My new toys...

woof woof · My new toys...

I treated myself to these little beauties off ebay...

This is an Olympus Trip, just like David Bailey used in the 70 ads. It has a light meter but it doesn't need batteries. It has 4 focus ranges and a fixed 40mm f2.8 lens.

This is a Canonet QL17. It's my first rangefinder. It has a fixed 45mm f1.7 lens. It takes a battery but only for the meter.

Matt

Nice. I'm off down to a local market on Monday and getting one from their camera specialist. They had a trip there, but I didn't see a QL. I'm going to collect the old metal ones; if they work it's a bonus.

woof woof

Apart from the self timer on the Canonet (it only gives a 3 second delay instead of 10) everything seems to work on these 2. I'm taking the film in tomorrow so I'll soon know for sure.

They are both addictive to use.

DarthBalls

My step dad (aka Inspector C) gave Mrs DB an Olympus 35 ED which is in a similar vein to the Canonet

Chris M Wants a V-10

Hmmm, David Bailey, who's he???
I remember those 2 cameras from my younger days. However I haven't shot a roll lof film for years so I've tended to collect digital compact cameras cheap second-hand off e-bay in the main. My latest bargain is a Canon A710is for £45; dust spot on sensor. Took me about a couple of hours to get it clean (the lens/sensor unit is sealed and I couldn't remove it from the internals as it seems that everything is built round it)

woof woof

So how did you clean the dust off then?

Both the Trip and the Canonet are pretty addictive to use. The back catch on the trip is a bit iffy if you just slam it shut (it came open when I was using it!) but if you pull the catch down before closing the back it's fine. The Canonet seem to have a great lens and the focus seem very accurate, it's the first time I've used a range finder and I'm impressed although the self timer seems to be faulty and only gives 2 or 3 seconds delay instead of what I think should be about 10 seconds.

I don't intend to collect cameras and I think that I have all of the film and digital cameras that I need now but I wanted a simple compact camera capable of taking decent pictures and the Trip fits the bill, I also wanted a range finder so the Canonet fills that role.

Matt

I went today and got myself this Praktica. Running a film through it this evening to see if it works. I hope so as it's £25 on a paperweight otherwise. All buttons appear to work and the shutter fires properly, so fingers crossed.

I especially like the black lever above the shutter button which operates the exposure meter.

woof woof

Looks lovely, a 50mm f2.8 lens too.

DarthBalls

woof woof

Some of this stuff is just soooo cheap on ebay.

I think I've got all of the film gear I need now. I have -

Canon SLR.
Canon Rangefinder.
Olympus Trip.
A Jessops compact.
A Kodak 36 Instamatic, which was my first camera and cost £5 from Boots.

Matt

I was looking in the window of London Camera Exchange and noticed they had a Canon EF lens for sale - not a common event as it's usually Canon FD if any.

So I got the 18-55mm EF-S digital lens for £25. This would have been the kit lens when my Dad got the 20D as body only.

The results are better than I expected for that price.

Here's the new one with the 3 other lenses I most commonly use

Sigma 105mm Macro, Canon 50mm F1.8 and Sigma 10-20mm.

woof woof

Nice.

I've been looking for a reasonably priced Bessa R manual for a while and I spotted one on ebay complete with a 50mm lens. Dozy me
misread the end time and missed it as it went for about £145. I'd have thought that £500 was nearer the mark and I'd definitely
have bid £400, probably more. Bugger.

Boxer6

Nice one(s) Matt. I have the Sigma too, Nikon-mount natch, and I'm starting to use it more and more. The biggest gripe I have with it is that the sodding lens cap won't fit when the hood's on! A major PITA.

woof woof

Beautiful, isn't it?

Matt

Yes, sir!

Matt

Just bought one of these on ebay for £5 with free postage - 5-7 day estimated delivery, but at least it was free.

The ad said it was in perfect condition and in full working order. This is from another seller as it was a better image.

Matt

It arrived today and is in excellent condition, nary a blemish on it and the cord is still tied. Looking forward to running a film through it, because there's always that uncertainty until you do.

woof woof

Very nice.

I've just got a couple of Miranda's. One is nicer than the other but they're both nice things.

woof woof

And this is my first ever camera. £5 from Boots in 1906. Made in England too.

Matt

Compact cameras in the '80s were so much less generic than today's digital models.

I want to get these next, in blue and red, but they seem hard to find on eBay.

woof woof

Very nice

But I couldn't find on in 15 minutes of Googling

I have this, it's the some sort of thing, maybe, but not as nice...

Chris M Wants a V-10

the old man

Just got the Canon G10 today (monday), first impressions not too good but will persevere. The idea behind getting it was so that I can leave my big gear at home when we go to Jersey at the end of August and I just wanted a small(ish) camera to take hol snaps that are a bit more than snaps. Will post some up when I can get a decent pic out of it.

woof woof

You should have got a Panasonic LX3.

Seriously blitzes the Canon in review -

LX3 review -
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicdmclx3/page17.asp
G10 review -
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong10/page24.asp

"If cameras were to exist in a vacuum, the G10 would certainly get our highest rating, and if no other cameras of this sensor size could do better then we could have said 'maybe it is just not possible with current sensor technologically'. The Panasonic LX3 shows that this is not the case."

woof woof

My niece has just got a 5Dii with 24-105mm f4 lens. The lens looks like a serious bargain when bundled as a kit lens but I was quite disappointed with the package as a whole. I think that the rear screen and graphics look cheap and nasty, there's no built in flash and with f4 you're seriously limited in low light even with the much vaunted high ISO ability. I don't really understand this tendency towards ever bigger and higher resolution rear screens. They just end up covered in nose smears. All I use mine for is checking the composition and histogram so a smaller one is fine for me.

Shooting with it last night in low light neither I nor my niece could get the 5Dii to match the shots I was getting with my 20D fitted with a Sigma 50mm f1.4 and I also had the luxury of selecting f5 and popping the flash up. She says she's not impressed with the high ISO performance, I'm going to try and get some DNG files off her so I can have a close look myself.

I'm quite disappointed with the 5Dii. My niece is disappointed with the f4 lens and says that she's going to get a faster prime but at least the 24-105mm has a reasonable range. I have 3 zooms, 12-24mm, 17-50 f2.8 and 70-300mm (I also have a 20-35mm but that lives on my film body) so the range I have around the "standard" is 17-50mm which would be equivalent to 27-80mm, I tend to use primes or the 12-24mm.

I think I'd rather have a FF something in the region of 12-15mp and couple it to fast primes for true low light performance rather than marketing hype. 21mp and f4 doesn't seem to cut it for me. A pop up flash and in body IS would be great too.

Matt

Got myself one of the Konica EU-minis on eBay for £2.75. Need to get a battery and then take it out for a test run. A couple of scratches on the black plastic bit and a small chip in the red, but it's none too shabby.

That was taken with the G10. My dad returned it fearing it faulty and the salesman agreed, but low-light test shots in RAW on 15-second exposures on the replacement were awful and he and I couldn't stand the thing. Then I tried shots in JPEG on superfine and have been happy with it since. My Dad got the Sony HX-1 instead.

SpecB

woof woof

Matt, that does look like a nice camera. I've banned myself from buying any more even though ebay seems to be full of bargains these days, especially film bargains, some of the stuff is just so cheap and there can't have been a better time to get film gear.

That Sony looks like a serious thing, but it looks rather large so I wonder why not go for one of the smaller DSLR's instead?

SpecB, I mostly use my 12-24mm or primes. I have a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 but it's a small sensor only lens so if I ever get a FF something like a 24-70mm f2.8 will deffo be on my shopping list. Sigma have just brought one out but the price is steep, and although it's HSM there's no IS.

SpecB

That's the problem with digital - nothing is as it seems - my 24-70 really works out at 36-105 but for what I do it is OK. I have a 17-35 if I need to get closer.

I fancy a 12-24 but they are expensive.

woof woof

Gosh, you do have some nice lenses!

I bought my 12-24mm some time ago and the price has gone up quite a bit since then. I don't know how much cheaper the small sensor only lenses in the 10-20mm range are but if you want to go wide on APS-C zooms are pretty much your only option.

SpecB

The 17-35 was a really cheap last of line Sigma before they brought out the new one and was under £100. TBH it is really slow at focusing and I don't really like it that much.

My one extravagance was a 135-400 4.3-5.6 which is great for the horses at shows and came into its own at Le Mans.

Matt

the old man

Not to mention the 10-20 sigma, the 580EX flashgun and a tripod plus the radio remote release.
Didn't want to lug that lot around on holiday.

Matt

Mum would have loved you lugging all that gear!

Matt

Just bought my first Zenit. I was hooked by the fact it had a lens included for £8.50 and it has three dials on top!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAP...eName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_500wt_1182

Better pics from elsewhere.

SpecB

I used to have an 11 many years ago. Taught me a lot.

Matt

I can't help myself...

My Dad had the near-identical sure shot A1 back in 1994, when they launched and I saw this one today in Mifsud's at Brixham, where I got my EOS 5 a year ago. Such a wonderful shop, if you find yourself in Torbay, it's worth seeking out. The only difference between mine and the one my Dad had is the grip on his was grey and the Macro icon was replaced by a fish icon.

It's certified waterproof to 16 feet or so.

woof woof

It's a Panasonic Lumix GF1 with 20mm f1.7 lens.

For anyone unfamiliar with this camera it's micro 4 thirds, which means that it has a much bigger sensor than a more normal compact camera. It is sort of compact, it dwarfs my LX2 and is just about the size of my Olympus Trip, much smaller than an SLR though.