Classic film cameras from my personal collection & photo apparatus for sale

A great chance to own one of the best film cameras, at an affordable price, that you will be using day in, day out! Click here to read all about it!

 

 

Hi, folks! Rather than just keeping adding to my posts here every time I decide to offer a camera for sale, I have left this page permanently as the first one you come to when you come to my blog; it shows you what I am offering for sale without you having to navigate all round the blog just to find out! Most of the items I was offering on here sold long ago, so at present, I am offering just one item for sale to you, and a superb one it is, too!

A new refinement to the blog is how you can make your purchases — you can either purchase your camera by emailing me directly on harsum888 at yahoo dot com, or leaving a comment here on this blog OR you can click on that photo of an Olympus 35SP camera, just on your right hand side of the blog here, right underneath the world map….that’ll take you to my store on eCrater.com Click any of the links on the main page that you come to when you search for my blog….any of those links will take you to my other stores online.

Anyway, besides buying a camera here, you’ll find some really great stuff to tickle your fancy, ranging from news or tidbits about famous photographers, unknown photographers, film and digital camera news, 35mm film reviews, and lots, lots more. I usually aim to post at least once a day, but failing that, depending upon what tasks the wife has lined up for me, at least once or twice a week!

Aside of that, I will also talk about film noir, writing, my other love, street photography, and also on the odd occasion, anything that really bugs me. We’re all allowed to rant and rave about things in this world!

I try and arrange regular street photography sessions here in Vancouver BC as well, so please do keep dropping in regularly. The most recent street shoot went really well and was enjoyed thoroughly by all concerned…thank you for attending!

Other than that, I hope you enjoy reading this blog, and in the fashion of that famous phrase “me casa, su casa”, this blog is my blog….and your blog; if you don’t like anything in it, or feel there’s something missing, well, please let me know by your comments. I’d really appreciate that.

Oh, and a very, very warm welcome to the blog!         🙂

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My friends….

Yes.

That’s right…my friends.

That’s how I feel right now, in our time of need.

Even though we are all 1000s of miles apart, I feel we have a special kind of bond in this crazy world of ours, that is undergoing such a huge radical change right now, changes that we may not see again for a very long time to come.

I won’t bore you with all the details. This is a time for us all to follow guidelines that people and governments have given us and to look after family and each other as much as we can.

Aside of that, in my view, we are Nature’s call.

When the time is right, this calamity will end, for nothing goes on forever.

At that time, those of us who are left on this planet should be give thanks for being alive.

It’s as stark and simple as that.

So. Be safe. Stay at home.

 

The Amazing Spider….oops! No, I mean..

The Amazing Rollei 35 range of film cameras..real film, real cameras!

You may indeed have read about these tiny 35mm cameras before, and I remember I myself have sold several of these beautiful cameras on here too.

So. Tell us about these cameras then I hear you say.

The Rollei range comprises several models, ranging from the simplest Rollei B35, to the top end Rollei 35SE and 35TE.

When it came onto the market, way back in the day in 1966 (oh….the glorious 60s….bring back memories of hippies, long hair, flared pants, VW van buses, Woordstock etc!), it was billed as the world’s smallest 35mm pocket camera.

Lots of other cameras claimed to be pocket cameras, but none really were. Most would stick out like a sore thumb in your pocket, let alone a tight fitting pair of jeans that everyone seems to be wearing these days!

On the subject of jeans, let me digress a little here….how DO people go through their day wearing such a tight pair? I’ve tried tight jeans before, and I couldn’t get them off fast enough! I felt as if I was in a straight jacket or something, couldn’t bend down to pick up a dropped pencil or to tie my shoe laces, neither could I sit down comfortably, let alone sit down at the dinner table to eat. No. For me, it’s always been a loose pair of pants, and if Joe Public think that looks nerdy, well then, that’s just fine!

Ok, so the Rollei 35 is really tiny. There is no other camera smaller, aside of the Pentax ME, which is much smaller, but then again, it’s not a 35mm camera but uses 110 film.

In use, the Rollei 35 SE or TE models are simply art in motion!

Every control is intuitively placed, and just after a few minutes use, you will be using the controls like second nature.

The exposure meter is simple and to the point….there are 3 LEDs visible in the viewfinder….the top and bottom ones are red, to signify over and under exposure, whilst the middle one is green, signifying correct exposure.

All you need to do is push the edge of the control either up or down, which will move the LED indication to the correct position, all this without the need to look away from the viewfinder. Magic!

The focus on this camera is also different. You don’t get a rangefinder, or a split screen thing in the viewfinder, so you have to rely on knowing, and using that thing called zone focussing, basically meaning setting the aperture so that objects within a certain distance are in focus in your shot.

Aesthetically, the camera has a solid, well-built feel to it in your hand. It oozes quality.

The lenses used in the camera are pin sharp Tessar or Sonnar versions. Ok, so there is a little flare apparent in your shots, if you shoot facing the sun directly, but that can be taken as a quirk of using vintage film cameras, quirks which don’t exist with digital cameras.

So, the Rollei 35. A fantastic little camera. Get one if you can!

🙂

Some examples of shots taken with a Rollei 35…

 

Nothing to do with photography..!

If Only….

Hi guys!

As before, I have at times used this blog to vent my feelings and have the occasional rant!

Today is just such a day, too.

I happened to be chilling out as you do on a Sunday morning, rain outside, windy and generally yucky, so I thought, ok, let’s sit down and listen to a few songs on Youtube.

I don’t know how, but the Youtube search gravitated to a video by someone who has collated as many actresses and actors who passed away last year, and put it all in one video….yeah, I know….morbid to say the least!

But you know what? Yup….I started watching it! Curiosity and the cat!

As the video went on and on, most of the stars shown I had liked watching in the movies, and gradually I became more miserable…yes, even more than I normally am!

After 5 minutes or so, I had to shut it down as it started bringing home to myself that we are not here forever, and my own lifespan came into focus.

I learnt one simple thing today….that I will not want to say 2 words when I get old….really old, I mean!

What are those words? For me, they are “If Only” !

I don’t want to get old and say if only I had taken those piano lessons, or if only I had travelled to Alaska, or if only I had met Marina Kanavaki earlier…..LOL….only joking, Marina!

But you get the message.

We all have our If-Onlyies……but I for one am going to make darn sure my If-Onlyies are very very few!

So should you!

🙂

 

 

Instant photography!

Instant photography?

Oh…you mean pics taken with my cellphone? Yeah, they’re instant!

No!

I mean photos taken with a camera designed in the 1940s, and which was first offered for sale a few years later in 1950! And by photos, I mean proper hard-copy photos you can hold in your hand, rather than digital ones which can be destroyed in a few nano seconds with an idle click of a button.

That’s the conversation I recently had with a young guy at a camera fair where I was selling off some of my camera collection! It seems the latest generation only know of the very latest digital technology based gadgets, but nothing beyond that. That guy hadn’t even heard of Polaroid cameras…..to him, the word Polaroid meant sunglasses!

It’s indeed really sad that the basic engineering feats of yesteryear technology that set the base for what is now the internet and digital paraphernalia, has become forgotten.

As an example, I can bet your bottom dollar that very few people these days know how the computer or cellphone works, aside of actually using them. For example, they don’t know how digital data is stored….using logic gates within an integrated circuit, commonly known as a chip, as the base.

Nor do many people of this generation know what a logic gate is, or the precursor of that logic gate, which was the semiconductor transistor, or indeed, before that, the thermionic valve.

It seems these days, one only needs to know how to configure or use technical gadgets, and how they work is of no interest. Shame. In my time as a student, we were always interested in finding out how things worked, and many times experimenting at home in trying to find out too!

Back to Polaroid, though…

Yes, it’s old technology for sure….old with a capital o, too!

 

But if, like me, you have been lucky enough to use a Polaroid camera, you will know that it can produce magical results.

It’s not the same as a selfie taken on your cellphone! Taking a photo, a real photo, with a real camera, and then holding the photo after it has been processed, in your hand, is a totally different thing completely.

And it’s something our children, and then their children in turn, will never probably know about.

The Polaroid camera was first exhibited in 1948 by Edwin Land in the USA, hence it’s first name known as the Polaroid Land camera.

That first camera produced black and white prints within 1 minute, which was almost a miracle in those days! Later, in 1963, came the first of colour print versions which peeled apart, followed by the non-peeling version.

By around 1979, instant camera sales began slowing down, as the video camera revolution started and prices of 35mm cameras became lower and lower.

It is intriguing to know that although Polaroid created a worlds-first with their cameras, the very action of inculcating the desire for instant photography, ultimately led to the development, albeit after several decades, of the cameras we now all use the most…digital cameras!

Polaroid instant films are still available, as the medium has made a surprising comeback, and now, instant cameras are available from many other manufacturers, such as Fuji, Leica, Lomo, Kodak as well as Polaroid.

A very special and highly addictive hobby with instant photos has been taken up by creative types and artists (something maybe my friend Marina may be interested in…here’s looking at you, Marina!) ……watch it on this video here >>

 

Click for Polaroid video….

 

There’s also a funny vintage video advertising Polaroid cameras, too….click here to see it!

I will be posting more in-depth articles about the Polaroid cameras soon….stay tuned!

🙂

Not photography!

Time for a mild rant!

Our new friend the coronavirus…

So…a new virus is on the loose, attempting to ravage lives wherever possible, but such is it’s destiny. Viruses are just such things, destroying lives in their path.

But where do most of these super viruses begin?

Point of contention of course, but the finger has been pointing at China’s so-called live foods markets for many a year. What is a live food market, you may ask?

Well, I have had the unfortunate chance to visit China and did indeed see one such place, and to tell the truth, it changed my perception on humans being the perfect species.

I will not go into detail here but suffice to say, I can still recall, many years after that time, as clear as daylight, the look in those poor animal’s eyes and their heart-rending cries as they tried, to no avail, to escape from their cages.

In that short instance, it was as if a door suddenly opened in my life, which had been shut all my life, ignored, more likely. It was a door showing me, as real as life, what cruelty and suffering humans persist in doling out to defenceless animals.

Ok, so the bible-pushers will say God gave humans dominion over animal lives. I’m sorry but I do not believe such poppy-cock, and I am sure none of you would either, if you had been with me on that day in that market in China, and seen what happens to those animals.

Since that time, I changed my eating habits and became vegetarian. Ok, so there is a limit as to how far we can go to preserve the sanctity of life as they say, but life exists in every drop of water, too, and I’m not saying we should stop drinking water to save the lives of some poor bacteria or diatoms that are in every drop.

What I am saying is, I do not want to be involved in the killing of animals for food, when very reasonable plant alternatives exist. Period.

Back to the coronavirus…it has been said that the virus has it’s origin in a live food market in Wuhan province in China, precisely where live animals are kept and slaughtered.

But wait….here is another, possibly evil scenario….read this please….>>

“In an explosive interview Dr. Francis Boyle, who drafted the Biological Weapons Act has given a detailed statement admitting that the 2019 Wuhan Coronavirus is an offensive Biological Warfare Weapon and that the World Health Organization (WHO) already knows about it.

Francis Boyle is a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law.

He drafted the U.S. domestic implementing legislation for the Biological Weapons Convention, known as the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, that was approved unanimously by both Houses of the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush.

In an exclusive interview given to Geopolitics and Empire, Dr. Boyle discusses the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China and the Biosafety Level 4 laboratory (BSL-4) from which he believes the infectious disease escaped.

He believes the virus is potentially lethal and an offensive biological warfare weapon or dual-use biowarfare weapons agent genetically modified with gain of function properties, which is why the Chinese government originally tried to cover it up and is now taking drastic measures to contain it.”

Let’s leave this right here for now…!!

🙂

 

 

Talking of spy cameras…

Hi guys!

I posted a bit of information regarding so-called spy cameras yesterday, which in some cases, were actually used for espionage purposes at one time, and who knows, perhaps they may still be in use today, as the focus is on digital cameras now, so what better way to deflect attention than to use old film format cameras for the purpose!

Talking of surrepticious use of cameras, I once saw a lady in Vancouver taking shots in the street of passers-by, but who had no idea they were being photographed.

That to me is a little far out. I mean, documenting something is different to taking random photos of people without their knowledge. In legal terms, photographers are supposed to walk around with a form for each person they intend taking photos of, that gives them the ok to take the shot and use it for personal use, not commercial uses.

But who does that? Nobody! I’ve been using cameras for decades and in the streets too, but have never seen any photographer ask for permission. That’s bad news.

So, back to that lady in Vancouver…I noticed her camera was pointing in one direction, but the photos she was taking were from a 90 degree angle from which the lens was pointing at!

So everyone who was walking past her thought she was shooting something else, but in actual fact, her camera was taking shots of them! I tried my luck, too, and walked past her and noticed she had an attachment on the camera, rather like a periscope I guess, which probably had a mirror inside it which gave her the 90 degree angle shift. Very clever!

Anyway, I want to show you the first one, one of 2 beautiful cameras that I own, and ones that I am offering for sale if anyone is interested. Both fall in the spy-camera category and are 16mm film cameras, both fully working.

The first one is  Minolta 16.

Very nice condition, with just a little patina of use, as you can see from the photos here.

 

 

The camera comes complete with an unused 16mm film, way outdated now of course, but totally unused and still sealed in it’s original carton!

Also supplied are 2 extra filters which can be fitted on the camera, as well as a rare snap-over jig which allows the camera to be fitted with an electronic flashgun and those supplied filters.

The lens is a sharp Rokkor designed f2.8 22mm which gives good sharp photos.

Please contact me by leaving a comment here if you are interested in purchasing.

🙂

Enter stage left…Mr James Bond….shaken but not stirred!

The title is a mish-mash of one of the most iconic phrases is use all around the world!

I once was in a taxi in Ladakh, way up in the most northernly part of the Himalayas, and when the taxi driver heard I was from England, he laughed and said…”Oho! The country of James Bond, shaken but not stirred!”

I couldn’t stop laughing hearing that! Even this far away, in a 3rd world country, James Bond and his exploits are well known!

But I digress.

The reason for my title above, is to usher in an article about those so-called tiny cameras that used to be all the craze in the 50s, 60s, and 70s…..called spy cameras!

Obviously they weren’t all designed to be used by spies, most were usable by anybody who wanted to.

When 35mm photography first started, even 35mm was called miniature photography, as the common size of film used was medium or large format.

So when these new miniature cameras came on the scene, they became termed sub-miniature, which included their cousin, the famous 110 films too.

Many makes of spy camera were available, such as Minox, Minolta, Kiev, Mamiya and others, all using 16mm film.

I think I talked about some spy cameras before, so this time around, I want to talk about one particular make which really was used as a spy camera, by real spies!

The camera is the KMZ F 21 Ajax, manufactured especially for espionage use during the Cold War period.

It is said the camera was made in great numbers for the KGB Secret Service, by Krasnogorsk Mechanical Works (even the company name is shady, isn’t it? And notice how it bears a striking resemblance to the name of that other famous, or infamous secret intelligence site in the USA, named Skunk Works….! More on Skunk Works at another time…!)

This cameras was so tiny, it was routinely hidden as a coat button, belt buckle etc, so it gives you an idea how small it must be!

And apparently, in some places in the world, the Ajax camera is still illegal to own, due to it’s use for espionage! Ready-made history!

It is fitted with a spring loaded motor drive, so that in use, the spy did not have to manually wind the film. All that was needed was to shoot the photo and the film would wind on automatically.

The lens used on the camera was a very special high quality one, very sharp 28mm with an f2.8 aperture and speeds of B, 1/10, 1/30 and 1/100s, with a special 21mm film needing to be sliced from a standard 35mm film.

 

 

The photos above (courtesy of cryptomuseum.com) show a few examples of how the cameras was concealed when used by spies.

It could be fitted into a folding umbrella as shown, or expertly mounted behind the spy’s raincoat button as shown….very clever disguise, the shutter being operated by a cable shutter release.

Of course, nowadays, technology has moved so far and so fast, digital cameras are available that really are the size of a normal coat button!

Now then….where’s my hat and long raincoat…!

 

courtesy nyfu.edu

Beautiful sunny day today…

Yes!!

Just been out on a long pleasurable walk with my dog Shera…and what a fabulous day it is today…well, at least for now!

Bright sunshine, aside of a brisk wintry breeze. And a plethora of opportunities for photography too.

In that vein, do drop into my YouTube channel and have a look at the lovely fully refurbished Olympus Trip 35 I am offering for sale…a fantastic little camera, that absolutely anyone can use, without any knowledge whatsoever…just point and shoot…no focussing or shutter speeds to worry about!

Here it is!

🙂

 

Spring is on it’s way….!

Isn’t it amazing how fast time flies?

Only a few weeks ago, we were all celebrating Xmas, and yesterday, I noticed the first daffodil flowering…already!

Soon the warmer weather will be arriving and with it, renewed growth in all the plant kingdom.

Which reminds me, I have to dig up and pot up several trees that I have grown in the garden, intending them to put on good growth before I turn them into bonsai miracles.

I have several of them, all over 10 years old, some even old as 30 yrs! Those trees have grown with me and provided solace many a time when I have been down. The magic of Nature!

I am also having a slow clear up of this blog too….you may have noticed a few pages and links that don’t exist any more….I will be removing those soon as i can.

Meantime, please do have a look around at the plethora of things I’ve been talking about over time….

🙂