OFFICIAL I HAVE A NEW (FILM RELATED) TOY THREAD!!

My new M645 kit has just arrived so I've got a desk full of MF goodness :0)

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(apologies for the poor picture, it's a quick phone grab!)

I bought this for the 35mm 3.5 at the front really but the 150mm F4 looks quite interesting along with the 55mm 2.8 so I'll see what I decide to keep. Everything else will be in the classifieds here over the next few days.

Cheers
Steve
 
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I shall keep an eye on the classifieds ;)
 
The aperture blades on the 55mm and 150mm are a little slow to return (sticky) which I knew about so I'll clean those up first before I list them. The body (M645 with mirror lock up and 1/500 - 8s shutter), finder and 80mm are spot on though.
 
I'm always impressed with the mamiya build quality and considering the lenses are all metal, they're not that heavy.

I've now listed the body/80mm/prism if anybody's interested ;0)

Cheers
Steve
 
Well, couple of hours later I've got a group of M645 lenses with snappy apertures and smooth focussing :0). I really like it that all the mamiya lenses are built in pretty much the same way so getting to the aperture blades is relatively painless. The only oddity is that the 150mm has its blades configured the opposite way round to the other lenses I've cleaned? It's also deeper so slightly more frustrating to refit!

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If I get time I'll put together a quick review of each lens for the review thread.

Cheers
Steve
 
ChrisR said:
However, I've put new batteries in, they work with the battery test, but the shutter speed needle in the viewfinder doesn't budge. Are there any common failings there that are easily fixed? If not, it will turn out he has lent it to me (rather than given it!)...
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I've found with mine that although the meter needle hardly budges it actually does get the shutter speed about right (although won't know for definite until the first roll comes back from the lab). On searching it seems this is known and the viewfinder needle is not connected to the actual shutter speed setting.
 
OK this sounds lik I really do need to stick a roll of Vista in it!
 
Hmmm... someones got to stop me, I've purchased another camera, and this time I've gone to the darkside... I've got a nikon f501 from a local for sale group
 
It would have been the disasterside if it was the F401 ;)
 
Well thanks to a F&C member I now have a lovely Nikon F4s. I have wanted one for some time and a recent opportunity couldn't be passed up ( thanks Lee) I have to say I am just loving this camera and can't believe I haven't acquired one before now!

In many respects the F4 is an ugly design and it is also very heavy, however the designers at Nikon really hit the spot with this machine. It is so intuitive to use (for us old school Nikon Fm/FE/F3 users) and I have to say as much as I love my F100 and my F5, this camera has some real advantages. When time permits I will write a short review expaining why! I have put 5 rolls of 36 through it and I love the shooting experience and the results.

It's pictured below with my F3HP and F5 making up a family portrait:)
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I am shameless in my search for new kit and felt the F4s needed an additional Nikkor so I picked this 24-120mm AF-D to go with it for a really good price! This lens has never had great write ups but I am pleased with the results I am getting from it. The F4s and the 24-120mm have been used a lot in recent weeks and are at present my go to kit. Also given the weight they are part of my daily fitness regime:D

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I agree Adrian, the F4 is great camera, not the ugliest of the F's though, that honour falls to the F3.

I really like the F4 and am lucky enough to have the small hand grip battery pack so I can either have it as an F4 or 4s. I also think it's the most comfortable to use of the F family.
 
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Will you leave the poor little F3 alone...:bat:Its not pretty but I think it has a rugged masculine charm...and its a bloody good camera. :D
 
RaglanSurf said:
I agree Adrian, the F4 is great camera, not the ugliest of the F's though, that honour falls to the F3.

I really like the F4 and am lucky enough to have the small hand grip battery pack so I can either have it as an F4 or 4s. I also think it's the most comfortable to use of the F family.
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It is a great camera Nick and in spite of my love of Nikon film cameras it has taken me too long to discover this marvel. The placing of the controls just work so well. I will look for the smaller battery back I think to allow me to switch between F4 and F4S.

Andysnap said:
Will you leave the poor little F3 alone...:bat:Its not pretty but I think it has a rugged masculine charm...and its a bloody good camera. :D
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Like Andy though I don't think the F3 is ugly. it was the first F I owned (from new as well) so I might be biased:D
 
Andysnap said:
Will you leave the poor little F3 alone...:bat:Its not pretty but I think it has a rugged masculine charm...and its a bloody good camera. :D
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Jao said:
Like Andy though I don't think the F3 is ugly. it was the first F I owned (from new as well) so I might be biased:D
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I know, I shouldn't slag it off as much as I do I only do it because Andy gets all defensive :lol:
 
Received my Ensign Selfix 820 today and all's not well. The seller is a house clearance place in Suffolk and while their description was brief, it did say the camera is in very good condition. What they didn't mention was that it's come from a smoker's house judging from all the crud I've cleaned off it tonight and the slow speeds (everything below 1/25s) don't work.

Still, it was cheap compared to how much these tend to go for and I opened a case through ebay asking for a partial refund as a contribution towards a CLA. I wasn't hopeful but they must have an automatic response configured because they've already accepted my offer so it's ended up as a bit of a bargain at £24 net :D

Rather poor picture taken using compact camera with on-board flash ...

Ensign820 by Strappster, on Flickr
 
Strappy said:
Received my Ensign Selfix 820 today and all's not well. The seller is a house clearance place in Suffolk and while their description was brief, it did say the camera is in very good condition. What they didn't mention was that it's come from a smoker's house judging from all the crud I've cleaned off it tonight and the slow speeds (everything below 1/25s) don't work.

Still, it was cheap compared to how much these tend to go for and I opened a case through ebay asking for a partial refund as a contribution towards a CLA. I wasn't hopeful but they must have an automatic response configured because they've already accepted my offer so it's ended up as a bit of a bargain at £24 net :D

Rather poor picture taken using compact camera with on-board flash ...

Ensign820 by Strappster, on Flickr
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Just keep working the shutter at the slow speeds, many times in a row, it revived mine after about half an hour - still works great a few months later.
 
Worked it for an hour and a half last night at 1/10s mainly but also slower speeds and it's marginally better if I'm being optimistic but it's still not right.

Based on the crud and the smell of the leather case, I think it's been a shelf ornament in a smoker's home for a few years at least so I wouldn't be surprised if the shutter is gummed up. On the other hand, I've also found a reference to the possibility of damaging the slow-speed cam by changing across 1/25s to 1/10s while the shutter is cocked. While I'm hopeful it isn't that, the fact that it doesn't seem to be loosening up after repeated firing indicates that it's a possibility :(
 
If I were you I'd fire of a mail to Miles, he got my 12-20 working perfectly.
 
Andysnap said:
If I were you I'd fire of a mail to Miles, he got my 12-20 working perfectly.
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I will but Miles is currently working on a 3-week turnaround. There's a guy in town here (CKO Photo, Dorking) who does repairs so I thought I'd see if he can do anything sooner, otherwise it'll be off to Miles.
 
The not so good news is that the chap in town outsources his repair work so it'd be sent off anyway.

The much better news is that after explaining the problem, he said that he'd just sold one of those and he knew what it needed. He dribbled a drop of lighter fluid into the shutter, worked it a few times and all the slow speeds started working again!

He explained that it might need doing again tomorrow, showed me exactly what to do and then refused to accept a token payment for his time. Excellent service :D
 
I considered this for the Compur which was attached to the lens I got from Rocky, but there some mentions of this just moving the crud around to the rest of the mechanisms. Miles wants a very reasonable £40 to service this shutter but I might try the lighter fluid and get him to sort it later when I've not spent sooo much money.
 
I received my new Praktica kit today and it basically appears to have never been used :0)

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The bag it came in looks brand new too

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All three lenses are externally mint but I've just spent a couple of hours cleaning the aperture blades on the 35mm followed by some slightly frustrating times getting the focus helicoid in alignment as the lens barrel wasn't moving. However, it's now back together and spot on.

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The camera itself also looks unused and the original Praktica battery was in the bag with it but appears to be flat, unsurprisingly!

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My original plan was to sell the kit on again after realising the lenses are Praktica B fit rather than M42 as I first thought which means another adaptor my NEX but as I've spent the afternoon making the lenses mint again I think I need to try them out.

Cheers
Steve
 
Miles quoted me a similar price, I was looking for an alternative as with postage each way on top the service would cost nearly twice as much as the camera did!

Not that I begrudge Miles's prices and his work is definitely worth the money but I want to play with my new toy this weekend :D
 
Mmm, I seem to have just bought a medium format slide projector for £15......
 
Deal of the century that Andy!

Not jealous at all.

Not even a little bit...
 
No, thats what the girls used to call me in the 80's.....:whistle::naughty:
 
They didn't have electricity up north back then and Andy's battery torch was thought to be powered by magic.

True story.
 
Oh Yeh, that's where the magic lives.....
 
It's this big boy, looks in rather nice condition for its age.

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It actually does look like a magic lantern. Or a sci-fi tank/space ship.
 
Yes, a sci-fi tank spaceship... I want one of those. :D
 
I think I saw something like that in Edinburgh last year, sitting in the rain on top of a cupboard outside a junk shop. Not nearly in as good condition, though (unsurprising). Each time I went by after that, the shop was closed.
 
The Norris 66 similar to yours, in 1964, would have cost £21... Probably about 1 1/2 weeks wages for average Joe P. The similar looking Leitz Prado cost £38.
 
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