Saturday, December 12, 2009

Yeehaw! I hit the motherlode!


Crappy cell-phone photo.

Saturday morning, I went to the Tulsa Flea Market, a couple of thrift stores, some pawn shops, and the local thieve's market. And in one of them, I found this jumble of cameras.  There's far more here than is apparent in the photo.  Cameras and accessories are tucked away under the shelves and in small boxes.  While I was tempted to buy, I resisted because Christmas is coming and I need to reserve cash for Mary and the kids.  Still, the temptation is there.

Also, at the Tulsa Flea Market, I came across two Kodak Retinas.  One was a IIA and the other a III.  These are German-made Kodaks and quite likely the very best 35mm cameras they ever sold.  My IIA was a nearly solid piece of stainless steel.  You could beat someone to death with that camera, and then take a picture of the body afterward.  But much as I like the Retina, I probably won't buy another one because there's too great a chance that the bellows is shot.

Finally, one last thing for Steve A - I still can't comment on your blog.  Dunno why.  And in all that pile of cameras, not one Praktica.  Most were junk, but I didn't take the time to look carefully.  Too tempting.






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2 Comments:

Blogger Steve A said...

Hmm. I notice that a change of browsers allowed you to comment. Blogger is a tempermental beast.

I got a battery for my Praktica and the light meter needle now works. We shall see how accurate it is with the 1.5v alkaline instead of the original 1.35v mercury cell battery.

I've seen conflicting reports whether the camera has a bridge circuit to compensate or not.

11:36 AM  
Blogger Ed W said...

I had to change browsers in order to comment both on your blog and mine, but also to allow me to delete comment spam here on CycleDog. For some reason, Firefox simply wasn't being cooperative. Instead of a comment pop up, I got a search pop up. That happened when I tried to post the photo above, too.

A couple of days ago, I ordered a battery adapter for the Yashica Electro. It's supposed to allow the use of 4 A72's or a single 6volt battery, but it also incorporates a pair of diodes to drop the voltage down to 5.6 volts - the same as the original mercury battery. The Canonet has an adjustable resistor for the same calibration purpose, but I haven't located one in the Electro. Really, I haven't looked for a schematic yet. But the Electro is comparatively roomy inside. I could solder a pair of diodes together and simply put them in the battery circuit. Still, the adapter eliminates the need.

12:14 PM  

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