04 December, 2015

Contax FB vs. Contaflex Super B

Contax FB vs. Contaflex Super B
Today a little bit about the cold war of Zeiss (Ikon) East and Zeiss (Ikon) West. The whole history is quiet complicated and long to tell, therefore here the short version from wikipedia:
"At the end of the war Jena was occupied by the US Army. When Jena [Carl Zeiss] and Dresden [Zeiss Ikon] were incorporated into the Soviet occupation zone, later East Germany, some parts of Zeiss Jena were relocated by the US army to the Contessa manufacturing facility in Stuttgart, West Germany, while the remainder of Zeiss Jena was reestablished by the (Eastern) German Democratic Republic as Kombinat VEB Zeiss Jena. [...] The western business was restarted in Oberkochen (in southwestern Germany) as Opton Optische Werke Oberkochen GmbH in 1946, which became Zeiss-Opton Optische Werke Oberkochen GmbH in 1947, but was soon renamed to Carl Zeiss. West German Zeiss products were labelled Opton for sale in the Eastern bloc, while East German Zeiss products were labelled 'Zeiss Jena' for sale in Western countries." (source)
Later Zeiss West prohibited Zeiss East to call itself and their lenses Carl Zeiss and the cameras Zeiss Ikon resp. Contax: "The Contax S was the first SLR with built-in Pentaprism. The Contax/Pentacon models were developed during a period which was dominated by the lawsuit between VEB Zeiss Ikon Dresden and Zeiss Ikon AG Stuttgart. As a result the name 'Pentacon' was created from Pentaprism Contax." (source)

Of course, I've always wanted a wonderful Eastern Contax S, but also a Western Contaflex.
Some weeks ago I've found at ebay a wonderful Pentacon FB, the export version of the Contax FB, for little money and bought it. It was just the body and the original leather case. I attached a Schacht Edixa-Travenar-A 2.8/50mm to it. Okay, it is a West German lens and originally made for a Edixa SLR, but the Pentacon and Praktica export versions often gained lenses from West German manufacturers like Isco, Steinheil, Enna and Schacht. Therefore it is almost historically correct.
picture from the ebay seller

Two weeks later I also found at ebay a Contaflex Super B with the original leather case and original lens hood for little money, too.
picture from the ebay seller

Both cameras are single lens reflex cameras, but there is a big difference. The Contax/Pentacon has like allmost all 35mm SLRs and DSLRs a focal-plane shutter.
Another focal-plane shutter SLR, the Voigtländer VSL 1 TM

But the Contaflex has like many (view)finder cameras and the Medium Format SLRs a leaf shutter. A leaf shutter in a 35mm SLR was very complicated to make and only a few manufacturers like Agfa, Kodak Germany, Voigtländer, Aires, Kowa, Mamiya and of course Zeiss Ikon made them, but also Pentacon.
Another leaf shutter SLR, the Voigtländer Bessamatic de Luxe (from my girlfriend)

01 December, 2015

Promote it...

If you want to sell something, it is always better to use pictures to show how good the product is. Everybody knows this fact and, of course, the Portuguese photography store Sitío do Cano Amarelo knows this, too. Therefore the store uses pictures from flickr, which were taken with the cameras the store sells. Actually a good idea, but they give no credits. At least there is the link to the flickr page of the pictures.
At this moment they are selling a Leica R4 with an Elmarit 2.8/35mm. The same setup which I also used. And there they are using my picture "on the floor" which I took some years ago in Blumenau, Brazil.
If you want to buy their Leica, here is the link.



The PRAKTIsche CAmera present.

I like a lot Praktica cameras! At this moment I have got seven of them from three different series:
Praktica F.X3 blue
Porst FX4 (Praktica PL nova I series)
Praktica super TL (Praktica PL nova I series)
Porst CX4 (Praktica L series - 1st generation)
Praktica LTL3 black speed (Praktica L series - 2nd generation)
Revue ML (Praktica L series - 4th generation)
My Praktica super TL + Praktica nova 1B of my girlfriend

Now I got my eighth Praktica, a Praktica BMS, which came with a vintage AKO camera bag as a present from my girlfriend! :)
picture from the dawanda seller

The BMS is from the Praktica B line with manual speed shutter control, "the camera for conservative individualists which never deliver her experience to a machine" (source). Well, I'm not a conservative person, but an individualist one, therefore it's the right camera for me!
picture from the ebay seller

Here the BMS is coming in a typical LOCOstgraphy setup:

_Praktica BMS - 23,80 € (incl. 3,90 postage) - Analog Lounge (Ebay)
_Beroflex MC Auto 4-5.6/70-210mm + lens caps - 5,- € -
Kruschtlmarkt Durlach
_Nikon HS-4 lens hood - 0,50 € - Déjà-vu Karlsruhe
_Tokina Sky filter - 0,50 € (convolute) - Kruschtlmarkt Durlach
_Camera metal strap - 1,- € (convolute) - Kashka Karlsruhe
_Metz 30B3 flash - 4,50 € (convolute) - Kruschtlmarkt Durlach
_Metz flash filter blue - 0,50 € (convolute) - Mimapi Altertümchen Cologne
_AKO vintage camera bag - 15,90 € (incl. 5,90 postage) - giba Vintage (Dawanda)
 

Sum Total: 51,70 €

films:
_Fujicolor C200 (expired 02/2015) double pack - 3,99 Zeitreise Oldenburg (Ebay)
_Agfacolor XRG200 (expired 09/2006) double pack -  4,80 € - Ebay
_DM Paradies 200 triple pack - 9,- € - Foto Dinter Durlach


I'll use the setup for the second part of Colorize your flash. After I used the red and green filter, I'll use now the blue one.

23 November, 2015

Minoltachen²

I'm not a big fan from Minolta, but in the 1960s they built very nice cameras.
In May my girlfriend and I found in the Oxfam store in Cologne a wonderful Minolta AL-F with the ready case and the manual for 25 Euro. Okay, the price was a little bit high, but sometimes it's okay to pay a little bit more.

In October we found in the same store two Soligor zooms with Minolta SR (MD) mount, the Soligor S/M 3.9-4.8/28-70 mm Macro MC and the Soligor C/D 4.5-5.6/70-210mm Macro MC. I bought both lenses because of the 70-210 zoom, which I wanted to use for macro photography. But for the 28-70 zoom I had no use.
Some days later I searched at Ebay for a Minolta SLR for little money. First I found a lot of XG-1 and XG-2, but I didn't want an electronic one. Then I found some good old SRT 101, a typical big solid mechanical metal SLR out of the 1960s. Although the seller wrote that the shutter and film transport are working, he offered it as defect because of the age of the camera. I like a lot the design of this era without the schnickschnack of the cameras of 1980s till today. They only need a battery for the TTL light meter, but of course they work without it, too. I have some Prakticas out of this time and they're working until today. I decided to buy this Minolta SRT 101, because she made a good impression on me and of course the reputation of the SRT 101 is very good. Okay, it was a risk to buy this camera, but sometimes it's okay to take a calculated risk.
picture from the ebay seller

I'm making it a typical perfectly working LOCOstgraphy style setup:

_Minolta SRT 101 - 19,23 € (incl. 3,90 postage) - Analog Lounge (Ebay)
_Soligor S/M 3.9-4.8/28-70 mm Macro MC - 6,50 € - Oxfam Köln-Südstadt
_WideAngle lens hood - 1,- € - Photo Dose Hannover
_Canon lens cap with Nikon sticker - 0,50 € (convolute) - Zeitreise Oldenburg (Ebay)
_Camera strap - 0,50 € (convolute) - Zeitreise Oldenburg (Ebay)
_
Revue Tron C30S flash - 3,- € (convolute) - Kruschtlmarkt Durlach
_Hama HotShoe adapter - 0,- € -
ZKM (Kamuna), Karlsruhe
_Metz sync cable - 0,50 € (convolute) - Kruschtlmarkt Durlach
_Vintage camera bag - 3,- € - Kruschtlmarkt Durlach


Sum Total: 34,23 €

Pictures taken with these cameras will coming soon!

20 November, 2015

We love Kodak - The German Fräuleins!

We are still in love with Kodak!
And now we don't use just a simple pocket camera, but two of the most beautiful 35mm cameras Kodak ever made and which are in the collection of my girlfriend, who is specialized in German cameras of the 1950/60s. Both are German Kodaks, which always were very fine and beautiful cameras. The first camera is the Retinette 022 and the second camera is the Retina Ia.
Just the original leather ready cases are wonderful:
Retinette 022
Retinette 022
Retina Ia
Retina Ia

Both cameras have so beautiful design details:
Retinette 022
Retinette 022
Retinette 022
Retinette 022
Retinette 022
Retina Ia
Retina Ia
Retina Ia
Retina Ia
Retina Ia

Of course, I'll use Kodak films to photograph with both beautiful German Kodak Fräuleins. Pictures will coming soon...

09 November, 2015

My camerabag @ Japan Camera Hunter - part 2.

YEAH, once again Japan Camera Hunter shows one of  my camerabags!!! The first time it was the bag 1023 and you can see it here. Now my bag is number 1292!

It maybe a dreary autumn morning here, but this bag certainly brightens things up. What is it with you lot and knives though? Check out that Kodak though…very cool.


A few months ago I returned to Germany and therefore the very Brazilian and colourful bag had to give way to a more discreet bag. I travel a lot in Germany by bus and train and because of this I wanted a lightwight, simple, but reliable setup to shoot street and outdoor portraits. The simple army bag contains a classic street setup with a Leica III, a 35mm and a 50mm lens, but also a tiny Kodak pocket camera.
As you can see, I became more discrete. But I hope, that my pictures shot with both cameras won’t be discrete, but great and significant. Okay, let’s see if I really have talent ;)

Here the content of my bag:
_ Leica III
_ Summar 2/50mm
_ Leitz SBOOI Viewfinder
_ Jupiter 12 2.8/35mm
_ KMZ Turret Finder
_ Agfa Photo APX 100 + 400
_ Agfa Germany Portrait 160 + Vista 400
_Kodak pocket Instamatic 100
_Fuji Superia 200 (expired 2006)
_Swiss Army pocket knife + bag
_Lamy pen
_Little DIY bag made by my girlfriend
_Miltec army shoulder bag

Thanks for sharing your bag with us again, Fabricio. I have not seen anyone shoot an Instamatic ages.
 

07 November, 2015

03 November, 2015

28mm vs. 28mm

Well, this fight will be between the Kiron MC 2/28mm with OM mount and the Tokina 2.8/28mm with FD mount. The Kiron is adapted on the EOS with a normal OM-EOS adapter and the Tokina with a macro reverse adapter. Therefore it is not a test to find the best lens. It's just to show how you can use a lens in different manner.

shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Kiron MC 2/28 OM
shot with Tokina 2.8/28mm FD reverse
shot with Tokina 2.8/28mm FD reverse
shot with Tokina 2.8/28mm FD reverse
shot with Tokina 2.8/28mm FD reverse
shot with Tokina 2.8/28mm FD reverse
shot with Tokina 2.8/28mm FD reverse
shot with Tokina 2.8/28mm FD reverse
shot with Tokina 2.8/28mm FD reverse
shot with Tokina 2.8/28mm FD reverse
shot with Tokina 2.8/28mm FD reverse