Hello, everybody! Do you know the song “Ame no Midosuji” (雨の御堂筋) by the famous singer that came from the country of Taiwan called Ouyang Fei Fei (歐陽菲菲)? It’s about a woman who is searching for her lover in a rainy night. She went on looking for him but in despair she found nobody, and just me do with her memories of him. We have all searched for something in our lives, but sometimes we never get to find some of them. Unlike Ouyang Fei Fei, I have found something that I was looking for, and it came to me as a beautiful surprise. It’s one of the rarest Nikkors ever made and I will show you what I found today.
Introduction:
The Cine-Zoom-Nikkor 17-70mm f/2.2 is one of the few Cine-Zoom Nikkors that’s seen in catalogs, it’s still a mystery even to knowledgeable historians and collectors. Nobody knew when it was made and for how long but I suspect is that it was sold as early as 1959 or 1963. Nobody knew when production stopped so I cannot even speculate. It’s a very mysterious lens and I will try my best to give you the most up-to-date information I could find, including some sample photos and a complete teardown of this lens.
Its construction and all-metal build are outstanding, definitely the best of all Cine-Nikkors. It’s also heavy, so I get nervous just thinking about how much stress the threads of the mount must endure when this is fitted to a movie camera and used for a long span of time.
Hello, everybody! Have you ever been duped into thinking that something might be fake? You pass it and regret later after finding out that it’s probably the best bargain you could ever find. It has happened a lot with some of my friends who collect expensive watches. It has happened to me several times before, but I am more lucky than stupid so I am usually blessed with good deals. Today, I will show you one such lucky find, a real find of a lifetime. In all my years hunting for rare items I have ever only seen and touched 2 of these. Please read the whole article to know why this is so special.
Introduction:
The Nikkor-Q.C 13.5cm f/3.5 featured in this article is a special one, it is one of the very few existing lenses that Nikon made that came with an Exakta-mount. Only a few people have knowledge of its existence and even fewer people have ever seen one in person. I am extremely lucky to own such a rare oddity. Nobody knew exactly how many of these were made, we can only date them by their serial numbers. My example is probably from 1954.
Compared to the usual ones that came with a rangefinder mount, this one is quite short. It has to be since the Exakta is an SLR, complete with a flapping mirror. You may easily assume that this was modified using a talented specialist shop at first glance but the quality is so consistent that it can only come from Nikon. I almost dismissed it when I first saw this, singing it’s a fake.
Hello, everybody! Because of the generous support that I got from all of you, I am motivated to finish this series earlier than scheduled. I’m not saying that I am like a jukebox that will only play whenever a coin is inserted, but a little bit of donation makes me feel that my contribution to the community is welcomed. It has been many years since I have started this website and this is one of the few instances where everyone seems to so eager to see the final part of a series. Your prayers have been answered, this article will be the best resource for this camera around in the internet unless someone else will be able to write something better. If you’re content creator, please don’t rip my content off. If you must, at least help advertise for me and leave me a little tip, that will be very much appreciated. It’s fair for me to ask.
Introduction:
The Voigtländer Bessa R is a quirky camera, but it’s very popular. There’s many people who have had the bad luck of owning lemons just because of how it was constructed. In this case, popularity does not mean reliability. You will know why I made the statement in this article. Despite having a bad reputation for its reliability, some people have been lucky with their cameras so it’s not entirely the camera’s fault. It’s still a great camera, all you need to do is inspect the camera very well before buying one and ask for a warranty. That should give you enough time to run a few rolls through it.
I am somewhat disappointed at the amount of plastics used within the camera. I could accept it having a plastic exterior but seeing plastic used in some of the important parts inside the camera turned me off. It is ironic because it’s not the plastic parts that will give in first, what some of the metal parts.
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 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.
Hello, everybody! Do you believe in the “Leica glow“? It is a legend taught by the “Leica church” which has been described as something ethereal, akin to angel dust. Some will say that it was done intentionally but I see it as just an excuse to justify the high cost of a poorly coated optic, if at all. It’s like a ghost, it is there or not depending on what you believe in. Today, I’ll show you something that exhibits something similar. I do not dare say that it’s the same thing but I will let you decide the matter for yourself. Believe it, or not?
Introduction:
The Nikkor 5cm f/2.8 was produced for a very short time, somewhere between 1936–1940 about the same time as the Seiki Kogaku Kwanon and Seiki Kogaku S. Seiki Kogaku (Canon) could not manufacturer their own lenses at that time so Nippon Kogaku (Nikon) had to do that for them. It is one of the first Nikkors for the consumer market because at that time, Nikon concentrated its production for the Japanese military. It did not stay for long probably because the faster Nikkor 5cm f/2 made more sense. Both were only made to fit the unique bayonet mount (by Nikon) for the earliest Seiki Kogaku cameras mentioned before. This mount has no official name to my knowledge so people call it the Hansa-mount, or Seiki-mount for me.
The whole thing is made of metal apart from the glass and the felt lining at the mount. It is heavy since everything is mostly made from brass. The workmanship is better than many Nikkors that were made in the years right after the end of the war, or the MIOJ (Made in Occupied Japan) series. The fit and finish is nice even to this day and even after being stored poorly for decades under undesirable conditions.
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Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Repair and Review 