The Vintage Camera Club Thread

[RHY]

Tin,
You can join the Zeiss Group on Yahoo and once you are in, you can ask the members, who have a wealth of data, about your Ikonta. They will ask the appropriate questions and can give you a lot of information about your camera. The Zeiss Group is located at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZICG/

 

[Lamplight]

I've been away from the board for a while and in the mean time I became interested in vintage cameras and film photography, so now I can post in this thread.

An Argus C3 and a Bolsey B2, my first two vintage cameras. The Argus worked, somewhat, but the Bolsey had a malfunctioning shutter and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. The focus on the Argus was totally out of whack, so I sold both of these.

This old Kodak used a type of film no longer made (can't remember what it was now), and the bellows would have needed to be replaced to make it functional, so I sold it, too.

This was my first fully functional vintage camera, a 1950s Kodak Signet 40. It's not worth more than $20-30, but I love the way it looks and it really works quite well. I hardly ever use it but I just can't bring myself to sell it!

And a picture shot with the Signet 40:

My Minolta Autocord, which as far as I can tell is a 1950s model. It's really rough and has several issues, but it does work as long as you don't expect too much.

And a photo from the Autocord:

A Zeiss Ikon I got for free. No idea what year it is, but it's fully functional and produces large 6x9 negatives. The lens has a bit of fungus (I think) but it produces some interesting pictures. So far I've only shot a roll of color film with it, but soon I'm going to try some B&W. Should be more appropriate, I think.

A shot from the Zeiss Ikon:

My Mamiya C33 is from the late 1960s, so I'm not sure if it qualifies as vintage. But it's a heck of a camera!

From the C33:

I also have a Canon AE-1 Program and a Canonet QL17 GIII, but those are both from the early 1980s so I hardly consider them vintage. I still shoot mostly in digital, but every now and then I enjoy going for a nice long walk with one of my old film cameras.

 

[Giftmacher]

Amazing photos! I still waiting till I finish the film(s)

 

[Quigley Brown]

A late-1960s German-made, 126 cartridge film SLR I got at a yard sale this past weekend...even got flash cubes and film!

[/IMG]

 

[Giftmacher]

Very nice! Are these cartridges still available?

 

[Quigley Brown]

Very nice! Are these cartridges still available?

Nope, the Kodachrome II cartridges I've got have an expiration date of Feb. 1979...

 

[Giftmacher]

You can't "fill" them with 35mm film, I presume.

 

[Quigley Brown]

You can't "fill" them with 35mm film, I presume.

I think this was one of those models...top of the line as far as Instamatics are concerned...that came out just when everyone was starting to buy 35mm cameras. It didn't last too long...

 

[DamianM]

126 cartridges where smaller then 35 mm so theres no way to use these anymore. unless the Lomography guys are making these films again. they remade 110 films but its still very questionable. 110 was all 70s and quality was bad.
Personally I dont buy cameras with obsolete film formats unless there dirt cheap and for collection purposes.
Although sometimes using older lenses is always fun.

I haves me 2 Mamiyas c330s and 1 4x5 Calumet as my main workhorses.
and a variety of 35s for snap shot work

 

[DamianM]

I've been away from the board for a while and in the mean time I became interested in vintage cameras and film photography, so now I can post in this thread.

An Argus C3 and a Bolsey B2, my first two vintage cameras. The Argus worked, somewhat, but the Bolsey had a malfunctioning shutter and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. The focus on the Argus was totally out of whack, so I sold both of these.

This old Kodak used a type of film no longer made (can't remember what it was now), and the bellows would have needed to be replaced to make it functional, so I sold it, too.

This was my first fully functional vintage camera, a 1950s Kodak Signet 40. It's not worth more than $20-30, but I love the way it looks and it really works quite well. I hardly ever use it but I just can't bring myself to sell it!

And a picture shot with the Signet 40:

Im liking the look of the Signet 40

 

[Doctor Strange]

To be precise, 126 film WAS 35mm stock... but with less/different perforations and a paper backing, mounted in a plastic cartridge. (*) It was not, however, "smaller" than 35mm - except for the image size: 24mm square vs. the standard 24x36mm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/126_film

But as I recall, the real problem was that you essentially had to destroy the 126 cartridge to get out the film for processing, so refilling the cartridges wasn't practical. I developed some 126 Verichrome Pan film from my sister's Instamatic 104 way back in the sixties... using standard 35mm reels and tanks.

(* 828 rollfilm, a 1950s format used in Kodak's Pony cameras, was also unperforated 35mm stock with a paper backing - an earlier attempt by Kodak to sell more snapshot cameras that ingested their 35mm film. I had a Pony 828, and I developed its Verichrome Pan using standard 35mm reels and tanks.)

 

[DamianM]

I meant Smaller as in image size. Sorry for the misleading words.

 

[Doctor Strange]

No biggie. I realize I'm being pedantic! But I actually had hands-on experience with this stuff from an early age, since my parents were pros...

 

[Lamplight]

Im liking the look of the Signet 40

I definitely like the way it looks, and the fact that it's a halfway decent camera is just a nice bonus.

 

[Quigley Brown]

126 cartridges where smaller then 35 mm so theres no way to use these anymore. unless the Lomography guys are making these films again. they remade 110 films but its still very questionable. 110 was all 70s and quality was bad.
Personally I dont buy cameras with obsolete film formats unless there dirt cheap and for collection purposes.
Although sometimes using older lenses is always fun.

I haves me 2 Mamiyas c330s and 1 4x5 Calumet as my main workhorses.
and a variety of 35s for snap shot work

This Kodak was just too cute not to buy for a few bucks even though it may be difficult to actually use. I shoot professionally, too, and I find using my little pocket digitals (today's Instamatics) do quite a good job in some circumstances.

 

[2jakes]

Flea market buy that includes the "camera & all the doodads"….

Vendor told me that he didn't know if the camera was working & there were no returns if I bought it !
He did caution me that the viewfinder was a pain in the "a--" to view, being so small & all…
I said …ok !

Here's some of the "doodads"

Ersnt Leitz Wetzlar except for the metal 35mm containers by Kodak.

& the camera works fine !

 

[Lamplight]

Wow! How come I never find anything like that at flea markets?! I'm lucky to find a ragged Argus that even works, let alone a Leica.

 

[2jakes]

Wow! How come I never find anything like that at flea markets?! I'm lucky to find a ragged Argus that even works, let alone a Leica.

Lucky, yes, but I go to the flea markets just about every Sunday & I go early…by noon, the "good finds" are gone.

With swap meets same thing, go as early as possible.

99 % is junk…but there's always that "something that you can't live without", that makes it worthwhile !

BTW...camera + doodads was $35. ...

 

[Lamplight]

I'm pretty sure you got the deal of the year on that one! :eeek::eusa_clap

 

[rjb1]

Wow! That comes close to the deal of the *century*. I am groaning (with jealousy) at the thought of it...
What is the camera's serial number? Leicas are sufficiently well-documented that you can find the year of manufacture fairly easily.
It looks to be mid-fifties but Leica had so many variations it's hard to say for sure.
The 90mm and auxiliary finder are great additions to the basic camera. I keep a 90mm on my Leicas most of the time.
Please take another picture of the lens front with the lens cap off. I'd really like to see which 50mm you got.