Your "Old" Cameras - post an image of yours

BillN_33

BillN_33

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I have quite a few old cameras - as there seems to be an interest in these at the moment I thought that it would be a enjoyable to start a thread with info etc.

So if you are interested post an image of yours - with some information if possible

Here's my first

Asahi Pentax Spotmatic with Super - Takumar 55mm f1.8 lens - M42 thread - the f1.4 lens is the one to have, I think that I have one somewhere!!

(The Pentax film cameras were very very good - the physical size was a lot better, IMHO, than say Nikon)

some images - (the black bit under the front of the lens is just an old battery holding the camera "square" for the image)

(in the next 12 months I am going to try to put a film thru all of mine - this started with my wife telling me to get rid of all those "old camera" that you have and "downsize" - unfortunately it has had the opposite effect and I have started buying "old" lenses)

TP_Spotmatic_SP_1.jpg


TP_Spotmatic_SP_2.jpg


TP_Spotmatic_SP_3.jpg



and a good info article here

photothinking.com

Pentax Spotmatic SP – pentaX marks the spot, Photo Thinking - Review

The Pentax Spotmatic SP was the camera the Asahi company released to compete in the early SLR market. I used and reviewed it with results.
photothinking.com photothinking.com
 
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One of mine... Balda Baldina from around 1955 - 58

Pop out lens rangefinder. Compur Rapid shutter that runs from 1s to 1/500s (I never try the slow speeds, they probably will not work and might jam the shutter).
Earlier Baldinas were sold as the "Super Baldina" variant which had the rangefinder and the "Baldina" which didn't. Your dealer would fit the RF if you chose it. Later they all came with RF included and the "Super" prefix was dropped. Found with various lenses, this is the three element Baldanar which is surprisingly good. In 1955, this could cost £14, some shillings and some pence (the average 1955 weekly wage was around £10).

This camera was one of a few that didn't sell when I tried to clear out nearly all of my old cameras. Now, I love it and have added a couple more, one door stop and one nice example with a Radionar lens... which also performs very well. (I developed a thing for Balda RF cameras and now have too many).

Baldina2.jpg
 
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another Spotmatic - the Spotmatic F, but with a later Takumar 55mm f1.8 lens ...... I think that this was the last of the Spotmatics, M43, then Pentax went onto "K" mount lenses

These Spotmatics, if my memory is still any good, had "stop down" metering - I think that they were the first with this - you had to use a Pentax M43 lens, push the switch up and set your aperture and then the internal meter would sort you out - I took the batteries out of these two Pentax's years ago but they used a now banned mercury battery for the exposure meter - but with no battery they still work as a "manual" camera - when/if I use these I don't plan to use the built in exposure meter - I'll just get an external digital thing and use that.

Spot focusing was relatively easy/effective

Both these are in great condition, I always "baby" my photo equipment - I always preferred Pentax to Nikon/Canon and indeed my first digital DSLR was a Pentax, (which I still have somewhere?)

TP_Spotmatic_F.jpg



Info from the web

www.35mmc.com

Asahi Pentax Spotmatic F Review - A Class Act - By Bob Janes

Pentax Spotmatic F is not dripping with features, but it is a fantastic machine that does everything in an elegant and stripped-down manner.
www.35mmc.com www.35mmc.com
 
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My Retina 1B was an example of the base model in the next to last range of the classic Kodak branded Nagel rangefinder cameras, which ran from 1934 until 1968.

It was a compact, solidly constructed folder and had both an excellent lens and an equally good bright line viewfinder.

Retina1Bopen.jpg

It was surprisingly fast in operation, as when I grabbed this shot of an old tour bus that drove past me on a Swindon Street...

Vintage coach Swindon Retina 1B 0518_006.jpg
 
The Spotmatics were something of a revelation at the time, not least for their clean lines, their distilled form. Look at that wind-on lever - pure sculpture. :-)
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
My Retina 1B was an example of the base model in the next to last range of the classic Kodak branded Nagel rangefinder cameras, which ran from 1934 until 1968.

It was a compact, solidly constructed folder and had both an excellent lens and an equally good bright line viewfinder.

View attachment 427669

It was surprisingly fast in operation, as when I grabbed this shot of an old tour bus that drove past me on a Swindon Street...

View attachment 427670
Click to expand...

My own personal opinion - if you have never taken film - a RF camera (with a fixed lens, as most of them had), is the way to start - film is film, (not megapixels) - film cameras are old and the simpler the better - sort the shutter speeds out - buy a simple digital exposure meter and off you go - concentrate on composition and forget the rest - there seems to be some mystic about wanting the mirror slapping SLR's that are heavier and more complicated in construction - bigger is not better!!
 
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BillN_33 said:
My own personal opinion - if you have never taken film - a RF camera (with a fixed lens, as most of them had), is the way to start - film is film, (not megapixels) - film cameras are old and the more simpler the better - sort the shutter speeds out - buy a simple digital exposure meter and off you go - concentrate on composition and forget the rest - there seems to be some mystic about wanting the mirror slapping SLR's that are heavier and more complicated in construction - bigger is not better!!
Click to expand...
I started out in the mid 1960s with a SLR, the Pentacon FM, which was a slightly improved version of the first modern SLR, the Contax S.

I only discovered the bright line finder after a couple of years, cutting my teeth on a Canon P with a 35mm f1.8 lens. After that I tried out various bright line finders and eventually discovered the best of the lot, Leica's first bayonet mount camera, the M3...

Leica M3 with 90mm lens.jpg

...a suitably upper crust camera for capturing the upper crust :naughty: ...

Hyde Park royal coach and police motorcycle Leica M3.jpg
 
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Craikeybaby said:
Not my oldest camera, but the oldest one that I have a photo of (so far...). Canon EOS 20D, which I bought in 2007 with a whole 8MP.


Canon EOS 20D by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
Click to expand...

I still use my 10mp M8 all the time, in some situations it just produces the images that I want

Obviously sensors have changed over the years - who can say if they are better or just have more MP's

Look at the Sigma Merrills versus CMOS - and look at the M9's CCD versus CMOS - I think that the more you get into this hobby the more you go back and look at what the past offerred - just look at the emergence of film - film never was digitally sharp or "in focus" for me - but I have just bought a lens from the 1950's because I wanted "softer" images
 
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Go on then. Can't beat a good old camera photo thread!

From a small camera portrait project...

My K4B
2019-04-06-Acros100-RB67-03.jpg

And my M3 with the older 50mm Summicron. Beautiful camera.
2019-04-06-Acros100-RB67-07.jpg

Both taken on an RB67 with new emulsion Acros.

This more recent taken on dirty digital...

R6_I0759-Edit.jpg
 
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I don't often photograph my cameras, but I have taken this shot of 2 of my large format cameras. A Toyo Deluxe, and the slightly newer Toyo D45M (slightly intermixed in this shot as the components are interchangable)
LF case small by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr

heres the Deluxe (with the D45m ground glass) mounted on a tripod & showing the image created by one of my Delta 77 projection lenses (relatively wide angle)
delta 77 - deluxe & GG by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr

and here it is with an even larger projection lens (somewhere around 150mm f/1.2)
A challenging lens by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr

I do have an older large format camera, (a pre WW2 Thornton Pickard Ruby Reflex) but it's in a bit of a state....
 
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another Pentax - an S1a - earlier than the Spotmatics - a budget version of the "S" range - fastest shutter speed marked on dial is 1/500th but the 1/1000th is there but just not marked

No light meter - a manual camera - but Pentax produced a light meter that you could stick in the hot shoe, (I have a couple)

TP_S1a_11.jpg


TP_S1a_21.jpg



some info

35hunter.blog

The Stories We Tell Ourselves (I) – Asahi Pentax S1a

It fascinates me how a convincing and impassioned story can sway our beliefs, opinions and decisions. Not least of all when it’s us telling the story to ourselves. This is an occasional serie…
35hunter.blog 35hunter.blog
 
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a couple more Pentax - when Pentax moved from the M43 to the K mount, (bayonet - the PK mount)

lovely size bodies and in fact the ME Super was called the "Pentax Leica" at the time

but build quality did, IMHO, suffer as more plastics were used - the older M43 camera were just solid metal

The Pentax MV and the Pentax ME Super, (this is new in box - I bought 2 at the time the other was/is just about worn out)

both from the early 1980's the MV being a budget version of the ME

TP_MV_1.jpg


TP_MV_2.jpg


TP_ME_super_1.jpg


TP_ME_super_2.jpg
 
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All my cameras are old and can be seen in the show us your film related forum.
That being said, I do love looking at the vintage stuff so, I'll be responding to the click bait.;)
 
leaky5 said:
My first camera when I was about 15, will be 59 this year
Click to expand...
I had my first camera (a 6x6 box camera) before reaching my teens, switched to an instamatic at around 13 (so I could change films myself), and then a Pentax ME at 18 (I still have that one)
FWIW I'm 60 now, but I'm a youngster compared to many here.
My oldest camera (a Vest Pocket Kodak of ~1919) is about 105 I don't think we have many members older than that. It's high time I took some photos of it! :)
 
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I bought my first camera from the local chemist when I was in the 4th or 5th form. 1963/4 - it was a German RF camera, just cannot remember the name........ it should be somewhere??

This thread has started me looking on eBay!!
 
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My lovely EOS 500, beautifully simple, it just takes photos. I bought it a few years ago, about 2018 I think, my first ever 35mm film camera. It lives in my bag, with a tripod foot on it, I try to capture landscapes on film that I'm doing digitally at the same time. Once I have my digital files, the 500 goes on my tripod.

That's a Mk1 24-105L, I upgraded it last year with the Sigma 24-105Art. I kept the L as it has a temperamental AF between 35 and 50mm and I wouldn't sell it as faulty. I can live with that on this camera.

IMG_0016 tp.jpg
 
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Back in the noughties I realised that German ebay sellers were a lot more naive than Japanese and American buyers. I could buy a vintage camera from ebay.de have a play with it for a few months and then move it on at a profit on ebay.com. I went through almost he entire range of German cameras from the early Zeiss, Agfa and Voigtlander models, Contax and Leica pre war rangefinders, Rollei and Minox compacts right up to Linhof field cameras with 6 x 7 backs.

Now I satisfy my vintage desires with some early Zeiss SLR models and an old folding Ikonta

20240406_164510_resize_43.jpg

I have two Contarex cameras with four lenses from 35mm to 135mm and two Contaflex cameras with three lenses from 35mm to 115m. Proxar supplementary lenses give macro facility and they take common film magazines so I can swap and change from one camera to another.

They are quirky as you would expect from Zeiss cameras, but I love 'em!
 
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Who could forget the Zenit E? This is mine, taken during a lockdown evening in 2020, whilst trying to occupy my mind. Sadly, mine doesn't function anymore, it all seems to work, the shutter opens and closes but it doesn't seem to expose the film for some reason. Still, it's a beautiful thing, makes a great feature on one of my shelves. I was gifted this a long time ago and technically, it is actually my first 35mm camera, though I didn't buy it, as I did my EOS 500.


tp.jpg
 
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Boots said:
Three Zeiss Ikon's
Click to expand...
Here's another one! Although I'm not sure 2008ish is classed as old...

IMG_1927.jpg

This one is only slightly older than me, being made somewhere between 1963 & 1966. It's a pain to use as I have to hand-roll the 126 cartridge, but full manual control on an instamatic is somewhat cool. It's tiny too.

IMG_1374.jpg
 
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Just thought I'd post a couple of shots of my beloved Motor Driven Nikon F3 . I've been lucky enough to have owned and still have a copy of every higher end film SLR Nikon made from a Nikon F onwards and this is without a doubt one of my preferred models.

Pic' taken with :- D810, 105mm Micro Nikkor Lens, 1/250th @ F16, ISO-100, Studio Flash.
Motor Driven Nikon F3 (1)-802867 byG.K.Jnr., on Flickr

Pic' taken with :- D810, 105mm Micro Nikkor Lens, 1/250th @ F16, ISO-100, Studio Flash.
Motor Driven Nikon F3 (2)-802871 byG.K.Jnr., on Flickr
 
Right, I’m reporting this thread to the moderators for immediate removal.
This is like camera porn and it makes me feel like I want to buy them all haha
 
Dale. said:
My sentiments when I saw George's F3, above. :love:
Click to expand...

All of my old Nikons still work perfectly and occasionally I run a film through one or two of them. My old "Nikon F" slipped out of my grasp many moons ago when I was in a Hercules aircraft, I was snapping some sky divers (not me) from above and after I eventually found it embedded in some soil the lens was ****** but the camera still worked perfectly and still does.
 
Another FED 3

just tried the lens on my M240 - I do not have the skill to make the images look even reasonable ........ I've "binned" them all

the camera re-wind knob almost takes the skin off your finger - Russians!!!

TP_FED_3.jpg
​

 
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BillN_33 said:
Another FED 3

just tried the lens on my M240 - I do not have the skill to make the images look even reasonable ........ I've "binned" them all

the camera re-wind knob almost takes the skin off your finger - Russians!!!

TP_FED_3.jpg
​

Click to expand...

Weren't those and the Zorki's the Russian attempt at copying a Leica? I once tried a "Zorki 4" and it always felt as if the wind-on mechanism had gravel in it compared to my old "Leica 3G" which I wish I'd never got rid of.
 
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