Robin Harrison
aka Harrison Cronbi
I see this as related to the 'Look what came in the mail' thread, but with a less triumphant tone. It's about admitting to those purchases you promised yourself you weren't going to make this month, those lenses and bodies and accessories and ebay bargains you didn't readily admit to your RFF buddies, let alone your loved ones. These aren't boasts, or request for user experiences. These are conscious-clearing posts that may also help us to recognise the state of our buying habits.
And on top of that, it's all a bit of a laugh, isn't it?
I just posted this list on my blg (at http://wp.me/p1DPtj-3n) and I figured it would actually make quite a good RFF thread.
Here goes. My July and August Camera Confessional:
Leica Summaron 35mm F2.8 lens (**** S E) – Very happy with this purchase, and I note the lens is receiving a surge in reputation. Remember this is a contemporary of the legendary 8-element summicron, but was designed with a more modest aperture. Rendering is sublime. I only wish i had the M2 version, as the M3 version’s goggles are ugly, cumbersome and render the lens unusable on non leica bodies. More on this lens in my upcoming post ‘Why a Man Needs Five 35s’.
Pair of Yashica T3 Super Ds for spares (*** S E) – Purchased for hacking out the waist-level superscope finders. Have removed the finder assembly from one of them. Might leave the second one to produce a step-by-step guide.
Epson R-D1 (**** S P E) – What a camera! I don’t mind the crop factor, it’s just a shame this was never updated with a few more megapixels and a higher resolution LCD. The ergonomics are a treat, the viewfinder is to die for. I got a bargain on a poorly presented eBay auction. I’ve sold not one, but two of these in the past, but the price alone tempted me back for another quick fling, and it is satisfying.
Olympus 35SP (** S P E) – It’s the lens, stupid. It’s fast, it’s a smidgen wide of normal. The camera is perennially described as a ‘poor man’s Leica’, but it can do things no M can (centre-weighted or spot metering, flash sync at all speeds). If this had a red dot it would go for 10 or 20 times of what the Oly demands. I got a good price, but only two stars awarded as this example suffers from some distracting viewfinder artefacts.
Contax T2 & Contax 167MT – single auction (TBC – not sure T2 meter is working correctly – S E) – Bought as a pair because the auction went for way less than a T2 normally would alone. These cameras might be returned if I can’t confirm the meter is accurate.
10 x Kodak Ektar 120 (*** N O) – My go-to choice for MF shooting in good light.
10 x Impossible Project Type 100 Chocolate (** N O) – Out of date film is the only way I can afford Impossible Project products! This was a big gamble for 100 shots, but early signs are very, very positive. The film produces tones to which online reproductions cannot do justice.
3 x Hotshoe Bubble Spirit Levels (**** N E) – Handy hotshot covers that double as questionably accurate spirit levels, and that will also be used to mount my homemade waist level finder (see Yashica T3, above).
Nikon 35mm f2 AF-D (*** S P E) – I’ve sometimes asked myself what I’d collect if I was a true collector (as opposed to a reluctant, accidental, lily-livered one). A strong contender would be 35mm f2 lenses – all makes, all mounts, all vintages. They are all desirable, a magnificent combination of wide-angle, fast aperture, moderate size, and high utility. This example was cheaper than most on eBay as the aperture lock had been cemented shut! 15 minutes with a small flat screwdriver sorted that out.
Urban Explorer Mini Messenger bag (***** S F) – Bought from an RFF member, I’ve given this five stars because a) it was cheap and b) it has temporarily cured my Domke lust.
Contax T (**** S E) – I didn’t think I’d ever find a camera that could out XA the Oly XA, but here it is: a quality piece of compact camera with 38mm T* lens, aperture priority, manual focussing, decent viewfinder, and exposure compensation via the easily accessed film speed dial. It is tiny. It is solid. I need to go shoot with this bad boy, sharpish.
YASHICA ML135 2.8C LENS (***** S E) – A clean example of a half-decent lens that will hopefully get me using my Contax SLRs little in the future. Price: £8. Even if I use this for practicing my lens element cleaning technique or weighing down my loose contact sheets, it will be good value.
FUJITA 66 Camera with 52mm, 75mm, 150mm lenses (***** S E) – What’s the cheapest you’d expect to find a 6×6 SLR system with 52mm, 80mm and 150mm lenses? No, lower. Guess again. Still cold. I give up. Think of a number. Half it. Half it again. Take away £23. Bingo (if you started with £400). Four stars on reputation and condition. Could be upgraded if the thing performs.
Vanguard Nivelo 204BK Tripod (*** N E) – This is a little miracle, and will probably be the subject of a future blog post. It’s a tiny, versatile tripod for small cameras. I don’t buy much of value new, but this is a rare exception.
Key:
N – bought new
S – bought secondhand
P – item which I’d previously owned and then sold
E – eBay purchase
O – bought from an online retailer
F – bought from online forum etc
R – bought from a shop, a physical retailer
Bargain star rating out of five:
* – you mug, you’ve been had
** – over the odds, or full retail, must try harder
*** – par for the course, a fair deal
**** – eye for a deal, could sell for a tidy profit tomorrow
***** – Del Boy skills, “This time next year…”
And on top of that, it's all a bit of a laugh, isn't it?
I just posted this list on my blg (at http://wp.me/p1DPtj-3n) and I figured it would actually make quite a good RFF thread.
Here goes. My July and August Camera Confessional:
Leica Summaron 35mm F2.8 lens (**** S E) – Very happy with this purchase, and I note the lens is receiving a surge in reputation. Remember this is a contemporary of the legendary 8-element summicron, but was designed with a more modest aperture. Rendering is sublime. I only wish i had the M2 version, as the M3 version’s goggles are ugly, cumbersome and render the lens unusable on non leica bodies. More on this lens in my upcoming post ‘Why a Man Needs Five 35s’.
Pair of Yashica T3 Super Ds for spares (*** S E) – Purchased for hacking out the waist-level superscope finders. Have removed the finder assembly from one of them. Might leave the second one to produce a step-by-step guide.
Epson R-D1 (**** S P E) – What a camera! I don’t mind the crop factor, it’s just a shame this was never updated with a few more megapixels and a higher resolution LCD. The ergonomics are a treat, the viewfinder is to die for. I got a bargain on a poorly presented eBay auction. I’ve sold not one, but two of these in the past, but the price alone tempted me back for another quick fling, and it is satisfying.
Olympus 35SP (** S P E) – It’s the lens, stupid. It’s fast, it’s a smidgen wide of normal. The camera is perennially described as a ‘poor man’s Leica’, but it can do things no M can (centre-weighted or spot metering, flash sync at all speeds). If this had a red dot it would go for 10 or 20 times of what the Oly demands. I got a good price, but only two stars awarded as this example suffers from some distracting viewfinder artefacts.
Contax T2 & Contax 167MT – single auction (TBC – not sure T2 meter is working correctly – S E) – Bought as a pair because the auction went for way less than a T2 normally would alone. These cameras might be returned if I can’t confirm the meter is accurate.
10 x Kodak Ektar 120 (*** N O) – My go-to choice for MF shooting in good light.
10 x Impossible Project Type 100 Chocolate (** N O) – Out of date film is the only way I can afford Impossible Project products! This was a big gamble for 100 shots, but early signs are very, very positive. The film produces tones to which online reproductions cannot do justice.
3 x Hotshoe Bubble Spirit Levels (**** N E) – Handy hotshot covers that double as questionably accurate spirit levels, and that will also be used to mount my homemade waist level finder (see Yashica T3, above).
Nikon 35mm f2 AF-D (*** S P E) – I’ve sometimes asked myself what I’d collect if I was a true collector (as opposed to a reluctant, accidental, lily-livered one). A strong contender would be 35mm f2 lenses – all makes, all mounts, all vintages. They are all desirable, a magnificent combination of wide-angle, fast aperture, moderate size, and high utility. This example was cheaper than most on eBay as the aperture lock had been cemented shut! 15 minutes with a small flat screwdriver sorted that out.
Urban Explorer Mini Messenger bag (***** S F) – Bought from an RFF member, I’ve given this five stars because a) it was cheap and b) it has temporarily cured my Domke lust.
Contax T (**** S E) – I didn’t think I’d ever find a camera that could out XA the Oly XA, but here it is: a quality piece of compact camera with 38mm T* lens, aperture priority, manual focussing, decent viewfinder, and exposure compensation via the easily accessed film speed dial. It is tiny. It is solid. I need to go shoot with this bad boy, sharpish.
YASHICA ML135 2.8C LENS (***** S E) – A clean example of a half-decent lens that will hopefully get me using my Contax SLRs little in the future. Price: £8. Even if I use this for practicing my lens element cleaning technique or weighing down my loose contact sheets, it will be good value.
FUJITA 66 Camera with 52mm, 75mm, 150mm lenses (***** S E) – What’s the cheapest you’d expect to find a 6×6 SLR system with 52mm, 80mm and 150mm lenses? No, lower. Guess again. Still cold. I give up. Think of a number. Half it. Half it again. Take away £23. Bingo (if you started with £400). Four stars on reputation and condition. Could be upgraded if the thing performs.
Vanguard Nivelo 204BK Tripod (*** N E) – This is a little miracle, and will probably be the subject of a future blog post. It’s a tiny, versatile tripod for small cameras. I don’t buy much of value new, but this is a rare exception.
Key:
N – bought new
S – bought secondhand
P – item which I’d previously owned and then sold
E – eBay purchase
O – bought from an online retailer
F – bought from online forum etc
R – bought from a shop, a physical retailer
Bargain star rating out of five:
* – you mug, you’ve been had
** – over the odds, or full retail, must try harder
*** – par for the course, a fair deal
**** – eye for a deal, could sell for a tidy profit tomorrow
***** – Del Boy skills, “This time next year…”
back alley
IMAGES
i have a reversal here...the original fuji hood and adapter for my x100 arrived at my camera store today...i went to pick it up but compared it to the cheaper chinese knock off i had previously bought...and left it there. what i had was just as good in looks and function...saved myself 90 bucks.
TXForester
Well-known
I'm not sure this counts as a confessional, because I have nobody to give me the evil eye for buying camera gear instead of groceries. I go part of grandma's inheritance. Not a lot, but I spent some on equipment anyway.
Canon 70-300mm IS used
Canon 28-135mm IS used
Tamron 19-35mm used
another tripod
Chinese made ttl flash for Canon
some small stuff
Canon 70-300mm IS used
Canon 28-135mm IS used
Tamron 19-35mm used
another tripod
Chinese made ttl flash for Canon
some small stuff
Robin Harrison
aka Harrison Cronbi
Ah, well done. Frugality and recognition of value - both virtues!
Some of those Chinese knock-offs are actually pretty good. I've bought hoods and miscellaneous accessories. The biggest surprise was a RF wireless flash trigger that worked just fine, and cost about one eighth of the branded equivalent.
Robin Harrison
aka Harrison Cronbi
Oh, and you've broken the three zooms in a month rule. A terrible, terrible thing. Consider RFF giving you the evil eye for that SLR-inspired blip!
BTMarcais
Well-known
I went crazy olympus style this time around. E-P3, 17mm, 14-42 (on it's way), FL-300R flash, large grip, and adapters for my pentax and leica lenses. In my defense, I won some $ that had to be spent on photo stuff (really, not making that up!). But that of course didn't cover it all.
Oh, and a Paterson Orbital.
And a 35mm f/1.4 SC Nokton in the classifieds just now.
and a Nikkor 5cm f/2 LTM. That might've been june? no, probably july. I'm up to 5 50's now for the leica's, 2 for the pentax's, and a 43mm too... they seem to be the hardest to give up. (and two for the exacta. don't ask.)
On the plus side, I did unload a few things I really wasn't using much (more to go still), and am down to LESS than 2 dozen cameras for the first time in a while. Not sure I can really brag about that though...
-Brian
Oh, and a Paterson Orbital.
And a 35mm f/1.4 SC Nokton in the classifieds just now.
and a Nikkor 5cm f/2 LTM. That might've been june? no, probably july. I'm up to 5 50's now for the leica's, 2 for the pentax's, and a 43mm too... they seem to be the hardest to give up. (and two for the exacta. don't ask.)
On the plus side, I did unload a few things I really wasn't using much (more to go still), and am down to LESS than 2 dozen cameras for the first time in a while. Not sure I can really brag about that though...
-Brian
Robin Harrison
aka Harrison Cronbi
Thanks for the prompt - I'd like to confess I bought two Paterson Orbitals about a year ago, and the 6 shots of 5x4 I've taken since then are still sitting in the darkslides.
"And a 35mm f/1.4 SC Nokton in the classifieds just now." - I like it! Still at it whilst in the confession booth!
Hmmm,
Purchased recently:
35mm Summicron V2
50mm Summarit 2.5
50mm Nokton 1.1
Sold/Selling:
35mm Nokton 1.4
35mm Biogon
50mm Planar
50mm Heliar 3.5
It's all fun to me, so I don't feel bad about it.
Purchased recently:
35mm Summicron V2
50mm Summarit 2.5
50mm Nokton 1.1
Sold/Selling:
35mm Nokton 1.4
35mm Biogon
50mm Planar
50mm Heliar 3.5
It's all fun to me, so I don't feel bad about it.
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oftheherd
Mentor
No cameras for me for a while, since a parts XA about two months ago. No chance yet to fix the working one that needed a part (which the parts didn't have anyway). But today I walked in to a camera store and found a Kinderman 5 reel tank (with reels), listed for $30. Decided to get it since I have so much film backed up for development. Pointed out to the clerk how ugly it was with the minor pitting (probably from being handled by sweaty hands since it doesn't appear to be used, nor was it being sold that way), and how I thought I should get a discount. Hey, $2 or $3 bucks is $2 or $3 bucks.
He talked to his boss, and I got it for $20. I am happy. I will have to Navel Jelly the thing and then croakus cloth it, but I am happy and don't mind that extra little work for the chance to do more reels at once.
He talked to his boss, and I got it for $20. I am happy. I will have to Navel Jelly the thing and then croakus cloth it, but I am happy and don't mind that extra little work for the chance to do more reels at once.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I've been a bad-bad boy. I couldn't resist buying this particular M3 DS a few weeks ago because it was a dream come true. For basically no money I got a M3 that had just been factory serviced by Leica, even the prism in the VF'er was resilvered, and at first I thought that this particular M3 was kinda aweful stiff, until I remembered when my M6 got returned from Sherry after being completely overhauled and upgraded. Then I remembered to check for the brand new L-seal.
I am a weak-weak man. I did a bad thing and pulled out the card with the magic numbers. Its a good thing that the banks will lend me money at zero APR for almost 18 month. BTW don't tell my girlfriend who calls my camera collection a camera farm because it keeps growing. Funny thing is that it seems that the camera farm has gotten so large that she has not discovered that I have a new camera yet.
I guess all those Leicas look alike. LOL. So its been two weeks, and because I'm such a bad-bad boy, perhaps I want to be punished. I end up flashing the new M3 dry firing it in bed during comercials while my girlfriend watches TV lying next to me. So far she is clueless, but deep inside I know that I'm a bad-bad boy. I begin to wonder am I a sociopath because I have no guilt for my bad behavior, yet I know that I'm up to no good.
So this week I go and buy a used 28 Cron at a decent price. I reason with myself telling myself, "Think of all the money you saved." But the real reason I purchased this lens was I getting tired loosing sleep obsessing and lusting over this lens-pining away.
Yes I know I'm no good, and I'm being bad, but I can't help it. I should be paying off all those other zero APR Credit Card bills, but the banks keep sending me all these crazy-crazy offers, and deep down I know the government is doing evil things to destroy our economy, but why should the government have all the fun I say?
Anyway, I will say that I have no buyers remorse and I am happy. I take ownership that I have obsessive and compulsive tendecies and I am no longer in denial.
Poor Calvin
I am a weak-weak man. I did a bad thing and pulled out the card with the magic numbers. Its a good thing that the banks will lend me money at zero APR for almost 18 month. BTW don't tell my girlfriend who calls my camera collection a camera farm because it keeps growing. Funny thing is that it seems that the camera farm has gotten so large that she has not discovered that I have a new camera yet.
I guess all those Leicas look alike. LOL. So its been two weeks, and because I'm such a bad-bad boy, perhaps I want to be punished. I end up flashing the new M3 dry firing it in bed during comercials while my girlfriend watches TV lying next to me. So far she is clueless, but deep inside I know that I'm a bad-bad boy. I begin to wonder am I a sociopath because I have no guilt for my bad behavior, yet I know that I'm up to no good.
So this week I go and buy a used 28 Cron at a decent price. I reason with myself telling myself, "Think of all the money you saved." But the real reason I purchased this lens was I getting tired loosing sleep obsessing and lusting over this lens-pining away.
Yes I know I'm no good, and I'm being bad, but I can't help it. I should be paying off all those other zero APR Credit Card bills, but the banks keep sending me all these crazy-crazy offers, and deep down I know the government is doing evil things to destroy our economy, but why should the government have all the fun I say?
Anyway, I will say that I have no buyers remorse and I am happy. I take ownership that I have obsessive and compulsive tendecies and I am no longer in denial.
Poor Calvin
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cosmonaut
Well-known
Olympus E1 with battery grip in mint shape off Craigslist. $200.00
it was on Craigslist for weeks I called about it once and then forgot about it. I found that it was still up last week and went to see it. I bought it for a rugged time lapse camera. The gent selling it was moving to South Carolina and had to unpack it. He was leaving the next morning so I just got it in time.
it was on Craigslist for weeks I called about it once and then forgot about it. I found that it was still up last week and went to see it. I bought it for a rugged time lapse camera. The gent selling it was moving to South Carolina and had to unpack it. He was leaving the next morning so I just got it in time.
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TXForester
Well-known
So, what's the deal here? Do I say a bunch of Hail Marys, or buy more rangefinders for mitigation?
[email protected]
Mentor
this was in early 2011 when in a fit of madness, i sold off most of my gear..
...and then proceeded to buy more...
...and then proceeded to buy more...
mijosc
Established
Just bought a Summicron 35 v4. Definitely didn't need it, but it will go oh so nicely with my new M7!
Robin Harrison
aka Harrison Cronbi
Calzone - that is one meaty confession! And no remorse? I get the feeling we'll see you back here again next month!
raytoei - that is one nice collection. And quite sad, actually, to see all those 'sold' signs. Almost like a looking back at a long lost high school photo and noting all those no longer with us.
raytoei - that is one nice collection. And quite sad, actually, to see all those 'sold' signs. Almost like a looking back at a long lost high school photo and noting all those no longer with us.