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Post by belgiumreporter on Mar 14, 2016 7:15:24 GMT -5
Just returned from our two month trip to NZ the severe jet lag couldn't prevent me from "being at it again". Browsing through the small ads i came across a "lot of old cameras" , what really caught my eye where two mirandas between the usual heap of kodak instamatic and such. Though the ad seemed to be some time on the site i decided to give it a go and call the seller. Yep it was all still there and i could come around to have a look at it.The mirandas where both in good condition a pentax spotmatic F was jammed solid but looked good, then there was that pentax SFxn with short and long AF zooms,a kodak folder and box camera some small P&S cameras, enlarging lenses,a sixtar light meter and the usual lot of filters. The guy was happy that finally someone turned up and we met in what i was willing to pay and what he was willing to let the lot go for. So here's a pic of my first catch after a long vacation.  I'm only going to keep the mirandas and the spotmatic, finally i've got a sensorex after wich i've been hunting for two years, the rest will be garage sale stuff. |
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Stephen
Lifetime Member
Still collecting.......
Posts: 2,718
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Post by Stephen on Mar 14, 2016 13:08:10 GMT -5
The Mirandas are very underrated, and usually perform well, the lenses are generally excellent for the vintage. Slightly more noise than average from the shutter, but little vibration. My own Sensorex is every bit as good as the Pentax.
Very simular quality of optics to the OM1 etc.
Stephen.
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Post by conan on Mar 14, 2016 19:47:00 GMT -5
Just returned from our two month trip to NZ the severe jet lag couldn't prevent me from "being at it again". Browsing through the small ads i came across a "lot of old cameras" , what really caught my eye where two mirandas between the usual heap of kodak instamatic and such. Though the ad seemed to be some time on the site i decided to give it a go and call the seller. Yep it was all still there and i could come around to have a look at it.The mirandas where both in good condition a pentax spotmatic F was jammed solid but looked good, then there was that pentax SFxn with short and long AF zooms,a kodak folder and box camera some small P&S cameras, enlarging lenses,a sixtar light meter and the usual lot of filters. The guy was happy that finally someone turned up and we met in what i was willing to pay and what he was willing to let the lot go for. I'm only going to keep the mirandas and the spotmatic, finally i've got a sensorex after wich i've been hunting for two years, the rest will be garage sale stuff. Miranda are fine cameras. The golden oldies will remember that Miranda and Topcon were bigger than Canon SLRs in the early sixties. The Mirandas were often referred to as the poor man’s Nikon. Miranda were particularly successful in the States because of their advertising and the Miranda ads are still discussed on forums today. Anyone have any Miranda ads they post here? that model really made people take notice. |
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Post by julio1fer on Mar 14, 2016 21:22:43 GMT -5
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Post by conan on Mar 15, 2016 2:18:10 GMT -5
julio1fer, those ads sure must have made an impact if you can remember them more than 40 years later. Can anyone remember the ads from Nikon or others from the same period. |
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Post by belgiumreporter on Mar 15, 2016 3:51:31 GMT -5
Isn't there allways a girl involved? In the late sixties in our hippie days, a girl on wich i had a crush had a sensorex, i then still used my linhoff press. I thought the miranda was an ugly camera with that stupid chrome star on front of the prism, i didn't gave it a second glance, i told her to get a nikon F if she wanted a decent camera...
Years later we met again and she confessed she had a crush on me to but was engaged with someone else...by that time we where both maried and sighed at the prospect of what could have been if things had taken an other turn, i never saw here again since that day. This might explain why the sensorex holds a special place within my miranda collection.
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Post by conan on Mar 16, 2016 4:01:19 GMT -5
Isn't there allways a girl involved? In the late sixties in our hippie days, a girl on wich i had a crush had a sensorex, i then still used my linhoff press. I thought the miranda was an ugly camera with that stupid chrome star on front of the prism, i didn't gave it a second glance, i told her to get a nikon F if she wanted a decent camera... Years later we met again and she confessed she had a crush on me to but was engaged with someone else...by that time we where both maried and sighed at the prospect of what could have been if things had taken an other turn, i never saw here again since that day. This might explain why the sensorex holds a special place within my miranda collection. Miranda’s weren’t ugly – they just appealed to the strange American tastes and they were superbly marketed by AIC (Allied Impex Corporation) who eventually owned Miranda. Interestingly I note one of your cameras appears to have the AIC badge on it. Apparently they only used this badge in the States and Germany where AIC had a subsidiary. Miranda distribution was handled by other companies in the Western World until AIC got total control of Miranda. |
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Post by yashica1943 on Mar 17, 2016 3:55:30 GMT -5
I think that Miranda as a brand was diluted when the Dixons chain in the UK started selling Chinon (I think!?) cameras and other photographic goods badged as 'Miranda'. There was probably nothing wrong with that but they just appeared with Prinz stuff in their shops and appeared to all be be bargain basement cameras.
I have just bought through ebay, a clean looking, working (apparently)one owner Pentax MX with a f1.4 50mm lens a Vivitar 28mm and a Vivitar 70-210 zoom plus filters, paperwork etc. for what I would expect to pay just for the 50mm.
This was more than I usually spend on any film camera, but I had spare cash from the sale of a pair of boot sale Leitz binoculars. Heard good reports on the MX and it will go with my mint Pentax Program-A.
Will report on here when it all arrives.
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hansz
Lifetime Member
Hans
Posts: 697
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Post by hansz on Mar 17, 2016 11:09:47 GMT -5
At an Emmaus outlet (you know them, Francois?! - the charity shops around Utrecht) I found a pristine Yashica T5 for €4,50... At Ebay they fetch a factor 20 to 30 more... Should I sell it? Or just being happy for a while:-)
Hans
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Stephen
Lifetime Member
Still collecting.......
Posts: 2,718
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Post by Stephen on Mar 17, 2016 12:01:11 GMT -5
It was not Dixons who ruined Miranda, it was Mr Charles Strasser and Photopia, the UK importers, who dealt with Minolta as well as several other smaller makers like Ricoh. Photopia dealt in quantity, with little consumer backup, and when they had rival makes, one had to suffer.
Dixons took over the brand, and bought the name rights when Miranda closed.
Under Photopia Miranda lenses had not been imported, accessories were difficult to obtain, and service was appalling. Photopia did not have any reason to push Miranda as a make, they just sold what shops ordered, not seeking to increase the brand. They did market the Soligor lenses as a brand.
Minolta suffered in the same way as Miranda, despite being a major maker.
Stephen.
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Post by belgiumreporter on Mar 17, 2016 15:12:07 GMT -5
At an Emmaus outlet (you know them, Francois?! - the charity shops around Utrecht) I found a pristine Yashica T5 for €4,50... At Ebay they fetch a factor 20 to 30 more... Should I sell it? Or just being happy for a while:-) Hans I think i've been in one of those Emmaus shops in Terneuzen. in Belgium we've got opnieuw&co, de kringwinkel ad to some lesser extend the salvation army family shops. I didn't find anything photographic worth mentionning in the last few months, i did find a sony TC366 reel to reel tape deck in as new condittion for 15 € at opnieuw&co last week,i had one of those way back in 1975, i've traded it for a Norton dominator 650 rebuild as a race bike (with a clutch problem) I don't think nowadays anyone will make me the same offer...so i'll stick with the tc366 for a bit longer. |
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hansz
Lifetime Member
Hans
Posts: 697
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Post by hansz on Mar 18, 2016 11:12:34 GMT -5
Ah, the TC-366... I once had the TC-377, both famous decks of Sony - the dream of every student (my amplifier was the TA-1010 - also a cult box at that time, i.e. late 60s, early 70s). Corduroy cloths... time flies:-)
Hans
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Post by conan on Mar 23, 2016 5:24:28 GMT -5
I think that Miranda as a brand was diluted when the Dixons chain in the UK started selling Chinon (I think!?) cameras and other photographic goods badged as 'Miranda'. There was probably nothing wrong with that but they just appeared with Prinz stuff in their shops and appeared to all be be bargain basement cameras. I have just bought through ebay, a clean looking, working (apparently)one owner Pentax MX with a f1.4 50mm lens a Vivitar 28mm and a Vivitar 70-210 zoom plus filters, paperwork etc. for what I would expect to pay just for the 50mm. This was more than I usually spend on any film camera, but I had spare cash from the sale of a pair of boot sale Leitz binoculars. Heard good reports on the MX and it will go with my mint Pentax Program-A. Will report on here when it all arrives. I think you are referring to a ‘badged’ Miranda sold by Dixons. When Miranda turned up their toes their name was sold and used on a variety of cameras primarily made by Cosina and these had no links to previous Miranda’s. Miranda were one of the early pioneers but they fell into the same situation as some of the German makers did in the mid-sixties – a lack of sales and a lack of profits which meant they could not spend much on development. The cost of the ensuring electronic revolution sent them to the wall. Toward the end they followed the same disastrous trend established by Edixa – a seeming endless variety of minor model changes. A little known fact is that Miranda developed the Instant Return Mirror and sold the idea to Pentax. I hope you have small hands – you will need them for an MX – fine mechanically compared to its unreliable brother ME but Pentax went just a little tooooo far trying to beat the OM1 in the size stakes. |
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Post by yashica1943 on Mar 27, 2016 5:39:12 GMT -5
My first 35mm camera was a Voigtlander Vito B, which I used for many years and to me is the ideal size for a camera. I now use a Panasonic Lumix DMC LX7 which I use a lot and is very small and manageable, having a good reliable wrist strap helps. You just get used to different cameras. (But I never liked using TLR's).
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