of muscle cars and although they were beat up at the moment, they were a sight to behold. We talked shop, along with my love for older muscle cars-growing up in the 70's and having a neighbor up the street that used to rebuild them all, from the Shelby's to the Mercury Cyclones--you name it. It was a great chat with the owner, so I couldn't help but give him the original polaroid I took. He loved it! Contacts were made and I went outside and burned another pic for my own. The rest was history.
 |
| new film, new garage, old camera, old car. #Polaroid SX-70 |
 |
| And the later developed color version #canonA2 |
I also noticed my prior pics have an element to them--I stop and take pics that usually happen on my commute to work, so I'll also start a #commuter photo project. The goal in this one is to take a picture that occurs on every mile of my commute. So, between the house and mile 1, I'll stop and find a place to compose some type picture. I find I'm always stopping on the country roads to snap a sunrise, or animals, or something, so I'll set a roll aside, using one camera for my commuter project camera. It'll also be a challenge to take interesting pics, especially if I only have a mile between them to decide what to shoot. The other part of this, will be that it could last months to find the perfect condition and subject matter. So--that's what will be on my plate for the next couple of months. Hopefully we'll make something interesting happen out of it.
***
I'm deciding to use pics I've taken previously and will combine digital and film pictures I've taken over the years. The pics will be shown later.
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