Camera Group Shots

Gentle reader, if there be any of ye,

Below is several group shots of cameras from my original collection. Many of what you see now belong to other collectors. For descriptions of their names, see earlier posts.








Above, starting at the top is one each of all the 126 film SLR cameras made. Their names and country of origin can be found in older blogs. They are viewed from the top, then from the front.
Next is one each of all the 126 film Rangefinder cameras made. Again, viewed from the top then the front. The bottom picture is Kodak's line of 126 film rangefinder cameras. All have spring motors. There is a tab on the bottom that one pulls to wind the spring motor. Good for a few shots before pulling it again.

Below is a view of the vast majority of compact 35mm fixed lens Rangefinder cameras made, these having all black bodies.
Next are chrome ones. Many are the same as above, but chrome instead of black metal parts.

Again, they are compact fixed-lens 35mm Rangefinder cameras. My eBay handle is "rfcollectin". RF refers to rangefinder. Which is the type of cameras I chose to focus on. No pun intended.

Above is a group of all the Olympus compact 35mm RF cameras. Note the different names and speeds of their lenses. The larger ones have a lower "f" number. The lower the number, the "faster" the lens. I.E., it's ability to let in more light, thus being able to capture an image in less light.

Above is the family of 35mm rangefinders as made by the Neoca company. The left-most one is designed to appear like the Nikon S2. It is a 2s.

Below is a group shot of ex-Soviet cameras. All made by FED which is the initials of the founder of the KGB. They did one thing right and that was found an orphanage for kids from WWII. They put them to work making exact copies of Leica cameras. Later they improved upon and made their own designs:

Next is a genuine pre-WWII Contax II surrounded by two ex-Soviet Kievs. The black one is far newer than the chrome one with the tall meter housing on top.

Below is the family of Zorki cameras. I had all but the model # 2 which is quite rare.

Finally below is two "Fake" Leicas. They are formerly Fed or Zorki cameras converted by "artisans" in eastern Europe. Originally to sell to unsuspecting tourists, who thought they were getting a genuine Leica that was captured from some dead German soldier.






The black one was bought via eBay and is "new". The "gold" one is an older one, the gold is the original brass that had the chrome chemically stripped from it and it was highly polished. Again, to fool the unsuspecting into thinking they were getting a super-rare gold plated Leica II.

Next, is a detail shot showing the lenses removed from the black one and my real Leica IIIC.
Note the shaped of the device protruding into the hole.


See the left one is clearly round, the right one is triangular in shape. The other giveaway is the shape of the frame around the viewfinder window on the front of the camera. Below are some images I've saved from other's eBay auctions or just found on the Internet.

Do you see the rectangle frame extends to the right above the screw on this Zorki?
OK, now look at this real Leica:

See how the window frame cuts downward and surrounds the screw? That's the clue. Last lets look at some pictures of a camera claimed to be a genuine WWII BETRIEBSK camera.


See the window frame is correct? It may be genuine, or maybe a genuine Leica modified to look like a real Betriebsk. More pics:




There are thousands of Leica copies, (fakes) circulating the world of camera collecting. Since the first FEDs and Zorkis were exact copies of Leica II cameras, one would think the performance would be the same. Yet, I wind and click the shutter of any of them, then wind and click my Leica IIIC's shutter and it's a world of difference. Here are some pics of my Leica:






You may be thinking, "Whoa! Dude what is that camera covered with?" That is red sea snakeskin. I don't know what kind of sea snake, but that's what it wore. You may also be thinking, where did I get that skin? Same place I get most things: EBay! Why? Well, I saw on line another Leica similarly covered and thought that I just had to do it too:



Pretty, isn't it? Here's another camera similarly endowed, but it is a Seagull from China. I have one as well, but it is plain old black covering.


Now, to show you a really pretty fake "gold" Leica as advertised on eBay:



To close out this treatise that has turned into a Leica feast, here is an image of several fake Leicas. I don't remember where I found it:

To all who drive and have a cell phone:

Dear Loved ones,

I came across the ad above in Autoweek magazine. Click on it and it will open in a new window in a larger size.

I want to emphasize that even though I don't personally know of anyone that has been in a car wreck as a result of a cell phone in use, I don't WANT to either!

The ad really struck a chord with me because I see people driving while on the phone with one hand and gesturing with the other! What EXTRA hand are they steering with?

Plus, in the case of our sons and daughters, it seems as though they are CONSTANTLY either texting, e-mailing or talking with EVERYONE they know.

Being a geezer, I will never understand why so many people feel the MUST be in constant contact. But they do seem to feel that way.

It also seems that some people feel that as soon as a thought enters their head, they must IMMEDIATELY broadcast it to their world.

That just IS NOT the case. As the ad finishes with: "WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO SAY CAN WAIT. UNLESS IT IS TO SAY GOODBYE."

OK, NOW I'm DONE!

Gentle readers, if there be any of ye,

I have finally, and I mean it this time, finished the stereo in the living room. I know, you've seen and heard it before. Frankly, there's nothing else to do with it but enjoy the phenomenal sound!

So, you may be thinking what's different since the last post? I purchased the final Liberty Z-500 THX Certified (blue) audio cables. So, every critical inter-connection is via the top-of-the-line audio cables. I replaced the red component video ones with the blue audio ones here: SACD player to Pre-Amp, to and from the equalizer, and from the turntable to the Pre-Amp.

How did I do the last one? Yes, the Denon turntable came with it's own soldered on at the factory RCA cables. They were, thin, gray things. I bought some excellent quality gold plated
RCA jacks and installed them, thus enabling me to use the blue Liberty cables.

Pretty neat job, eh? The main differences between the red component video and blue audio cables, aside from the latter being larger and having more shielding, is that the capacitance is about half of the video cables. With normal line level signals, i.e., CD or tuner, this is not a problem. With the very low signal of a turntable cartridge it makes a huge difference. The blue ones have only 9.9 pico-farads per foot. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but My research showed me that it matters. The other difference is the blue audio cables are directional. They are marked with a label and arrows showing the signal direction.
When I first hooked up the new cables to the turntable, there was no signal to the right channel. Crap! So, I took it apart and checked the continuity and all seemed fine. Then, I noticed the arrow was present only on the left cable. I'd hooked the right one up backwards. Once I swapped it, it was fine.
Then, editing the photos for this post, I saw that I'd hooked up the cables from the Pre-Amp to the Power Amp backwards too! It's been like that for weeks. When I turned them around, the difference was significant and obvious!

I also replaced the factory AC power cords with top-quality ones that I made from Belden shielded three conductor cable. I replaced the wall outlet with a cryrogenicly treated hospital grade unit.

Here is a photo of the final set-up front and back:

As you can see, there are far more blue cables than red. Also, you can see two sets of black cables. I sold all the Radio Shack Audiophile cables (for a lot more than I spent on the Liberty ones) on eBay. They too were directional.

The remaining red cables are for the less important circuits: Tuner to Pre-Amp, Pre-Amp to CD recorder, cassette to Pre-Amp, and Pre-Amp to headphone amp.

These two black pairs are used for the record inputs for the cassette deck and the playback for the CD recorder as can be see below:
Remember, click on any image in my blog and it will open full size on a new page. Next, we see an image of the back of the CD and SACD players and their cables. Note the directional arrows. The single cable on the lower unit is a green digital coax cable. It still uses RCA connections but sends the signal directly digitally. Therefore, if I'm making a CD from another CD, it is all digital and doesn't have to go through the CD players DAC and then be reconverted to digital in the CD-R ADC.
Next is an overhead view of the direct-from-China tube/hybrid headphone amplifier. Why a separate headphone amp, and why tube? The headphone amp in most components are usually marginal at best. And believe-it-or-not, there is still a large interest in Tube stereo equipment. Plus, it's really cute and sounds terrific!
Next is a picture of one of the fantastic DCM KX-12 loudspeakers with the grille off:
Next, is a detail shot of the top shelf and the shelf on the wall above it. Note, the LED watt-meter and speaker switches are on top each other, rather than the way they were before. Behind them, but unseen, is the Indeed amp. Denon turntable on the left, Sony SACD changer on top of the Denon CD changer on the right.
Above is the shelf holding the vintage Discwasher record cleaner system, next is the fantastic Audio Technica headphone, extension cable for same, then the remotes for the disc players and HD radio tuner.
Next is the lower shelves with all the rest of the electronica. Note, the KLH Transient Noise Eliminator is missing. I decided to sell it. I got a lot more than I paid for it too.
Also note that I put the walnut end plates back on the MXR equalizer. So, top to bottom on the above image, left side is: HD radio tuner atop the Adcom Pre-Amp. Then below that is the Kenwood THX Certified power amplifier. Bottom shelf holds the Denon 3-head cassette deck.
Right side holds the following: Pioneer CD recorder, then the MXR equalizer, with the pair of Adcom AC power conditioners on the bottom shelf.

So, that is truly it. I will be setting up my friend Doug's vintage Pioneer stereo for him when they move into a larger place.

So long for now!

Stereo finally done?

Gentle reader, if there be any of ye,

I have had a busy weekend re-doing the living room stereo. Again. Nancy gave up long ago trying to figure it out.

I have read much about the "significant" improvement high quality interconnect cables can make and do agree. For years I have been using now long discontinued Radio Shack interconnects. Plus two sets of Atlona ones. They are all three feet or perhaps one meter long. Trouble is, that often is too long.

I came across a seller on eBay that was selling "slightly used" Liberty cables. They are all the top-of-the-line THX™ Certified and are called Z-500. The audio versions are blue and quite thick, slightly more so than the Radio Shack versions. He was selling half-meter ones. So I
bought two sets. Unfortunately, I'm not the only person looking for shorter cables. So, I ended up buying a pair that are 1 1/2 meters long and a whole bunch of the component video cables
in 1/2 and 1 meter lengths. They are red and are slightly thinner. Component video is a set of three, so two sets equals three pairs. Simply covering the green identifier with red or blue tape
allowed me to keep left and right channels straight.

A lot of audiophile folks swear they can hear the slightest of things. I don't have "Golden ears" but know when something sounds good or not. I did detect the music to be clearer with the Liberty cables. Thus the buying of enough to completely rewire everything. Here is a link to
Liberty Cables Z-500 page:
http://www.libertycable.com/prod_details.php?pitem=Z500NA.5THX
Remember, I bought used ones, so they were a tiny fraction of the cost of new. In the process of this buying I have struck up a friendship with the seller. He is an airplane mechanic. I also have an e-mail connection with the fellow I bought the Kenwood power amp from.

What Kenwood, you ask? You remember me having a huge Adcom power amp? Well, unbeknown to me, aged Adcom power amps have some capacitors that go bad and leak whatever fluid they have inside onto nearby unsuspecting circuits.

I turned on the stereo one day and all of a sudden the left channel stopped working. Quick troubleshooting revealed that it was the power amp. An on-line search told me the slight soft crackling I was hearing was a precursor of failure. Well, I looked inside and saw lots of capacitors, but no sign of damage and frankly, did not want to touch anything. I did find the left channel fuse blown. So, I put the Adcom on eBay fully informing potential buyers of the problem and had a Buy-It-Now price of $149.99 starting the bidding at $19.99. It was snatched up pretty quickly BIN. The amp weighed 53 pounds all buy itself. So you can imagine shipping it. The buyer was happy and that BIN $ was what I paid for all three Adcom components together @ Salvation Army. So, I was pleased.

I looked at a lot of replacement amps and settled on a Kenwood KM-X1000 it too is THX™ Certified and puts out 130 watts per channel. Slightly more than half the Adcom's 250 WPC.

So, it arrives safely and I hook it up only to discover there is no bass coming out of the left speaker. "Weird," I think and take off the speaker's grille. That's when I saw the woofer was jammed all the way back. Turns out the voice coil in the woofer overheated and bubbled the former that the coil was wound on, jamming it.

Research on replacing the woofers showed me that I would have to spend $150. I bought the PAIR of speakers for $30.00 way back in the late '90's. 1/20th of the new cost. So, a look at the local pawn shop yielded me a pair of DCM (The American Speaker Company) KX-12 speakers. I'd heard of DCM, but not until researching them (before buying) did I learn of the company's history and read many dozens of reviews. Seems they are popular with college students.

The KX line of speakers are modified transmission line units. That means the rearward movement of the woofer's cones audio output is sent along a path that eventually comes out the rear of the cabinet. The KX-12s have TWO SIX INCH diameter ports on the back and
an inner wall that extends from the central top about 3/4 of the way to the bottom.

The Optimus PRO-4000 speakers have an efficiency of 93 dB at 1 watt input. The DCM KX-12s have 99 dBs. Thus are very easily driven to insane levels of sound with very little power. The O-P4000s were rated at 8 Ohms resistance. The DCMs at 4 Ohms, but in fact
measure 2.8 Ohms! Theoretically, the lower the speakers resistance, the more power an amp is able to produce because of the lower load. However, going below 2 Ohms is almost a short circuit.

So, the 130 watts the Kenwood is able to produce into an 8 Ohm load is theoretically more than doubled with a less than 3 Ohm load. My LED power meter shows that a tiny fraction of ONE watt produces sound levels that are more than significant for a realistic listening experience.

Below, I have a photo of the newly completed reconfiguration of the stereo, front and rear.
The left side components top to bottom are: Denon DP-23F turntable upon the new-to-me Sony SCD-CE775 SACD player. (Super Audio CD). Next shelf down in the Insignia HD radio tuner atop the Adcom GFP-565 pre-amplifier. Below that is the new-to-me Kenwood KM-X1000 power amp. Bottom shelf holds the Denon DR-M203 3-head cassette deck.
The right side has starting at the top, the left smaller unit is the LED watt meter and the
speaker switch is to the right. They both sit on the Denon DCM-290 CD player. Next shelf down is the MXR 147 graphic equalizer atop the KLH TNE-7000A Transient Noise Eliminator. Both now wired in series. The bottom right is the two Adcom ACE-515 power conditioners.


In the photo below you can see the blue audio cables and red video, now audio ones. The twisted pair going up to the top are the 12 gauge speaker cables going up to the speaker switch.
I bought 200 feet of that wire in order to run a pair of speakers in the "office". After this "final" edition, I have two feet left. It's fantastic cable. The positive wire is silver plated copper and the return wire is pure copper. They have the finest strands of wire I've ever encountered. The finer and more of them the better because of all the added surface area for the signal to travel on.
To me, it looks as though the shelves, are curving downward in the center on the back side. This is an optical effect of using an 18mm lens for the image.

You may notice that the shelves now sport casters. They are heavy duty three inch diameter models that have a 1/2" threaded post on top. It required me to enlarge the already threaded holes and tap them to 1/2"-20 TPI. WHAT a difference it makes in accessing the back!

On the way from Hong Kong is a TUBE headphone amplifier. I have a set of Audio Technica ATH-AD700 headphones that are PHENOMINAL! Here's a link to Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Technica-ATH-AD700-Audiophile-Headphones-Neodymium/dp/B000CMS0XU I got mine via eBay for less than $60.00. I'd never imagined how good headphones could sound.

In the future, I MAY dabble in other tube equipment since these DCM speakers are so efficient. So, am I done? Hardly!