#211
December 4, 2017
Gentle reader,
I have found that I spent way too much time on FaceBook reading what fellow vintage audio/stereo collectors/users were up to as well as putting my own thoughts down. So, I stopped following all the groups and then thought more about getting back to shooting film.
Despite what many assume, photographic film is not dead. Many professional shooters never transistioned to film at all. Yes, film sales are a tiny fraction of what they once were prior to digital cameras and especially cameras in cell phones. WAY more images are captured now than ever before, because it's simple and free.
Nonetheless, I have a Nikon N90S film SLR and Voigtlander Bessa R film rangefinder camera, each with oodles of lenses. All Nikon lenses since the late 1950s will fit on their DSLRs and most will work, but the older ones will need more manual input from the shooter.
I also still have numerous vintage cameras including a Rolleiflex Twin Lens Reflex medium format camera and a 1946 Leica IIIC which can use all the Voigtlander's lenses. Plus other interesting cameras that are now "worth" a fraction of what they once sold for on the used market. An example is the pinnacle of the "Zoom Lens Reflex" format of 35mm cameras that Olympus invented: IS-3DLX. I have the wide angle and telephoto lenses that take the built-in 35-180mm zoom lens out to 28-300mm, PLUS the once super expensive G-40 flash.
I even still have 35mm film in the freezer. So, you see I have the tools, experience and desire. Once the holidays are out of the way, I will begin. Again.
While I once had a larger collection (more than 200) of vintage film cameras, (of course back then, they were just cameras), I had decided to reduce my collection to the ones I really wanted to keep. Here is the collection now, minus three cameras not shown in this image.
Not shown above are the aforementioned Voigtlander Bessa R, it resides in an aluminum brief-type case along with all the lenses. The others are a Busch Pressman 4X5" press camera with a Linhof Schneider-Kreuznach Press-Xenar127mm f4.7 lens with a Synchro-Compur shutter. This camera was a surprise from my father-in-law. He and other relatives and friends upon learning that I decided to collect cameras, found and gave to me what they had! He had two homes one local and one in Puerto Rico. One day a package arrived from him addressed to me. I called my wife and she of course said, "Open it." Was I surprised!
The other is also a gift, it is a Wrebbit all-paper pinhole camera modeled after a very old wood and brass large format camera. The only part that isn't paper is the black fabric bellows. Boy was that a challenge to make!
And above we have the two large cameras. Busch on the left, Wrebbit on the right and the thick instruction book for the latter below. I've never used the pinhole one, but did make some structural improvements to keep the film (35mm) flatter and ease removing the back. Plus, I installed some thin sealed-pore foam rubber tape to make the back light-tight.
Below is the Voigtlander Bessa R in situ with all it's lenses. I will be showing it and all the lenses later in a future post.
But, since I'm on the subject, many probably do not know, I did not, that they used to make T-mount adapters for Leica screw-mount (M39, sometimes called L39) cameras which this Bessa R and it's earlier Bessa L cameras utilize. As a result, I was able to buy T-mount or YS mount wide angle lenses which cost a fraction of the "correct" M/L39 mount counterpart lenses. There were attempts by other camera makers to introduce a modern metered and affordable interchangeable lens rangefinder camera using the LTM (Leica Thread Mount) system. Cosina of Japan bought the rights to the vaunted and historical Voigtlander of Germany name and began producing said cameras.
The Bessa L body had no rangefinder or viewfinder and was made for very wide angle lenses which often do not need to be focused. Each lens included a very high quality viewfinder that slipped into the shoe atop the body. The R came out next and it is based upon a Cosina SLR body. A few years later came models that accepted both the Zeiss Contax (and Kiev) rangefinder mount and another model for the Nikon rangefinder lenses. It is my understanding that the Nikon and Zeiss lenses interchange. I've had a Contax and most of the Kiev lenses but never could afford a Nikon RF camera.
Above is the cabinet that houses the collection along with my 1/18th scale diecast cars. Several of which I owned real ones of. I built this cabinet originally to house my wife's Beanie Babies collection. Those BBs now reside in a huge black bag in the attic.
Working backwards, this is what I reduced the collection to after the first round of sales. Or as I like to call it, passing on the stewardship. Since we never actually OWN anything, especially land, I consider myself a steward. I purchase, house and take care of items and then pass them on to others who then become the stewards of those things.
Yes, rangefinder cameras were the main focus of my collection. But if you have a keen eye, you also see a large portion are former-Soviet cameras which were mainly copies of German cameras. The vast majority of the rest are Japanese. Note that I also owned the only STEREO camera that was rangefinder focused.
I invented the system you see in these images that once mounted the collection. I called it CameraLock. In fact, there is still a web page hosted by a fellow collector from which I sold plans to make your own CameraLock panels with made them nearly theft-proof. I NO LONGER have the plans, so please don't ask.
110 film cameras, the better ones, were a specialty of mine. I even had a Minox 110. It was rumored to be based upon the Leica 110 that Leitz chose not to market. When I first found out that there were rangefinder 110 cameras made, I paid way too much for some of them.
I also had every 126 film rangefinder and SLR camera as well. I shot with all kinds of film back in the day. I only had one 127 film camera, it too was a rangefinder, painted white of all colors. It was no longer in the collection when this image was made.
For your viewing pleasure, here are some larger images of each panel. I am not sure if these are loaded with exactly the same cameras as the photo of both panels, but believe so. LEFT panel is above and the RIGHT panel is below.
Experimenting with a fisheye lens lent the image above and a cropped one below. This is going back several years when I had smaller pixel-count digital cameras, so the image is not as sharp as the ones I shot today much higher in the article.
Prior to inventing the CameraLock system, I squirreled cameras wherever they would fit as so many of us have. Here is a much earlier iteration of my home office when I hadn't fully thought out the most logical arrangement of furniture. Note the giant military 70mm rangefinder camera:
So, who here knew that the Lightsabers used in the original Star Wars were made from Press camera flash handles? I showed my flash to my grandsons and they looked at their Lightsabers and I swear I could see their minds working.
Here is the top photo again and the list of what is in the collection today follows.
Starting top left, is a camera with one of the sharpest lenses of the fixed-lens rangefinders: Canon Canonet QL17 G-III QL. Next is a Soviet copy of a Zeiss Contax camera, a KIEV 4M. The body was made in 1979, but the lens in 1983. Next, looking like a Leica M3, the more humble, but so pretty Aires 35 IIIC camera. Still has the lens cap and an Aires UV filter. Sitting pretty is my pride-and-joy: Leica IIIC from 1946. I removed the "shark skin" covering and replaced it with red sea-snakeskin. Originally I bought a Summarit 50mm f1.5 Leica lens. But my research later revealed that the Soviet copy of the Zeiss Contax 50mm f1.5 lens was far sharper. So, the Summarit went on to a new steward and a Jupiter 3 took it's place. I had the camera CLA'd and had the shutter curtains replaced with FED shutter curtains which are actually better than the Leica replacements are. Yet, I don't think I've actually shot a roll of film with it! But I digress. Next to the Leica is a Soviet Zorki I(d) with an Industar 22 50mm f3.5 which is a copy of the Leica Elmar lens. To the right are two collapsible 35mm rangefinder cameras: An Ansco Karomat which is a US market Agfa camera. On the very right, another camera GIVEN to me, which my friend carried all over Korea during the war, a Voigtlander Vitessa. It is unique in having "Barn Doors" to cover the lens and bellows when shut. The lens is an Ultron 50mm f2.0.
Next Row contains: A Vivitar 845 TELE MOTOR 110 camera atop another which is a Minolta Autopak 460T. Both have telephoto lenses that can be moved in front of the standard lenses. Next, my late mother-in-law's Minolta 16 16mm camera. Then a stack of three KODAK 110 cameras, two of which are rangefinders: Pocket Instamatic 50, Pocket Instamatic 60 and Trimlite 48. The next one which is on it's side, another GIVEN to me, this one by my brother, a Made-in-Germany Rollei 35. This camera was the smallest full-frame 35mm camera. I later came across the correct flash for it which attaches to the bottom of the camera! It's tiny lens which pops out of the body to shoot is a tiny Zeiss Tessar 40mm f3.5. To the right of that is probably the smallest 35mm rangefinder camera the Olympus XA with flash. Next to that is my late father-in-laws Yashica J camera. Coincidentally, the VERY FIRST old camera I bought at a church bazaar was also a Yashica J. I then did not know what a rangefinder was and he showed me how to use it. After he passed we inherited all his cameras and projectors. Finally is my "brick" the largest selling 35mm camera, the Argus 3C. It has the 10-speed shutter. When I registered it with the Argus collector's group, they told me it was the earliest serial number they had seen.
Bottom row contains two cameras that my sister found, bought and gave to me, both old Kodaks: Brownie Junior Six-16 and Vigilant Junior 620. Next is a Rollei Rolleiflex Automat it is from 1939 and has a Zeiss Tessar T 80mm f3.5 lens. Am I correct that the red T means the lens is coated? Since this is pre-war, I'm not sure. Next two inherited 8mm movie cameras: Bell&Howell ONE-NINE and Kodak Cine-Kodak Eight-25. Next in it's little yellow case is a Hit-type tiny camera called a Crystar. Then in the back in the smallest SLR camera made the incredible interchangeable lens Pentax 110. It is fitted with the normal lens and flash plus motor winder. In front of it is the incredible Minolta 110 Zoom Mark II, also a 110 SLR but with a fixed and very sharp zoom lens. Towering over both of them is my Nikon N90S with 35-80mm zoom lens and the optional power pack handle that attaches to the body and allows use of AA batteries and includes a second shutter button for ease of vertical shots. Finally is the aforementioned Olympus IS-3DLX camera along with the G-40 flash and the wide angle and telephoto auxiliary lenses that extend the fixed 35-180mm zoom lens and extend it from 28mm to 300mm.
In future posts, I will list and show the Voigtlander Bessa R and all it's lenses and the Nikon N90S and all it's lenses.
For now, thanks for looking. I truly appreciate your taking the time, I do tend to run off at the fingers. Plus I'm told I think and talk too much!
Scott
December 4, 2017
I even still have 35mm film in the freezer. So, you see I have the tools, experience and desire. Once the holidays are out of the way, I will begin. Again.
While I once had a larger collection (more than 200) of vintage film cameras, (of course back then, they were just cameras), I had decided to reduce my collection to the ones I really wanted to keep. Here is the collection now, minus three cameras not shown in this image.
The other is also a gift, it is a Wrebbit all-paper pinhole camera modeled after a very old wood and brass large format camera. The only part that isn't paper is the black fabric bellows. Boy was that a challenge to make!
The Bessa L body had no rangefinder or viewfinder and was made for very wide angle lenses which often do not need to be focused. Each lens included a very high quality viewfinder that slipped into the shoe atop the body. The R came out next and it is based upon a Cosina SLR body. A few years later came models that accepted both the Zeiss Contax (and Kiev) rangefinder mount and another model for the Nikon rangefinder lenses. It is my understanding that the Nikon and Zeiss lenses interchange. I've had a Contax and most of the Kiev lenses but never could afford a Nikon RF camera.
Working backwards, this is what I reduced the collection to after the first round of sales. Or as I like to call it, passing on the stewardship. Since we never actually OWN anything, especially land, I consider myself a steward. I purchase, house and take care of items and then pass them on to others who then become the stewards of those things.
110 film cameras, the better ones, were a specialty of mine. I even had a Minox 110. It was rumored to be based upon the Leica 110 that Leitz chose not to market. When I first found out that there were rangefinder 110 cameras made, I paid way too much for some of them.
I also had every 126 film rangefinder and SLR camera as well. I shot with all kinds of film back in the day. I only had one 127 film camera, it too was a rangefinder, painted white of all colors. It was no longer in the collection when this image was made.
Here is the top photo again and the list of what is in the collection today follows.
Next Row contains: A Vivitar 845 TELE MOTOR 110 camera atop another which is a Minolta Autopak 460T. Both have telephoto lenses that can be moved in front of the standard lenses. Next, my late mother-in-law's Minolta 16 16mm camera. Then a stack of three KODAK 110 cameras, two of which are rangefinders: Pocket Instamatic 50, Pocket Instamatic 60 and Trimlite 48. The next one which is on it's side, another GIVEN to me, this one by my brother, a Made-in-Germany Rollei 35. This camera was the smallest full-frame 35mm camera. I later came across the correct flash for it which attaches to the bottom of the camera! It's tiny lens which pops out of the body to shoot is a tiny Zeiss Tessar 40mm f3.5. To the right of that is probably the smallest 35mm rangefinder camera the Olympus XA with flash. Next to that is my late father-in-laws Yashica J camera. Coincidentally, the VERY FIRST old camera I bought at a church bazaar was also a Yashica J. I then did not know what a rangefinder was and he showed me how to use it. After he passed we inherited all his cameras and projectors. Finally is my "brick" the largest selling 35mm camera, the Argus 3C. It has the 10-speed shutter. When I registered it with the Argus collector's group, they told me it was the earliest serial number they had seen.
Bottom row contains two cameras that my sister found, bought and gave to me, both old Kodaks: Brownie Junior Six-16 and Vigilant Junior 620. Next is a Rollei Rolleiflex Automat it is from 1939 and has a Zeiss Tessar T 80mm f3.5 lens. Am I correct that the red T means the lens is coated? Since this is pre-war, I'm not sure. Next two inherited 8mm movie cameras: Bell&Howell ONE-NINE and Kodak Cine-Kodak Eight-25. Next in it's little yellow case is a Hit-type tiny camera called a Crystar. Then in the back in the smallest SLR camera made the incredible interchangeable lens Pentax 110. It is fitted with the normal lens and flash plus motor winder. In front of it is the incredible Minolta 110 Zoom Mark II, also a 110 SLR but with a fixed and very sharp zoom lens. Towering over both of them is my Nikon N90S with 35-80mm zoom lens and the optional power pack handle that attaches to the body and allows use of AA batteries and includes a second shutter button for ease of vertical shots. Finally is the aforementioned Olympus IS-3DLX camera along with the G-40 flash and the wide angle and telephoto auxiliary lenses that extend the fixed 35-180mm zoom lens and extend it from 28mm to 300mm.
In future posts, I will list and show the Voigtlander Bessa R and all it's lenses and the Nikon N90S and all it's lenses.
For now, thanks for looking. I truly appreciate your taking the time, I do tend to run off at the fingers. Plus I'm told I think and talk too much!
Scott
December 4, 2017
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