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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jul 14, 2011 6:17:46 GMT -5
Rachel, a little digging on the tail markings confirms that the tail isn't RAF, but the Tricolor. The plane is destined probably for Casablanca and the Free French Airforce. from that and the camo colouring, it may well be a P40F 'Desert Hawk' with a Packard-built Merlin under the hood, but without seeing the nose, I can't tell.
The two visible tails/rudders are also different from the more usual P40 'rounded' design. Someone more expert than I might be able to tell more. There are several differences in at least two of the planes, so at least two different Mks are represented in the photo.
Michael.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jul 14, 2011 1:56:17 GMT -5
Thanks Bob, I was aware of the LoC's wonderful collection on Flickr. As a working historian, I still haven't got over the fact that I can eyeball documents from the comfort of my home thanks to the generosity of such institutions as the LoC. Which raises another point. Thanks to digitization, we all have a chance to see these images almost at their best. Wonderful as National Geo and Life Magazine are/were, their printed colour was never as sparkling as one now experiences with an LCD screen.
Dave, I get your point. McCullin's 'Destruction Game' was one of the first 'grown up books' I purchased. But I still feel an immediacy with these images which surprises me.
What struck me as the real skill in the Kodachrome 4x5s is that despite being orchestrated, the images are remarkably documentary. I've been the victim of the press photographer's 'do something with a screwdriver' when photographed in the workshop, and can spot such tomfoolery a mile off. I'd lay quids on that the girls in the above photos are 'real' workers, hence the naturalness of their poses. Look at the balance of the 'real Rosie', How her index finger (chipped nail polish and all) braces against the aluminium section. Look at the machinist's left hand, casually ready to rotate the spindle as she reads off the dial gauge. The girls new how to do the job, and the photographer had the ability to capture them perfectly. Even in posed photos, the decisive moment is critical, perhaps even more so than in 'real' candids.
The staying power of Kodachrome amazes me also. The archivists' standard!
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jul 13, 2011 6:26:57 GMT -5
I know this topic's been raised before, but I just re-happened upon one of those great 4x5 wartime Kodachromes (it was in a wikipedia entry). that got me searching for a few more... These, for me, are the pinnacle of the photographers' craft. Their fidelity bridges the gap of 70 years as if it were nothing, whereas so many WWII images keep us at distance from the subject - grainy B&W - which somehow makes the experience of war distant and otherworldly. I wish I had the skill and foresight to make such an arresting record. Michael.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jun 28, 2011 15:59:57 GMT -5
Oh, and one more post for Bob. Steam ploughs simply had two sets of ploughs, facing in opposite directions. I've seen others that flip on the longitudinal axis. Thus, only one set of ropes, engine and pulley are needed. Michael.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jun 28, 2011 15:52:37 GMT -5
Peter, sorry before the late reply, I've been finishing writing commitments (my 1st chapter as 'lead author', so quite challenging) and doing some last-minute travelling in New Zealand before heading overseas once more. There is Tucker appreciation site on the web somewhere which has info on the Trans-Antarctic Sno-Cats. It says that Vivian 'Bunny' Fuchs' Cat, which didn't have a door-sign, was lost in a crevasse by the DSIR. A third Cat (Door-sign B?) is in Tucker's own museum. The Canterbury Museum refers to 'Sno-Cat Able' as Fuchs' Sno-Cat. Whether they claim this to be the one that Fuchs drove, or whether they were all Fuchs' Sno-Cats, so to speak, is unclear.
BTW, there is a tenuous camera link here. Sir Vivian Fuchs, though English, was the son of a German migrant - as the family name might suggest. His father came from Jena - home of so much that we like here.
Michael.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jun 20, 2011 14:05:14 GMT -5
two corrections on my earlier post: Traction engines equipped to haul implements with wire ropes were called ploughing engines - there is a great photo set of some, and a whole lot of other goodies in action here: pgdl.co.uk/p2/photos/20070609_wilts_steam/wilts07..htmTucker made Sno-cats, not Snow-cats. Speaking of which, here is Peter's Sno-Cat, call-number C, now flossied up and on display as part of the Ten Climate Stories exhibition opening at the Science Museum, in London: She looks much shinier than the Canterbury Museum's Sno-cat, 'A', which did long service on the ice with New Zealand's DSIR (Dept. for Scientific and Industrial Research) after the Expedition. MT
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jun 20, 2011 4:44:02 GMT -5
Peter, that most certainly is a TE20 'Fergie' lurking at the back. There was a piece this week on our weekly rural TV show 'country calender' about a kiwifruit and apple orchard that runs a whole fleet of Fergies. Cheap, reliable and easily fixed by the orchard's full-time mechanic. Also, their narrowish track and diminutive size makes them ideal for driving under the canopy. But the most famous Fergies were the ones driven by Ed Hillary and Co to the South Pole in '58. Sir Ed was only supposed to be laying supply lines for the 1955-58 Trans-Antarctic expedition Snow-Cats, but got the bit between his teeth and made a run for the pole in his Fergie, beating Fuchs and his Snow-Cats in the process. I grew up visiting the red Fergie at the Canterbury Museum, along with one of Fuch's Snow-Cats. Here's someone else's photo of the Tucker and Fergie in the Museum. Fantastic photos, by the way, Bob. The Canadian looks like a pre-historic rail dragster. The most awesome tractor I ever saw was Big Lizzie, permanently on display in Redcliff, Victoria (Australia). She was built in 1915 and is about the size of one of Peter's English fields. Bob, traction engines (steam tractors) could pull implements, but not in the manner of 'modern' tractors. The engine would sit in the corner of the field, stationary, and pull the plough via a system of ropes and pulleys. I don't know if this was done in Canada - the most common use for an agricultural traction engine was, as you point out, to drive threshing mills, saw benches, etc., and to haul road trains of wagons, replacing bullock trains. MT.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jun 13, 2011 12:41:26 GMT -5
Frumpy? Not at all.
As a kid I rode around in the back seat of my mother's Standard 10. Compared to that, the wee Nash is positively Hollywood.
Far more stylish (and quicker) were Grandpa's Austin Sheerline and Dad's Riley 2.5. But the best treat of all was riding shotgun in my uncle's Jeep CJ3b.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on May 14, 2011 17:47:52 GMT -5
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Post by nikkortorokkor on May 14, 2011 17:27:21 GMT -5
A reviewed feature which intrigued me is the ability to select the 'film' effect which you want to shoot with - provia, velvia, superia, etc. I guess that for the generation raised on digital, this won't mean much, but I suspect that Fuji is aiming this camera at the generation for whom film selection was an important part of the picture making process. For me, it would be a plus. I'm often guilty of adding extra contrast post production in order to replicate the 'punch' of Provia or Ektachrome E100, which is what I loved about shooting E6. Having the camera do this for me would be a 'natural' way of working.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on May 13, 2011 15:04:46 GMT -5
Bob, thanks for the impression. That bites about the inflated price though. I would have thought that the design of the F100 and the way Fuji resisted rushing it to market - so it should be a fully realized product, unlike the 1st Oly Digital Pen - means that it should have a stable price rather than adhering to 3 tier marketing. I guess it is hard to stop some dealers reverting to type when they get wind of a 'see-want-must-have-it' buzz.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on May 12, 2011 14:58:31 GMT -5
When removing the top plate on a 2nd series QL 19 Canonet, I came across the familiar problem of the retaining ring on the advance lever, which has no notches or holes for a spanner. One is meant to unscrew it relying on friction alone. A rubber sheet or special rubber spanner are the usual solutions for increasing friction but I thought of another. I've recently been using light rubber gloves for work, and noted how grippy they are. They have a knitted cotton back and a textured nitrile rubber palm. Showa is the famous brand, but I've no idea who made mine. I bought them from a farm supply store for a few dollars. I've also seen them in the gardening section of supermarkets. I tried using one on the recalcitrant ring and Hey Presto! This gloves grip like a politician to your tax dollar. Here is the Showa "265 Assembly Grip Light", which is more or less identical to those which I use: These gloves really are dexterous and provide lots of grip. I'dll now keep a pair round the work bench for when grip is more important than super-fine dexterity. Michael.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on May 12, 2011 5:59:51 GMT -5
Right,
I've had a chance to open up the Hua Xia 841 & found it all to be quite intriguing.
Overall, definitely a step up from the Phenix 205E, which is the only other Chinese Rangefinder I've owned. It is almost 100% metal and glass, including the film advance and rewind knob (plastic on the 205E). The top and bottom plates are a beefy 1mm thick steel - hence the slightly soft edges on the top plate (hard to stamp sharp corners on such thick sheetmetal). In place of the 205's ill-fitting brown vinyl, the Hua xia si skinned in a hard, thick and seemingly tear-proof black plastic 'leather', reminiscent of early 60s Yashicas (but even tougher). shutter is a a pedestrian 1 to 1/300 plus B, but the f2 40mm lens is top-of-the-line by Chinese rangefinder standards.
The 841 is a simple, solid rangefinder, with a basic, slightly strange non-coupled lightmeter. The meter is activated by a small button on the back of the top plate (beside a battery compartment and below the shutter release). This is ergonomic as it falls beneath the right thumb, and has advantage of not interfering with the shutter in the same way as a 'half depress' system. The lightmeter readout is a simple red + or green for go LED which is displayed against a black tag which protrudes from the top of the brightline viewfinder. The odd thing is, there is no red - , I guess if no lamp shows, you know it is under exposing.
The camera was straightforward to disassemble to the point where I could clean the jammed shutter blades. But compared to a benchmark Japanese rangefinder, such as a second series QL Canonet , the Hua Xia 841 lacks refinement. It is serviceable, and even pleasant, which cannot really be said of the Phenix 205. But sitting it beside the QL Canonet is like sitting a Canonet beside a Leica M6. They are just from different worlds in terms of finish and features.
Two obvious Achilles' heels. 1, the aperture and distance scales are both screen printed, not engraved. 2, the few plastic parts (lens cap and battery compartment/cap) are made from communist plastic. The battery compartment has cracked and been repaired. When I got the camera reassembled the lightmeter was working, then it wasn't. Given the fragility of the plastic components and quirkiness of the meter, I'm not going to dicker around with it.
I'm quite charmed by the Hua Xia 841. On one hand, being made circa 1983, it is at least 2 generations behind Japan, which was by then offering AE, AF 'point and shoot' 35mm. Then again, the lens is reputably sharp and the camera solid enough. Its major weak spot, the plastic battery compartment, is not vital to picture taking.
I'm not in a burning hurry to put a film through the Hua Xia 841, but if a time machine suddenly put me back into 1980s China, the sturdy wee rangefinder would be at the top of my shopping list. Kudos to the engineers who, in an exciting time in China's industrial history, made a sincere effort to produce a good quality camera.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on May 10, 2011 20:09:46 GMT -5
Doug, nice find.
I like the AF2, and am annoyed to have lost the distinctive lens cap off mine (should've used the provided lanyard tag!)
I agree with your grouping - very similar cameras.
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Post by nikkortorokkor on May 4, 2011 6:17:06 GMT -5
Just 'discovered' & bought another Chinese Rangefinder - the Hua Xia or 华夏 (literally, 'China'). I've got a HuaXia 841 coming in the post, complete with gummed-up shutter blades. Maybe the ultimate 'poor man's Leica' as the 40mm/f2 lens is reputably a copy of the CL's Summicron C. The 841 is moderately common, about 30,000 units were made, and 100,000 units of the older, more basic (no meter) Huaxia 821 were built. Photos to come, but in the meantime, here is a link to a collection belonging to a Chinese camera shop. Some notorious plastic fantastics (the infamous Nippon), lots of Minnox copies and some nice cameras too--- www.gold-camera.com/photo/cat.asp?iCat=74&offset=0If you hunt around the site with the aid of Google Translate, you'll find quite a collection of 'foreign' gear too. eye watering stuff. Michael
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