Theres been a lot about cameras on this page so far, now its time for something else.
From now on and until august 20 some of my pictures, among with others, are exhibited at the old school in Fröjel, Gotland, Sweden. Its Sudrets fotoklubbs yearly exhibit. If youre on Gotland, go there and have a look!
Heres two of the pictures:
This camera has a special place in my heart. I got it from my grandmother when I turned seven 1980. Even though its a cheap camera it must have been a big expense for her to give all of her grandkids a camera. Before she retired she used to work as a housekeeper in wealthy families in Stockholm and I dont think she had a lot of income after retirement.
The first time I used the camera was at the hospital when I visited my mom. She spent a couple of days there about the time for my birthday that year.
The first roll of film had 12 exposures and back then that was enough to last all summer. Must have been a little more selective then…
Some technical data
filmtype: 126 cartridge film
picture size: 28×28 (I know, the samples at the bottom isnt square but my scanner is made for regular 24×36 film)
lens: Kodar 43mm f/11
shutter: 1/50
years of production: 1977-1984
Heres some good links to info about Kodak cameras and Instamatics:
Samples from the first roll:
My lovely girlfriend gave me this as a birthday gift a couple of days ago. Maybe she read my earlier blogpost about it?
It seems to work, the shutter is opening and the meter needle moves after I put a new battery in it. It uses the same batterytype as my other Konica C35 so I had a fresh one at home. I have loaded it with a roll of Kodak T-max 400 and will post some results here when its developed.
The rangefinder is a little difficult to see and determine focus with but it might get better with some cleaning. Otherwise its a small and well built camera.
As usual theres a lot of information found about it on camera-wiki.org, a link to a manual among other things.
It was rather dirty when I got it but my girlfriend also gave me some kind of cleaning gel. You just press it onto whatever needs to be cleaned and when you remove it the dirt comes of with it.
Some pictures of it:
Got this little gem for 5 skr (less than 1$) at the same fleamarket as my Yashica Electro GX35. If you like fleamarkets and visit Helsingborg in Sweden, make sure you go to Framtid!
The camera is a fully automatic, zone focus 35 mm camera that operates without batteries. It doesnt look like its been handled with much care, its a little dented, but it works perfectly. Just estimate the distance, compose your image and press the shutter. If its too dark, you will get a red flag in the viewfinder and the camera will refuse to take the shot. No wonder that Olympus sold millions of those cameras between 1967 and 1984. Mine is from 1972 according to the datecode inside it.
Theres lots of information on the net about this camera, for example here, here and here. And of course there is a page on Camera-wiki.org about it.
Heres some more pictures of it and from it:
Got this one from a fleamarket in Burs on Gotland, Sweden. It was a little dented, a little expensive (70 swedish kronor) and was quite dirty when I bought it but the compact size made me buy it anyway. I admit, I have a weak spot for compact cameras in metal…
Unfortunatley its not a rangefinder but the cheaper zone focus version. A rangefinder one is definitley on my wishlist…
The meter seems to work ok, I have tried it with a roll of T-max 400. The battery needed is a PX675 mercury battery that are banned from use but a replacement battery with the same voltage using zinc-air technology is available. The only problem with it is that it loses energy over time as soon as you start using it. This is one good page about cameras and their batterys that I found. They dont mention the zinc-air replacement though.
More information about this camera can be found at camera-wiki.org here.
Heres a few picture from it:
And heres some more pictures of it:
I bought this camera for 150 swedish kronor at a flea market in Helsingborg last summer. It even had working batteries included for the price. Thats a problem with this camera, it uses PX640 mercury batteries that are banned nowadays.
It works ok but you have to be careful to make sure that the automatic exposure system is activated when you press down the shutter. It seems like it needs a little cleaning of some electrical components…
Some technical information from this manual at The Yashica-guy website:
Lens Color-Yashinon DX F1.7 40mm lens composed of 6 elements in 4 groups; minimum focus 2.6 ft [0.8 meters]. Angle of view 56 degrees.
Shutter Electronic shutter with continuously variable speeds from LT [Long Time to 30 secs] to 1/500 sec.; features high performance IC and three semi-conductors; built-in-self-timer with self-locking system.
Exposure Control Fully automatic electronic exposure control sets the precise shutter speed through preselection of the lens aperture; “Top- Eye” SBC sensor; aperture scale from F1.7 to F16 [three Exposure Symbols for easy aperture preselection]; ASA range from 25 to 800; Electro Flash Symbol; EV range from EV 0 to to EV 17; Red and Yellow Exposure Indicator Arrows visible in the finder and on camera top.
Viewfinder Incorporates bright frame which moves diagonally with focusing operation to compensate for parallax automatically; magnification ratio 0.26X at infinity.
Focusing Image superimposition type rangefinder incorporated at the center of the finder field; distance scale from 2.6ft to infinity [0.8m to infinity]; depth-of-field scale on lens barrel.
Film Advance Single action film advance lever registers count of exposure on auto-resetting exposure counter and sets the electronic shutter to ‘standby’ simultaneously with film wind; multi-slot take-up spool for easy film loading; exposure counter counts back during film rewind; crank-handle film rewind.
Auto Flash System Yashica Electro Auto Flash System using exclusive ES-20 Auto strobe unit; FPS (Flash Pulse Selector) automatically sets shutter to flash synchronization speed; X contact; Electro Flash Symbol plus dot index [M synch] for flashbulb (AG-3N); auto flash feasible with AG-3N or AG-38 flashbulb.
Other Features Accessory shoe [incorporated direct X contact and light cut-off signal terminal]; X synchro terminal; shutter lock; battery check lamp doubles as exposure counter illuminator; accepts 52mm screw-in type filters and 54mm slip-on type lens shade.
SIZE & WEIGHT 123 X 75.7 X 64mm; 580 grams
A few pictures of it:
The small arrows in the middle of this last image will light up and tell in what direction to turn the aperture ring to avoid incorrect exposure. They are also visible in the wievfinder.
Some pictures taken with it:
I really dont remember how I got this camera in my hands. Probably from some relative. I owned it for a long time though.
It has a Yashinon lens, 45 mm f 1:1.8 and a fully automatic exposure system that doesnt need a battery, thanks to the selenium sensor around the lens.
I have tried it with a roll of Kodak Tri-X 400 and it seems like the meter are still working. The shutter release on the other hand sometimes hangs and dont trigger the shutter.
I found a very useful link when trying to find information about it on the net:
http://www.yashica-guy.com/document/chrono2.html
And there is a forum for users of Yashica cameras:
http://www.yashicaforum.com/index.php
Here is some pictures of it:
And heres a picture taken with it:
I think I have enjoyed other peoples blogs about cameras and photography long enough to feel kind of obliged to create one my self. To return the favor or something.
Hopefully someone will find it worth reading or get some useful information from it. I honestly dont know exactly where its heading but will start out with showing off some items from my cameracollection. Its not a huge collection, yet, but growing. Enjoy, or not, as you please.
