Category Archives: Thoughts and Musings

Vintage Fair, Bleurghhhh and Issues.

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You may have noticed the change of blog theme just when I was settled on a new layout. I have been having issues lately with WordPress losing media selections from the galleries. This was happening every time I updated or edited a post. It only started to occur since the previous theme change. Hence I thought the new theme was the issue and the reason for this new change.

WordPress help was very responsive and attentive, I can’t fault them on their attempts to fix the issue. But in the end it seems to have fixed itself…for now. It was very frustrating, especially when I edited an older post and had to relink the photos.

The “bleurghhhh” in the title means I am sick, it is cold season and I have a stonker. This week I had to skip work and my volunteering duties, staying in bed watching Game of Thrones. I did manage to attend my very first vintage fair as a stall holder before being afflicted. The fair was not as well attended as in previous years, but I did manage to sell a few cameras. Strangely, I ended up being offered more cameras by visitors. Those that lived nearby went home and got them. At the end of the day I walked away with the same amount. That was interesting, just as I was saying I could not afford new cameras, here are people offering them to me to keep, borrow, or buy for next to nothing.

Here are the phrases I heard the mosts:

  • Oh, I used to have one of those
  • Do you buy cameras? I am sure I have one in a draw somewhere.
  • Can you still get film?

It was nice to chat with people as they seemed genuinely happy to see the cameras, but I would have preferred to sell more. There will be another fair at that location in October so I think I will attend again. I also realized I will never be rich as I ended up giving some film away to a couple of people for various reasons.

It was hard to choose the cameras I put up for sale and repacking them after the event, I changed my mind on a couple of them. One the changes of mind was for the Minolta Weathermatic. It is just such a good camera. I reread my own post and then up popped this one from 35MMC. And after that I checked the prices. Wow, it has gone up in price. That settled it, I am keeping it….Especially as I sold the Sea & Sea at the fair.

Lastly if you are interested in buying a film camera, here is the most comprehensive guide I have ever seen. It is a few years old, but it is a treasure trove of information.

Blogs I Read

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As I am running out of cameras, due to..

  1. Lack of Japanese second-hand store bargains in England.
  2. The ever-increasing price of film cameras.
  3. Lack of full-time work, attached to point 2
  4. The act of trying to reduce my collection.

…I am going to start adding more thoughts and musings. You may have already noticed some recommended reading posts. Hopefully, they be photography based, but they might not be. They will not be political or (hopefully) controversial. It is just not worth the hassle.

I don’t think I will publish to a schedule, just as and when I feel like it or have time. I think I have mentioned all this before.

Anyway, while I was thinking and musing about this I was perusing other blogs. One I read has a nice collection of photography blog links. Not only is it a great list…but I am on it 🙂 Big fat grin appears on my face 🙂 Have a look.

Camera Bloggers Alliance

Another related, but unrelated article I would like to share is this one.

It really explains why and others like film photography in a digital age.

And just to remind you about point number 4 above, reducing my collection. I will be at this vintage fair selling some cameras and stuff. Come along and haggle.

Hmm, maybe I do need a schedule? What do you think? Do you prefer blogs that stick to a publishing schedule or ones that publish as and when?

Lomography Konstructor Update

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Only yesterday I posted about the camera I built and how the shutter didn’t work. Well, as usual, I couldn’t let it alone and today I took it apart and had a look at the shutter mechanism. I looked at my example and compared it to the instruction book. Even though the mirror and shutter come ready built, the instructions and build diagram are included. This is probably just in case you want to take it apart…or in my case check it when it doesn’t work.

And this is what I found.

See that wire…it is in the wrong position.
It should look like this.

And voila! It started working as it should. So I reassembled the other parts and tried again. The mirror seemed slow and worked much better when the camera pointed to the ground, I still wasn’t sure it would work.

I put in the remainder of the film from yesterday and tried a few shots around my garden. Then I processed the film and there were the negatives in their beautiful black and white. Now to scan.

BUT, my friggin second scanner would not turn on. WHAT IS IT WITH SCANNERS AND THIS ROOM???!!!

My first choice scanner is somewhere in the postal system on its way to a Canon service center. The second one is not worth fixing and is now waiting to be retested and then thrown away. So I resorted to my third choice. Using an iPad and a phone.

Well, you can see the images and they are not too bad considering I thought the camera didn’t work. You can also see the LED display points of the iPad so not a perfect replacement. I think I will be using colour film until my first choice scanner returns or I can afford a replacement.

As for the camera, I now would recommend it if you can find a cheap one. It was fun building it and it actually doesn’t work so badly. It is on par with other toy cameras. You can do multiple exposures and have some fun. Use 400asa film for the best results.

UPDATE: I got my scanner back 🙂 It is a canoscan 9000F Mark II. I rescanned the photos so you can see the difference. The ipad and phone work better in terms of sharpness, but the canoscan is better in terms of ease of use and density. If it wasn’t for the LED thing showing through I would stick with the iPad and phone setup.

Interesting Reads

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Look at this, another blog recommendations post. Again not something I usually do, but I was really moved by this post. It might be due to the fact I have been working in a few nurseries recently and have been put in the baby room. Being with babies 9am-5pm does things to your mind 🙂

Then, as I was reading some photography blogs I saw this one by Casual Photophile on how to improve my photography. But it wasn’t about that at all. It was a heartfelt post about trying to get pregnant. I skim read it as I was on a bus and thought I might cry, I am a big crier. I put it in my pocket account to read later. I recommend you read it in private, not on the bus if you are a crier too.

It reminded me of an article about going to Holland and I search for that famous article again. In the meantime I found another post saying they hated that original text, she has a point.

Blog’s New Look

Thoughts and Musings

I am trying out a new look for the blog. I have also refreshed the Camera Post page and the sidebar. That change was due to the new blocks writing format on WordPress. I saw a fellow blogger’s page and decided on updating mine too. I wasn’t able to add floating photos on the side though, he is much cleverer 🙂

If you don’t like the sidebar, you can zoom in and cut it out. The formatting of this template seems to work better for that action.

I am going to introduce a few more changes in the future, but not too many. I don’t want to overwhelm myself.

Looking on my smart phone, I don’t liked how it cuts the name when in portrait mode. How is it for you?

Top Ten Viewed Posts of 2018

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After reading Dan James’ blog about his posts of 2018, I thought I would look at my own stats. I don’t really do musings as such so I can’t do a full list like his, but according to the stats, these are the top ten most viewed posts. They are not ones I posted in 2018, but the most viewed this year out of all the posts.

  1. Minolta Hi-Matic AF-D
  2. Olympus AZ-1 Zoom
  3. Fuji HD-M
  4. Minolta Hi-Matic AF2 MD
  5. Two Nikon TW Point and Shoots
  6. Nikon TW Zoom
  7. Olympus Pen EED
  8. Ricoh XR 500
  9. Fuji TW-3
  10. Konica Z-up 80 super zoom

2018 Favourite Photos

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After reading Jim Grey’s blog about his favourite photos, I wondered if I could choose ten of my own.

It took a long time to sort through all the files. After I made a folder of possibilities, I then had to sort through those and then backtrack to find the information. If I do this next year I will make a “possible” folder and note the cameras and films in the metadata. Or I will start to use a program that puts everything in the photo data when I store them. For this year I will show the chosen 10 photos and as much information as I can. You have to be super organized with this, well done Jim for being that organized.

So here are my personal choices for 2018, in no particular order.

  • Iceland – Nikon D750
  • Cosplaying with a friend – at an abandoned hospital, Scotland – Nikon D750
  • Kenkyugakuen, Ibaraki, Japan – My favourite view of where I lived as it has the TX, mansions, and nature.
  • Sayama, Japan – Pentax MZ-30 – Fuji 100
  • Wisteria at Ashigaka Flower Park – Canon SX720SH
  • Kestrel at Sandal Castle, Wakefield – Canon SX720SH
  • St. Aidans RSPB Reserve – West Yorkshire, England – Canon SX720SH
  • Black Sands Beach, Iceland – Nikon F2
  • Reykjavik, Iceland – Yashicaflex – Ilford 3200
  • Northern Quarter – Manchester – Chinon CP7-m – Fuji Acros 100
    Chosen because I asked a stranger to pose for me.