Photique

Firstly, apologies for my severe lack in posts as of the last while. My collection has been on hold while trying to save my finances. Trying to avoid camera markets/antique shops/op-shops has been hard, but after checking out the Camberwell Market over the weekend, seeing a few really nice cameras got me hooked in again (oops). 

After nearly buying a Zeiss Ikon folder in mint condition, I realised I really need to get my enlarger setup and the rest of the darkroom together before I go buying more cameras I cant print from.

So this is my official shoutout to anyone who might have old equipement or know someone who does, maybe a relative? I am happy to pay for anything you have. Rather than going and buying it all new, I know there is a lot of unused equipement out there :) 

Anything and everything would be great!. Help me out :) and if your local, you are welcome to use my darkroom once its setup.

(photos of W. Eugene Smith)

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Sorry about the long hiatus away from blogging. I have been caught up in the last part of 2011 getting my folio completed and finishing my course.

I have also neglected my camera collection cause of the cost factor rising every day. Not to mention the sadness of Kodak going under, so I am trying to ration my last few rolls of TRIX and Portra wisely.

Keep an eye on this blog though, as I plan to get out again soon with my Rolleiflex (also need to make a post on her). 

If any of you are in Melbourne, Victoria area in March this year make sure you head to Box Hill. For the Camera Market. They are only held twice each year and run for most of the day, where you can pickup so many awesome deals on old gear. A serious gold mine! 

You can find details here.

Let me know if any of you plan to come and hopefully see you there!

After all the attention Photique has been recieving and praise/interest in my collection and my posts, there must be a fair few other like minded people out there. So I would like to share some help with you all for when out there purchasing these gems. 

I know its hard to decide whether your getting a good deal, or getting ripped off when your in the heat of the moment. So whenever I am in doubt, I go to an ever helpful site Collectiblend 

All you have to do is search the brand of the camera and then hit enter... then go through the list, find the camera you are looking at and it has a price-range the camera is selling for in average/good/excellent condition. It also shows previous ebay listings of that camera, to see what they are going for there. 

Only issue for us Australians is that its based mainly on what they go for in the US, so you could probably put another $50 ontop of the price Collectiblend has given you. 

Hope it helps you all out! 

So I recently bought a 55mm f/4.5 wide angle lens for my Mamiya TLR a couple weeks ago, a bit of an impulse to be honest, but it was listed as great condition so I snapped it up and waited for the mail for the next 2 weeks in anticipation for it to arrive... hearing great things about it, I was excited to have a wide angle for my MF kit. 

It arrived just the other day, packaged up very securely, kind of like a game of pass the parcel when unwrapping it.... although I was the only player. Finally got the lens out of its wrappings and firstly noticed that the cocking arm for the shutter was bent in (first bad "freakout" sign) but I was able to bend it back a bit so it would be firing once again. I continued to do my usual inspections of a lens, to soon find out that the taking lens was pretty much ruined by fungus. OWNED! big time... Considering my intentions when using MF is for the amazing detail in the images, the fungus would do me NO GOOD! 

I have contacted the seller and even though they refuse the fact it was like that when they sent it (the fungus must have grown in the week of transit... yeeaaa riiigghhtt) He has agreed to refund me for the lens. So I will be posting it back on Monday... pretty upsetting cause now I won't have a cool wide angle to play with

Moral of the story being.... make sure the seller is happy to refund/return the item before you bid! 

Phwoar. Its been a big last week! Considering I got the Yashicamat only 4 or something days ago, I have since been checking out a lot of the Yashica TLR line of cameras and images they have produced over the years. 

I also knew from last time I stayed at my Mums place that my friend Jack had a Yashica-44 for sale which I had been ogling, although he wouldn't let me have it as he couldn't find the case. So I went back down after he found the case, as well as the manual for it. I already wanted it, even without the case, so as you can imagine, once he found the case and manual, it was a great collector! 

The Yashica-44 is an awesome TLR, being smaller than most others due to the fact it shoots 127 film. Main downfall of 127 is that it is no longer in production, so I can't put a test roll through the 44... If anyone has an old expired roll, let me know! 

The Yashica-44 was Japans first 4x4 TLR released in 1958, it was released in a range of colours, but the grey being the most popular. This camera actually cost more in its time than its big brother the 6x6 model. 

This particular 44 is in pretty sweet condition with only some issues with the leatherette on the front of the camera, looking asif someone might of tried to repaint it. Apart from that and a few little scuff marks here and there, its in great condition for its age! 

Lovely TLR, even just for its size and cosmetic appearance. A great addition to my collection :)

A new addition to the family! 

The other day I found a beautiful Zeiss Ikon: Ikoflex Ib in a shop tucked away in a box with all its accessories, including the case, hood, yellow filter and original german manual. I had to get it! (like all my cameras) After playing around with it, I quickly found out that it was in mint condition, hardly touched... The shutter was still working well, even though it took me a while to figure out how to operate it. 

The Ikoflex was one of the limited line of TLRs to come out of Zeiss. The Ib being in production from 1956 - 1958, equipped with the Novar-Anastigmat 75mm f/3.5 lens, taking 120 film. Which is great for me, as I can still use it! So I shall take it out in the near future to put a roll through it and see how she performs.

So today I picked up a Yashicamat from my friend. Very nice TLR, being the first Yashica TLR to sport the crank winder instead of the older knob-winding mechanism. It is the second edition which has the 80mm f/3.5 Yashinon lens, not the older Luxamar lens. They were released in 1957. 

The particular one I picked up didn't come with the original case or lens caps. It also had a few knock marks and the shutter mechanism spring doesn't push the release back out after being depressed, which is a bit annoying but doesn't affect the picture. 

It is a great TLR that is nice and light in hand with a solid feeling build. In direct sunlight, it is difficult to use the WLF as it gets flooded with light and the side hoods don't do a great job on shielding from flare. I also find the focusing isn't as critical as other TLRs I have used.

Regardless of a couple of drawbacks, it's a nice camera that with a quick CLA should be a nice user.  

p.s. Thanks Lauren :)

So after buying the Zorki 1 from the antique store, I soon had to put a roll of FP4+ through the little beast! 

Considering it's a rangefinder camera I took it straight to the streets of Melbourne to photograph some happenings and some quirky stuff just to test it out and see that it still works. 

First off, I noticed after trying to load it with some film that it wont take it unless you modify the leader to be a lot longer than how it is out of the box. So after finding a how-to online, I modified the film and loaded up. 

It operated so smoothly and efficiently whilst on the streets, the only draw back I found with the usability is the small RF window and having to focus with the RF then compose and shoot with the viewfinder. This can be a bit slow if you're not used to... so maybe in time this will become less of an issue.

I developed the roll and scanned some of the shots in to find that it is working the way it should, with only one problem (I have noticed) being that there might be a small hole in the shutter curtain causing a light leak through the lens burning a spot into each frame. This would be enough for me to consider taking it out for a serious shoot, but it is still in immaculate cosmetic condition! 

Overall, great little RF camera that is amazing to hold and use, which can produce some great results with the J-8 lens. 

I spent the weekend just passed at my Mums place on the Peninsula, I always take advantage of being down there to go and do the antique shop rounds. The peninsula is riddled with them, taking a trip to Tyabb is always an exciting adventure, as your always bound to find something cool and unique.

I found a new shop in Mt Martha hidden away in an arcade run by an eccentric man who allowed me to gander at all his possesions without the "hawk-eye" which I always find as an attraction; it means you can hold things and see if you like them without feeling uncomfortable doing so. 
In the corner was a pile of cameras, some broken and some working, but it definitely didnt look like they were being treated very well. 

I spent a good half hour rummaging through the mess, finding an SRT-101, a broken OM-10, a shmick condition vito II and many others. Although my eyes were instantly grabbed by the Zorki 1 which seemed to be in top notch working condition. After testing the shutter and checking the lens, I was instantly sold, as it was immaculate and would serve as a great street shooter. 

The Zorki 1 was a copy/replica of the Leica III rangefinder camera, manufactured by KMZ plant in Krasnogorsk, Moscov, USSR, between 1948-56. It is fitted with a Jupiter-8 50mm f/2 M39 mount lens. It came with the original leather case (not the top half) and uv filter which looks to have been fitted for majority of its life as 
the lens has no marks, oil, or fungus inside it.

Very excited to take it to the streets!