matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Vito Bs
Apr 29, 2014 6:09:37 GMT -5
Post by matty on Apr 29, 2014 6:09:37 GMT -5
Hello Phil, I was going by the lens serial number as has been pointed out. I'm not sure how close the lens date matches the camera manufacture date and haven't been able to find any definate answers to this which is why I was a bit vague in the original post. The second Vito has now moved on, swapped for a Fed 4 (I know, I'm a soft touch when it comes to Russian cameras.) The original Vito has got a part used film in it, I had hoped to finish it in Whitby this last weekend but the weather was terrible for pictures, I used digital for the few shots I took. Matty
|
|
matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Post by matty on Apr 4, 2014 15:47:45 GMT -5
Found my spare CF Card so took the 300d out this afternoon to take a few shots: Blue, my sister in law's black labrador, EOS300D, Sigma 70-300mm zoom. She's a bit tired and panting as she has just been chased by this terror: Loki, our 12 week old Lab/Springer cross, same set up as above. Eventually the small mad one settled down enough for me to capture her lying down: EOS300D, 18-55mm EFS USM. Quite pleased with the camera, it has a bit of shutter lag in comparision with the 30D but it is easy to use and as it shares the same battery with the 30D and takes EFS and EF lenses which means I have a bit more flexibility when out and about so I am keeping it as my back up. I love cheapskate photography. Philbirch, the shop manager knew it was a digital so I don't feel guilty about short changing them. I've got an M42 adaptor but thanks for the offer. I must admit I'm not very good at using manual focus with dslr, I think its something to do with having awful eyesight, terrible distance vision, astigmatism and deteriorating near vision. When using my film slrs I have to use the split screen for focusing, if a camera just has ground glass I find it very difficult, one of the reasons that I like my Praktica MTL50 is that the triple wedge focusing screen is very clear when focus is correct. Sid, I'll have to check out WEX, the prices seem pretty reasonable. On ebay the 300d seems to be going for a bit more and LCE were asking a lot more. Matty
|
|
matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Post by matty on Apr 2, 2014 15:07:41 GMT -5
Had to go into town to do a bit of shopping this afternoon so thought I would have a look in the charity shops to see if there was anything interesting. In the last shop I looked in I saw a Canon EOS, I presumed it was a film model but wanted to have a look at the lens as I have been after a wide angle for my 30D (I've got the 38-76mm.) On being handed the camera I was surprised to find it was the 300D in working order. The asking price was £30 so I thought that will do me. I did wonder about selling the body but I think I'll keep it as a back up body. I'll try a few test shots as soon as I find my spare CF card. Matty
|
|
matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Post by matty on Apr 2, 2014 14:17:48 GMT -5
I went to our local auction house for their "household and collectables" sale and saw a worn bulging plastic bag described in the catalogue as a pair of cased binoculars, etc. At the bottom was an Olympus 35RD (jammed, unfortunately) and this: Olympus OM1N with the 1.8 Zuiko 50mm. Everything looked to be in working order if a bit mucky. I couldn't check if the lens was fungussed but it seemed to be in reasonable condition. I couldn't make the sale day so I left a commission bid of £25, I didn't want to bid too high in case there were problems with it. Come the day of the sale I phoned up to find out that it had gone for the grand total of 28, one bid higher then mine. Ah well I thought it wasn't to be. However, on the spare of the moment I decided to pop into the carboot sale in Bangor the Saturday after(not my favourite venue as there is usually very little to interest me there.) Going down one of the aisles I saw one of the local dealers I know and on her stall was the OM1N. I had a good look over it again and asked how much, £30 I was told. I proceeded to go through my pockets and found the grand total of £27.43 to seal the deal (all the money I had in my pockets at the time.) So now I am the proud owner of a near mint OM1N, just need to fit new seals and it is ready to go. Matty
|
|
matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Post by matty on Mar 28, 2014 6:49:53 GMT -5
I'm sat at home whilst the window installers fit our new skylights so I though I would catch up on some of the programs I've recorded. Just watched Hidden Histories: WW1s Forgotten Photographs on BBC 4. Well worth watching if you can find it online, it tells the story of the official attitudes towards photography of Britain and Germany and the of the men who took their cameras to war, touching and poignant as well being a piece of photographic history. Struck a cord as it tells how many people through out photographs in later years as the memory of the war faded, my Grandma threw out pictures taken of my Grandad whilst a prisoner of war in Germany after he passed away in the 70's. Matty
|
|
matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Post by matty on Mar 28, 2014 6:36:17 GMT -5
Go ahead, buy it. I know I'm sad but I love old Soviet cameras. Not for the value or the technical brilliance of the product but for the history, the style and the fact that the Russians made things that were uniquely Russian, robust, practical cameras that function for all their manufacturing limitations. It certainly fits the bill as being vintage and from a historical point of view Russian cameras from the Soviet period are a perfect reflection of the period, a particular mix of paranoia and independence that came to a head under Stalin. The Soviet system had a distrust of the outside world and wanted to be independent of the need to rely on imports so tried to manufacture things domestically. They did a huge amount of reverse engineering from B29s (Tupolev Tu4) down to cameras, Lubitel - Voigtlander Brilliant, FED - Leica, Kiev 4 - Contax, and going on to make their own particular slant on an idea, such as the Zenit SLRs. I've got the later 166 Lubitel, it is a practical TLR that does the job, not a regular user but a part of the collection that I wouldn't part with, it sits with the rest of my Soviet Union cameras. Matty
|
|
matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Post by matty on Feb 13, 2014 6:37:42 GMT -5
Have to agree with you about the amount of rubbish you have to wade through at an auction and the number of resellers you see at auctions. A lot of the buyers I see at the local auction house I also see selling the stuff at the carboot the week after. Sometimes I do wonder why I bother with auctions and carboots, I think it must be some sort of atavistic hunting memory, stalking my prey through the mounds of poo. Finding that one diamond in the rough every so often seems to make all those cold Sunday mornings worthwhile, its a similar feeling to taking that perfect picture after waiting for the right moment. I've been asked why don't I look on ebay but the simple answer is that seems boring. Also, charity shops and carboots are a good excuse to go out for a long walk.
|
|
matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Post by matty on Feb 12, 2014 15:55:30 GMT -5
I had a quick walk round Bangor on Monday and managed to find a few bits and pieces. A Zenit B for £5 (already got one), Canon EOS 5000, no lens though and a Photax Blinde for a tenner. Not quite sure how a nineteen forties French Camera ended up in North Wales but now it is in my collection. I usually ask if there are any cameras in but in Bangor they seem to put everything out on the shelves rather than keeping them in the back. One of the shop managers keeps a list of contacts who are interested in specific items, he's got me down for any camera pieces. One place that I try to check out regularly is the local auction centre, there is not a huge amount but every so often there is a gem, last week I missed out on an Olympus OM1n. It was buried in an old carrier bag and described as "a cased pair of binoculars etc" so I put in a commission bid at £25 as I couldn't get to the actual auction but was beaten by £3.
|
|
matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Post by matty on Feb 8, 2014 18:45:15 GMT -5
The small town charity shops are the best for bargains,especially the local charities but even there things seem to be drying up a bit around me. I haven't seen much for a few months now, had a Zenit TTL with a Helios flash, 3x teleconvertor and extension tubes, plus a genuine TOE kit bag with it from one in Bangor just after Christmas but nothing else. I've seen a few items listed from charities on the evil bay, the other tactic seems to be using evil bay prices as a guide for pricing in the charity shop. This seems to lead to a few highly inflated prices, saw a Minolta X300 yesterday, it had two sigma zooms with it, 35-75 and 70-210. The price? £90, a bit much when I managed to pick up a X300 with the original Minolta 50mm, Minolta 28mm and a Sigma 70-210 for £30 from the local auction house. Regards Matty
|
|
matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Post by matty on Jan 13, 2014 19:49:10 GMT -5
I haven't done the trip to Ireland for a while, it used to be quite common when I was a student in Bangor to be sat in the pub on a Friday evening and have someone pipe up "shall we go to Dublin ." Midnight train to Holyhead, 3 am ferry to Dun Loaghaire, train to Dublin, first pint of Guiness by 7am, stagger round the Dublin pubs all day and back to Holyhead by the 8pm ferry. £25 for the day trip ticket in the late 80's and the ferry company gave you a £15 voucher for the duty free shop. Great days. Matty
|
|
matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Post by matty on Jan 11, 2014 13:52:13 GMT -5
The SR1 is a favourite in my collection, there is just something about it that shouts "proper camera" to the world and it is so nice to hold. Simple to use and still working after 50 years. Mine was a carboot find by a mate and sold on to me, all that needed changing was the mirror bumper. I don't have the light meter but this isn't a huge problem. I was reading on another forum about how difficult these old manual cameras are to use, perhaps I'm just a luddite but my 30D is quicker to use on auto but is no easier or quicker when I'm setting it manually for a specific shot. Press this button, twirl that dial is no easier than setting aperture, shutter speed and focus on the SR. Also, it will never look as cool as the old SR1. Matty
|
|
matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Post by matty on Dec 27, 2013 10:52:33 GMT -5
Took the Canon up to Holyhead to catch some waves on the Breakwater the other day. Set it on large JPEG, used my 70-300 Sigma zoom at 300mm, bumped the ISO and shutter speed (can't remember what to, 1800 ISO and about 1200 shutter speed, I think) and got some ok pics. Not brilliant I know but not bad considering the light conditions, rapidly changing from overcast to sun and back, lots of sea spray and shot handheld in very high wind. At least everything worked as it was meant to, so I'm a happy boy.
|
|
matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Post by matty on Dec 24, 2013 6:09:02 GMT -5
Hello, The 30d has arrived. Haven't had chance to take many pictures yet as the weather's been so miserable but I've had a good play with it. Very pleased so far, the controls fall to hand quite nicely and it seems easier to use than the 1000d. Hopefully the weather will clear up and I can get out to take some shots. Matty
|
|
matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Post by matty on Dec 18, 2013 16:58:28 GMT -5
Ah, 10 and 7 years old, I remember it well. Unfortunately, the small human child is now 14 and seriously Goth. Any shopping trips that don't revolve around black nail polish and eyeliner are fraught with teenage moodiness. I shouldn't complain really as she does enjoy photography, shoots with a Fuji Finepix bridge and Nikon D3000, she just can't understand why film cameras are so cool. Matty
|
|
matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
|
Post by matty on Dec 17, 2013 17:35:41 GMT -5
Hello Everyone, I've taken the plunge and ordered a 30d from the Photographer's Bag. Body, cap, battery and charger for £120, from what I've read it seems to tick all the boxes for what I want, reasonable sized sensor, sensible number of Pixels in a semi pro body, plus I've already got the lens and a chipped m42 adaptor. I sold a fit bits and pieces to a mate and got myself most of the way there. I'll put the old 1000d on evilbay as spares or repair in the next few days and hopefully recoup a bit on that as well. Matty
|
|