Push-up thread

My turn to wish everybody a happy new year 2025, if possible in a quieter world...

http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent2/26122024_Fed 28mm 6 001.jpg

(Fed S + Fed 4,5/28mm)

Amitiйs а tous. Jacques.

I'm a bit late for the Christmas thing, but I'd like to wish everyone a happy new Year.

Merry X-Mas and a happy new year to all!


http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent2/26122024_cameras.jpg

Jacques, is that your garden? Looks really nice.

Ulrich



http://fotos.cconin.de

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Jacques, is that your garden? Looks really nice.
Ulrich

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Alas no. It's in Lothringen where I had holidays some time ago. I love the garden and the dreamy look given by the 28mm Fed lens...

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Wishing you all the best for 2025

Just wanted to share a photo taken with a Fed 28mm too, just as dreamy I suppose!

A month without new message again, so I push it up. Meanwhile I have received some Russian cameras in half-frame size, 3 Chaikas, II, 2M and a 3 with a working meter, which seems to be rare. And a Fed Mikron half frame, working meter and even the rare Olympic edition, in unused condition. The latter is a super find, all information is visible in the viewer, which makes it one of the better half frames...

www.a7camera.com www.120folder.com www.instantphoto.eu www.135compact.com www.oddcameras.com
www.subcompactcam.com

Thanks, Reinhard.
Nothing to write here for the moment: I am in the Contax world, early postwar rangefinders and SLR.
A bit later, certainly...

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Same here, nothing really new in the sowjet section. Some times ago I received a red painted Kristal, looks very well made, but it is not original.
My latest find is an original "Luftwaffen-Eigentum" Leica for small money. The "Luftwaffen-Eigentum" enravings on the back are removed but you can see it in flat light. The FI number is engraved on the top and it has one(!) red curtain. The shutter clothes are in good condition and all speeds work as expected.

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

Last find here: a 1949 SLR Contax S, s/n 890, without selftimer, with 1/500th as fastest speed, and with a speed button with vertical stripes. Very rare and working!
I just need to find a correct Biotar now.

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Well, at least here in Finland (and much of it applies also to Estonia where I frequently visit) it is not easy to find any nice FSU-cameras for a decent price. Most of what is for sale is either very common Fed-, Smena- & Lubitel-models, or then Zenit-bodies. Unfortunately someone found out the “great bokeh” of Helios-lenses, so now all Zenits are slaughtered, and lens sold separately for approx. 40-50 euros, bodies becoming door-stoppers. And then there is some more interesting (read more rare) items, but for ridiculously high prices. Usually they don’t sell, as you see them from year to year for sale. When the border to Russia is closed for normal people, cameras don’t move in or out.

During the last year or so I have bought two cameras: a Chinese TLR Seagull 4A for 30 euros, and a tiny 60ies souvenir toy which shows pictures from my hometown, a bit like a View Master.


http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent2/1572025_IMG_20250420_110200_edit_868794784355.jpg



http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent2/1572025_IMG_20250713_161236.jpg



Best regards,
Juhani

It's a bit sad about many Zenit (and Praktica) cameras. People just want the lenses nowadays. With proper service these cameras can be a joy to use. I've used (and still use) a Zenit E for years and I like the simplicity and sturdy mechanics.

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Chinese TLR Seagull 4A for 30 euros

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Their price has increased recently. 30 euros is a bargain. They are not as decently made as the Rolleis and Yashicas, and need to be used with a little more care. But can still be great. You can get an upgrade 'Tessar' SA-99 lens from Ebay with multicoating. I replaced mine and got very good results. You can also use push on 36mm filters on the 4a and b.

In the UK, Seagull tlrs have a reputation for having very unreliable shutters. I presume there's a way of using them that generally doesn't cause the shutters to become unreliable such as setting the speed before tensioning the shutter, or even tension the shutter before setting the speed or even remembering to not use the self-timer if the synchro lever is set to "M" or something.

More than a month without any post, so it's time for a push-up. And yes, I should put some cameras into the just arrived thread...

www.a7camera.com www.120folder.com www.instantphoto.eu www.135compact.com www.oddcameras.com
www.subcompactcam.com

xya, how do you find the winding of the film on those old 120 cameras? I had a Welta Perle (although it just said "Welta" where it would normally say "Perle" or any other model name), I had a Ferrania elioflex 1, and several ensign selifx cameras, all of which I had trouble winidng the film on when it was near the end and the trouble got even worse when winding past the last frame. I now have a agfa isoly III, which takes 120 film so I'm hoping it doesn't have the same "tough winding" problem.

I apologise for all the "swearing" ie. mentioning the makes and models of non-soviet cameras, but it couldn't be helped.

seany65, I never had this problem and I think I had more than 100 items of those 120 film cameras in total with 1000s of film rolls from different makers. Very strange. So sorry, but I have no idea...

www.a7camera.com www.120folder.com www.instantphoto.eu www.135compact.com www.oddcameras.com
www.subcompactcam.com

Ha, no need to be sorry xya, it's not your fault. It could just be me not doing things correctly but I do also seem to have had a little more than my fair share of bad luck with cameras - I won't go into the full list of problems and cameras, but I think most of my Agfa Ambisilettes, Minolta 110 zoom slr MKII's and Yashica D tlrs have all had something wrong with them so I don't have any now. Even my Nikon FM2n must have been dropped on it's head at some point as the hotshoe is slanted down on the right hand side but it does seem to be working.

More than 100 big old folders and they all workd properly? I'm sooooo jealous, lol. how many do you have now, and do you use them as much as you'd like to?

seany65, I only said that I didn't have this winding problem. No, not all of my folders worked properly. When I think about it, there must have been much more than 100. There are about 40 different models on my website, for quite a number of them I had multiple copies. The much lauded Mamiya 6 folder didn't satiefy me at all, but after 7 copies I gave up. At the moment I sort out the Certo Super Sport Dollies, one of my favorites, there are 12 of them...

All the very simple folders from Agfa, Kodak, Zeiss and others didn't make it to my site, these were more than 40. I gave them away to youngsters who wanted to know about film. During the last few years there were quite some purchases fron Japan that were really bad. They had good ratings, but they were crap. I stopped buying fron Japan completely. 10 or more years ago Japan was a source of honest sellers...

When I have finished weeding out my cases, there will only be less than 10, 2 Certos, a Konica Pearl III, a Voigtlдnder Perkeo II, 2 Iskras, a Fuji GA645 Wi, a Lomo LC-120 and a Plaubel Makina (+ 3 TLRs). I still use them regularly, about a roll a week without fuzz, HP5 and Rodinal 1 hr semi-stand, a lazy man's solution.

www.a7camera.com www.120folder.com www.instantphoto.eu www.135compact.com www.oddcameras.com
www.subcompactcam.com

I see. Your'e probably right to weed some out even if you have the space for them. I have 14 cameras (each with a lens) and 13 lenses that are not on the cameras, hoods for alll lenses, a bag of photo bits that "could come in handy at some point", a bag of rollei bayonet 1/30mm bayonet filters, 4 kit bags and little bags of filters in them. Unfortunately I only have a walk-in closet to put them in, but I have all my books and some dvd's in there as well. I have to sthift stuff to get to the stuff I have to shift on order to get to any of the books, and it's a nightmare if I knock something off one of the bookshelves such as a lens hood. Even in daylight it's not bright in there so I have to get a torch and then shift stuff from the floor to my bed to create enough space to find the hood.

It seems you've had a lot more bad luck than I have with your cameras. 7 different Mamiya 6's and all crap? I suppose some Japanese sellers are taking advantage of the idea that most buyers are so far away that they may not return any faulty stuff.

No, the Mamiyas were not all crap, they just did not meet my (high) expectations. Some had issues. I personnally think that moving the film plane of a film without sprockets is not a good idea from the beginning. Already it needs an extra plate to be inserted the right way. Sharpness did not impress me at all. But this is a personal opinion, for me the Super Ikontas, for example, were much better. It will always be a personal choice...

www.a7camera.com www.120folder.com www.instantphoto.eu www.135compact.com www.oddcameras.com
www.subcompactcam.com

xya, Thanks for the info.