Hello, everybody! Do you believe in curses? Some folks believe that items can be cursed, it can come from the previous owner or just a stroke bad luck. You’ll sometimes wonder why things are always in a messed up state or why they’re always broken. The good thing is, curses can be lifted by good karma, faith or the patience of a good healer. Today, I will show you a cursed camera. It has been featured on the internet for a couple of years now, with the owner desperate to find a way of lifting the curse. It’s destiny that brought me and the camera together. Do you think I have enough good karma to lift the curse of the evil jammed shutter? I have been saving cameras and lenses for years, along with presenting you the best articles you can find on the internet. Let’s see if all that goodness will change the fate of this poor thing.
Introduction:
The Voigtländer Bessa R was sold from 2000 up to 2004, it was preceded by a minimalistic model called the Voigtländer Bessa L which doesn’t come with a viewfinder nor a rangefinder. It’s a brave gamble by a small company relative to the giants of the time called Nikon and Canon. The company is named Cosina, a company with a long history and experience. They dared to sell a concept that went against what the market was used to, the effort resulted in an instant classic that spawned a whole line of cameras. Many people are attracted to these because they offer something unique and that not a lot of brands give. It’s still very popular these days and the price has shot up due to the hype from influencers. I will show you if this hype is deserved or not in this series, you will be the judge of it.
This is the most modern LTM camera you can ever buy. It has a lot of modern conveniences which helps in simplifying the process of taking great photos. It is a great “Sunday camera” for leisurely taking photos at a park or the streets. It offers the best in terms of comfort of all the LTM cameras I have ever used.
Hello, everybody! I’ve got this crush on Kobayashi Akiko (小林明子) when she was younger, her face was beautiful and she is certainly very graceful specially when singing her hit “恋に落ちて” or “Fall in Love” in English. It’s a song about being in love from an innocent woman’s perspective. I see het at that point in her life as the epitome of femininity, beauty and a lot of other things that I associate a perfect woman to be. She’s now a certified “auntie”, not someone I would fancy for now but I still respect her. It seems that she as aged as gracefully as her hit which has been covered numerous times and by different singers in various languages. Today, I will show you something that’s equally graceful and it has aged well, too.
Introduction:
The Nikkor-Q•C 13.5cm f/3.5 had a long run, with production running from 1951–1962. The one we have in this article was made in the final patches so it’s close to the last one produced. The reason why we are interested in this version is the different style of its barrel. It now looks more modern and some parts are now made of aluminum alloy instead of the heavy brass that we are all used to seeing. This change came about around the latter half of the 1950s, but exact dates are unknown. Of all the known versions, this is the least desirable so it’s also the cheapest one you can get.
The barrel looks much sleeker and the black paint makes it look smart. Nothing much has changed when I use it except for feeling a bit lighter in my hands. It’s very beautiful with all those colorful markings. I must also say that the black paint helps contrast the colors much better. The previous version is also black but I don’t recall that having multicolored markings, they are just white numbers. This one makes it a lot easier to read everything and it also comes in both standard and metric.
Hello, everybody! Are you a fan of zombie movies? They have become popular again recently, I do not like watching them so much even as a child. I find them depressing to watch just because of the mood the cinematographers set them in, it’s usually gloomy and at night or a dark forest. I want things to be a lot more happier so I like comedies more than zombie films. Today, I am going to show you something depressing. That’s because of the look that you get with it and the cost purchasing one. I’m not into the type of films that people with fancy tastes in coffee are into but maybe it’s something that you’ll like.
Introduction:
The Retocolor Aqua 400 is new to me, I will admit that I do not know anything about it and I have never seen any pictures taken with it. It was sold to me as a specialty film in the camera shop. I was curious so I bought it. Little is known about this film except that it comes from a small company in red China. They’re trying to follow the footsteps of Lomography, at least that’s how I saw it.
The packaging it’s nice, it’s so appealing that it caught my eyes. The substrate felt thicker than usual but I am not sure. The canister is the usual one that you would expect from a smaller company, at least it’s not cheap in terms of vibes.
Hello, everybody! Do you remember The Ventures? The band is the reason why I picked up a guitar during my teens, but I never got to learn playing it, which is unfortunate. Their hits such as “Wipeout“, “Pipeline“, “Walk, Don’t Run” and other hits defined a genre. Their music was copied, covered, but never surpassed. Even if newer instrumental bands replaced the aging group, their music is still studied by many musicians. We can also give the same honor to today’s topic, a lens so influential amongst Nikkor lovers that it has a reputation surrounding it, and just like The Ventures, this lens has something special that later lenses do not have. Do you want to know why I said that? Read the whole article to know why.
Introduction:
The Nikkor S•C 8.5cm f/1.5 was Nikon’s best and fastest 85mm for a very long time, it was produced from 1953 up to an unknown date. It was surpassed by the Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 Ai-S in 1981 after nearly 30 years of being the king of 85mm Nikkors. Despite that, it still has a claim at being the king due to its 16-bladed iris, the most I have found on a consumer Nikkor! That enables it to have unusually smooth backgrounds at moderate apertures. This feature made it a very expensive lens as it’s difficult to produce, there are only less than 2000 produced, most come with the native Nikon S-mount or the rare Contax rangefindermount that we are starting to see more of lately. This article will showcase the L39/LTM variant.
The build of this lens is second-to-none, it’s dense despite being compact. The barrel is made with brass and some parts were made from aluminum alloy. The engravings are beautiful and functional, typical of a Nikkor. The front element is huge, necessitating the use of 57mm filters which were huge for that time.
Hello, everybody! Do you have a vice that you have been staying away from with the best of your ability? I am sure but we all do. Is it smoking, alcohol or pornography? Or is it something more benign like buying cameras and lenses? It is very hard to keep the urge, the longer you keep it the stronger the climax is. This is how I felt when I made my latest purchase, it’s something that I have always wanted but the price is not something that I can easily afford. I was lucky that I found one for a reasonable price, it’s not cheap but it is fair. When I finally got it, I felt an overwhelming release, as if something that I have been keeping in for many years suddenly came out. I have nothing more to hide so I will show you my latest yo-yo.
Introduction:
The W-Nikkor•C 2.5cm f/4 is the smallest rangefinder Nikkor that you will ever find, that is if you measure it from the lens mount of the camera. As a W-Nikkor, it fills a unique place in the catalog for a super-wide lens. During that time, a 35mm lens is already considered wide and 28mm is the entry point to the really-wide category. It was made from 1953 up to an undetermined date so we assume that production lasted until the final days of the Nikon rangefinder era. There are only 2 variations for the Nikon S-mount, earlier ones come in shiny chrome like you see here while later ones are painted black. These were also made in Leica M39 screw mounts, too. Just like everything Leica, they will cost you more than a kidney to acquire.
It is very compact, it feels dense in your hand. The build quality is typical for its time, which means this is a very well-made product. There’s nothing much to manipulate with this lens as it lacks a focusing ring, this is one of the defining traits of this lens. It is truly unique in many ways.
Hello, everybody! I was watching some old Soviet-era movies from the 1930s up until Khrushchev’s time. Some of them were colored, using a simpler process than the common 3-step process used at that time. This makes the resulting movies look a little bit brownish, this may be partly due to how it is stored, too. I enjoyed watching them because it’s a rare glimpse of life “across the curtain“, for some of us who are old enough to remember. Today, I will show you something that will give you the same look, if not similar to the movies that I have watched.
Introduction:
The Cinestill 50D has always intrigued me, I’ve been seeing it for some time now but I still do not know its selling point and what makes it special and appealing to some people. One thing is for sure, It is another repackaged cinema film without the remjet. I don’t know which film it was originally so I’ll just leave it to the experts in the comment section. This is supposed to be a “daylight” film, which means it’s best to use it on a sunny day. Some people claim that it’s similar to the Reflx Lab 100, but I find that film to have less brownish tint overall. It’s also a little bit more pleasant to look at (the results) compared to this one.
It comes in the typical Cinestill packaging, but it’s blue this time. There’s nothing special about it, it’s what I would expect from this company.
Hello, everybody! Do you know what’s a “chastity belt“? They are metal or leather underwear for women in the Middle Ages up until recently In some cultures. They ensure that the wearer is celibate while these special panties are on. Not so common is the male counterpart, it forces a religious person to be celibate. Why are we talking about such unusual topics? Our star today has some kind of a “chastity belt”, too! It’s quite a surprise because I have modified it to protect something precious. know more about it hear in this article and read until the end.
Introduction:
We ended part 1 with the removal of the outer casing, in this part we’ll see how the internal mechanisms can be dismantled. If you have worked on similar cameras before then they should come as no surprise to you because they’re very similar. Some things may be a little bit different but they should not matter at all in the grand scheme of things.
I got to this point by the end of this article, waiting for the replacement leatherette from the amazing and reliable Asahi Aki, who gave me what I exactly needed. His kits are exquisite and reasonably priced, he is the best guy in the business, I highly recommend his services and products.
Hello, everybody! Do you all remember “Boney M“? Boney M was Germany’s super group during the Disco days, responsible for some of the unforgettable hits such as Rasputin, Daddy Cool and several more that topped the charts from the mid 1970s up until the mid 1980s. It is one of my favorite groups and I would listen to their songs while driving just to keep me awake. What a lot of people didn’t know is that the four members of the group didn’t really sing the songs, at least Bob Farrell – who was the front-man never did. That’s why many considered it a fake group. Today, I’ll show you what some people would call a “fake”, a copycat. But just like Boney M, despite not being the real deal it did really well for itself because it tried to outdo the original, other people would even go as far as say that it’s even better. Read the whole story to find out why I said this and you decide if it is indeed worthy of its reputation.
Introduction:
The Nicca Type-5 was sold from 1955, it succeeded the older Nicca IIIS. What sets it apart from the older camera is this one copied the Leica IIIc instead of the earlier Leica IIIa. It has a maximum shutter speed of 1/1000s instead of the pedestrian 1/500s that many older Leica copies have. But its most defining feature is the rear door that you can open for more convenient loading of film. It also allows you to remove stuck or ripped pieces of film easily, you will need to send your camera for repairs prior to this feature because the lower shell had to be removed in order to get any debris off. This also allows me to conveniently test the focus of any lenses that I have serviced since all I need to do is just look through the film aperture. It’s also much more trivial to adjust the tension of the curtains because I don’t need to remove the lower shell in order to attach a sensor to the camera.
Nicca makes some of the better JapaneseBarnack clones, the build is much better compared to the ones from other companies, rivaling even Canon’s. They are inexpensive, you can get one for well under $100, I got mine for $50 or so, it’s not in good shape at all but that’s how they usually look like.
Hello, everybody! Have you heard of the legendary “Barrel Man“? It is a wooden statuette carved by the talented Igorot people. He is basically a little wooden man with a big barrel covering his body. When you pull the barrel off from the statuette you will be surprised by his huge wooden spring-loaded penis. It’s a novelty gift and it has become somewhat of a folk culture icon after it was introduced to the rest of the world by travelers. I had one a long time ago at my office which I used as a paperweight and to entertain my guests with. I am reminded of that little naughty figurine by today’s subject. It has a spring-loaded gimmick, but it is not as vulgar as what the Barrel Man has nor is it as big. Anyway, it’s just as entertaining if you ask me.
Introduction:
The Seiki Kogaku S has a pop-up viewfinder instead of the Leica’s simpler window. It is one of its defining gimmicks to circumvent the original German parents. I find it pathetic and useless as you will soon know why later in this article when I talk about how it handles when shooting. Despite that, I find it charming as it gives this camera a special character and silhouette. The funny thing is, it costs a lot more to produce a tiny enclosed viewfinder compared to a simpler flip-type one and the latter would be much more useful. It’s just a waste of space and an unnecessary complexity to solve a simple problem. I guess the Japanese really did idolize the Germans too much, to the extent of learning the bad habit of over-engineering. It’s probably one of the first, if not the first Leica copycat and a primitive one, too.
It is now much cleaner compared to how you first saw it in part 1. Some parts of the plating are corroded and beyond conventional cleaning, there’s nothing much we can do about it. I have replaced some screws and a few small parts from a donor Canon S2 which fits perfectly. I’m lucky to have a few screws that I can repurpose for my spares box, some of them are cross-type screws and are placed in parts that you won’t see externally. Some of the small set screws were replaced with new stainless ones just in case.
Hello, everybody! It’s spring now and it’s time to do some cleaning. While I do not clean my workshop as much as I should, I do a very thorough job of cleaning the cameras that I repair. I will show you the result of what I did to the camera that I am featuring in this series. I hope that you will appreciate the effort.
Introduction:
It is amazing how a joint effort between two Japanese companies can result in a good machine, at a time when the Germans were the ones who dominated the whole camera industry. I say “good” because this is still nothing compared to what the Germans were making at that time in terms of engineering or quality. I have had the opportunity to service Zeiss and Leica cameras that were made even earlier than this, they’re just superior in every way. It doesn’t mean that this camera is bad, it’s just not there yet.
This is where we left last time. I’ve took the time to clean everything very well and this is the result. This is definitely a huge Improvement compared to how you guys last saw it. It’s now time to reinstall the shutter and the rangefinder mechanism, but before we do that I would like to show you some other things.
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Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Repair and Review 