Camera Review-MS1

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.

Friday Flashbacks

I have a huge collection of old photography magazines which were basically my go to learning tools as I progressed as a photographer.Here is a glimpse of what's in them and this could become a regular thing.Please note I mentioned in this video I captured an image of an Australasian Bittern. Experts have now told me it was a Juvenile Nankeen Night Heron.

Camera Walks. Pentax *istD and Minolta Maxxum 3.

I go for walks around the local block for about 30mins to try and get fit.
I often take pics on my iphone or another camera as I go.
Here are some I have taken recently.
 Today I also took with me a mint condition Minolta Maxxum 3  film camera to try it out.
When I get some pics back I will post them here.
It is a beautifully made compact point and shoot film slr.
It has enough control to be a little creative but you have to rely on the inbuilt programs.

No manual control.

The other cameras pics shown here are from my Pentax *istD Digital SLR.
The first Digital slr Pentax made.
An oldie but a goodie.

 I took some of these same images today with the Minolta Maxxum 3.

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.

The Lost Images- 1963-1970.

I have a huge collection of photos, digital images, negatives in my collection.
I started taking pictures in 1970 on a Kodak Retina 35mm camera, a Yashica Minister D 35mm rangefinder camera and then a Pentax Spotmatic 2 SLR.

When I look back on my photography there is a definite gap in the collection of family photos.
I have all the images my Dad, my Father in law, and wife's uncle took.

Most of them anyway.

When I look back at my own photos there is a distinct gap of pics between 1963 and 1970.

An most of my generation would probably say the same.

Then there was a surge in the popularity of Photography when people started buying the famous Kodak Instamatic.

Instamatic Pic Darwin 1971

According to wikipedia the Instamatic went into production from 1963 onwards but from my memory it wasn't until the early 70's they came into widespread use.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instamatic#Mid-1970s_to_late_1980s

So the people of today are hugely privileged to be able to capture their lives with their phones.

There are heaps of the instamatics available on the used market these days but very hard to get the film cartridges.

See my previous article on these cameras.

https://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/social-networking-with-kodak-instamatic.html

Old Film Bonanza- What to do!

I have just today received from my friend Terry a couple of plastic bags full of film and film containers.
Some years ago he used to do portraits of kids, pictures of show jumping horses amongst other things.
He told me he got interested in photography while still at school.
He set up a home darkroom and used to sell prints he developed and printed himself.
He specialised in black and white and used to also buy film in bulk and load it himself into whatever length he wanted.
His cameras of choice were an Mamiya RB67 and Mamiya TLR.
Some of these films are more than 30 years old.
They have been refrigerated until 4 days ago.
So my challenge now is WHAT TO DO WITH THEM!
So looks like a project coming on.
I can see  me loading them up and trying a variety of stuff.
But all my projects have a slow time span so you might see some results here when I have done something with them.

Watch this space.

If anyone can think of a good project for me let me know.

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.