Camerosity

Episode 108 is all about a topic we've touched upon in a large number of Camerosity Podcast episodes, but after reviewing our show notes, we realized we had never covered thoroughly in a single show.  Since you've probably already read the title of this post, I can't really hide that I'm talking about TLRs, or Twin Lens Reflexes for those of you who are acronym-adverse.

Theo was absent for this one because he only likes cameras that involve 7 of something, but joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen and Mike are callers A.J. Gentile, Brian MacDomhnail, Chris Sherlock, Ethan, Joao Gomes, Howard Sandler, Jeremy Scott, Norris Liu, Robert Rotoloni, Sarah Davis, and Will Pinkham.

We quickly get started with some TLR history and then introduce a couple of our first time callers.  One such caller for the show was long time listener/first time caller, Sarah Davis who repairs cameras and specializes in TLRs.  What Sarah lacks in gray hairs she more than makes up for in experience.  Studying under some well respected camera technicians, Sarah has learned from the best and can now tear down most mechanical TLRs and Nikon film cameras, bringing them back up to life.  We regularly hear of long time technicians retiring or passing away and it is refreshing to have a new option for your camera repair needs.

As you should expect, we cover a tremendous amount of GAS including some of our favorite models medium format, 35mm, and subminiature TLRs.  In the roughly hour and forty minutes runtime, we cover the gamut from some of the most popular Rollei and Yashica TLRs to some really wild and rare models like the Welta Superfekta, the Tessina 35, AGFA Flexilette, and we even take the opportunity to talk about our beloved Chuzhao (which isn't actually a TLR).  Mike discusses the closest he'll ever come to shooting a Nikon TLR, why he hates the label "Pseudo TLR", and shares some trivia about interchangeable lens TLRs.

If you were to assume that an entire episode about TLRs would attract everyone who loves shooting TLRs, you'd be mistaken as we hear from a couple callers who aren't fond of the design, especially the horizontally flipped viewfinder, and why it can be difficult to get perfectly straight horizons.

In addition to TLRs, we cover topics that are TLR-adjacent such as some of the different designs of focusing screens, why Rick Oleson's screens are better, and some fascinating pros and cons to leaf shutters, including why most of them can't actually move any faster than 1/500th of a second.

As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining!

The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance.

For our next episode, we will be revisiting Canon rangefinders (again).  We tried to do this for Episode 108 but had to push it back due to a scheduling conflict, but we're giving it another go!  The last time we spent a majority of an episode on these wonderful cameras was way back in Episode 18, so we thought it was time to invite some newer fans of the show to call in and share which models they love and whatever else they want to talk about!  We will record Episode 109 on Monday, May 18th at 7pm Central Daylight Time, 8pm Eastern Daylight Time, and 6pm Canada Saskatchewan Time.  For more time zones, please consult the World Time Buddy calculator and plug in your time.  Make sure you set your calendars and look out for the show announcement at the usual locations and be prepared to join us!

In This Episode

Quick TLR History / The Original Rolleiflex Used 117 Film

Original Rolleiflex compared to Rolleiflex T (photo)

First-time caller Ethan has four TLRs, but confesses he doesn’t like shooting them

Stephen Strangways find he tilts not only film TLRs, but also the digital Chuzhao and Paul Rybolt figures it’s due to shutter button placement

Paul likes the Rolleicord and Rolleiflex, but hates identifying them. Xenons, Xenars, Planars, and Tessars, oh my!

Sarah Davis fixes Yashica, Rollei, and Mamiya TLRs, as well as some Nikon and Canon SLRs

Chris Sherlock of Retina Rescue has repaired some Tele Rolleiflexes: “try and take note of what I took apart, and put it back together so it works.”

Sarah shares why the Yashica TLRs, after the Pigeonflex and Yashima Flex, are so durable

Brian MacDomhnail took Mike’s advice to pick up a Yashica-D to replace his Lomo Lubitel

Mike finds the non-Mat TLRs are simpler and smoother, Sarah recommends the Yashica-Mat LM and EM

Anthony Rue had a Rolleiflex 2.8E that he traded for a Leica M4-2, but kept his Yashica Mat 124, but shoots his Meopta Flexaret VI the most,

Anthony also loves his Voigtländer Superb, and Mike has a theory as to why it’s so different

Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex “coffee can”

Focusing screen brightness, Fresnel lenses, Rick Oleson Bright Screens, Martin Seelig’s mirrors

A.J. Gentile has tips on shooting with TLRs

Howard Sandler thinks the Minolta Autocord and Ricoh Diacord have great ergonomics, Sarah has some repair insights into them, and Mike explains the Autocord’s backwards film loading

Leaf shutters vs. focal plane shutters, and the tricks used to get leaf shutters beyond 1/500th, as on the 1/800th Kodak Chevron and Tourist, the Graflex Super Speed Graphic’s 1/1000th, and the Minolta V2 and V3

Are the Mamiya C-series cameras, TLRs with interchangeable lenses, huge and reliable, or just huge?

The Koni-Omegaflex M is even bigger / Rex Reflex

The reason for TLRs, and medium format film

Going smaller: Agfa Flexilette, Bolsey Model C, Samocaflex 35, the Gakkenflex DIY kit

Even smaller yet: Tessina 35, GemFlex, Goerz Minicord

Is it a pseudo-TLR, or something else? Argus 75, Voigtländer Brillant, Lubitel, Kodak Duaflex, Bedfordflex, Windsorflex

Paul’s Rollei Magic Rant, and why it breaks Mike’s brain

João Gomes on the underappreciated Zeiss-Ikon Contaflex and Ikoflex III

Norris Liu’s funky Toyocaflex 35, Welta Superfekta and Perfekta

Paul’s 1937 Minoltaflex (photo he sent in FB group chat)

Jeremy Scott brings up f/2.8 TLRs with his Rollei, and Mike has a Fujicaflex

Anthony’s Ansco Automatic Reflex 3.5 regret, Mike expands on the history of them, and Norris has a Rocca Super Reflex

Will Pinkham opens a can of worms about viewing and taking lenses

Stephen didn’t think his Mamiya C330f was too huge, just too convoluted, and servicing simpler cameras to keep them working

Wrapping it up with some one-off TLR models

A surprise guest swoops in like a Seagull

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm.

If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server.

Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg

Sarah Davis Photo and Repair - https://www.sdavisphotorepair.com/

Chris Sherlock - Retina Rescue - https://retinarescue.com/

The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast

Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/

Camerosity in Spanish Podcast - https://camerosity.es/

Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/

Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

For over a year, one of my most sought after guests to come on the show has been Chris Sherlock of Retina Rescue.  Way back in December 2019, I had a chance to sit down and have a discussion with Chris and I have wanted to have another opportunity ever since and it finally happened!

Episode 107 is all about Chris Sherlock and his experience repairing and collecting the Kodak Retina system.  I promised Chris, I would make it very clear that he is still retired and is not taking in any new work, but Chris is still active on YouTube, publishing complete walkthroughs of CLAs on Retinas and other cameras.

Joining Chris are Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike and a long list of callers, including A.J. Gentile, Aaron Knesal, Ben Ryerson, Doug Willoughby, Eric Schneck, Fernando Villava, Joao Gomes, Greg Harp, Howard Sandler, Michael Boudreaux, Norris Liu, Pat Casey, Robert Rotoloni, and Will Pinkham.

Chris starts things off with how he got started repairing cameras, all the way back in the 1970s working for Kodak in Wellington, New Zealand and then continues onto his first Retina models and why he started his site.

We discuss a wide range of Kodak Retina models, from the folders, solid bodied rangefinders, to the SLRs.  Chris, Mike, and others share their favorite models and which ones we recommend for first time shooters and which ones have issues to look out for.  Chris explains what kinds of problems the Retina cocking rack may cause and why the later cameras have a long silk cord in them.

It wouldn't be a Camerosity Episode if we didn't get off track, so we can thank Howard for bringing up the Voigtländer Ultramatic, Theo gives an update on the most recent Sydney Camera show, Greg Harp shares his recent 1930s Canon Standard pickup, and Aaron talks about his Yashica 44 TLR he bought from Paul.

As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining!

The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance.

For our next episode, we are will be revisiting Canon rangefinders.  The last time we spent a majority of an episode on these wonderful cameras was way back in Episode 18, so we thought it was time to invite some newer fans of the show to call in and share which models they love and whatever else they want to talk about!  We will record Episode 108 on Monday, April 27th at 7pm Central Daylight Time, 8pm Eastern Daylight Time, and 6pm Canada Saskatchewan Time.  For more time zones, please consult the World Time Buddy calculator and plug in your time.  Make sure you set your calendars and look out for the show announcement at the usual locations and be prepared to join us!

In This Episode

We Are Recording While Artemis II is Coming out of Radio Blackout / Anthony's Artemis Launch Photos

Chris Sherlock is Not Coming Out of Retirement / Chris Still Gets Requests Daily to Repair Retinas

How Chris Got Started Repairing Cameras / Working in Wellington Repairing Instamatics

Chris's First Retina was a Retina Ib / Started Selling on Auction Web (Predecessor to eBay)

The First Version of Retina Rescue was an ISP Personal Page

Spare Parts Are Important to Camera Repair / Chris's Tips for Starting to Repair

Anthony Gets his Dad's Retina Reflex III Repaired by Chris

Paul Barden Also Repairs Some Retinas / Chris's YouTube Videos Are Incredibly Helpful Too

Not All Retina Cocking Racks Are Weak Points

Is the Retina IIIC the Best Retina? / Differences Between the IIIc and IIIC

Using Auxiliary Wide or Telephoto Lenses on the Kodak Retinas

The Retina With the Most Problems with Haze / Cleaning Lenses

Were the Early Ektar 3.5 Lenses Actually Made by Kodak?

What Would be Chris's Favorite Retinas to Shoot? / Kodak Retina IIS and IIIS

How Far Did Chris Tear Down the Shutter when Doing a CLA?

Doug Can Recognize Chris's Hands in a "Hand Lineup"

Kodak Retina Automatics / Other Contemporary Cameras to the Retina

The Kodak Retina II Type 122 is Unobtanium for Chris

How Long Did it take Chris to CLA a Kodak Retina?

Where were Chris's Customers From? / Selling Cameras is Difficult

Retina Reflexes Had a Silk String Inside Them / Voigtländer Ultramatic

You Can't Just Repair One Part of a Camera, You Must Do it All

Chris Likes Jigsaw Puzzles But Not Zeiss-Ikon Contaflexes

Mike's Favorite Retinas are the IIa, Ib, and IIIS

Greg Picked Up a Canon Standard Rangefinder / Joao's Ansco Super Speedex

Theo's Update on the Sydney Camera Show / Seagull TLRs

Aaron Buys a Yashica 44 from Paul / Shooting 127 Film

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm.

If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server.

Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg

Chris Sherlock's Retina Rescue - https://retinarescue.com/

Chris Sherlock's YouTube Page - https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisSherlock

The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast

Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/

Camerosity in Spanish Podcast - https://camerosity.es/

Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/

Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

Ever since the very first episode of this show, we've aimed to include as many of our listeners in our shows as possible, but that our hosts are located in three different countries and in four different time zones makes finding a time that works for everyone difficult, especially those of you in Europe and other European-aligned time zones where it is often the middle of the night when we typically record.

In an effort to give more people in these areas of the world the opportunity to join us, on occasion we change our recording time.  For Episode 106, we did just that and saw a large number of people show up!

Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike on this show were returning and first time callers, Brendon Wilson, Brian MacDomhnail, Fernando Villava, Ira Cohen, Joey Alvillar, John Wade, Josh Calvetti, Krijn Vogelaar from Holland, Kamil from Norway, Norris Liu, Pat Casey, Stuart Pratt, Vlad Kern, and Wayne Scheipers.

On this show, we covered a wide array of topics including one of Paul's most hated Nikons, John Wade shares with us a very interesting Ilford monorail camera which supports shooting on 35mm film, Ira shares his love for Eigenbau cameras, and we admire Krijn's beautifully painted Kodak box cameras.

In addition, we cover a large range of cameras from the AGFA Automatic 66, to the Kodak Medalist, Hasselblad SWC, Leidolf Lordomat, Mamiya RB67, the Tom Thumb 'radiocamera', and Mike shares a quick preview of a neat rangefinder camera he picked up called the Wenk Wenka.

As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining!

The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance.

For our next episode, we are returning to one of the gang's favorite camera families, the Kodak Retina.  To help us navigate the nuances of so many Retina models, we are happy to welcome Chris Sherlock, of Retina Rescue.  Chris has many years of experience repairing Kodak Retinas and other leaf shutter cameras and is sure to have a great deal of insight into these wonderful cameras!  We will record Episode 107 on Monday, April 6th at 7pm Central Daylight Time, 8pm Eastern Daylight Time, and Tuesday April 7th at Noon New Zealand Standard Time.  For more time zones, please consult the World Time Buddy calculator and plug in your time.  Make sure you set your calendars and look out for the show announcement at the usual locations and be prepared to join us!

In This Episode

Happy Birthday to Pat Casey / Kamil and the Olympus mju Zoom / Minolta Dynax 5 / Nikon F80

Paul Really Hates the Nikon F70 / Mike’s First DLSR was the Nikon D40x

Fujifilm Finepix Pro early DSLRs were F80 bodies

John Wade has stopped writing books, but still writes for Amateur Photographer

Ilford KI Monobar, a 35mm monorail camera

John has Stanley German’s (Botanist in 1940s) specially made one off camera with all his slides

Ira's Eigenbau and Frankencameras / Machinists Who Make Good Cameras at Home

John showed a stereo camera which was converted to a Panoramic Camera

Paul likes the pretty Kodak Model F 620 box camera

Kodak pushed 620 across the world

Agfa Automatic 66 and the Goerz Minicord

Krijn's Hand Painted Kodak Brownies

Brendan has a Mandelar Leica M lens, they are a hot item

Third party lenses are really good value

Wayne is shooting a Zeiss-Ikon Contessa 35 and a Kiev 88

Vlad has had a few problems with US Customs

Mike has gone 3D printing crazy

Josh has a new Minolta Rokkor 40mm f/2 CL Leica mount

Joey picked up a Hasselblad SWC which could have gone through the Camerosity rounds

Leidolf Lordomat / Brian has reduced his camera collection a lot, he is enjoying the Pentax MX

Wishing the I Dream of Cameras podcast congratulations for 100th episode

Some cameras have strange battery compartments

Fernando has a new Kodak Medalist

Many photographers used the collected cameras as workhorses

Good photographers do not rely on the camera alone for the results

Kamil scored a Mamiya RB67 Pro S

New seals are often needed for older cameras / Don’t put cameras in the sun

Norris brought in a radio camera called the Tom Thumb

Mike Picked Up a Wenk Wenka / Stuart has a Rolleicord 5b and some Zeiss Ikoflexes

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm.

If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server.

Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg

The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast

Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/

Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/

Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

For Episode 105, it finally happened!  As eluded to on a great number of previous episodes and on our official Facebook page and Discord server, the Camerosity Podcast finally dedicated an entire show to large format cameras!  And not just any large format cameras, as a special guest for this show, we welcomed John Minnicks, creator of the Aero-Liberator, a home built custom version of a Graflex SLR using aerial Kodak lenses!

Joining the gang and John for this episode were a huge number of other guests, several of which own or have shot their own Aero-Liberators.  In alphabetical order by first name, we were joined by some guy named Erie, João Gomes, Howard Sandler, Lloyd Greene, Mark Cornelison, Mark Widhalm, Mat Marrash (from FPP), Parker Pfister, Pat Casey, Ron Gee, and Will Pinkham.

In addition to hearing John Minnicks origin story, he shares many stories about people who he has sold cameras to and what has been done with them, including taking portraits of Barack Obama at his inauguration and at impeachment hearings in front of Congress.

Mat Marrash from the Film Photography Project joins us and gives us his insight into large format and how well it does from the retail perspective.  We were also graced with the presence of Parker Pfister who shares his tales of developing film using his own urine!  This is the first ever mention of "pee" in a Camerosity episode!

We eventually do get into a little bit of GAS, including some pickups by Mark Cornelison from the Chicago Camera show including the Camerosity favorites like the Voigtländer Perkeo and the KMZ Zorki 4.

As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining!

The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance.

For our next episode, we are going "across the pond" to a European time zone friendly time which will allow for more of our European listeners to join us. We'll keep the topic wide open to encourage as many people as possible to join us.  If you are in Europe or other "European time zone friendly" areas of the world, we will record Episode 106 on Monday, March 16th at 2pm Central Daylight Time, 3pm Eastern Daylight Time, 7pm Greenwich Mean Time (London), 8pm Central European Time (Berlin), and 6am Tuesday the 17th Australian Eastern Daylight Time (Sydney).  For more time zones, please consult the World Time Buddy calculator and plug in your time.  Make sure you set your calendars and look out for the show announcement at the usual locations and be prepared to join us!

In This Episode

What is Large Format?

John Minnicks, Creator of the Aero-Liberator 4x5 SLR Cameras with Kodak Aero-Ektar Lenses

Going from a standard Graflex Super D to a custom camera with swings and tilts for a unique lens

Three Owners of Aero-Liberators Ron Gee, Mark Cornelison, and Parker Pfister

Common Problems with Aero-Ektars / Bringing People Together

Photographing Barack Obama with Only 4 Sheets of Film

David Burnett and his Aero-Liberator in front of Congress

Timtypes / Giving João Gomes some tips on adapting Leitz Hektor projector lenses and Tessar barrel lenses to his Graflex

Getting into 4x5 Press Cameras / Crown Graphic and Speed Graphic / Omega and Sinar Monorails

Wista, Tachihara, and Linhof Field Cameras

Lloyd Greene is shooting a Sinar monorail, Howard Sandler recommends the Graphic as a companion to a Crown Graphic, and how he shares his Fujinon lenses between them

Parker shoots 8x10 paper and develops it with help from pee

Paul Rybolt misses Cibachrome, Mat Marash from Film Photography Project recommends RA4 reversal

X-ray film and trying to prevent scratches

Monobath single-shot processing kit as an introduction to developing and a great way to test a camera

Sourcing large format films / How to shoot paper instead of negatives and tame the contrast / Light sources for enlargers

Erie is a large format nerd and commercial photographer

Many different methods for developing and scanning

Mark’s trials and tribulations with wet plate collodion

Exposure, Computers, and the Kodak Master Photoguide

Will Pinkham asks about large format lenses / Schneider, Rodenstock, Kodak, Wollensak, Ilex, Fujinon, Nikkor, even Turner Reich can suit what you’re shooting

How do you manage focus when shooting portraits on large format?

A bit of GAS: Kodak Retina Reflex III / Nikon Nikonos

Mark Widhalm got a Voigtländer Perkeo, which Anthony and Ron love / Howard got an Adox Golf

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm.

If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server.

Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg

John Minnicks - https://johnminnicks.com/

The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast

Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/

Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/

Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

We are back with Episode 104 of the Camerosity Podcast.  Unlike the last few shows where we didn't come prepared with a topic to discuss, this time we took a suggestion from our Discord server listeners and attempted to tackle all the new lenses that keep appearing from Chinese companies,  With ever faster maximum apertures and wider lenses selling for insanely cheap prices, are these lenses any good, and why suddenly is the market flooded with them?

Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, and Mike are callers Andy Howarth, Brendon Wilson, Fernando Villava, Mark "Cletus" Widhalm, Martin Olsen, Norris Liu, Pat Casey, Robert Rotoloni, and Will Pinkham.  We start off the show with a quick announcement that Fernando has started a Spanish language version of the Camerosity Podcast called "Camerosity in Spanish".  They've already recorded two episodes, and if you speak Spanish, it is worth checking out what him and his guests are talking about!

For this show, we briefly start off our lens episode talking about Retina Reflexes, but thankfully we don't stay distracted long as we move into the wonderful world of modern Chinese lenses.  We attempt to cover different brands of lenses and what kinds of options there are out there and which ones we've personally had experience with.

Stephen and Norris have a wealth of technical knowledge and historical perspective for how the Chinese manufacturing industry works, and we get into a bit of why you're seeing so many options these days.  While many of the new ultra-fast lenses are extremely affordable, they are built to be disposable and likely won't last nearly as long as the classic lenses many of us collect.  Paul shares with us one (non-Chinese) brand that he doesn't like and Stephen tells us what "onion ring bokeh" is.

Eventually we do move off from Chinese lenses to talk about extremely wide angle fisheye lenses and Stephen tells us about a clever use of his Olympus Air A01 and we briefly mention strange cameras like the Nikon KeyMission 360 Double Fisheye lens.

With Bob Rotoloni on, Paul asks about a Nikon M he is interested in buying and we get into a discussion about the Nikon M and different variants of that particular camera.  We keep meandering topics before finally ending up Mike's first purchase on the Japanese auction site, buyee.jp.

Come See Mike at the Chicago Camera Show: I will be heading up to the Sheraton Suites Chicago Elk Grove hotel for a camera show on Sunday, February 22nd.  At this show will be several callers from this episode, Bob Rotoloni, Norris Liu, Mark Widhalm, and past Camerosity guests like Vlad Kern and possibly others.  Mike won't have a table at this one, but I'll be walking around chatting with people so if you're near the area and want to stop by, come see us!

As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining!

The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance.

We don't have a topic for our next show, but we at least know it will be Episode 105 and we will record it on Monday, February 23rd at 7pm Central Standard Time and 8pm Eastern Standard Time.  Make sure you set your calendars and look out for the show announcement at the usual locations and be prepared to join us!

In This Episode

The Spanish version of Camerosity Hosted by Fernando Villava / Cletus and His Broken Retina Reflex IV

Repairing Retina Reflexes / The Risk of Testing an Unserviced Camera / Leaf Shutter SLRs Are Very Complicated

Modern Lenses Have Combinations of Focal Lengths and Speed Unheard of in the Classic Era

How We Got to Today / Cheap Chinese Lenses Started with Low Quality C-Mount Lenses

The Legalities of Making Third Party Lenses / Why is Nikon Going After Viltrox?

Who Are the Most Respected of the Current Third Party Lens Makers? / Different Priorities for Film vs Digital

Some Third Party Lenses Require You to Calibrate Your Lens to Your Own Camera

What is the Difference between 7Artisans and TTArtisans? / DJ Optical

Voigtänder Cosina Lenses Are Less Expensive Alternatives to Genuine German Lenses

Some Chinese Lenses Feel Nicer Than They Really Are / Excessive Lubricants

The Chinese Make a Lot of Their Own Glass / Mike Has No Idea How Glass is Made

Leica No Longer Makes Their Own Glass but they Polish It / Onion Ring Bokeh

Are There Any Companies to Stay Away From / Paul Doesn't Like MS-Optics Lenses

Differences Between Western and Chinese Manufacturing Philosophies

Chinese Manufacturers Typically Didn't Offer After Sale Support or Warranties

China's Manufacturing Today is Far More Advanced Than Anywhere Else in the World

Norris Goes to CES and Admires Hair Dryers / 40% of Exhibitors at CES are Chinese

For Vintage Camera Users You Don't Always Want a Technically Perfect Lens

Stephen's Olympus Air A01 and a 220 Degree Circular Fisheye Lens

Nikon KeyMission 360 Double Fisheye Cameras / Go Pro / Ricoh Theta Camera

Brandon Jumped into the Nikon Zf Using Chinese Lenses / Nikon Z-Mount Adapters

Fernando Adapted Leica R Lenses to Leica M and the Results are Great

Leica SLRs and Alpas are Almost Always Sold Without Lenses on eBay

Come See Mike, Bob, Norris, Vlad, and Cletus at the Chicago Camera Show on February 22nd

Paul Wants to Buy a Nikon M / The Three Different Types of Nikon M Rangefinders

Mike Made His First Ever Purchase on Buyee of 5 Cameras

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm.

If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server.

Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg

Chicago Camera Show on Sunday February 22 - https://www.facebook.com/events/sheraton-suites-chicago-elk-grove/chicago-camera-show/774123451683491/

Camerosity in Spanish - https://camerosity.es/

The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast

Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/

Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/

Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/