# Today's car boot sale camera haul



## stowpirate (Sep 9, 2009)

It must be the silly season for people off loading camera junk before a visit to the town dump! Anyway today I saw a  working Nikon f60 for £6 and a load of lenses at £3 each. A Canon AE-1 and whole set of canon lenses (28mm, 35mm, 50mm & 135mm) and a spare Canon camera body (AP type) cannot remember the designation all for £70 and demonstrated working - he would probably taken £40 for the lot! There was loads of other SLR's and more mundane compacts and few old digitals all in the £1-10 range. I only had £10 to spend so I bought the following junk.







A £3 fully working Agfa "Isolette I" which will on 6x6cm negatives will give about 50 megapixel output depending on scanner! 






A £2 fully working Olympus XA 35mm rangefinder camera complete with original box and instruction. It even had a working battery in both the camera and flash unit.  I am just about to load some film in this!






This is the coolest one a £1 pinhole 35mm camera kit unused in original box!

Ebay, camera shops and fairs just cannot compete with these car boot sales.


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## weltweit (Sep 9, 2009)

stowpirate, I think, you are a nutter! 

Definately obsessional.

Just how many cameras do you now own?


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## 6_6 (Sep 9, 2009)

great finds.
i'm jealous.


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## stowpirate (Sep 9, 2009)

weltweit said:


> stowpirate, I think, you are a nutter!
> 
> Definately obsessional.
> 
> Just how many cameras do you now own?



To be honest I do not know 

It must be approaching 200 but it is mostly junk. I threw a lot away this summer mostly Zenit and Praktica stuff. I tried to sell them at a car boot sale first but nobody was really interested.

With my son being ill and being a carer this interest/hobby has replaced a job


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## weltweit (Sep 9, 2009)

stowpirate said:


> To be honest I do not know
> 
> It must be approaching 200 but it is mostly junk. I threw a lot away this summer mostly Zenit and Praktica stuff. I tried to sell them at a car boot sale first but nobody was really interested.
> 
> With my son being ill and being a carer this interest/hobby has replaced a job



Well you certainly know your stuff when it comes to cameras.

Do you have a favourite from your current collection?


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## stowpirate (Sep 9, 2009)

weltweit said:


> Well you certainly know your stuff when it comes to cameras.
> 
> Do you have a favourite from your current collection?



I do not really have a favourite but the one I use the most is a Zorki C which was given to me by a camera shop albeit without the lens. The lens came from a Zorki 4k that self destructed. Anyway the Zorki C is a worthless camera but very similar to a Leica II.






I should be saying this one but I never use it


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## weltweit (Sep 10, 2009)

They look good, and much more sturdy than my plastic fantastic dslr. 
I drop my camera at my peril, plastic ....


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## editor (Sep 10, 2009)

A boxed XA for £2? Fucking hell!


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## stowpirate (Sep 10, 2009)

i





editor said:


> A boxed XA for £2? Fucking hell!



The seller had no idea what it was, just something from her grandad's. I normally haggle over prices but I knew straight away what it was and asked how much? My jaw dropped when she said £2 and could not get the money out fast enough


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## sim667 (Sep 10, 2009)

if you ever come across a holga 120N you dont want, sell it to me


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## stowpirate (Sep 10, 2009)

sim667 said:


> if you ever come across a holga 120N you dont want, sell it to me



I bought a similar Boxed Diana for 50p and sold it on ebay for approx. 30 quid. If you want a medium format camera with a proper lens, cameras like the Agfa "Isolette I" and even TLR's turn up going for peanuts. The problem is you can visit ten car boot sales and see nothing and on the next day be spoilt for choice.


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## ChrisFilter (Sep 10, 2009)

If you ever wanna sell on one of your finds, I'd be interested


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## stowpirate (Sep 10, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> If you ever wanna sell on one of your finds, I'd be interested



What sort of cameras are you into? I am not selling anything at the moment but at some point I will be forced to downsize the collection. 






This is typical sort of stuff I come across. Early 1960's Yashica Minister Rangefinder Camera cost £10. The Dynamic Zoom camera cost my son 20p and produced stunning images for what is a peice of junk!


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## ChrisFilter (Sep 10, 2009)

Just a nice, basic SLR really. Would be for my wife. If you ever see a bargain that you don't need, I'll gladly pay a fair mark up


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## stowpirate (Sep 10, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> Just a nice, basic SLR really. Would be for my wife. If you ever see a bargain that you don't need, I'll gladly pay a fair mark up



What type of slr are we talking about here? 

The most common ones I come across being Zenit & Praktica SLR's both bayonet and 42mm screw mount versions.  Japanese and West German stuff turns up less frequently.


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## ChrisFilter (Sep 10, 2009)

stowpirate said:


> What type of slr are we talking about here?
> 
> The most common ones I come across being Zenit & Praktica SLR's both bayonet and 42mm screw mount versions.  Japanese and West German stuff turns up less frequently.



Honestly, I have no idea. Something basic but trusty that will take ok pics on 35mm film. I have very little camera knowledge beyond knowing what SLR stands for!


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## stowpirate (Sep 10, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> Honestly, I have no idea. Something basic but trusty that will take ok pics on 35mm film. I have very little camera knowledge beyond knowing what SLR stands for!



These are the cameras I  see going for peanuts.

http://www.praktica-users.com/cams/bfirst.html
http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Zenit_E


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## weltweit (Sep 10, 2009)

stowpirate, do you ever see Nikon F80s on your travels?


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## Paul Russell (Sep 10, 2009)

I was about to type

"stop buying all this mouldy old shite and buy yourself a nice new digital"

but the XA is a bit of a good find.


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## stowpirate (Sep 11, 2009)

Paul Russell said:


> I was about to type
> 
> "stop buying all this mouldy old shite and buy yourself a nice new digital"
> 
> but the XA is a bit of a good find.



There is nothing like using "mouldy old shite" and getting it  to work - I prefer the term "Craptastic". I find the worse the state of the camera the more interesting the challenge.  But most of the cameras I buy at car boot sales are in good or like new condition and they never really get used. At £2.97 to have a film developed and scanned onto CD it is not expensive if you only shoot a few films a week. I have a digital and find it uninteresting to use.


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## Paul Russell (Sep 11, 2009)

stowpirate said:


> There is nothing like using "mouldy old shite" and getting it  to work - I prefer the term "Craptastic". I find the worse the state of the camera the more interesting the challenge.  But most of the cameras I buy at car boot sales are in good or like new condition and they never really get used. At £2.97 to have a film developed and scanned onto CD it is not expensive if you only shoot a few films a week. I have a digital and find it uninteresting to use.



I was joking BTW (except about the XA) -- sorry I probably should have used an emoticon thingy


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## stowpirate (Sep 11, 2009)

Paul Russell said:


> I was joking BTW (except about the XA) -- sorry I probably should have used an emoticon thingy



Yesterday I put two films through the XA. I will be developing the b&w one this morning in kitchen sink and get the colour one developed at asda  I want to try out the pinhole camera but do not really want to a lug a tripod about and wait 30 minutes for an exposure


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## sim667 (Sep 11, 2009)

Do you ever come across higher range kit? Leica's etc?

Im always after stuff for my leica collection (if i can afford it).


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## stowpirate (Sep 11, 2009)

sim667 said:


> Do you ever come across higher range kit? Leica's etc?
> 
> Im always after stuff for my leica collection (if i can afford it).



You should not ask 

You will be lucky to find a Leica as it quite rare camera even in its more common types. I have over the years acquired a few Leitz items at car boots and a couple of free Leica cameras, albeit not just from car boot sales. The one thing I have seen a lot of is Leitz slide projectors going for £5 or less! I think the last one I asked the seller about was willing to let it go for 50p






Typically this is the sort of thing you might come across amongst the usual car boot junk.  This cost me 50p


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## sim667 (Sep 11, 2009)

leitz projectors might well be worth something, new ones are hugely expensive


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## stowpirate (Sep 11, 2009)

sim667 said:


> leitz projectors might well be worth something, new ones are hugely expensive



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.


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## ChrisFilter (Sep 11, 2009)

stowpirate said:


> At £2.97 to have a film developed and scanned onto CD



Do you get prints and a CD for that price? Where do you get them developed?

Think I'm about to win a fully working, good condition Canon EOS 100 with lens for about £20 delivered on eBay for my wife to play with it, so cheap developing would be good!


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## stowpirate (Sep 11, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> Do you get prints and a CD for that price? Where do you get them developed?
> 
> Think I'm about to win a fully working, good condition Canon EOS 100 with lens for about £20 delivered on eBay for my wife to play with it, so cheap developing would be good!



Just developing and scan at Asda.  You can have up to four films on a cd which works out even cheaper as you pay 99p for the cd. If you are lucky and are known by the lab they may even sneak on another film. Unfortunately the scans are 1840x1232 or thereabouts so ideal for 6x4 prints. You will be on the absolute limits if you print at A4 but ideal at  normal print sizes - that 300dpi printing rule is only a rough guide


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## stowpirate (Sep 13, 2009)

It happened again. I just bought another working XA for £2 and a like new boxed XA3 & A16 flash for £3.50. A stop watch for developing for 50p. A quite rare working Beauty Lightomatic III rangefinder camera for £4. A rough looking Petri 35E for £2 not sure if this one works. An action tracker for £2.50. Two 35mm colour films for 20p.

There was load of other cameras I could have had, including a unused looking Praktica BX20 SLR plus a fell set of lenses and camera bag for £15. A few Canon SLR's which I did not enquire about price and a very rough but working Zeiss Ikon Contessa and filters, camera bag exposure meter for £8. It is the silly season again at car boot sales. Last autumn i believe was the same  albeit more 35mm film available.


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## Hocus Eye. (Sep 13, 2009)

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


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## stowpirate (Sep 13, 2009)

Hocus Eye. said:


> 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


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## cybertect (Sep 13, 2009)

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

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


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## stowpirate (Sep 13, 2009)

cybertect said:


> 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


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## cybertect (Sep 13, 2009)

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

Came with a nice Canon case too.


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## stowpirate (Sep 14, 2009)

cybertect said:


> 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?


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## cybertect (Sep 14, 2009)

Not that I recall


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## ChrisFilter (Sep 14, 2009)

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.


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## stowpirate (Sep 14, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> 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


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## cybertect (Sep 14, 2009)

stowpirate said:


> 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]


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## ChrisFilter (Sep 14, 2009)

stowpirate said:


> 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!


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## stowpirate (Sep 14, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> 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.


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## cybertect (Sep 14, 2009)

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.


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## stowpirate (Sep 14, 2009)

cybertect said:


> 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?


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## cybertect (Sep 14, 2009)

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


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## sim667 (Sep 14, 2009)

stowpirate said:


> 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


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## stowpirate (Sep 16, 2009)

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


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## ChrisFilter (Sep 16, 2009)

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.


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## stowpirate (Sep 16, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> 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!


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## cybertect (Oct 3, 2009)

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.


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## ViolentPanda (Oct 3, 2009)

cybertect said:


> 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!


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## Hocus Eye. (Oct 3, 2009)

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.


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## cybertect (Oct 3, 2009)

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.


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## stowpirate (Oct 3, 2009)

cybertect said:


> 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


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## stowpirate (Oct 8, 2009)

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


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## Hocus Eye. (Oct 9, 2009)

Stowpirte

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


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## stowpirate (Oct 9, 2009)

Hocus Eye. said:


> 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


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## Hocus Eye. (Oct 9, 2009)

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.


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## stowpirate (Oct 9, 2009)

Hocus Eye. said:


> 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


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## stowpirate (Oct 10, 2009)

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.


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## Hocus Eye. (Oct 10, 2009)

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.


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## stowpirate (Oct 10, 2009)

Hocus Eye. said:


> 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.



It was colour 35mm Kodak Max Versatility 400 film 24 exposure which worked out at 20p each I cannot do simple calculations in my head any more 

Yes 2000 films at 20p each but I am sure I can get a bulk discount on that as well. I am going to make some further enquires next week and maybe sell a load on ebay 

This is the stuff:

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/products/techInfo/e2330/e2330.shtml

Last week I got an in date Ilford FP4 125 35mm. Eight 35mm Agfa Vista 200 24 exposures which expired 12/2004. Two Fotostop VXS 200  35mm films including a 12 exposure expired 2005! Five 35mm Kodak Colourplus 200 36 exposure which expire 11/2011. This worked out at 33p a film.  I was ripped-off 

I have got loads of Tmax developer I bought at a car boot sale


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## cybertect (Oct 10, 2009)

OK, probably not stowpirate bargain levels, but today I bought a Fed 5B for £15 from a Russian chap who told me it had been an 18th birthday present from his father. He seemed genuinely reluctant to sell it, but his wife was insistent that everything on the stall should go before they returned to Russia.

Of course it could have been a good double act  Either way, I've been toying with the idea of a Russian rangefinder for some time now and the opportunity presented itself.

Focus mechanism looks like it needs adjustment, but apart from that it seems in very tidy condition.

In amongst a slew of Zenit Es on a different stall I found a Yashica J-3 SLR with a 50mm f/2 lens for £12.Non-TTL, uncoupled metering. A lovely bright finder and a reassuring sense of solidity convinced me to buy it.

I was tempted by a Retinette 1B for £3, but decided that two camera purchases was enough to be admitting to mrs c.


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## stowpirate (Oct 10, 2009)

cybertect said:


> OK, probably not stowpirate bargain levels, but today I bought a Fed 5B for £15 from a Russian chap who told me it had been an 18th birthday present from his father. He seemed genuinely reluctant to sell it, but his wife was insistent that everything on the stall should go before they returned to Russia.
> 
> Of course it could have been a good double act  Either way, I've been toying with the idea of a Russian rangefinder for some time now and the opportunity presented itself.
> 
> ...



I got one of those Fed 5B's great camera if a tad on the ugly side. It is basically built around the Leica II shutter with a few Soviet detail design changes including a very odd none linear shutter curtain travel. Here is some info you might find interesting. 

http://sovietcamera.110mb.com/fed4/

Yashica J-3 SLR for £12 is really cheap even by my standards. I want one 

Retinette 1B for £3 is a good deal but not really the best Retinette. The earlier ones I think had more style and like you I would not have bought it.


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## ViolentPanda (Oct 10, 2009)

cybertect said:


> OK, probably not stowpirate bargain levels, but today I bought a Fed 5B for £15 from a Russian chap who told me it had been an 18th birthday present from his father. He seemed genuinely reluctant to sell it, but his wife was insistent that everything on the stall should go before they returned to Russia.
> 
> Of course it could have been a good double act  Either way, I've been toying with the idea of a Russian rangefinder for some time now and the opportunity presented itself.
> 
> Focus mechanism looks like it needs adjustment, but apart from that it seems in very tidy condition.


Rangefinder out of horizontal and/or vertical plane? If so, they're fairly easy to adjust.


> In amongst a slew of Zenit Es on a different stall I found a Yashica J-3 SLR with a 50mm f/2 lens for £12.Non-TTL, uncoupled metering. A lovely bright finder and a reassuring sense of solidity convinced me to buy it.
> 
> I was tempted by a Retinette 1B for £3, but decided that two camera purchases was enough to be admitting to mrs c.


 
Chicken!!


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## cybertect (Oct 10, 2009)

ViolentPanda said:


> Rangefinder out of horizontal and/or vertical plane? If so, they're fairly easy to adjust.



Vertically, it's perfect. Horizontally it's way off. When I'm focused on an object about 20m away, the lens scale is reading about 4m and the finder doesn't seem to register lower than 1.4m on the lens, though the scale goes to 1m.

I found a couple of links on how to do it (one of them from stowpirate's site*) and it looks fairly straightforward.

e2a: * actually, the same one he posted up the thread 

... and it also occurred to me that having an M42 body around might provide a convenient excuse to try out some M42 lenses on my Canon 5D.


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## stowpirate (Oct 10, 2009)

This Retina 1a I bought a few weeks ago for £30 at a car boot sale. I know complete insanity


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## stowpirate (Oct 10, 2009)

cybertect said:


> Vertically, it's perfect. Horizontally it's way off. When I'm focused on an object about 20m away, the lens scale is reading about 4m and the finder doesn't seem to register lower than 1.4m on the lens, though the scale goes to 1m.
> 
> I found a couple of links on how to do it (one of them from stowpirate's site*) and it looks fairly straightforward.
> 
> ...



I do not know why camera designers make rangefinders so difficult to adjust. I have only ever seen one that was really easy but it was external screw with a movable lever on the edge of the rangefinder. Unfortunately it looked like a dogs dinner so that might explain the hidden screws and plastic cover over hidden holes


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## cybertect (Oct 10, 2009)

cybertect said:


> ... and it also occurred to me that having an M42 body around might provide a convenient excuse to try out some M42 lenses on my Canon 5D.



Well, it seems I can remove the Yashinon 50mm f/2 I now have from that experiment. 

http://www.panoramaplanet.de/comp/#Yashinon

Mirror strike with the 5D


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## stowpirate (Oct 10, 2009)

cybertect said:


> Well, it seems I can remove the Yashinon 50mm f/2 I now have from that experiment.
> 
> http://www.panoramaplanet.de/comp/#Yashinon
> 
> Mirror strike with the 5D



Those yashinon lenses will not mount properly on a few m42 camera bodies without mirror interference problems. I cannot remember which camera I attempted it on, but was probably a Zenit, Pentax or Praktica luckily no damage was done.


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## ViolentPanda (Oct 11, 2009)

cybertect said:


> Vertically, it's perfect. Horizontally it's way off. When I'm focused on an object about 20m away, the lens scale is reading about 4m and the finder doesn't seem to register lower than 1.4m on the lens, though the scale goes to 1m.
> 
> I found a couple of links on how to do it (one of them from stowpirate's site*) and it looks fairly straightforward.
> 
> e2a: * actually, the same one he posted up the thread


It's a very good site. 


> ... and it also occurred to me that having an M42 body around might provide a convenient excuse to try out some M42 lenses on my Canon 5D.


My gearhead mate used the same excuse with his wife to justify buying a Pentax Spotmatic F.  Of course, he was a bit narked when I asked him why he was using 40-yr old glass on his super-duper digi-wonderthang. After all, wasn't the proprietary glass good enough?


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## cybertect (Oct 17, 2009)

ViolentPanda said:


> Rangefinder out of horizontal and/or vertical plane? If so, they're fairly easy to adjust.



And so it proved. The biggest hurdle was figuring how to get the name plate off to access the screws and where exactly the spring clip goes when you put it back on. 

I'll admit first impressions of handling having put 36 exposures through it aren't hugely encouraging (though I haven't got the results processed yet).  'agricultural' is a word that springs to mind - trying to figure out exactly which speed you have selected on the dial being one of the issues, as the pointer isn't exactly accurate. I spent a lot of time trying to work out whether the click stop was closer to the 1/250 or 1/500 mark.

The thing that may be a killer for me is the eyepiece - the knurled metal ring round the outside has caused a couple of (admittedly small) scratches to appear on my glasses. Not something that I want to happen with any regularity. Diopter adjustment can just about bring it into range if I take them off, but with a fully manual camera it's yet another thing to have to do before I can take a shot - either that or wander round with the world as a fuzzy blur except when I'm looking through the viewfinder.

I suppose contact lenses might sort this out, but I've never really got on with them; I get the impression that most FSU rangefinders (Fed, Zorki, Kiev) all use similar eyepieces which has got me looking at Bessa Rs again - might be cheaper in the long run 

The Yashica SLR is a real joy to use, however. Reminds me that I should take my 124G TLR out for a spin again soon.


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## big eejit (Oct 17, 2009)

I found this in a 'help yourself' crate outside a house down the road. Still had a film in it.


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## stowpirate (Oct 17, 2009)

big eejit said:


> I found this in a 'help yourself' crate outside a house down the road. Still had a film in it.



Is it an XA2? Nice camera I think these are better than the XA rangefinder version, albeit you are limited to zone focusing. Did the battery still have power in it? They are easy to test to see if they are working correctly.


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## stowpirate (Oct 17, 2009)

I paid 20p for this extinction exposure meter. It took me ages to work out how to use it. Still not sure on the 1 to 6 number thingy. As you look through it if you can see say 3 and also a very dark 4 do you go with the 3? Maybe the only real test is to compare against a proper meter?


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## big eejit (Oct 17, 2009)

stowpirate said:


> Is it an XA2? Nice camera I think these are better than the XA rangefinder version, albeit you are limited to zone focusing. Did the battery still have power in it? They are easy to test to see if they are working correctly.



It is an XA2. I put a new battery in it and it seems to be working fine now. Tho I haven't had any of the films developed yet.


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## ViolentPanda (Oct 18, 2009)

cybertect said:


> And so it proved. The biggest hurdle was figuring how to get the name plate off to access the screws and where exactly the spring clip goes when you put it back on.
> 
> I'll admit first impressions of handling having put 36 exposures through it aren't hugely encouraging (though I haven't got the results processed yet).  'agricultural' is a word that springs to mind - trying to figure out exactly which speed you have selected on the dial being one of the issues, as the pointer isn't exactly accurate. I spent a lot of time trying to work out whether the click stop was closer to the 1/250 or 1/500 mark.
> 
> ...


Diopter adjustment on the Zorkis (from model 2 onward) is by lever rater than twisty eyepiece, so no problems there.
Mind you, I also tend to use cloth punches to make small felt or foam "buffers" for the eyepieces of my cameras, held on by a tiny bead of silicone adhesive (so they come away clean) anyway, because I'm paranoid about scratching my specs. 


> The Yashica SLR is a real joy to use, however. Reminds me that I should take my 124G TLR out for a spin again soon.



Any excuse!


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