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Vintage film cameras

Years ago I had a chance to try the Sensorex with the 50mm standard lens and It was an impressive camera and really good results. I was testing against a Pen FTV and decided to go with the FTV. I do not remember why I made the choice but I used the FTV for some years and loved it.
 
Mirandas were neat in that they could be used with different finders -- waist level etc. and still have metering. Not a major issue for me, but I had a friend who was an architecture student, and he had a Miranda for exactly that reason -- he needed to use the camera on tripod and inspect the image for converging verticals. And it is cool.
 
The Miranda line was truly ahead of its time in terms of what it offered and was an amazing system camera. You should try to build on it. I've not seen pricing on them but I'd bet you could build a really nice system for not a lot of money.

A lot of architects used the Exacta for that reason, the waist level finder ability. In my collection I had a converter to make a standard lens have tilt and shift.

Alpa, Nikon, and Pentax also had swappable viewfinders. Leica went the other way and you could convert the rangefinders into a sort of slr. It was designed for macro photography. I have the M version that i use on my CL but nothing you'd want to do often.
 
Until the advent of the electronic camera, I believe the Miranda was the only interchangeable viewfinder system that kept metering with all finders. That was a very convenient feature, but somewhat undercut by the f stop coupler that protruded out from the lens and body, so if you tried to use the camera on a tripod, you had to have a very small base on the tripod, or the coupler would foul it.
 
I can not remember if Alpa had it or when it was introduced. Not many seem to know much about the brand. It was in a price range few other than Leica owners could afford and mentally justify.
 
Alpas didn't have through the lens metering until the 9d, which was a fixed pentaprism model, as were all their later SLRs, though you could probably get a non metered waist level version made for you -- Alpas were practically custom made any way, and they made special models for race tracks, and pin registered ones for absolutely accurate multiple exposure usage and so on which often were significantly different than the standard consumer models.
 
Nat said:
Until the advent of the electronic camera, I believe the Miranda was the only interchangeable viewfinder system that kept metering with all finders. That was a very convenient feature, but somewhat undercut by the f stop coupler that protruded out from the lens and body, so if you tried to use the camera on a tripod, you had to have a very small base on the tripod, or the coupler would foul it.
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True for some models. The REII is the last of the Sensomat models but it used the newer "E" and "EC" internally coupled lenses. The camera has full-aperture metering. Older lenses required an adapter to be used if one wanted metering or one could use one of the old M-44 mount lenses without metering.

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Brian said:
The Miranda line was truly ahead of its time in terms of what it offered and was an amazing system camera. You should try to build on it. I've not seen pricing on them but I'd bet you could build a really nice system for not a lot of money.

A lot of architects used the Exacta for that reason, the waist level finder ability. In my collection I had a converter to make a standard lens have tilt and shift.

Alpa, Nikon, and Pentax also had swappable viewfinders. Leica went the other way and you could convert the rangefinders into a sort of slr. It was designed for macro photography. I have the M version that i use on my CL but nothing you'd want to do often.
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The Mirandas were originally modeled on the Exacta cameras and shared many similarities. The REII is actually fairly close in shape and feel to the Pentax Spotmatic cameras. Their last and final model, the DX-3, did not have a removable viewfinder.

A few of the Miranda models were known as "the poor man's Nikon."
 
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The Alpa was an acquired taste as it's handling and controls were quite unorthodox.

A close friend of mine was an Alpa believer and let me play with one of his for a time. I preferred my Nikon but admired the Alpa's great quality and character. He told that an Alpa is not a mere camera, it is an "instrument."
 
While the Exacta was different from many other 35mm cameras, when it came out it did not have a template to go by. While it may be accused of marching to a different drummer, it just started the template for others to develop from. The Alpa though really marched to a different drummer. I agree it is an instrument. I think the version I had my hands on was earlier than the 9 as it had the removable finder and in feeling the gears compared to a Leica M and Leicaflex, the Leicas er, well, uh, how do I nicely say it? At the time I had an Pentax Spotmatic and the gearing in it in comparison to the Leicaflex felt like it came off the Model T assembly line and I loved the Pentax.

I just did a Google search and found Alpa is still in production. I remember when the name was acquired and the company announced it was developing a camera. The camera body is even lesser than my Bronica ETRS body and I thought it could not get more basic of bare than the Bronica.

I wanted a LX for the longest time as it seemed to be THE answer to a system lover's wet dream. So many options, accessories, configurations.
 
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That projector room Indian Head posted is fantastic. I'm a photo/cinema major, but now days I have a 'day job' and do mostly still photography.

Here is my 'still photography equivalent' of those fantastic film projectors:

Installed.jpg
 
Yes, VERY cool Durst, IC. :thmbsp:

Looks alot cleaner (and newer) than our projectors, too! Here's hoping you get just as much satisfaction using it.

Just looking at that picture makes my Beseler 23C seem awfully puny. There are some serious darkroom people around here!
 
pioneervato said:
Nice Durst enlarger, IC. A bit overkill for 110 film format, eh? :D
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I actually go down to Minox, and recently found a nice unused 25mm enlarging lens for my 4x5 enlarger.

The shortest lens the Durst will focus is a 50mm with a special inverted lensboard. In fact I just found that lensboard on the LF forum. It came in the mail the other day but I have yet to try it out.

My trouble now is the bad weather. I have printed all my 8x10 negatives multiple times... I need to shoot some new ones :)
 
I just found these 30x30 trays at Home Depot for $20. I bought one to try out. Looks like I'd be able to process 30x30 prints in them.
"REAL" developing trays that size cost over $100 each at B&H.

27x30.jpg
 
I've seen magazines in our local news agents (South Australia) for collecting various things from plates, stamp and cars to pottery and watches. But I've never seen any for collecting cameras. Does anyone here know of any magazines on old cameras???
 
Nothing I know of on the market today but some years ago Shutterbug mag carried a collectors column that was quite good. Leica has a society that has pulled together a lot of Leica information. Again, some years ago there were several books on vintage camera including the history, models, variants, etc. I gave my collection of these to a local library a few years ago when I was cleaning out so do not have the titles or authors. I just did a Google search on Rolleiflex and there is a club with a lot of information. The Web today may be the best way.
 
Modern Photography used to have an excellent column on old cameras (Jason Schneider maybe?). Shutterbug had a couple of writers who discussed old stuff, and Camera Shopper (nee Photique) was completely dedicated to camera collecting. There have been many books on vintage cameras, and many, if not most marques have books about them. Among the best books on using older cameras were those by Ivor Matanle -- informative, well written, and based on actual exeperience.
A great deal of information can be gleaned from the McKewon's guides to camera prices.
Much of this sort of information has moved to the web and simple searches will turn up lots of information. Not all of it is accurate -- that's always the problem with dumping the editorial stage -- but there is a wealth of info and pictures that would have been cost prohibitive before the net.
Incidentally, I don't know if the Camera Shopper that is on the net has anything to do with the older magazine (which I used to write for).
 
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