matty
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Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Dec 17, 2013 17:27:56 GMT -5
Funny how areas can affect what is available. I'm in a very rural area, even for Wales, Anglesey about ten miles from the nearest town of any size (Holyhead) and I find that different areas offer different pickings in charity shops. I find very little in the charity shops on the island but have had a fair bit of luck at the local car boot sales (swap meets.) Bangor on the main land, university town quite often has interesting bits and pieces in the charity shops. Rhos on Sea (retirement town) is also a good hunting ground but Colwyn Bay two miles along the coast has very little to offer, Colwyn Bay is quite a deprived area. However, Rhyl which is as even more deprived area has a lot of interesting junk shops and I've found some nice bits there, my last trip netted me an Olympus Trip. The local pawn shops sometimes have a few bits and pieces, we had a trip to Regal Pawn at Queensferry a few weeks back, this has been on the History Channel recently as the UK version of Pawn Stars (I think it is going to be aired in the US in the near future.) I picked up a LOMO BC135, 35mm point and shoot with a clockwork motor winder. The owner had a few other bits and pieces including a FED 1 forged to represent a Luftwaffe Leica; which was interesting but I like my FSU cameras to be unashamedly communist.
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matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Dec 11, 2013 18:40:39 GMT -5
Hello Schen, Wifey's aunt lives in Fort Worth, she's a bit of a yard sale addict and sees quite a lot of cameras. Over here in the UK charity shops (our version of goodwill) sometimes have interesting bits and pieces in them, I always try to have a quick look when I pass one. Sometimes stuff is horrendously priced, saw a £40 Praktica MTL5 not long back in one on a visit to York but there are bargains to be had. The shop with the £40 Praktica had an Olympus OM10 with the manual adaptor, new light seals, even the batteries worked; all for £20. So I bought that one, stuck a roll of film in and was taking pictures in 5 minutes.
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matty
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Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Dec 11, 2013 18:28:03 GMT -5
Hello Everyone, Thanks for all the advice. I've had a good fiddle with the Canon and tried the firmware update with no luck. I've phoned Canon service and tried all they suggested and its still dead. Canon suggested sending it in for repair but I think the cost of repair would be more than the camera is worth. So now I'm looking at getting another body, I'm quite taken with the idea of getting a 30d, 8.2 Mp is probably enough for what I want (I haven't printed any photos for ages, I'm quite happy viewing them on the computer screen) with it being semi-pro it should last a bit better. I've seen a couple from dealers at about the £140 mark with warranty, so I'm going to sell a couple of bits and pieces and put the old 1000d up on evil bay as spares or repair to offset the cost of the new body. Matty
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matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Nov 8, 2013 11:52:24 GMT -5
May I add my voice to the chorus, please come back Mickey. You a true gentleman with a delighful sense of fun. Regards Matty
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matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Nov 8, 2013 11:37:42 GMT -5
My new (to me) Canon 1000d has given up the ghost, no lcd, busy sign in the view finder. I'm hoping it is the firmware update problem but knowing my luck it is the motherboard. If it is dead then I will be looking out for a cheap canon body, I might be able to stretch to an eos 10d, 20d, 350d or 400d. Has anyone got any thoughts on which is the best of these? Alternatively does anyone know how much a new motherboard is likely to set me back. Thanks Matty
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matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Oct 22, 2013 16:44:53 GMT -5
Funny, I could find 36 exp Agfa over the summer up here on Anglesey in Poundland when I went to pick some more up last week they only had 24 exp. Still picked up a few, quite handy now Tesco's in Bangor have stopped doing in house d and p; they are sending film away to a lab, it takes 3 days but only costs £4 for 24 exp and the quality is much better than the in house processing. Matty
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matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Oct 22, 2013 13:51:12 GMT -5
Thanks guys, I have managed to expand my Nikon compatible lens at quite a reasonable cost. Got hold of a Canon AE1 at the weekend with a Tamron Adaptall 135mm lens. Today I talked my way into the upstairs room at my local (ish) camera shop a sort of catacomb for film cameras. Some of the stuff they wanted quite a lot of money for but found a FED 3 and a Tamron Adaptall with the Nikon AI adpator. So I got the Canon, a 50mm lens, a 28mm and the Adaptall for £30 and then paid £10 for the Nikon adaptor and lens. When it stops raining I'll try and take some pictures with the D3000 and see how they turn out. Matty
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matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Sept 22, 2013 12:21:12 GMT -5
I've recently acquired a Nikon D3000 and would like a bit of help with lenses. I've only ever had one other Nikon, a very dead FE that is lying in my box of bits awaiting some Frankenstein type experiments to bring it back to life so I am very much a Nikon novice. My basic question is what model lenses will directly onto the D3000's mount and which can I use with an adaptor? I've tried looking online but have just got myself confused. Thanks Matty
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matty
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Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Sept 22, 2013 12:13:39 GMT -5
I've joined the dark side as well, in my usual cheapskate manner. A mate in work has sold me his Canon EOS 1000D, £100 with a 36-78 zoom, I bought a Sigma 80-300 zoom to go with it for £99 and a chipped M42 adaptor. A couple of weeks ago I found an EOS film body with another 36-78 zoom and a Canon 80-200 zoom for a tenner at the car boot. They are a bit fungusy (is that a real word) so they have been sat on the window ledge in the sun since I got them. I'm going to take them out in the next couple of days and check if the picture quality is effected. I have been looking at wide angle lens as that is the one thing I do miss, with the Canon's crop factor all my wide angle glass comes out at about a 45mm equivalent. So when I found a Nikon D3000 with the 18-55 zoom I sort of solved my problem. I'm not sure my wife quite understands the logic of this but it was only £100 in a pawn shop so I couldn't miss this bargain. Matty
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matty
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Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Sept 21, 2013 3:02:07 GMT -5
Hello Dave, That is a collectors dream story but were you tempted to offer $30? Mickey, Perhaps you're right about bringing the Czars back. You did make my mind wander off on a tangent though. If Gorbachev and Perestroika not come along and the Soviet Union staggered on would they still be making clone cameras in the manner of the Hasselbladski, FED and Kiev 4? As a perennial skinflint (Yorkshire upbringing) I would love to see bargain basement DSLRs, possibly an EOSski or Alphaski. Matty
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matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Sept 20, 2013 14:04:30 GMT -5
Cor, I'm definately trying the wrong places, $40 for a Leica! It sounds even better in £s, 30 quid!! I wouldn't be so surprised at the price if Zenits were rare over here but they are pretty common. Anyway Aunty has promised to look out for cameras in the yard sales and thrift stores around Fort Worth, so I might get some stuff that is rarer over here; I would quite like an Argus or a Honeywell Pentax would be a nice conversation piece. Matty
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matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Sept 19, 2013 14:04:51 GMT -5
The wife's aunt is visiting from Texas and as she deals in antiques over there we thought we would take her around some of the antiques centres and flea markets in North Wales. As usual I was on the look out for cameras and spotted a Zenit 12XP, Helios 50mm and 135mm lens, Helios x2 teleconvertor with a Helios flash unit. As I haven't got one of these and I like FSU kit I thought I'd have a closer look, that is till I saw the price. £225!!!! (about $330) I would have thought £30-40 would have been a more realistic price but can anyone think of why a Zenit would reach such a price apart from pure greed on the part of the seller? I looked it over and couldn't see anything that marked it out as being special, 86 start serial number, no special edition markings, just a bog standard Zenit. Regards Matty
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matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Sept 1, 2013 14:16:09 GMT -5
Love the leather on the SRT202, bet that gets a few looks when it comes out of the camera bag. On the subject of Minolta I thought I'd share mine, first off a SR1. This was a carboot find by a friend who decided he didn't want it and passed it on to me at cost.I think it is the 1964 model with the lightmeter mount on the right and the round viewfinder eyepiece. I've given it a clean up and replaced the mirror bumper and am running a first film through it. I really like this one, in terms of quality of build it does feel as good as the Spotmatic, really nice solid feel in the hand. Only down side is that it didn't have the meter with it but you can't have everything I suppose. Then there is the X300, Found this in the local auction house, had a bit of a tussle for it but secured it for £35 in the end, it came with a 28mm and a 80-200 zoom. Both of the lens are aftermarket ones but as I can use them with the SR1 as well I think I've got a nice usable Minolta set up going. The X300 is in great condition, it just needs new seals, I'll try and get round to doing them soon. Funnily enough it was the second X300 I had found that week, I had another from the local flea market with an 80-200 zoom for a fiver, not such good condition though. I passed that one on to the guy I had the SR1 from for cost, he likes later model film cameras and is starting to get a good collection of early AF cameras and lens. Matty
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matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Aug 24, 2013 14:00:15 GMT -5
Supply of Agfa seem to be a bit strange at the moment, my local Poundland (Holyhead) consistently has 36 exp in but the stores in Bangor and Llandudno only ever have 24 exp. Anyway, I've been very pleased with the results so far. Matty
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matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Aug 24, 2013 13:59:58 GMT -5
Supply of Agfa seem to be a bit strange at the moment, my local Poundland (Holyhead) consistently has 36 exp in but the stores in Bangor and Llandudno only ever have 24 exp. Anyway, I've been very pleased with the results so far. Matty
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