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Post by johnbear on Dec 24, 2015 18:24:05 GMT -5
Fire is one of the four elements from which everything in the world is made. And the world is flat and Mickey - living at about 47 degrees North - is very near the edge. Not quite Christmas Day here yet - about 37 minutes to go - not that I'm counting or anything.
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Post by johnbear on Dec 24, 2015 18:15:18 GMT -5
Haha. No Mickey - it hasn't caught on here yet. We've only just learned how to make fire.
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Post by johnbear on Dec 24, 2015 16:40:32 GMT -5
Sedona - you luck man ... it's such a beautiful place (I visited about 15 years ago). Sadly here in the North East of England it's too dark to take photos until about April !!! Best of luck with the camera repair.
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Post by johnbear on Dec 11, 2015 8:40:05 GMT -5
There are lists of prices for book that he sells, but there is also a very comprehensive alphabetical list of camera values, of which he says elsewhere, that he will normally pay 70%.
I don't seem to be the only one confused by this site. At first I thought it might be the original cost, but they are not. So it appears to be someone's opinion of the current value of camera models ... and that is a "current" as of the page date, which according to Google is 2011.
I am amazed that anyone could, and would, compile such a list (given that this sort of price guide publication ceased more than ten years ago). Maybe there is just information out there I am not aware of?
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Post by johnbear on Dec 10, 2015 16:49:33 GMT -5
Has anyone seen this website, and what do you make of it? www.photographica-world.de/It details an online price list. So far as I can establish, the last update was in 2011, but nevertheless it's an interesting and comprehensive list.
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Post by johnbear on Dec 8, 2015 17:49:32 GMT -5
What about "genuine". I often see things like "genuine Pentax Spotmatic", and think ... if it was a fake I'd actually be loads more interested in buying it.
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Post by johnbear on Dec 8, 2015 16:35:03 GMT -5
Here's another one that gets me. The term "Near Mint", used when elsewhere in the description the text says something (usually the meter) doesn't work, and/or the pictures show signs of use that don't come with a mint camera. It makes me lose all faith in the seller. Then there is the variation "Minty". I have no idea what that means, but guess it's not the same as Mint? I recall once reading that the term "Minty" was a legacy of the days of print typesetting, and used to same time/money; but the typical seller won't have any knowledge of that. Does anyone know any more about "Minty"?
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Post by johnbear on Dec 4, 2015 5:23:52 GMT -5
If postage costs are unreasonable I don't bid ... unless it's something I really want, and then I take the excess charge off my maximum price. I am super disciplined about how much I pay. I did get one camera that was described as being in FWO, but was actually broken. I had been charged £5.00 for postage, but this had really cost the seller £2.80. The seller agreed to pay the return postage costs and refund my money. When it came to the cost of the return I said to the seller ... "postage cost you £5.00 didn't it?" They had no option other than to give me a fiver for postage, of which I spent £2.80. I call that natural justice.
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Post by johnbear on Dec 3, 2015 18:16:33 GMT -5
"Lense" drives me MENTAL !!! I'm often tempted to message the sender and ask stupid (but barbed) questions like ... is it made of glasse, and will you send it in a boxe?
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Post by johnbear on Dec 1, 2015 15:46:01 GMT -5
My first digital camera was a Leica Digilux, bought new in 2002, and you know what ... I'm still using it (almost every week).
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Post by johnbear on Nov 21, 2015 8:54:04 GMT -5
A very fine camera range, especially the Spotmatic F. No camera collector should be without a Spotmatic. I don't know if it's a case of exposure to the Spotmatic at a formative age, but for me it's the benchmark SLR, the one against which all others must be judged.
I don't know why the SP500 and SP1000 were never marked with the Spotmatic name, but I've always suspected that the Spotmatic title became a crowning badge, which was reserved for the top model of the time.
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Post by johnbear on Nov 15, 2015 16:36:58 GMT -5
Here's a recently acquired camera - the stylish Fujica Rapid S2 - a Rapid film system model introduced in 1965. The S2 is a zone focus camera with a bright-line viewfinder. Exposure is fully automatic via an around-the-lens Selenium meter, and features a viewfinder red flag low light warning. The camera appears to set an aperture and shutter speed combination, which cannot be overridden by manual selection of either. The shutter speed steps are a bit of a mystery, although the range is 1/30th to 1/250th. There is a aperture selector ring around the lens, with an A (auto) setting, and apertures from f/2.8 to f/22. These f-stops are only used with flash, where exposure setting is fully manual. It has an accessory shoe and PC socket. The camera shoots a 24cm x 24cm square format of 16 exposures. The frame counter counts down from 16 to 0, at which point the shutter locks, although the film advance winder continues to operate (so the exposed film can be pushed into the receiving Rapid cassette). After loading with film and closing the back, the film advance lever must be advanced three times before the shutter tensions and the winding lever locks, ready for the first exposure. There's a small lever in the top light seal channel, in line with the axis of the wind crank, which can be depressed with a thumbnail to "trick" the camera into operating as though a film had been inserted. This enables the metering system to be observed, by firing the shutter while looking through the lens from the open back. Sadly my camera does not respond to light; the aperture opens to a constant f/2.8, and the shutter speed sounds like a 1/30th (or thereabouts). I bought this camera simply on the basis of its styling, and I think it looks fabulous. It's another of those models for which there is little information on the Net (so if anyone has insights, please do share). Fujica Rapid S2
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Post by johnbear on Nov 14, 2015 11:26:29 GMT -5
I thought I'd share my latest acquisition. In 1976 Agfa introduced it's compact point and shoot (well zone focus, point and shoot) Optima Sensor Electronic series of cameras, and the "Flash" model was added in 1981. It's an unusual camera in many respects. * The shutter release is a two stage electromagnetic type, where a half press activates the meter. It's very smooth in use, and was designed to eliminate camera shake. * The shutter itself is a Paratronic, which comprises two blades. The first blade is released when you press the shutter release, and the second is held back by an electromagnet for a period of time determined by the amount of light collected by the CdS cell, which in turn is converted to an exposure time by the camera's auto exposure circuitry. * Shutter speeds are infinitely variable between 1/45th and 1/1000th of a second. * The lens is a four element Tessar type f/2.8 "Solitar", which I guess stops down to f/22 (because all the other models in this series do). It has a feet/metres focusing scale, but is click-stopped for zone focusing. * Exposure is fully automatic (nothing to set except the film speed), with an over/under exposure viewfinder warning light. * The fold-out flash is equally fully automatic; it charges when opened, and the camera selects an aperture according to the focus setting. * The film loading mechanism comprises a closed receptacle with a slit, through which the film leader is inserted and gripped by a sprocket wheel (no slots in spools or their variations), such that exposed film disappears behind a door and is (apparently) protected against accidental opening of the back cover. * The film transport mechanism is also unusual, inasmuch that a small lever marked R reverses the transport gearing so that the film advance lever rewinds the film. * Finally, it has a very large viewfinder, but the camera itself is tiny. I like the weird and wonderful, and this camera is a bit of both. It may not be a candidate for a main camera, but it sure invites you to pop it in a pocket as a travelling companion. If anyone has any information about this camera that I've failed to uncover, please let me know. the Agfa Optima Sensor Electronic Flash
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Post by johnbear on Nov 12, 2015 14:37:05 GMT -5
Thanks for your kind comments guys, and to answer Hansz's question ... yes I do my website old school too. using just a text editor. Anyway, I look forward to picking your brains when my next little known camera finds it's way into my collection.
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Post by johnbear on Nov 10, 2015 18:44:45 GMT -5
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