Old Film Cameras - GAS problem

[atoyot]

Hi,

For some time now, I've been collecting old film cameras (I think I've got GAS - Gear Acquisition Syndrome, but my wife has known that for years...), with my collection mainly being for 50's to 70's fixed lens Japanese rangefinders, but I've also developed a bit of an interest in old 110 format camera's, in particular the Pentax 110 SLR system. I have quite a few of the different body variants, and I've got at least one example of every lens that was ever bought out for these amazing camera's, but I need some lens caps, boxes, lens cases, etc etc. I'm still looking for the rare "safari" version in tan, and also a transparent display version, just in case someone out there has one of these out there, but they are rare and relatively expensive.

Anyone with any of these old Pentax Auto 110 bits that they don't want, PM me, as they were reasonably common in the early 80's,

regards

[SteveR]

They were a pretty nifty system, weren't they? I've been clearing out some of my old storage at work and offloading a lot of my old lights and other equipment to members of Apug (a good place to scout for 110 bits, if you haven't tried already). I know I've got a couple Bronica kits I need to clean up to sell, I'll keep an eye out for any 110's too...

[atoyot]

That'd be great thanks Steve. It's been a while since i've visited APUG, but I do use film a bit and I've got some great camera's for it. Just need to force myself to make the time, although my wife wants some B&W prints for our hallway, so maybe I could get a commission from her! I'm only an amateur, and most recently, a more avid collector, but I've got to change that to a more avid user.

I also think the 110 system was a great thing, and I've only recently got myself the holy grail of Pentax 110 lens; the 18mm Pan Focus, which I noticed was just on a cheap body in the UK on ebay. I think I've got 8 or 9 Pentax 110's, two of them the Super 110. I've got a heap of the standard prime lens', 2 of the 20-40 zooms, and a 70mm as well, and my latest acquisition is one of the White Asahi bodies, so only a Safari and a transparent one to go. Then I can start to look for one of the large aluminium trunks and I've got it all covered!

[Biggles]

Then I can start to look for one of the large aluminium trunks and I've got it all covered!

You mean there is actually a type of collection that reaches an end, where the collector has everything they want!   

That's a first!     

[Brock]

Can you still get film for them???

I havent even bought 35mm for years

[atoyot]

Then I can start to look for one of the large aluminium trunks and I've got it all covered!

You mean there is actually a type of collection that reaches an end, where the collector has everything they want!   

That's a first!     

Well from a Pentax 110 perspective, but there's no reason I can't have multiples of them.

Can you still get film for them???

I havent even bought 35mm for years

Yep, sure can. Not as easy to get as it used to be, and the range is smaller now, as a lot of the big players have either moved on from film, or cut their production to certain formats and ISO, BUT there is a very solid following in film that is actually growing. Of course, it will never eclipse digital again, but then again, digital camera's still have a long way to go to get the resolution that can be got from some film camera's. Funnily enough, you can even get 110 format film, and another thing that has been happening lately with a lot of old film cameras is that many lens can be adapted to digital camera's.

Abe today gave me a Linhoff 4 x 5 camera (hmm, I enquire about 110 format cameras, and now I've got a large format unit that takes negatives that are 90 x 120 mm - I owe you big time Abe!). As far as digital goes, you can spend $10k + for a Pentax 645 digital, or many times that for a Hasselblad equivalent or a Leaf back or a Phase One, but a LF camera has a film area 4 times as bit, and you can still get 4x5 film and get it scanned with a drum scanner if you want to digitalise.

Yeah sure, you can stitch images together on a puter, or some cameras can do it in camera, but I actually like film for the opposite reason I like digital in relation to sport photography; it is a contemplative process compared to digital capture. My 6x9 Fuji's don't even have an inbuilt meter, but they don't need batteries at all!

You know the really sad part about using film? The bar fridge now has more film in it than beer! and everything from 110 cartridges up to some Fuji Velvia 50 slide film. In terms of beer, that means everything from XXXX to Little Creatures!

[pault]

looking for something else and found this .. not fixed lens. but this looked interesting. POLAROID 80 KIT-Early Land Camera.. Is this a bargain?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/271970883511?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[SteveR]

looking for something else and found this .. not fixed lens. but this looked interesting. POLAROID 80 KIT-Early Land Camera.. Is this a bargain?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/271970883511?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I wouldn't say a 'bargain', but it looks to be in good nick. Generally the photographic swap meets are a great place to get an idea of the current street value of older gear, and find the occasional good deal too.

[atoyot]

looking for something else and found this .. not fixed lens. but this looked interesting. POLAROID 80 KIT-Early Land Camera.. Is this a bargain?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/271970883511?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I wouldn't say a 'bargain', but it looks to be in good nick. Generally the photographic swap meets are a great place to get an idea of the current street value of older gear, and find the occasional good deal too.

Yes, that would probably be the case, but the market tends to set the price. This one looks nice and has all the kit bits, but the starting bid is most likely way to high to get it started. McKeowns (the camera bible) values them at $8 to $15, but that would be US$ and a few years ago as well. Nice camera to look at, but not really my type, but again, for someone looking for this style of camera, it is nice but too much to start with. I'd suggest that a serious starting bid would probably be around say $50? I've paid $50 for camera's valued in McKeowns for more than a couple of hundred, but then again, if there weren't many of them made and they are now in demand, someone may pay $130 to start the bidding. Not highly likely I'd venture.

+1 about the swap meets for photographic gear, but I'm in regional NSW and can't easilly get to the regular Sydney ones.

[atoyot]

Interesting what people are doing with some of these old cameras, and a bit more info about the Polaroid 80 as well:-

http://filmphotographyproject.com/content/howto/2013/01/how-convert-your-polaroid-80-120-film-camera

Now turning one into a 6x9 is very cool, and I love the look of the thing. Can't imagine the looks anyone would get lumping one of these around!

Lomography is causing a bit of a revival in film, and there's lots of interesting stuff available if you start looking....