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Post by raybar on Feb 19, 2024 10:50:38 GMT -5
This may require more work than you would think worthwhile . . .
Search online for old issues of photography magazines which had a lot of mail order advertising, such as "Modern Photography" and "Popular Photography." Then look through the ads to see what was available from the major dealers. You should be able to generate a reasonable estimate of what lenses were offered by looking at couple issues per year during the time your camera was being made.
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Post by raybar on Aug 17, 2023 14:09:55 GMT -5
Google "Elvis Prresley + camera" and click the "images" button to see lots of such pictures.
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Post by raybar on Feb 21, 2023 16:11:11 GMT -5
This camera does not appear in any of my books, nor anywhere I looked online. A little obscure perhaps.
I doubt that it takes 8mm film, as it appears to be the size and shape of 35mm camera, which would be extremely large for the 4.8 x 3.5 mm frame size of 8mm movie film. Any sign that it has been modified to use 8mm?
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Post by raybar on Nov 18, 2022 11:50:36 GMT -5
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Post by raybar on Oct 9, 2022 12:20:31 GMT -5
At the last wedding reception I attended, only two people (myself and the bride who is a photographer) had actual cameras. Everyone else took pictures with their phones. No SLRs, no point & shoots, no polaroids (except my little Fuji Instax Mini which I let the children use), no nothing. Just phones.
In fact, aside from serious photographers, I do not know anyone who still uses a camera. And almost no one even prints their pictures. They just look at them on their phones, or email them to other people who then just look at them on their phones or computers.
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Post by raybar on Sept 27, 2022 10:05:38 GMT -5
I have my collection listed in three spreadsheets - one for cameras, one for lenses, and one for everything else.
I took the time to create these listings because, like you, I sometimes couldn't remember exactly what I already owned. Several times I bought something I already had, or didn't buy something I thought I had, but didn't. I have these listings on my phone, so they're with me whenever I'm shopping.
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Post by raybar on Jul 21, 2022 9:29:57 GMT -5
The F250 holds enough film for 250 exposures - - about 33 feet = 10 meters of film.
We had one of these on display at the camera store where I worked in the 1970s. Lots of people asked to see it, but I do not remember ever selling one.
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Post by raybar on Jun 27, 2022 14:50:40 GMT -5
I was first advised to use the right tool for the job when I was about 8 years old and my father saw me using a screwdriver as a chisel. Good advise, but sometimes the "right tool" is unavailable and you have to use whatever is at hand, or stop what you're doing and go buy what you need.
But what do you do when you need a "special tool," specifically designed for one and only one job, and long ago discontinued by the manufacturer?
Other old "sayings" I heard as a child were "let the tool do the work" (when I was putting far too much effort into using a saw), and "it's a poor workman who blames his tools" (when I was making excuses for doing a lousy job).
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Post by raybar on Jun 3, 2022 13:49:52 GMT -5
Since there are no other obvious options (based on photos of this camera), I suspect that you should pull the wind on knob upwards. I have many cameras that open this way, but usually on the rewind knob, not the advance knob.
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Post by raybar on May 2, 2022 7:45:56 GMT -5
Years ago, when I still worked at a camera store, I found a similar lens in a box of junk - - no markings, no diaphragm, unknown f/ stop, unknown focal length, no idea what camera or device it came from. May have been a projector lens.
I mounted it (that is, I taped it to an old lens board) on an equally old 4x5 Speed Graphic, and used the focal plane shutter and a Polaroid back. A few test shots provided an approximate /f number, after which I switched to a roll film back, 120 film being much cheaper per shot than 4x5 Polaroid.
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Post by raybar on Apr 23, 2022 9:39:42 GMT -5
I haven't done pinhole photography for many years, but I had good results drilling very small holes in very thin metal. The smallest drill that is readily available is #80, which has a diameter of 0.3429mm. Smaller sizes exist as well, down to #107 at 0.0483mm. You will need a drill press and a very light touch to use such tiny drills. Here's a list: www.custompartnet.com/drill-size-chart
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Post by raybar on Dec 23, 2021 12:30:35 GMT -5
The word "panalux" does not appear in any of my reference books.
The closest company names are Panon, Panox, and Panorax.
Panon made swing-lens panoramic cameras, the Panon Wide Angle Camera (c1952) using 120 film, and Widelux (from c1959) cameras using 35mm film. One of these is probably what you are looking for.
Panox also made swing lens cameras, the Panophic (c1963) and the Panoix Wide Angle Camera (c1958), both of which used 120 film.
Panorax made the Panorax 35-ZI using 35mm film.
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Post by raybar on May 20, 2021 11:22:39 GMT -5
Based on the box camera style and "Use Kodak 116 Film," I believe your camera is a No. 2A Brownie.
There are four listing for this camera in the "Kodak Customer Service Pamphlet AA-13: History of Kodak Cameras," as follows: No. 2A Beau BROWNIE Camera (5 colors) 1930 - 1933 116 5.25 No. 2A BROWNIE Camera 1907 - 1924 116 3.00 No. 2A BROWNIE Camera (Aluminum, Model C) 1924 - 1933 116 3.75 No. 2A BROWNIE Camera (5 colors) 1929 - 1933 116 4.00
McKeown's (12th edition, 2005) says only: "No. 2A Brownie Camera - 1907-33. Box camera for 2 1/2x4 1/4 on 116 film. Early models have cardboard bodies. Later ones have aluminum bodies, some colored, made in USA or UK. Black: $1-10. Colored models: $30-50"
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Post by raybar on Mar 6, 2021 18:21:30 GMT -5
I just ordered the Canon Compendium. How have I lived so long without it?
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Post by raybar on Jul 23, 2020 14:57:35 GMT -5
Yes, many customers seemed to know almost nothing photography. There are still some I remember now, 40 years after I left the store to begin my real career in Hollywood with movie cameras.
One was an older gentleman who used a Nikkormat EL. Even even after repeated demonstrations he couldn't remember how to change the battery (lock mirror up, open battery chamber at bottom of mirror box), or even what battery it used. He came running up to me in a panic (he was late for something) as I got out of my car one morning with his camera and an AA battery, asking if I could install it for him. Again. But he needed a PX28 or 4SR44, neither of which I had in my pocket at the moment. The expression RYFM comes to mind - - Read Your F***ing Manual - - but we never said that aloud when customers were present.
Another was a teenage girl, accompanied by her father. She was looking for her first "good camera" but had no idea what she wanted. The range of choices must have been intimidating - everything 110 to 8x10 was in plain view. I think she bought a Canonet after eliminating both the high and low ends of the market. Wanted something better than a "point and shoot," but not ready for an SLR.
Then there was the guy who did want his first SLR, but was so afraid of buying the wrong thing that he had to smoke cigarette after cigarette to calm his nerves while he was talking to me. I assured him that we didn't carry any junk, so he really couldn't make a bad mistake. He bought a mid-range Pentax or Minolta or something after I said didn't he need a top Canon or Nikon model, but he might not want the cheapest thing in the store either.
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The Canon Epoca was sold in North America as the Photura, as if someone thought it was the future of camera design. It wasn't - - too different from everything else on the market to sell very well, and too close to the digital takeover of the whole industry to last long.
The viewfinder on top is called a "low level" finder in the instruction booklet, and could be useful if the camera is on the ground. I prefer not lying in the dirt if I can avoid it. Aside from that, I agree that it's useless. If such a feature was worthwhile, lots of cameras would have it. Still, I suppose it was something that somebody was bound to try, even if just to see whether or not it was good idea.
One feature that's really bad is the placement of the battery and film chambers. How many rolls of exposed film were ruined when someone opened the camera to change batteries mid-roll, having forgotten to open only the little battery cover rather than the main door?
And, regarding the battery chamber. I have two Photuras - one cost nothing and the other was free. Neither seats the battery properly. The electrical contacts on the battery do not stay in contact with those in the camera unless I continually press the battery into the chamber. I wonder if this was a common problem or if I was just lucky.
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