lloydy
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Post by lloydy on Oct 11, 2012 16:52:36 GMT -5
Mickey, I don't have a lens hood that small but I might try making one. If Stephen is right (and I suspect he is after a more careful look at the pictures) then the camera will have to go on the 'interesting but useless' shelf. It is a pity Zeiss Ikon did not make this camera before the war as I find it delightful to use. I made a small lens hood for an Industar 50 from a GU Pot, which is a chocolate desert. First eat the chocolate goodness, you might need more than one in the interests of making a perfect hood. Then cut the base off using a very sharp knife. Get permission from matron when using sharp things though I hold the knife firmly on the table, maybe spaced up on something solid, and while pressing the pot down on the table I revolve it against the blade - if that makes sense, a bit like a lathe where the work moves against a fixed tool. ( the picture is posed for illustration purposes only, no fingers were lost in the staging of this picture ) I measure as best I can where to cut on the tapered pot, but adjustment, or more pots, is often required. I make the hood a snug fit over the lens. The GU Pots are shiny black plastic, so I matt the inside with an abrasive such as the 3M Scothbrite, some washing up scourers are abrasive enough as well. It's cheap, it's flexible, I don't really care if I lose one, I just eat more chocolate goodness and make another. ;D Lens cap from an aerosol can lid.
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lloydy
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Posts: 506
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Post by lloydy on Oct 8, 2012 17:17:12 GMT -5
The picture is very impressive, that's a great lens.
Wasn't Miranda part of Allied Impex, along with Soligor ? They certainly sold some quality products, although it's hard to figure out now if they actually made anything, or specified / designed the products they sold rather than just brand sourced items.
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lloydy
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Posts: 506
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Post by lloydy on Oct 8, 2012 8:41:28 GMT -5
I've got a few Fotga adapters, mid priced and all metal, that support heavier lenses on my NEX5 very well. But I still treat a heavy lens on the NEX as 'a heavy lens with a camera on the back' - I handle and support the lens, not the camera. And for some lenses I have made tripod mounts so I can use my monopod that I always have with me, or a tripod, never far away. Even on an old school SLR I always liked a big lens to have its own mount.
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lloydy
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Posts: 506
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Post by lloydy on Oct 8, 2012 8:31:46 GMT -5
[quote Always a good feeling, loading a real piece of film into a camera I shot only digital for many years, but I always missed something on my pictures, even being sharp, clear, colorful and well exposed. Now, I treat myself to the luxury of using film again ... and I enjoy it Especially medium format is something, I can't afford on digital anyway. Film is beautiful ... still ... and do you know why ? Because our eyes and brain are analog too.[/quote] Ain't that the truth !
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lloydy
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Posts: 506
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Post by lloydy on Oct 2, 2012 10:59:02 GMT -5
I think that looking for, and expecting, perfection in an old lens is like herding cats. It ain't gonna happen. I've got lenses with fungus, the real bad ones make a difference to the image but most don't ( and I have 2 copies of some lenses with 'average' fungus and I really can't see any difference in the final image ), lenses with bubbles in the glass. That makes no difference at all as far as I can see ( but what do I know ) and more than one lens with 'unexplained marks'. I haven't got a clue what they are, often they don't scrub off, but again I don't see degradation of the image that I can put down to the 'defect' on or in the glass. I appreciate that it's nice to have clean glass, it's why I have 2 copies of a few slightly fungused lenses. But....guess which lenses I actually use when I'm out taking pictures. The mint lenses or the fungused ones? When I'm out in the elements, in the woods and up hills I take the cheap lens and leave the expensive ones in the display cabinet. Do I notice the difference in the final image? No. If you have lenses with fungus I hope you keep them isolated from "clean" lenses and camera bodies or you are likely to have more lenses with fungus. I have a simple rule for lenses with fungus: they go in the garbage. No, I store them with my other stuff as I have done for 40 years, I've never had fungus develop in any lens except for one stored in a metal cupboard for a couple of years that I forgot about. And the condensation and darkness created the ideal conditions. I've bought fungused lenses ( and cleaned most of them ) but only one has developed it while in my custody. Now, I store my lenses in opaque plastic storage boxes that aren't air tight, they get sunlight, are stored without caps, and I have a dehumidifier running in the storage area full time, that takes about 4 litres of water a week out of the air at the moment. The spores that start the fungus are airborne anyway, so avoiding them is just about impossible, I think it's far safer to create an environment where it wont take hold and grow. Take away the dark, humid environment. And I've got a big garbage bin for unwanted fungused lenses
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lloydy
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Posts: 506
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Post by lloydy on Oct 1, 2012 16:11:56 GMT -5
I think that's one of the joys of using old lenses and cameras, not looking for perfection in the final image, but instead looking for an image that is as good as it can possibly be. The slight softness of a moderately fungused or marked lens can very often be corrected in the digital post process, and possibly even in a traditional darkroom? I've got lenses with elements that have bubbles, they got through the quality control of the day. Can they be that bad?
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lloydy
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Posts: 506
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Post by lloydy on Oct 1, 2012 16:01:16 GMT -5
That's a great restoration of a very nice camera. It's wonderful to see enthusiasm at this level. One of the things I use for polishing brightwork is a fiberglass pen for cleaning electrical contacts ( I use it for contacts as well ) but it does need to be used gently, I'm surprised just how abrasive they are. Being pen shaped they can get in tight corners, I use mine a lot, they are great for cleaning knurled knobs and stuff like that. www.amazon.com/Hama-Contact-corrosion-terminal-fiberglass/dp/B00006IVJJI pay a lot less than this at a local electrical wholesalers.
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lloydy
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Posts: 506
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Post by lloydy on Sept 30, 2012 17:04:29 GMT -5
I use a simple method to test camera / lens shake on a tripod.
I set it all up, get a small dish, a jar top or something, about 2 inches diameter and as deep as I can find. Put some water in the dish, just a bit - don't fill it. And place the dish of water on the top of the camera, balance it on the hotshoe. Then remotely fire the camera and watch the ripples in the water. I have given away tripods after this test. Few survive.
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lloydy
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Posts: 506
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Post by lloydy on Sept 30, 2012 16:49:20 GMT -5
I think that looking for, and expecting, perfection in an old lens is like herding cats. It ain't gonna happen. I've got lenses with fungus, the real bad ones make a difference to the image but most don't ( and I have 2 copies of some lenses with 'average' fungus and I really can't see any difference in the final image ), lenses with bubbles in the glass. That makes no difference at all as far as I can see ( but what do I know ) and more than one lens with 'unexplained marks'. I haven't got a clue what they are, often they don't scrub off, but again I don't see degradation of the image that I can put down to the 'defect' on or in the glass. I appreciate that it's nice to have clean glass, it's why I have 2 copies of a few slightly fungused lenses. But....guess which lenses I actually use when I'm out taking pictures. The mint lenses or the fungused ones? When I'm out in the elements, in the woods and up hills I take the cheap lens and leave the expensive ones in the display cabinet. Do I notice the difference in the final image? No.
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lloydy
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Posts: 506
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Post by lloydy on Sept 28, 2012 17:36:02 GMT -5
That's a nice lens, not a lens that will be used every day, but still a nice lens to have. I just love charity shop bargains. If they're happy, I'm happy.
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lloydy
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Posts: 506
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Post by lloydy on Sept 27, 2012 18:50:59 GMT -5
Notes for poster and general identification of Leica, On the Luftwaffe etc., they are often obvious, Leica never made them!!! the original where special productions and recorded, and some of the fakes are ludicrous in the features that they have, like post war changes!! Leica did not make the variants that you see, these came about in the era between the Soviet production and factory closures. Ex Soviet workers also continued to make the rarer cameras till recently. One or two continue with very sound fakes, these turn up in the auction world every few months, they are good, but an expert can tell, and usually they surface in the States. Stephen. I was looking at the stuff on a Nazi memorabilia stall in a large antiques center, It's not my thing but I was on the look out for old camera stuff. By chance I had my Zorki 4K slung over my shoulder and partly concealed by my coat. A guy came over and asked if it was a Leica, and I showed him the Zorki. The guy was the stallholder, a guy who liked the sound of his own voice. Ane he went on to tell me that he'd just bought a very rare SS Leica, he even had a photograph of the camera, resplendent with the stylized SS logo and a coat of arms. "I was lucky to get this" he said proudly, "It cost me £2,000 though, and I know it's not a fake, I'm a renowned expert on Nazi memorabilia" he said as I surveyed the junk before me, the old boxes of lapel badges and insignia. The whole lot wasn't worth 50 quid !
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lloydy
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Posts: 506
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Post by lloydy on Sept 25, 2012 16:59:02 GMT -5
I've started to pick up some of the better looking plastic compacts and have been pleasantly surprised by some, but not all. The winners so far are - Samsung Vega 140 S and an Olympus Superzoom 140S. I think there's a theme developing here, both of these cameras are remarkably similar. Both are autofocus rather than fixed, which I think makes a huge difference on this kind of camera. Both have 'named' 38-140 superzoom lenses ( Olympus and Schneider Kreuznach Varioplan ) and many features, the Samsung wins on the features. Both deliver remarkably sharp pictures, I'm very impressed. The other compact worth a mention is my Olympus XA2, which so far I have had very mixed, mainly poor, results from. But this is fixed focus. Apparently the earlier XA was a far better camera ?
With cheap film, Agfa from the Poundshop, and 99 pence processing at the supermarket, then scan the neg's I just throw them in the glove box of the truck and leave them there for the times I haven't got a 'real camera' with me. Don't discount the later auto focus compacts, they can surprise you. And I pay on average a UK Pound for them at charity shops, they can hardly give them away.
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lloydy
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Posts: 506
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Post by lloydy on Sept 21, 2012 17:37:11 GMT -5
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lloydy
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Posts: 506
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Post by lloydy on Sept 13, 2012 16:48:27 GMT -5
I've just given one of these to a friend of mine, it was branded Unnica but from what I found out it was the same camera, also a Konica and a few others ? It's a nice little rangefinder, I had to make a set of light seals for it though.
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lloydy
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Posts: 506
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Post by lloydy on Sept 6, 2012 12:47:32 GMT -5
I was thinking that the rewind button / mechanism might be the culprit, it does go in and spring out - but whether it springs out enough is what I need to discover first. It does feel as though there's a clutch mechanism in there, the take up spool does turn when wound with the lever, it's when there's drag from a film it slips. Looking at the action with the back open and with no film it looks fine. At the moment I'm on holiday, I only discovered this problem late in the evening the day before we departed, I was going to bring the Wester to try, but before I loaded a good film I tried a test film ( exposed many times and wound back ) and that showed the problem when I tried it with the camera back open. So it's a job for a rainy day when I get home, get the tools out and record every move with the NEX. I'm determined to get it fixed.
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