Do you need time? I think you do, we all do. If we want to be here a bit longer
Do you need time?
Silly question.
I need time to get out of bed in the morning, due to the amount of obstruction caused by clicking bones and straining joints, yep I’m about to enter into a new decade where I get free medications, and eye tests, so I can only expect things to be uncomfortably rolling downhill from here on in.
But all joking aside it’s good to have time. I’d love to live forever as I do enjoy life but that’s never going to happen is it?
We all have time but to be honest it’s borrowed time isn’t it? As we just do not know what awaits us just around the corner.
At the risk of sounding morose, I’ll up the tempo a tad.
It’s always good to take your time and not be rushed into things, important decisions especially, such as big purchases, investments etc. Take time, think it over. You get the picture.
At work we have a superb safety protocol called “Take 5”. In the past we’ve had too many people, especially the young and inexperienced, who want to impress, rush straight out onto live train tracks only to find they are now face to face with a 2000 ton behemoth freight train bearing down on them at great speed, believe me it’s not a great position be in. New underwear please!
By just getting a bearing on where you are, knowing your position of safety, being aware of the people you need to be in contact with, and establishing a safe method of working, means you live to work another day.
The above paragraph applies pretty much to how life should approached, don’t you think?
I knock my company just like all my other fellow employees do, in fact it’s a well known thing that worldwide we all knock our employers from time to time. But the fact I have worked with them for half my adult life says that things can’t be all that bad.
And when it comes to answering the question “So do you need time?” They’ve got it exactly right, they’ve changed the way we think.
Yep, I’ve mentioned this in the past on a number of posts that I have made on this site. I have spent a small fortune paying people to print missing battery covers, camera crank winders and other parts such as cogs and circuit board standoffs, some purchased from as far away as Italy, but now I will soon be able to do these prints myself.
Bambu labs, P1S 3D combo
I must admit that I am a total novice in this realm of activity, hence I chose to go with a recommended user friendly starter printer.
It’s quite a significant birthday milestone for me in a few days time, and last weekend my wife arranged a pre-birthday party for me where many old friends and family came together for a quite enjoyable evening of dancing, drinking and going over old times together. It was a lovely evening. I received many, kind gifts that evening, and that is what has made this purchase possible, brought by friends and family if you like.
However, the good lady wife has stated that it must remain in its packed state until the house move is completed🤞
She’s not buying into my protestations that there will probably be a newer, and better model out by then.
I say more cameras, my wife begs to differ.. my friends agree with me.
Well, my wife would probably disagree with the above comment.
However, i have some very good friends who are quite happy to ignore my wife and her protestations. Some would say they are very brave…others would even say they are foolish. Time will tell.
A couple of beauties – you wouldn’t understand
Jon, is a friend and former work colleague that i have known for many years. We both worked at the same Kodak plant in Harrow, me on the graphics art film production track and Jon was in the training and development area. We rarely met there as the plant was so huge that our paths crossed quite infrequently. However Jon has also been the mainstay and life blood of a local football team since the early 70s, and it’s true to say he is a local legend and pillar of the community. This is how i really met Jon, and we have always discussed issues of photography, he is very much involved with promoting the armed forces and has been fortunate in the subject matter he has been asked to photograph. Needless to say, he has a lot of redundant equipment, and when he became aware of my blog site and the repairs i attempt to do, he very kindly donated a number of items for me to write posts about, and to be quite honest it will keep me busy for quite a long time.
A few items to keep me busy
The majority of the items probably just need a little service and a test session, a couple have some battery corrosion issues, but in general cosmetically, they are in good condition. We have a number of old lenses, but as you’d expect from someone who looks after their equipment, there isn’t a sign of haze or fungus in them. They just need a clean up, and very little else.
Here’s a list of what i have received, and observed after a very quick look at the items.
8 cameras:
1 Canon AE1 film camera and user manual, mirror was stuck, now freed up and firing ok but requiring a check over.
1 Canon EOS 30 film camera, a bad case of sticky body.
1 Canon EOS 10 film camera, issues unknown
2 Canon EOS 500N film cameras, issues unknown
1 Canon EOS 3000 film camera, issues unknown
Canon EOS 1N film cameras with E1 power drive, beautiful camera, issues unknown.
Canon EOS 7D digital camera with BG-E7 battery grip, stunning camera, issues unknown.
7 lenses: all Canon fit
2 x Canon FD 50mm 1:1.8
Tokina 300mm 1:5.6
Tokina 135mm 1:2.8
Tokina 35mm 1:2.8
Canon 75-300mm 1:4-5.6
Canon 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6
There is a separate lens that i have been asked to look at and repair for him as it’s his third go to lens, that is a Canon EF 28-200 1:3.5-5.6 USM lens. It doesn’t focus in auto, i notice it has lens wobble and a lens washer appears to be exposed in the zoom section of the lens. It needs investigation.
Other items:
Canon Power winder-A. Part of the AE1 camera, you can smell its issue as you hold it, battery corrosion. Batteries inside have seriously corroded, however i believe the issue is salvageable.
Canon speedlite 199A flash gun, untested.
Metz 45 CT-1 flash, again there is corrosion in the battery pack, you can smell it. Again this should be salvageable.
Sangamo Euro master light meter and invercone. In excellent condition, could be that the selenium light cell is dead. Needs investigating.
8 rolls of film, expiry date 2005, may still work..who knows.
3 x 6v lithium batteries, all tested and working.
Add to that the two camera bags and a hard case that they all came in and I’m sure that you will agree that it was a pretty nice package to receive.
I’m extremely confident i can get these all into a good working condition, any cameras that i will not be keeping will either be sold on to benefit charities supported by Jon or donated to local charities for their benefit. Either way nothing will be heading to waste, that is a promise i have made to Jon and thats just how it will be, i do not break promises.
Thanks for passing by, and i will be posting articles on all these products in the coming months. As I already have 13 projects already in draft awaiting a time when i can back to repairing them, you can plainly see I’m going to be very busy for quite a while and should be able to supply quite a regular feed to this blog.
Foxes Den 
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