PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 29, 2008 18:09:44 GMT -5
Wouldn't it be wonderful to sit on one those park seats and listen to a discussion between those five.
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 29, 2008 17:46:27 GMT -5
Thanks, Mickey, but nowadays I'm just a collector and collator of other people's research. When I can remember where it came from I try to give an acknowledgement. Often wish I could get about more to do my own research.
Years ago, in a field far removed from cameras, I did, and to my surprise, those who should have known better gave me two Writer of the Year awards for doing it. But that's ancient history now. They have their entrances and their exits. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi etc.
Wish I'd been more interested in camera history and camera company history on the ocasions when I went to East Germany at other peoples' expense in the 60s and 70s.
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Post by PeterW on Apr 29, 2008 16:53:36 GMT -5
Reijo,
Thanks for the links. I hadn't heard either Tarja Turunen nor Apocalyptica before. I like them.
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Post by PeterW on Apr 29, 2008 10:27:18 GMT -5
Alex,
I agree with Andrew that recovering in a material as near as possible to the original is best. When I restore a camera I like to do it as near as I can get it, without going to ridiculous lengths, looking as it did when it left the factory. Restoring, by definition, means getting something back to its original state or condition.
However, I've got no beef with people who, like our esteemed Fearles Leader, sometimes like to refinish a camera in another colour. Unless it's a priceless very rare camera feel free to refinish it in whatever colour that takes your fancy. Paint it pink and cover it in mauve velvet if you like. It is, after all, your camera.
PeterW
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 29, 2008 9:57:50 GMT -5
Yes, Mickey, it is a Type 014, 1949/1950. It differs from the earlier Retina II Type 011 in having a rewind knob with a collar under it, a tapered polished 'snout' to the shutter and a co-ax flash synch terminal on the shutter. Also, closing the camera locks the shutter release button.
According to Max Dyble of MW Classic Cameras in London, during 1950 the Retina II type 014 reached a serial number of 250,000, and this was hand finished in dark green leather. Possibly two genuine examples of these exist, one of which was kept in the Kodak collection in Stuttgart. There are several 'replica fakes' about.
He also said there were about a thousand variants of the Type 014 which were made at the end of the production run, and were fitted with the earlier flat fronted shutter without flash socket, left over from the discontinued Type 011. These were all exported to the US.
I think I'm right in saying that all Type 014 Retina II cameras had coated lenses. As well as the Schneider Xenon you have, an f/2 Rodenstock Heligon was offered as an alternative.
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Post by PeterW on Apr 29, 2008 7:11:08 GMT -5
I agree with you, Wayne. The picture of Grace with her first fish is great, but her expression and concentration here says it all.
Kids of this age have an insatiable thirst for knowlege; there's so much to learn. Also, when an adult is introduced as a friend, they offer complete and unquestioning trust. I've seen that same look in the eyes of my children and grandchildren at that age. I'm sure you recognise it too or this wouldn't be your favourite picture of her.
This is why I sometimes get mad at adults who deliberately mislead a kiddie 'just for a bit of fun'. What they're trying to show is that their wit is slightly superior to that of a five or six year old.
I'm not talking about things like Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy, but when a kiddie asks a serious question they're entitled to a serious answer in terms they can understand.
Lovely picture of an attitude that, sadly, hardens all too quickly in the big cold commercial world.
PeterW
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 28, 2008 15:01:38 GMT -5
You did an excellent touch-up job on the worn leatherette, Alex.
It seems I may have inadvertently mislead you a little about the date of your Retina. I was going by the information in Brian Coe's book, but something was niggling in the back of my mind, so I checked with Chris Sherlock in New Zealnd, an ex-Kodak techie. He says that production of the Type 010 continued in 1947 and 1948 but with a few minor changes. The later models had a focusing knob with a larger knurled head, which yours has, and the movement of the focusing knob was approximately from 2 o'clock to 5 o'clock with the camera standing on its little prop stand. This change was to make focusing more convenient than when it used to operate from approximately 5 o'clock to 8 o'clock. Also, the later models had a slightly different shutter release link and a plate down by the bottom of the door where the shutter release linkage runs. Yours seems to have this too. So it may date from 1947 or 1948.
According to Chris, serial numbers for the Type 010 were from two batches, 50007 to 99795 and 150257 to 228646. I suspect, but can't say for certain, that the second batch of numbers was for 1947-1948. I also understand that the cameras officially exported to the US had the prefix EK with the serial number (possibly for Eastman Kodak??). You'll find the serial number on the inside of the back door, on the opposite end to the hinge. This may possibly help to date it more accurately.
Sorry if I caused any confusion. I was going by information from Brian Coe, ex-curator of the Kodak museum when it was at the Kodak factory in Harrow. But detailed information about immediate post-war camera production in Germany is, even now, still coming to light. Well, no-one's infallible, and Coe was obviously going on the information available ten years ago when he wrote his book.
It's even harder to pin down exact information about camera production in Eastern Germany in the immediate post-war years!
PeterW
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 28, 2008 6:06:21 GMT -5
Nice camera, Alex. I must say that all the cameras you pick up look to be in excellent condition.
This one's a Retina I Type 010 made only during 1946 and available only to the occupying forces through PX and similar stores, and for export. None for the German home market.
It was almost the same as the 1939 Type 149 except that it had a fully chromium plated top and plated edges round the leatherette. You've got the top model with a Xenar and Compur Rapid. Schneider lists your lens number, 1884280, as one of the numbers allocated between June 1942 (1,800,000) and September 1948 (2,000,000) so with interpolation 1946 looks about right.
There were several other 'unoffical' variations with non-standard combinations of bodies, lenses and shutters, probably made up immediately after the war from a mix of remaining pre-war parts used with bits from early post-war production. These have caused a lot of confusion among Retina collectors because Kodak didn't give them type numbers and doesn't list them.
As far as I can gather Kodak never exported these 'orphans'. The ones that have turned up seem to have been brought home to the US or the UK by returning servicemen.
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Post by PeterW on Apr 28, 2008 5:24:41 GMT -5
Upun my soul! But where no pun is meant there will be no punishment. . PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 27, 2008 16:55:06 GMT -5
Welcome back, Gene.
Take it easy and get fighting fit soon.
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Post by PeterW on Apr 26, 2008 6:43:18 GMT -5
I seem to remember we had this discussion a year or so ago. My musical tatstes are pretty wide too. I like most classical - Bach and Beethoven are still tops for me, jazz from New Orleans to Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.
Not fond of pot-boiling 'dance band' songs from the 'moon and June' era but I like the so-called standards: Kern, Berlin, Gershwin, Rogers and Hart (and Hammerstein) etc, and the big swing bands.
I like guitar music from almost any era from Sor onwards, and I can't agree that the invention of the electric guitar was tragic. It depends on who's playing it and what they're playing. I like listening to people like Clapton in his earlier days with John Mayerl and with Cream, Peter Green, Brian May and so on, and to John Williams either classical or on electric with Sky.
Can't stand rap, nor punk rock, new wave or whatever it's called at the moment, nor teenage boy bands and girl bands backed by endless mind numbing computer generated drums and bass.
I used to play the trumpet until I lost my front teeth, things like Skyliner, Flyin' Home etc (OK that dates me!). Then I took up guitar and now play (not very well) an electric Fender Stratocaster. I'm still trying to learn the guitar solos in Hotel California. I've just about got them, but nowhere near up to speed yet.
Mickey: I'm sure you'll always have a song to sing, oh. But I'm also sure your soul isn't sad and your heart isn't glum.
PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 26, 2008 5:06:09 GMT -5
Thanks, Mickey. My pics weren't very good, I took them in a hurry by room lighting and they're far too contrasty. I'll take a couple of better pics when I've fixed the aperture lever and stiff focus. Yes, it is a handsome little camera with a touch of Art Deco - from Exposition des Arts Decoratif in Paris, late 1920s. All the rage again now with collectors. Teague took to it enthusiastically, whence the Beau Brownie Box which Art Deco collectors have pushed up to silly prices. Indeed, Art Deco collectors are doing us out of quite a few cameras with Art Deco patterns on them . Reijo: I forgot to mention that black and white 127 film is normally available in the UK. It's Efke (Adox), and quite nice film but the firm that imports it from Croatia is out of stock at the moment. They say they expect more in about a month. Dixons still have, or had, some from the same source but they charge £5.00 a roll! . The importers charge £2.49, so I'll wait and order a pack of 10 when they come in. PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 25, 2008 18:36:27 GMT -5
Thanks, Reijo. Yes, the Solinar is normally a Tessar type layout, though some, mainly for cine cameras I believe, were reversed Tessar type with the cemented pair at the front. I think this gave them a shorter back focus. Also, when the name was first used, a few, but not very many I understand, were made in the early 1930s as triplets, but the Tessar layout is the most usual. Interestingly mine is an f/3.9 75mm. this is an aperture I haven't come across before on a Solinar. All my others (I have four) are either f/4.5 or f/3.5. The camera is usually known as the Billy 0 (zero), and after chasing links all round the internet I find that the Solinar fitted to it was always f/3.9. We live and learn! Sorry, I haven't come across any list which dates Agfa serial numbers (camera or lens), nor any way of dating a Prontor shutter. If anyone finds this info anywhere I'd be pleased to hear. With regard to sucking the film forward if a folding camera is opened too quickly, I think that may have been a danger with older large format rollfilm but I haven't come across it with 120 or 127 film. I remember hearing somewhere, but I can't remember where, that when self-erecting folders first appeared one maker incorporated a one-way valve to let air into the bellows chamber when the camera was opened but I can't even remember the name of the maker - I must be getting old . However, you often come across a warning about this in pre-war photo magazines like Amateur Photographer which used to advise winding on after opening the camera. When I first started photography, back in the 1940s, I absorbed this advice and have always followed it so it's now second nature, though it can slow me down a little if I want to take a quick picture. This is why I usually wind on almost fully after taking a picture, until the 'dots' warning of the next number are showing before I fold the camera. Then it's only a short wind to tension the film and bring up the number. If I'm using a folding camera at an event or a show I usually wind on fully and walk around with it unfolded. PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 25, 2008 7:38:31 GMT -5
Hi all, The little 127 Agfa I mentioned in another thread arrived this morning. Very well packed in a strong cardboard box, so no complaints there. Nor any complaints about the camera. It's in beautiful cosmetic condition with just a couple of small chips in the painted edging which I shall attend to. It also came with a very nice leather slip-in case which the seller didn't mention, so that's a bonus. I should have dusted it more carefully before taking the pics! As I suspected, there's nothing wrong with the Compur shutter. It works fine on B & T if you don't try to cock it, as you shouldn't on these settings. Yes, the focusing is stiff, as the seller said. Indeed stiff is a mild understatement, it's bl**dy stiff, but that will free up OK with a clean and lube. The seller also mentioned that the aperture lever is stuck. Yes, it is, between f/8 and f/11 but I haven't investigated that yet. It's fitted with Agfa's Solinar lens, and my experience of this lens has been excellent for an uncoated 1930s lens. I haven't got a 127 film at the moment to try it out, but as soon as I do I'll post some pics. Going by the Compur serail number it was made in 1935, or possibly 1936. Thanks for holding off, Steve. I'm very pleased with both the camera and the price. BTW, that was an mighty fine haul at Walmer. You walked away? I would have needed a shopping trolley to cart that lot back to the car! Let us know what you got. Mickey, I don't seem to have any problems with the new-look Photobucket. Perhaps I'm just lucky, or perhaps the planets are in the right juxtaposition . PeterW
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 24, 2008 19:40:45 GMT -5
Hi Steve, Yes, I agree with pretty well everything you said. I don't get out and about so much looking for cameras these days, but like you I find there are still quite a few about. We're in the same area, but I don't think we really compete. A few years ago I would go for more or less anything with a lens on the front provided it was cheap, but since I started pruning down my collection, with a few exceptions, to European cameras before about 1960 I often pass up a lot of later stuff. I don't find as many cameras locally as I used to, the local charity shops are a dead loss these days. I go to the Ashford boot fair, where we see each other from time to time, but I don't go every week. I find that despite the covered area it's not worth the effort if the weather's inclined to be wet nor it's very cold. There just aren't enough stalls. Maybe when the weather gets better more stuff will come out of the woodwork. I've been to the Kent camera fair only once in quite a time, and was a bit disappointed. Either the stuff was priced too high or it needed too much doing to it. Like you I'm not averse to digging in a camera's innards to try to fix it, but don't have the same inclination these days as I once had to do so just for the sake of it. Probably a sign of getting old , or a case of been there, done that, got the T-shirt. I quite enjoy cosmetic work, repainting or recovering, and I still enjoy digging inside Compur and Prontor shutters despite the number of times I've done it. Just as well, keeping in mind the collecting period I've chosen. When I thinned down my accumulation I put quite a few cameras on ebay and was generally quite pleased with what they fetched. More than I could have got for them if I'd taken a boot fair stall. Buying on ebay? I appreciate that for quite a few of our members there isn't much alternative. Unlike the UK where you're seldom all that far from a boot fair or flea market such places are somewhat thin on the ground in some countries. I buy on ebay from time to time, and have to say that I see very little evidence of sellers trying to hike the price illegally, though it's obvious from the pictures that sometimes their description is a good example of creative writing - or the English tendency towards understatement. I always set a firm limit on my bidding, and nine times out of ten get outbid. That's OK, like buses, there's always another coming along soon. Cameras from my collecting era seem to have climbed in price recently more than later stuff. Possibly a simple case of supply and demand when you get more picky and choosey. At the moment I'm waiting for one to arrive in the post, a little 1930s Agfa 127 folder. The seller seemed to describe it quite honestly, and the pictures were clear. It was offered it spares or repair because the seller said the focusing was stiff, not at all unusual, and the Compur shutter wouldn't cock on B or T. I'm not really surprised about that because earlier Compurs weren't supposed to . We'll see what it's like when it arrives, and I'll post a pic of it. I got it for one bid above the low opening bid so I can't really grumble if it turns out to be a lemon. Buying when you can't handle a camera is always a gamble. Sometimes you're lucky, other times not. Happy hunting to everyone! PeterW
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