Konica Auto Reflex TC and 2 Lenses.

 I was recently staying in South Australia's Riverland for a few days and we called in at our favourite Collectables store in Paringa.

It's called "Cammies".

We love it as there is a fantastic collection of things to look through but we always buy some of the brilliant home made jams and chutneys that are on sale.

I always look at their used cameras but I don't recall ever buying one there.

Well this time I found a treasure.

The Konica Autorflex TC 35mm film camera. 

There was also a Konica Hexanon 40mm F1.8 "pancake" lens and a 200mm Tokina F3.5 telephoto lens.

I could not pass on the price and the fact it was all in good working order.

I am in the process of shooting some colour film through the camera and when I have the results I will do  a review on my youtube channel and also post it here.

This is the camera with 200mm lens attached. Camera on car roof at Paringa Paddock

My friend Greg and Camera. I took some shots today with the 40mm lens shown here.

A review of the Pentax mzs 35mm film camera.

I have just posted this on youtube. The Pentax Mzs 35mm SLR. Arguably the best 35mm camera Pentax ever made. I used it many times on weddings and lots of other assignments.
If you can find a good working one for sale I recommend it if you are into film.
The pentax *istD was the first digital SLR that followed on from this. For the first few weddings as I went digital I shot both cameras on the same wedding.

 First some film shots on the Mzs in Central Australia in 2009
The five bottom shots wee taken from a moving car.

What Camera should I buy?

This is a regular question I get when people start talking to me about photography.
As much as people like their phone cameras people have been asking this question since cameras were first produced for the amateur home photographer.
When we only had film cameras when I started in 1970 this was a lot easier to answer than in today's digital age.
I was a keen Pentax user so it was usually whatever the Pentax entry level slr film camera of the day if they wanted a new camera or the many used cameras and lenses on the market.
They are still a great bargain today on the used market.
However I  used to recommend most of the time for a basic family snaps and holiday camera , the Ricoh 500g.
It was and still is a beautiful compact manual rangefinder 35mm camera.
Could be used on manual or Auto.
I was a good unofficial sales rep for this camera back then.
I still have one.
Flash synced at all speeds as well.
If you can't find a battery or the meter is dead you can still take pictures with it.
If you don't have a lightmeter there are inexpensive lightmeter apps you can put on your smart phone.
The question is a lot harder to answer now . There is so much choice.
The best thing is to keep it simple and ask someone like me who will ask you what you want the camera for.
Then take it from there.

What's in my Camera Bag 1950's

Glen Thompson with Yashica super 8 movie camera on tripod about 1973

Often we have posts on photography sites about what gear am I using?
What's in my bag?

Kodak Cameras. Left;Kodak Brownie 127 camera;.
Retina 35mm camera on the right. Dad took most of his pics on this camera.

What are the must have accessories?
What was it like in the pre digital days when amateur photographers were very serious about their craft?
This is an attempt to revisit photography in the 1950’s.
I was in my pre teens for much of the 1950’s.
My Dad, Glen Thompson, was a keen amateur photographer in those days.
So what did he use to practice his craft?
Camera:
35mm
His main go to camera was a Kodak Retina 35mm camera.

It had no rangefinder for accurate focussing,no meter,you had to activate the shutter each time to shoot,manual rewind and counting to avoide double exposures, had a flash synced at all speeds leaf shutter.
It had a very useful depth of field scale to enable accurate focussing based on aperture range.
Folding bellows compact but solid metal build camera.
Aperture range:f3.5 to f16
Shutter speed range: 1sec to 1/5oo sec.
T and B settings.
No hotshoe for flash but PC socket for external flash. 
Focal length of lens: F =5cm 
I still have this camera and have used it often. It is still in working order and what I learnt photography with.
The first camera I took a picture with was the Kodak Brownie 127 also pictured.

There would also be a Box Camera by Kodak
120mm film cameras: eg Agfa Isolette
Separate range finder:to attach to top of camera.
Lenses:close up lenses to screw on front of fixed lens.
Filters:various screw on lenses for black and white work.
Tripod:
Note Book: Purpose printed pocket data recorder.
Kodak Photography Aids: eg pocket Kodak Master Photoguide.
Films:
Negative Holders:
Enlarger and Home Darkroom:
Slide Projector:
Portable Screen:
Slide Boxes:
Standard 8 movie camera:
Standard 8 movie projector:
Movie Editor:

Dark room necessities.

Agfa Isola 120 film camera

Exposure record notebook.This isvery helpful in identifying shots in my dad's archive of negatives.

This little book a wealth of informastion. Amaruer photographers f these times really knew their craft.

Cameras I have owned or would like to.

The Pentax MZs.

The MZs is really  the last flagship of professional 35mm film cameras by Pentax before all went digital.
Before the MZs the Pentax Z1 and also the LX were classed as professional 35mm film slr.
I used the the Pentax Super A(Pentax Super Program in USA) for some years in wedding photography and in my opinion it could have been classed as a pro camera also.
It was a 35mm version on the Medium Format Pentax 645 which was a professional camera.
In the last couple of years as a wedding photographer, before I went digital, I was using the MZs on weddings.
A very capable and still sought after film camera.
Below is how Australian Camera reported on it at first testing in July 2001.
I was looking at a second hand Nikon F5 recently and the shop salesman said he preferred the MZs to the Nikon.
He also owned an MZs.
If you can find one on the second hand market a great camera to use and own.
A feature is that it does imprint settings  info about each frame on the negatives.