Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?
See this is what I’m getting at, the prompt from yesterday was not much different from this one for today. The guy that does the prompts at WordPress must be getting right bored.
Cockleshell heroes
Anyway, just as well I read a lot as a youngster. One of my favourite books I read as a youngster was the Cockleshell Heroes by C.E Lucas Philips. This book was published in 1956 about 9 years before I arrived on the scene.
I was a bi product of that period post wartime when the big rebuild of the country and the economy was starting to kick start. As a kid it was all war films and war comics so it was only natural to read war book’s wasn’t it?
It’s another book that I’ve read more than once and as a youngster it’s sheer excitement and intrigue kept me engrossed from cover to cover.
I hope tomorrow’s prompt is another subject, I quite fancy “What did you eat yesterday?”, for a change. (Only joking 🙃)
Anyway have a darned nice day and enjoy the sun if you are fortunate enough to see it.
The batch of cameras I purchased the other day, all old SLRs / DSLRs have now arrived… with a bonus.
I was expecting 10 cameras but I’ve trumped that with 12 and a lot of spares as well. The guy I purchased the Nikons from has thrown in two more D70 as spares, with loads more spare parts. He was having a clear out so I guess he’s funneled that stock my way…thanks old chap.
So I have received today
One Canon 5 SLR – stuck mirror, missing some small Connection covers and like a lot of these old cameras has a sticky rubber covering that was well known back In the day.
One Canon EOS 50E – damaged curtain, faulty lock and again sticky.
One Canon EOS 1000F – cosmetically sound no other visible issues.
One Canon EOS Elan 2 – cosmetically sound, just sticky.
Two Nikon D70S DSLR – missing battery covers and some other small accessory covers, both sticky.
Six Nikon D70 DSLR – all missing battery covers, or other accessory covers, one missing a CF card reader and all sticky.
And two sizeable bags of D70/D70s spares
And then there were 12
I’ll be starting with a good clean to get rid of that stickiness and then I’ll power each up individually to see what other issues lie in wait. I’m hopeful I can get most of them up and running, I’m confident that the majority of the DSLRs will be repairable.
I’ll feature the repairs once I’m in a position to donate the time to them. I’m a busy boy at the moment what with work and the wife’s growing list of things that need doing around the house.
Needs opening cleaning and fixing sounds like something loose so selling as a repair project cheap.
EBay
Canon EF lens 35-80mm
No error code so in theory this should be an easier fix, however the fact that something is moving about inside tells me there could be more wrong with it than expected.
I now have the lens in front of me so here is what I can see.
Shake rattle and roll
Well, it certainly does rattle, something quite significant is moving about inside. When Connected to a camera you can’t focus or zoom so something in there is restricting movement. There is also fungus on the lens so this one will need to be carefully dismantled and cleaned throughout.
Fungus in the rear of lensFungus from front of lens
About 10 small screws later I am into the internal parts of the lens and the cause of all the rattling becomes apparent. A piece of the internal zoom mechanism has broken off stopping the zoom from smoothly operating through its range.
The piece that was broken
The part of the barrel that the item had snapped off was broken due to forceful action with the previous owner. There are two options here, junk the lens or see if it can be saved, I went for the latter. I mixed some epoxy resin and fixed the piece back into place also gluing it to a part of the mechanism that was not liable to hinder future movements. I left this for a couple of hours to cure.
Epoxy resin and waitLens internals
Whilst waiting for the glue to cure I used a mixture of water and hydrogen peroxide to clean all the lens elements. I thoroughly dried them and gave a quick polish and reassembled them into the casing. The glue was dry now so I was careful to reassemble the lens not damaging any ribbon cables or contacts along the way. The lens looks lovely and clear of any fungus now.
Fungus gone frontFungus gone rear
I’ve put the lens onto a test camera and it’s fantastic. I couldn’t get focus when I unpacked the lens but now I have the full range of action and a lovely clean working lens for very little outlay and probably just 2 to 3 hrs of maintenance. Well worth it in my opinion. I wanted a good cheap lens to test my old stock and I now have one that I can easily sell on at some point, on top of that I’ve learnt a lot from working on one of these lenses. I’m certainly going to attempt working on more in the future.
I’ve spent the grand total of £91 GBP on more damaged/faulty stock today, I now have enough stuff to be working on to keep me busy for months.
On top of the 6 Canon cameras I purchased last week I now have a further 4 Canon film cameras ( Eos Elan 2, 50E, 1000fn and an Eos 5) I’ve also got two faulty EF lenses to test the old Canons with, these will also get the repair treatment.
Canon EF lens 35-80mmCanon EF lens 28-90mm
I’ve also purchased four Nikon D70 and 2 Nikon D70S units all needing the repair treatment, I’ve even blagged some spare parts here as well so overall it’s been quite a good days shopping.
Three Nikon D70 camerasMore Canon SLR film camerasMore Nikons
I have just purchased 6 untested ( probably the polite way to say totally useless) cameras from the late 80s.
I ended paying out the equivalent of £6:17(GBP) per unit. That’s inclusive of delivery and costs as well, not too bad really and if I can repair (if needed) I should still be able to move them on at a small profit. But I may also be passing these onto a local charity that teaches photography to youngsters and disadvantaged people in Leicestershire.
Canon Eos SLR bundle
I have purchased a job lot of Canon Eos 650/600 cameras from quite a reputable seller who specialises in old film cameras.
Canon Eos 600
I have 2 Canon Eos 600 units that date from 1989. These have motorised film advance and rewind, and are able to reach 5fps in one shot Af mode. Shutter speeds range from 30 sec to 1/2000 sec, with B mode. X-sync is at 1/125 sec. Powered by 1x6v 2CR5 lithium battery.
Canon Eos 650
I also have 4 Eos 650 units.
The Eos 650 is the camera responsible for the first photograph used on the World Wide Web when a photo of the band “Les Horribles Cernettes” was taken on 18th July 1992 by photographer Silvano de Cennaro.
This camera was produced in 1987 and was the first of Canons Eos (Electro-Optical System) ushering in a new era for Canon cameras. The shutter is electronic, vertical metal focal plane capable of 30 sec to 1/2000 sec exposures as well as having 1/125 sec exposure with a flash. Also powered by 1x6v 2CR5 lithium battery rated for up to 100 36 exp rolls.
Both types use the Canon EF mount.
I’m happy from the pictures and knowing the sellers reputation that these units are cosmetically tidy, fingers crossed they don’t need a great deal doing on them but you never know. When they arrive I will do an assessment of both cameras and create a post accordingly.
These cameras were produced from the mid 50s until the late 60s. I’ve done some research on this particular one and the lens number and case number tie it to the year 1966.
Werra 1 front
I tend to buy cameras I like the look of, I just wish that I’d read into them a little deeper to find out the issues. This camera was so good looking when up against the boxy cameras of the 60s, it was a trailblazer in that the winder for the film was incorporated into the lens. A quick flick of the wrist on the inner lens ring and the film was advanced. Impressive….when it worked and didn’t jam!
Werra 1 topWerra 1 base
You can find out more about this camera by visiting Camera Wiki.org by clicking HERE
This unit is in great cosmetic condition apart from a little age related tarnishing. It has some rattles, the lens needs cleaning and the view finder needs attention. The lens rings are stiff so a little lubrication may be required.
Werra 1 rearWerra 1 internals
When cleaned I will run a film through it to give a test, I may even reskin the camera to really bring some attention to it.
Please keep an eye out for updates as I will be commencing work on this really smart little antique very soon. It’ll give me a break from working on pesky Sony Discman players 🤦♂️
I have tonight added a new gallery to complete the Halina A1 Reflex renovation I completed in August of 2023. The gallery can be found by using the links in the margin or by clicking HERE.
Negatives on light tableNegatives on light table
As I don’t have the correct mask for my scanner I have had to go about getting the photos on the site in a peculiar way. Firstly I take pictures on my phone and then invert them to get a positive image, an action that I discussed in a previous article that was posted HERE.
Please don’t expect anything too fantastic, it was a test roll and mistakes were made, but a lot of enjoyment was had getting the results.
Following on from yesterdays post regarding fogging on negatives. If you remember I’ve lost the mask for my scanner so I’m currently unable to utilise this service.
The Negatives waiting to be scanned
However I had some time and took to the internet to find out if there was a way to view in the short term until I found the mask for the scanner. It appears the phone you have in your hand can more than likely do the deed without having to down load any apps.
Now I have an iPhone, however the same is also available on Android but I’ll stick to the iPhone route. It’s all about inverting colours
Firstly venture to settings, Accessibility, Accessibility shortcut and then choose classic invert. A tick will appear by your choice and then just come back out to the Home Screen. Now every time you triple click on the side home button the screen colours will invert.
StandardInverted
Now if off you triple click again the colours go back to standard. Well I’ve tried this on the same negatives above from yesterday and it gives you a good idea of what you are going to get. These pictures are direct inverts of the negatives at the top of this post with no cropping or adjustments, I just wanted you to see the possibilities you have available to you in your hand. If you use a light box and some glass I’m sure you’d get quite acceptable results.
Negatives all inverted
Great little tool for those old negatives you have laying around that you were thinking of getting printed but weren’t quite sure.
The Bilora Radix 56 camera circa 1950 has arrived today and the condition is for once very close to the original description that I read on line prior to purchase. Makes a pleasant change to be honest. No big surprises this time.
I’ve broken the whole camera down to its smallest parts, I love to do this as it gives a good insight into how the camera was originally put together. It’s lovely to see some good old mechanics instead of a plethora of electronic components. Only one piece of wire on this camera and that’s to the flash synch on the side of the body.
I’m going to clean the winding mechanism, get rid of the old oil deposits and re lubricate. I’ll also do this with the workings on the base of the camera that allow only one of two available exposure settings. That’s a “B” exposure or an auto exposure of 1/50-1/60 of a second. Not much use with the faster films that are available today. Focal length of the lens is 38mm 5.6 – 16.
The shutter works fine, I’ll probably maintain that with some graphite when I’m in there, the lens seems free of fungus but I will dismantle this anyway to clean the optics within.
Radix 56 base workingsRadix 56 lens removal Radix 56 lens faceplateRadix 56 broken down in a sweet box
There is rust on the backplate, and this will need removing, I’m planning on sanding this down priming and repainting and a new skin will be put on the body. There are only 4 small pieces on this camera so this shouldn’t be an issue. Some lubrication, spotting and a good Polish will then hopefully complete this refurbishment.
I’m considering purchasing a second Karat cassette so I can sell this on as a complete camera. I may even try it out myself someday with a small length of black and white film.
Pop on back to see a post for each stage of the refurbishment.
Thanks for visiting, you know it is much appreciated. Thank you.
In my search for the unusual have come across this fine specimen that I have purchased for less than the price of a fish and chip dinner.
Remember the battle between manufacturers back in the days of Betamax and VHS? Well this is the film makers battle between Agfa and Kodak, with Kodaks 35mm winning out. The Agfa cassette (known as Karat) was 35mm without the spool and you needed two cassettes to use these cameras. I have one here and hope to be able to use it at sometime.
I like this example as the metal is not too pitted. There is rust but I can work on this, the covers are damaged but this can be replaced. I might go for a totally over the top refurbishment or may keep it as close to original as possible. I’ll make that decision once I can check the optics and shutter.
You can find out more about these cameras at the following link: Camera wiki .org
Foxes Den 
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