Today's car boot sale camera haul

[stowpirate]

That Petri is interesting. If it works properly you have a bit of a gem there.

Just put a test film through the new XA and came out OK. The camera that really interest me is the Beauty rangefinder. it has a 45mm f1.9 lens and a Copal-SV shutter. It feels as well made as a Leica M series camera but what a stupid name! The rangefinder and built in light meter mechanism is the best I have ever seen in a rangefinder camera. It has a meter in view finder and also camera top plate. You set the shutter speed then then you have free moving lever on the lens barrel for setting the aperture and exposure reading. I think they were the forerunners of the Petri 7s rangefinder dating from late 1950's.

http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?Petri7s.html~mainFrame

The Petri 35E is in a bit of a state and needs a test film but then thats the fun of using a £2 car boot sale camera

 

[cybertect]

I picked up a Canonet 19 for £4 at a car boot today.

I do have a bit of a weakness for 60s rangefinders.

 

[stowpirate]

I picked up a Canonet 19 for £4 at a car boot today.

No XAs to be seen at all

Nice find, but £4 did you haggle

http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?CanonCanonet19.html~mainFrame

 

[cybertect]

Oh aye. I knocked it down from a fiver, offered three quid and we agreed on four.

Came with a nice Canon case too.

 

[stowpirate]

Oh aye. I knocked it down from a fiver, offered three quid and we agreed on four.

Came with a nice Canon case too.

Have you seen any cheap 35mm film at car boot sales?

 

[cybertect]

Not that I recall

 

[ChrisFilter]

I accidentally bought a couple of cameras on eBay. Oops! Ah well, his and hers.

I'm quite looking forward to using films again. Having to make every shot count, etc.

 

[stowpirate]

I accidentally bought a couple of cameras on eBay. Oops! Ah well, his and hers.

I'm quite looking forward to using films again. Having to make every shot count, etc.

What camera's did you buy? Something very old with full manual control maybe

Just got the test film from my 46 year old Beauty camera developed - taken at 60th f4 - Cheers

 

[cybertect]

got the test film from my 46 year old Beauty camera developed - taken at 60th f4 - Cheers

[tries hard to think of a pun involving 'stowpirate', 'pulling' and 'barmaid' but fails]

 

[ChrisFilter]

What camera's did you buy? Something very old with full manual control maybe

1 x Practika BMS with original lens
1 x Minolta Dynax 404i (or something like that)

One quite old, one quite new!

 

[stowpirate]

1 x Practika BMS with original lens
1 x Minolta Dynax 404i (or something like that)

One quite old, one quite new!

Some of the Praktica lenses are real gems. Look out for the 50mm f1.4 which is very similar if not identical to the legendary Zeiss Ikon Planar. You should if lucky enough be able to get one for a £1 or less at a car boot or charity shop.

 

[cybertect]

My first 'proper' camera was a Praktica Nova SLR with a 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Built like a tank. The Canon AV-1 that replaced it felt rather lightweight in comparison.

 

[stowpirate]

My first 'proper' camera was a Praktica Nova SLR with a 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Built like a tank. The Canon AV-1 that replaced it felt rather lightweight in comparison.

I got one of those Nova's somewhere amongst my junk - it was a great camera body. I am not keen on the f1.8 lens I think it performs best at f5.6 or thereabouts. For the bayonet mount B series Prakticas there are some good Sigma lenses available albeit in zooms. There is even a screw to bayonet adaptor. Is that Canon AV-1 an AP camera?

 

[cybertect]

Aperture Priority, yes. It was my main camera for 20+ years. I didn't do autofocus until I bought a Canon 300D in 2004.

 

[sim667]

I would also have thought that. Just had a look on ebay and nobody appears to be bidding on them, so maybe now just landfill fodder

I know some people will dispute this but I have feeling that film cameras of all types are now pretty much worthless. The perceived value is just being exaggerated by those of us still holding onto the past by buying and selling on ebay.

they'll drop in value and then go up as there are less and less around i reckons

 

[stowpirate]

Found another interesting camera today at a local car boot sale. A mid 1960's Pentina M SLR with a CZ Tessar lens going for £7. It is a weird beast, possibly slightly art deco in look, feel and design. It has a leaf shutter with a none return mirror. The meter appears to be dead, everything else appears to be working and as it is a manual camera I will be using in the next few days.

http://www.praktica-collector.de/115_Pentina_M.htm

 

[ChrisFilter]

Can you recommend a book to get me started on all this stuff? I wouldn't know what metering was if it bit me in the bum.

 

[stowpirate]

Can you recommend a book to get me started on all this stuff? I wouldn't know what metering was if it bit me in the bum.

Its best to go look on wikipedia and also look for online manual for the particular camera you want to use.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera

As for basic metering

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metering_mode

Do a google search for what you are interested in followed by wiki.

I can give a long list of books on Camera collecting but it depends on what you are interested in. As a general camera collection guide the "The Hove International Blue Book" is ideal as a quick guide, albeit take its values with a pinch of salt - knock a zero off. There is also two very small bocks by Robert White "Discovering Old Cameras" & "Discovering Cameras 1945-1965". Possibly the best collector book is "Cameras From Daguerretotypes to Instan Pictures" by Brain Coe. There are loads of more specialist collectors books, my favorit being the Hove books - "The Authentic Guide To Russian and Soviet Cameras" by Jean Loup Princelle.

Film Pocessing maybe something simple from Kodak workshop series - Black & White Darkroom Techniques. There are loads of similar books available most with far too much information!

 

[cybertect]

Not a camera, but I did pick up a very nice Weston V light meter with a dome for a tenner this morning at Wimbledon Stadium's car boot.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Not a camera, but I did pick up a very nice Weston V light meter with a dome for a tenner this morning at Wimbledon Stadium's car boot.

Not a "dome", an "invercone"!

Nice one, btw!

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Cybertect

If you want a manual for that Weston Master V here is a link to a PDF.:

http://66.49.230.119/flashes_meters/weston_master_v.pdf

I think the Weston instruction manual is the best way to understand film photography. It covers all circumstances of lighting and explains about the exposure latitude of film. It is better than most photography books I have come across.

 

[cybertect]

Thanks for that - I was just googling for a manual and looked in on the thread

I already have a Weston Master IV and it's pretty similar in operation, but I was wondering what the button on the side did - now I know.

e2a: I also bought an Invercone for the IV for five quid on a different stall before I spotted the V in with a non-functioning Petri SLR.

 

[stowpirate]

Not a camera, but I did pick up a very nice Weston V light meter with a dome for a tenner this morning at Wimbledon Stadium's car boot.

These London car boot sale prices are a bit on the high side - great find

 

[stowpirate]

Kodak Retinette model type 022 dating from the late 1950's. Cost me £8 in a junk shop.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Stowpirte

Do you have any Ilford Sportsman cameras in your collection. They were conisdered the bees knees when I was a tadpole.

 

[stowpirate]

Stowpirte

Do you have any Ilford Sportsman cameras in your collection. They were conisdered the bees knees when I was a tadpole.

I used to but sold them at a car boot sale. They were not really that good a camera compared to say the similar Kodak Retinette's & Retinas. They were also German made Dacoras. The most interesting version was the sportsmaster being just like a modern digital, dial in the required setting!!!

http://www.photomemorabilia.co.uk/Ilford/Sportsmaster.html

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Thanks for that stowpirate - sorry about the many typos which I only noticed in your quote from me.

I have since done some brief research into the Ilford Sportsman and it turns out that they were not at all special and seem to have been aimed at the lower end of the market, so not collectable at all.

Being 35mm format I guess they appealed to those who wanted to do colour slide photography which was popular in the late 50s and 60s and who would have to consider the cost of the projector as well. This bit is my idea so there is no source to support it.

 

[stowpirate]

Thanks for that stowpirate - sorry about the many typos which I only noticed in your quote from me.

I have since done some brief research into the Ilford Sportsman and it turns out that they were not at all special and seem to have been aimed at the lower end of the market, so not collectable at all.

Being 35mm format I guess they appealed to those who wanted to do colour slide photography which was popular in the late 50s and 60s and who would have to consider the cost of the projector as well. This bit is my idea so there is no source to support it.

There was some better specified Ilford 35mm cameras with rangefinders. I think they might also have been branded as Sportsman? I have seen one recently at a car boot going for a few quid.

Kodak did a simple colour 35mm camera the Kodak Coloursnap 35

These turn up at car boot sales all the time at 50p each! They are junk compared to the Retinettes & Retinas or similar, albeit you can still get good photos with them. I think they were marketed as a simple camera for Auntie to use

 

[stowpirate]

Today's haul was ten Kodak Max 400 35mm film at 25p each. It all expired 09/2006 so should be OK. Apparently I can get 2k of these films at 25p each, they come as a part of a camera kit, which consists of two films in the box with a horrible cheap plastic camera which I did not want. The seller now has five on sale for 20p each which I doubt he will be able to even give away.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

I guess you mean TMax film. Did you really mean two thousand films at 25p? Tmax is good film.

Be careful when fixing it to give it about twice as much time as ordinary film or the result is a pink stained negative. It contains a pink anti-halation dye that needs to be thoroughly removed and the fixer achieves this - along with the washing of course.

I won't suggest that you buy the special Tmax developer because I know you won't. It is very strange stuff and comes as a liquid, but it is a very thick liquid.