Camerosity

Episode 65: The One with All the Europeans

For regular listeners of this show, the gang usually records each episode during the evening for listeners in the United States.  For those of you on Theo's side of the planet, it is either late morning or midday the next day, but this time slot is not good for listeners in Europe or Africa.  While we've had some graveyard shifters call us, we like to sometimes have episodes at an hour which is more time-zone friendly to our listeners in those areas of the world.

It has been longer than we'd care to admit, but for this the 65th episode of the Camerosity Podcast, the gang invites our European friends for nearly 2 hours of non-stop Camerosity discussion!  Joining Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike are returning callers Alan Duncan, Brian MacDomhnaill, Frederico Quaglino, John-Michael Mendizza, Tim Peters, Wannes Scheipers and first time callers Adrian Cullen, Jeremy Scott, John Kelly, Stuart Pratt, and from Prague, Czech Republic, Tadeas Plachy.

The conversations in this episode ranged all the way from Arsenic to Zeiss, hear about some of the groups favorite cameras from the Hungary, Italy, France, Czechoslovakia, England, Austria, and even Germany!  For those of you with access, what can Uranium and Mercury do for your film photography.  Who is still shooting Kodak Ektachrome IR film, and what is everyone's favorite method for removing Remjet?  When you invite such a wide variety of people from so many countries, you're bound to come up with some interesting conversation and boy did we ever!

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 new to shooting and are interested in having an episode dedicated to people new to the hobby, 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.

Our next episode is going to be a little different.  It will be our first ever Camerosity AMA (Ask Me Anything) episode.  All episodes of the show have an open discussion format, but for this one we are soliciting questions on ANY TOPIC for Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike.  Want to know something about either Theo or Mike's blogs, or any stories about Paul's days owning his own camera story, or Anthony's tips and tricks about underwater cave diving or running your own coffee shop?  Literally no topic is off the table (except politics).  Like all episodes, we encourage people to join us, but if you have a question you'd like to be read on air, please submit them to us through Facebook, Instagram, or Discord before the show airs.

We will record Episode 66 on Monday, March 4th at 7pm Central Standard Time (-6 UTC), 8pm Eastern Standard Time (-5 UTC), and Tuesday at Noon Australian Eastern Daylight Time (+11 UTC).  We look forward to hearing from you!

In This Episode

• Tadeas Hates Flexarets / Meopta Opema
• Soviet Countries were Allocated Camera Types for Manufacturing
• Paul has a Fokaflex / Meopta Enlargers are well respected
• The Czech press agency bought Nikon Fs in 1970 and 80s
• Tadeas loves his Nikon FM2 / Canon 25mm LTM Lenses / Minolta SRT-101 and Prakticas / Zeiss-Ikon Taxona and Tenax II
• 35mm Cassette Shapes Have Changed / East Europe 35mm Reloads Used Paper Wrapped Film
• Kodak Ektachrome Infrared Film / Full Spectrum and IR Digital Cameras / Shooting IR in a Movie Theater / Sony CyberShot DSC-F828
• Using Expired Film and Cinema Films / Removing Remjet
• Uranium to Increase Contrast on Prints / Mercury to Increase the Speed of your Film / Kodachrome is Bad for the Earth / Arsenic Covered Books
• Minox 35ML / Chinon Made some AGFA Cameras / AGFA Optima Parat and the AGFA Parat I
• Brian MacDomhnaill's Football Squad Camera Lineup / Pentax IQ Zooms (Espio) / Voigtländer Perkeo II and Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta
• Nikonos III is a simpler camera than the Nikonos V / Fuji Super Fujica-6 / Voigtländer Rollfilm / Ensign Autorange 620 / Royer Teleroy
• Demaria Lapierre Telka III / Greek cameras / Sabina 127 and the Piccopoulos Picca
• The Hungarian Mometta III / Gallus Derby-Lux and Foth Derby
• French Rex Reflex TLR / Complicated Italian Cameras / Rectaflex / Ducati / Bencini / Ferrania
• Ilford Advocate and Witness / Scale Focus is Faster for Candid Photography
• Mike Needs a Take Up Spool for the Ducati
• Only Service a Camera if it Needs It

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord!  Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, 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.

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 and https://www.etsy.com/shop/Camerasandpictures

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/ and https://www.facebook.com/VoltaGNV/

 

Episode 64: Rollei Rollei Rollei

For this, the 64th episode of the Camerosity Podcast, the gang finally devotes our full attention to one of the most popular brands of cameras ever made.  A camera brand that was so popular, they named the entire company after it, the Rolleiflex!

Originally founded by two ex Voigtländer employees who had an idea on how to build a better soldier's camera, a new company called Franke & Heidecke was created, and from there, a whole legacy of twin lens, and eventual single lens reflexes was born.

Joining Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike are returning callers Bill Smith, John Roberts, Marc Gordon, Patrick Casey, Rafael Espinosa, Tim Peters, and first time callers Dean Robinson and Steve "Johnny Appleseed" Lederman.

In this episode, we will cover the early history of the company, how Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke first got started, the early and later Rolleiflex and Rolleicord TLRs.  We also cover their transition into both medium format and 35mm SLRs, the compact Rollei 35, the Cosina made Rollei 35 RF, and a few other Rollei models.

We ask the tough questions like what is the difference between a Rolleiflex and Rolleicord, are the triplet lenses really that much worse than the Tessars, are German Rolleis better than Singapore Rolleis, and what are everyone's favorite models.  In addition to Rollei GAS, we briefly discuss a strange Japanese Rollei copy, why people tend to blend in better using cameras with waist level vs eye level viewfinders, the confusing transition from Voigtländer, Zeiss-Ikon to Rollei, and whether or not Vivian Maier was creepy.

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 new to shooting and are interested in having an episode dedicated to people new to the hobby, 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 finally going across the pond for another European time zone friendly episode.  If you are a fan of the show but are asleep or otherwise unable to join us for our regular recordings, this is the episode for you!  We will record Episode 65 on Monday, February 12th at Noon Central Standard Time (-6 UTC), 1pm Eastern Standard Time (-5 UTC), 6pm Greenwich Mean Time (+0 UTC), 7pm Central European Time (+1 UTC), and 5am Tuesday morning Australian Eastern Daylight Time (+11 UTC).  We look forward to hearing from you!

In This Episode

• Rollei Almost Didn't Exist / Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke Originally Worked for Voigtländer
• The Original Idea for the Rolleiflex Was to Be an Improved Vest Pocket Camera
• Franke & Heidecke Heidscop / Rolleidoscop
• The Rolleiflex First Went on Sale in 1929 / It Is Difficult to Tell Every Rollei Apart
• Early Rolleiflexes Were Designed for 117 Film / Some Were Modified to Use 620 Film
• Differences Between Rolleiflex and Rolleicords / Dim Viewfinders
• Was the 1950s the "Golden Era of Rollei"? / Triplet Lenses Can Sometimes Be Very Sharp
• Mike's First Attempt at Repairing a Rolleiflex Old Standard
• Rolleiflex T and Rolleimagic / TLRs with Interchangeable Lenses / Bay Filter Mounts
• Japanese Rollei Copy, the Rollekonter / Meopta Flexaret TLRs
• Rolleiflexes Are Precision Machines That Require Regular Service and Cleaning
• Honeywell Distributed Rolleiflexes in the US For a While
• Heinrich Peesel / Rollei 35 / Rolleiflex SLRs / Ifbaflex SLR
• Rolleiflex SL66 Medium Format SLR / Rolleiflex SL26 Instamatic / Rollei A110 and E110
• The Confusing Transition from Voigtländer to Zeiss-Ikon to Rollei
• German Made Rolleis vs Singapore Made Rolleis / Triplets vs Better Lenses
• Cropping 6x6 Images / TLRs Are Great for Street Photography
• Vivian Maier / Being Confronted While Out Photographing People
• Mike Loves Vivian Maier's Work But Thinks She Was Probably a Little Creepy
• Cosina Made Rollei 35 RF is Based off the Bessa R2

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord!  Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, 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.

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 and https://www.etsy.com/shop/Camerasandpictures

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/ and https://www.facebook.com/VoltaGNV/

Episode 63: Mount Olympus

In Greek mythology, Mount Olympus was the home of the Twelve Olympian Gods, Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Athena, and others looked upon the mortals of the world and accepted their worship.  In modern times, Mount Olympus is also home to the Camerosity Podcast where Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike gaze down upon their followers, accepting tributes and praise.

No, just kidding, none of us are that egomaniacal, no, the real Mount Olympus is in modern day Greece on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia near the Aegean Sea.  It was the inspiration for a small Japanese company formed on October 12, 1919 as K.K. Takachiho Seisakusho, or Takachiho Works Co., Ltd. in English.  The company would originally make microscopes, one of which was branded the "Olympus".  A series of cameras would come next with the same name, and in 1949, the entire company would then become known as the Olympus Corporation.

In the years since, Olympus has created some of the best lenses and cameras the Japanese photo industry ever produced.  In the time doing this show, we've mentioned a variety of Olympus cameras here and there, but we had never dedicated an entire episode to them, until now.

Tune in to Episode 63 where Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike are joined by returning callers A.J. Gentile, Howard Sandler, Mark Faulkner, Matt Murray, Patrick Casey, Patrick Rapps, Robert Coates, Tim Peters, and first time callers Josh Barker, Stephen Strangway, and Tony Plescia discuss their favorite Olympus models, some tips and tricks to using them, and a little bit of history.

The episode barely gets started before we go down the academia route and debate what the plural form of "Olympus" is, but then we get to other questions such as why half frame was so popular in Japan, when did Olympus become a point and shoot company, and what are some tips and tricks to get an Olympus OM-2 or OM-4 cheaply at a thrift shop.

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 new to shooting and are interested in having an episode dedicated to people new to the hobby, 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 will return with Episode 64 which will be dedicated to Rollei.  We will discuss all of the early Franke & Heidecke Rolleiflex and Rolleicord TLRs, plus their later SLRs, point and shoots, and maybe even an interchangeable lens rangefinder, digital camera or two.  We will record on a special night, on Thursday, January 25th at 7pm Central Standard Time, 8pm Eastern Standard Time.  We look forward to hearing from you!

In This Episode

• What Is the Plurality of Olympus? / Was Olympus Famous for Their Lenses First?
• Olympus's Early History / Zuiko Lenses Made for Other People / Zuiko Leica Thread Mount 40mm f/2.8
• Olympus Pen and Trip 35 / The Pen Re-Started Half Frame Popularity in the 1960s
• Why Was Half Frame 35mm So Popular in Japan? / Maitani Designed to Pen to Be Inexpensive Yet Still Capable of Great Photos
• Half Frame Was Single Frame Before the Pen / What Is Everyone's Favorite Pen? / Olympus Pen EE and D Series
• Zuiko Lenses and The Letter Code Indicates How Many Elements / The Original OM-1 Was Called the M-1
• Olympus FTL Was the First Full Frame Olympus SLR / No One Knows Who Made the FTL
• Anthony Loves the Pen F and FT / The Pen F SLR is a Marvel of Miniaturization
• Olympus Ace, Ace-E, and Tower 19 Rangefinders / Anthony's Olympus SP and EC Fixed Lens Rangefinders
• All the Olympus Fixed Lens Rangefinders / The Olympus 35 LC is the Same as the 35 SP but Without the Advanced Electronics
• Anthony Also Loves the Olympus XA4 / Maitani Created The Olympus XA / Reverse Retrofocus Lenses
• Olympus OM-Series / OM-SLRS Shutter Speed Selector is Around the Lens Mount to Help Shrink the Camera
• Maitani Signature Cameras / OM-2 and 4 Shutters Will Lock Up if Batteries are Dead / How to Test Them
• When Did Olympus Become a Point and Shoot Company?
• Olympus Stylus and mju Cameras / Olympus LT-1 / Olympus O-Product / Goofy Special Edition Cameras
• Olympus iS-Series SLRs / SP-330 Bridge Camera
• Olympus Jumped into Micro 4/3rds for the Consumer Market / Olympus OM-D E M1X and other OM-D Mirrorlesses
• Olympus Really Likes to Recycle Model Numbers and Names / Olympus Pen Digitals / 4:3 vs 3:2 Ratios
• Mike's Update on His Contax N1 from the Last Episode
• Theo Loves the Olympus XZ-1 Digicam
• Lightning Round: If You Could Only Keep One Olympus Camera, What Would it Be?

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord!  Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, 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.

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

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

Mark Faulkner - https://thegashaus.com/

Matt Murray - Matt Loves Cameras - https://mattlovescameras.com/

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

Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris and https://www.etsy.com/shop/Camerasandpictures

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/ and https://www.facebook.com/VoltaGNV/

 

Episode 62: Camerosity Live!

In the spirit of the earliest episodes of this show, as the last days of 2023 were winding down, the Camerosity gang found themselves with nothing to do on a Friday night and thought, "Hey! Lets do a Live show!"  

Podbean, the service that hosts and distributes this show has a feature called Live Streams in which you can create a live podcast, where it goes out as you record.  Everything is done on the fly, no editing, just people talking about whatever.  We thought this might be a fun experiment to get the four of us together one last time in 2023 and see what a live Camerosity show might be like...

Unfortunately, we couldn't make it work.  Apparently, Podbean has some requirements for more than one person to be able to talk during a live stream, and while it probably wouldn't have been too difficult to figure out, we just decided to go back to Zoom and record a quick episode as we usually do, except we'd keep the "live" spirit and do little to no editing.

Episode 62 was not planned, we went into it with no idea of what we'd talk about, or for how long.  We stuck to our guns and left in all the pauses, uuummmmsss, and all the talking over each other heard in live recordings.  There are no guests, no show notes, no Instagram roll calls of all the cameras we talk about, just roughly two hours of raw audio of us chatting.  As I type this, I haven't even listened to the whole show myself, so I guess I should apologize now...

We will be back with regular episodes in January and as always, we want to hear from you!  The topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by our listeners!  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 new to shooting and are interested in having an episode dedicated to people new to the hobby, 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 will record Episode 63 on Monday, January 8, 2024 at 7pm Central Standard Time, 8pm Eastern Standard Time, and 12 Noon on Jan 9th in Australian Eastern Daylight Time.  Our topic of discussion will more than likely be Olympus cameras, so get out your OM-series SLRs and Olympus Sixes and stay tuned!

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord!  Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, 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, Discord, or Instagram pages.

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 and https://www.etsy.com/shop/Camerasandpictures

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/ and https://www.facebook.com/VoltaGNV/

Episode 61: Pointing and Shooting

It took us a couple of tries. but the Camerosity crew finally managed to put together an episode dedicated to the best selling, widely used, and most accessible type of camera ever, the point and shoot.

The great thing about the point and shoot segment, is that apart from being easy enough to literally "point and shoot", there was a lot of flexibility in design, features, ergonomics, and usability, with many camera makers free to do something different from established norms, adding things like solar panels, dedicated panoramic modes, and even speech capability to otherwise mundane cameras.

In Episode 61, Paul, Theo, and Mike chatted with Andrew Smith. Matt Murray, Tim Peters, Kyle Lu, AJ Gentile, and first time caller Rafael Espinosa to share with us their favorite point and shoot models, how they like to use them, and their own tips and tricks to getting the most from these cameras.

Addressing the biggest debate right at the top of the show, we discuss what exactly is a point a shoot.  Not everyone agrees where this era exactly begins and ends as something as simple as the 1888 Kodak could technically be considered a point and shoot as you literally press the button and Kodak does the rest, but we decide to cap it to simple auto exposure models from the 1960s and on.

We talk about replacing rotted light seals, battery compatibility, which models are more likely to fail than others, underwater point and shoots, disposable point and shoots, and some premium point and shoots.  Will this episode give you GAS like some of our others?  I guess that depends on what style of photography you prefer, but you'll never know for sure if you don't listen in!

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 new to shooting and are interested in having an episode dedicated to people new to the hobby, 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.

This will be our last episode of 2023 as the guys and I will take a short break before coming back in January.  We may have something special planned for the week after Christmas, but as always, we need to flesh out ideas and make sure that if we do record something it is worth listening to, but even if we don't manage to get something out, we will be sure to return in January with Episode 62.  As always, stay tuned and keep a look out for the show announcement!

In This Episode

• We define what a Point and Shoot is / Theo suggests it might be a box camera
• Kodak made simple cameras to sell more film / Point and Shoots are perfect for the zoo
• Andrew’s first was a Ricoh TF500 / Canon QL17 GIII
• Old P&S cameras often need foam replacement
• Yashica Electros are also a good option / Olympus XA
• The Mamiya 7 is the best camera in the world, even as a P&S
• The Fuji GA645 is a true medium format P&S
• Fuji has a DX type coding for medium format films
• Matt Loves Cameras loves the Contax T3, his has only one tooth!
• Canon SureShot/Autoshot P&S are a great range of cameras / Canon A1 / Aqua Snappy 6 / Prima / Nikon Action Touch
• Matt’s Fuji Natura has a fast lens but only with fast film
• The Canon SureShot Series Are All Great
• Fuji TW-3 / Solar Powered Canon del Sol / Nikon Lite Touch Zoom 140
• Autofocus technology was important for zoom lens advancement
• Mike Raves About the Olympus IS Range / Canon MC Inspired by the Olympus XA
• Paul loves the Samsung AF Slim / Samsung made the Rollei Prego
• Konica Hexar / Konica Genba Kantoku Rugged Cameras
• Everyone likes the Nikon L35AF / The Kodak Ektar 35 is surprisingly good / GOKO Macromax is Fantastic for Macro Photography
• Paul finds an Agfa Optima Flash / Tim’s first compact was a Konica MR70, But Enjoys the Olympus Pen S
• Tim also believes the Nikon EM SLR is a P&S / Backlight button on a camera is a great feature
• Theo has been using the Pentax PC35AF / Mike played the Minolta Talker/AFS-V / Minolta Vista/Ps is a Panoramic Compact
• Premium Nikon P&S are the 35Ti and 28Ti / Premium Compacts are Starting to Fail / Kyle has found repairers in China that can fix them
• Pentax Espio Range are Great Value / Olympus mju / Ricoh FF series / Chinon Auto 3001 / Kodak VR35 K12 and K14
• Disposables have always been popular / The Cat Camera is a weird camera / Mamiya U and U AF / Hand Sam
• mikeeckman.com is 9 years old!

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord!  Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, 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 or Instagram page, or email us at camerosity.podcast@gmail.com.

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

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

Matt Murray - Matt Loves Cameras - https://mattlovescameras.com/

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

Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris and https://www.etsy.com/shop/Camerasandpictures

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/ and https://www.facebook.com/VoltaGNV/

Episode 60: The Listener’s Choice Episode

As we begin episodes numbered in the sixties, the Camerosity crew decided we haven't heard enough from our listeners, so rather than devote Episode 60 to one specific brand, style, or region of cameras, we decided to put out the call for a Listener's Choice episode!

Messages were plastered all over social media, Facebook, our new Discord server asking you all to join us, share with us what you've been shooting lately, any recent GAS you've picked up or are thinking of picking up, ask any questions of the hosts or other guests, whatever you wanted.

And boy, did you all respond!  With a total of 18 participants on this show, Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike were joined by returning callers Patrick Rapps, Andrew Smith, Mario and Julienne Piper, Greg McCreash, Marcy Merrill, Marc Gordon, Kyle Liu, and first time callers, AJ Gentile, Bill Chou, Bill Vitiello, Joseph Schallmo, Sam Kellett, and Tim Peters!

We went around the room and asked each caller what they've been up to, and if you were to have asked me and the other hosts what types of cameras would be discussed, none of us would have predicted the number of early 20th century box cameras, large Graflex SLRs, military cameras, and other oddball stuff that camera geeks like us love!  Of course, there was plenty of love for Rolleis, the Nikon S2, the Minolta X-700, Argus C3, Voigtländer Bessa, Yashica 44 and many more.  In addition to camera GAS, Julienne Piper shares with us her method for making 122 size roll film out of computer paper, shooting dry plates, making your own bellows, how Mike once used a garbage bag to keep light out of a camera, and much, MUCH more!

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 new to shooting and are interested in having an episode dedicated to people new to the hobby, 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 the next episode of the show, we would like to focus on a subset of cameras that get mentioned often, but we rarely spend more than a short passing moment on them, compact point and shoots.  For many, point and shoot cameras represent the cheapest and simplest entry into film photography, but therein lies their strengths.  With a good number of point and shoots featuring a high quality lens, a point and shoot offers a level of convenience and spontaneity that larger, more feature rich cameras can't match.  If you've ever tried capturing a fleeting moment of a child playing with a puppy using a falling plate camera or an early roll film camera you'll know that perhaps that Nikon L35AF is just what the doctor ordered!  We will record Episode 61 on Monday, December 11th so be sure to look out for the show announcement 2-3 days before then!

In This Episode

• Patrick Rapps has Panoramic GAS and Figured Out How to Repair a No. 1 Panoram-Kodak
• Everyone Has a Panoram-Kodak / 105 Roll Film Compared to 120
• Marcy Bought a Novelty Yashica MF-1 in Japan and Then Ruined An Entire Roll of Film
• Anthony Only Found the Super Expensive Camera Stores in Japan / Mamiya U Repair / Bill Rogers
• Andrew Smith is Trying Not to Buy New Stuff / Chinese Light Lens Labs ELCAN 50/2 Collapsible Lens
• Ricoh 500 and Bottom Trigger Cameras / Leicavit / Canon VT Rangefinders / Riken Lenses
• Mario Piper Gets a Beautiful Spotmatic SP / Spotmatic ES and ESII / Nikon EL2
• No 3A ANSCO Postcard Camera /  Julienne Makes Her Own 122 Size Photographic Paper / Kodak Bullseye Falling Plate Camera / Empire State No. 2 Studio Camera
• Printer Paper is Not Light Tight / Shooting Cameras in Garbage Bags / Making Your Own Bellows
• Bill Loves the Bronica ETRC / Bronicas Are Very Sensitive to Degraded Foam Light Seals / Bronica S2
• More Love for the Chinese ELCAM Lens
• Tim Shows Off His Kodak No.2 Bullseye Special / Folmer & Schwing Home Portrait Graflex
• Other Companies Made Zeiss Lenses in the Early 20th Century / Nikon S2 / UsedPhotoPro in Indianapolis / Nikon F with Selenium Meter
• Bill Vitiello Loves Every TLR / What is the Difference Between a Rolleiflex and Rolleicord? / Rolleiflex T
• The Camerosity Podcast Saves Lives! / Minolta X-700 / Argus C3 with Sandmar 35mm Lens
• Adapting DKL Mount Lenses / Most DKL Adapters Suck / A Brief History of the Deckel Mount
• Wet Plate Collodion Process / AJ's Nagaoka 5x7 Field Camera / Where to Get 2x3 Sheet Film
• Voigtländer Bessa I / Ilford's Special Order Film / Leica IIIF
• Shooting Dry Plates / Some Guy Built a Camera Into His Van / Making Positives from Negatives
• Yashica 44 / 127 Film / Adapting to 35mm
• Rerapan and Shanghai 127 Film / Cutting Bulk 46mm Film to 127 / Imperial 127 Delta
• Paul Loves his Polaroid Snap Touch Instant Camera / Paul Sends Greg a Box o' Stuff
• Greg McCreash Loves Military Cameras / Combat Graflex / The US Military Often Used Bronica Cameras
• Mike's Recent GAS / National Graflex / Yashica YF

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord!  Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, 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 or Instagram page, or email us at camerosity.podcast@gmail.com.

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

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

Mario and Julienne Piper - https://www.instagram.com/genxphotogpod/

Marcy Merrill - https://junkstorecameras.com/

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

Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris and https://www.etsy.com/shop/Camerasandpictures

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/ and https://www.facebook.com/VoltaGNV/

Episode 59: Cameras of East Germany

A couple episodes ago, the gang discussed cameras of the Soviet Union to give some attention to lesser known Soviet cameras, and the histories behind them, so for episode 59, we devoted the entire show to the East German camera industries, primarily those around the Dresden area.

There were perhaps more companies making cameras in this area than anywhere else in the world, so making a single episode that could cover them all would be impossible, but we certainly tried.  In the end, we discussed the fascinating histories of Ihagee and how Dutchman Johan Steenbergen split up the assets of his company into two to protect it from the Germans, how two Jewish businessmen formed KW in the early 20th century to become one of Germany's most successful camera makers, and how an eventual American entrepreneur took over the company and created the world's first modern 35mm SLR.

We devote some time to the Carl Zeiss Jena Werras, the Praktina, the battery driven Prakti, East German TLRs, and because we can't control ourselves, we even crossed international borders and discussed Japanese cameras with Exakta lens mounts.

It was a crazy episode that started out with some technical difficulties resulting in Paul losing power, Anthony's keyboard dying, and Theo needing to find a new job, but we persisted and delivered what I think is a fascinating, albeit abbreviated look at one of the most elaborate camera histories out there.

This episode also marks the official debut of the Camerosity Discord server, which is where Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike are ready and waiting to share in all of our tomfoolery, GAS, and a place for you to share what you've been shooting lately.  Be sure to check it out!

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 new to shooting and are interested in having an episode dedicated to people new to the hobby, 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, 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.

Our next episode will be number 60, and I am extremely excited to invite a special guest who I've been yearning to speak to for years.  My desire to speak to this person goes back even farther than the start of this show, and they are someone I REALLY think you will all enjoy talking to.  I can't say their name yet, but I can say they are one of the most well known Camera Collectors, and that before they became Popular, in their early career, they were very Modern.  So stay tuned for the recording of Episode 60 on Monday, November 27th!

In This Episode

• Dresden Was a Central Manufacturing Hub for All German Industry, Including Cameras / The Feb 1945 Bombing of Dresden
• Carl Zeiss Jena Werras / Differences Between the Various Werras
• KW Praktiflex and the M40 Lens Mount / Paul Loves Biotars of Every Size and Lens Mount
• Kamera-Werkstätten Has a Very Sad But Interesting History
• KW Patent-Etui / KW Pilot Reflex / The Story of Paul Guthe and Benno Thorsch
• The KW Praktina Was the First Modem Professional SLR / The Nikon F Was Influenced by the Praktina
• Praktina Spring Wound and Electric Motor Drives / 50 Foot Film Back / Angled Shutter Releases
• Why Were There So Many Different Camera Designs Coming Out of Dresden / Germans Didn't Like to Copy Themselves
• Ihagee and Johan Steenbergern's Story / Ihagee Was Split Into Two Halves So the Germans Couldn't Own it All
• East German TLRs / Weltaflex / Peerflekta / Mentorette
• Anthony Once Found East German Linen Photo Paper
• The East German Government Encouraged Photography for Propaganda
• Pentacon Six SLR with CZJ Biometar Lens
• Johan Steenbergen Was Successful in Getting the Rights to Ihagee Back, and Produced the Exakta Real in 1966
• Vest Pocket Exaktas and the Night Exakta / Every Different Exakta Used a Different Lens Mount
• Nippon Kogaku and Canon Both Made a Single Lens in Exakta Mount / Firstflex 35 SLR
• Why Did Tokyo Kogaku Use the Exakta Mount on Topcon SLRs? / Mimosa II
• Ihagee Exas / System Exa Rheinmetall
• Everyone Loves the Looks of the Exakta / 12 Second Exposures and Razor Blades
• Jimmy Stewart and the Exakta in Rear Window / Kilfitt Fern-Kilar 400mm f/5.6 Lens
• What is the Proper Spelling of Exakta? / Exacta Cameras
• Topcon RE 300 and Japanese Made Exaktas / Exakta Twin TL / Pentacon Prakti Sounds
• Camerosity is Now on Discord! / Listener Question About Good Books Covering the German Camera Industry

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord!  Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, 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/u7DvZEz6

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 or Instagram page, or email us at camerosity.podcast@gmail.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 and https://www.etsy.com/shop/Camerasandpictures

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/ and https://www.facebook.com/VoltaGNV/

Episode 58: Yashicas Niccas and More!

We've done a lot of deep dives into specific camera brands here on the Camerosity Podcast, but one brand I've been the most excited to do was Yashica.  Some of my earliest acquisitions of film cameras right when I first started collecting were Yashicas, from the wonderful Yashica Electro 35 to the Yashica-Mat TLR, to the Yashica TL-Super, there was probably a time when nearly 20% of my collection was a Yashica.

More than that, if you were to break down the entire Japanese camera industry into A, B, and C-List manufacturers with Nikon and Canon at the top, and the hordes of "one and done" Japanese makers from the 1950s in the C-List, Yashica seems to be one company that exists somewhere between A and B.

So for this podcast, I really wanted to bring out the big guns and invite not one, but two people who love Yashica more than I do.  The first guest is someone who I've interviewed before on my "One Hour Photo" series, is Paul Sokk.  Hailing from about 90 minutes away from Theo, Paul is THE authority on Yashica TLRs, fixed lens Yashicas, and early Yashica SLRs.  He also has a huge amount of info on Nicca, Leotax, and Canon rangefinders too making his site a very worthwhile read for many collectors.

In addition is Chris Whelan who has frequently collaborated with Paul, providing him with information and photographs that Paul has used on his site.  Chris has bought, owned, and sold a huge number of rare Yashicas, even to people you probably know.  Mike personally owns a few cameras that Chris has previously sold to other people, completing some form of Camerosity/Yashica Cycle of Life.

In this episode, we focus on the early days of Yashima, their TLRs, early SLRs, the company's acquisition of Nicca and Nicca rangefinders, and touch upon some of Yashica's great fixed lens rangefinders, plus some of their stranger cameras like the Sequelle and Samurai.

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 new to shooting and are interested in having an episode dedicated to people new to the hobby, 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, 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 yet know what we will be doing for our next show, but we are definitely mulling on some topics suggested to us from other listeners, plus the many different areas in which we interact with you on social medial.  Whatever we decide to do, I am sure it will be interesting and a lot of fun, so be sure to join us on Monday, November 13th for the recording of Episode 59!

In This Episode

• Paul Sokk and His Blogs, yashicatlr.com and leica-copies-japan.com / Chris Introduces yashicasailorboy.com
• We work out Anthony and Chris / Theo and Paul live close to each other
• Chris has sold to Kurt / Paul found the same camera when looking it up
• The Yashicaflex S and A3 found their way to Mike / Kurt wanted his collection to go to people that would appreciate them / Minolta Super A to Theo
• Chris’s first camera was a Yashica Electro TL X and a Nikonos II
• He went to Canon F1 but returned to Yashica because of Paul’s site / Chris turned Paul onto the Pentamatic
• Theo has been using the Electro TL X recently and the Yashinon 50 f/2 is one of his favourite lenses
• The Yashica FFT was the last M42 mount camera
• Anthony has a Contax S2 and ST with more Yashica lenses than Zeiss lenses
• Tomioka was responsible for the high quality Yashica glass
• Chris loves the Yashicamat EM / Mike Loves the Yashica D
• Yashica provided military goods to making cameras / Pigeonflex then Yashimaflex Was Next
• The Yashicamat Was One of the Best Selling TLRs
• Yashica was trying to sell volume by having the right quality for the right price
• Was 1956 when Yashica started to sell in US and Europe?
• In 1957 Yashima started to also make other cameras other than TLRs, first the Yashica 8 movie camera
• Yashima's First 35mm camera Was the Yashica-35 in 1958
• Brian Wants a TLR / Yashica 124G are as modern a TLR you will find / Kyle collects Contax SLRs
• Nicca was a Canon service company / Paul and Theo will fight over a Snider 35 / Niccas Were Sold by Sears as Towers
• Niccas are well built, so were the Leotax / Nicca introduced some innovations but Only Made Rangefinders
• Nippon Kogaku made the Rigid Body 5cm f/3.5 Nikkor-QC Exclusively for Nicca
• Yashica bought Nicca before they went bankrupt / Yashica Pentamatic / Auto frame counters can be problematic
• Who made lenses for the Yashica SLRs? / Yashica's First M42 Camera was the Penta J / J is for Jaguar / Yashica J-3
• TL Series when started with TTL metering / Fixed Lens Rangefinder Yashicas / Yashica Lynx / Yashica Minister
• Unique Yashica Cameras / Yashica Rapide / Yashica Sequelle / Yashica Samurai
• Yashica Electro 35 was hugely popular in the USA, and they have fantastic lenses
• The Contax/Yashica C/Y mount cameras and the Point and Shoots will be covered in a future episode

Links

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 or Instagram page, or email us at camerosity.podcast@gmail.com.

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

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

One Hour Photo 2 - Paul Sokk: https://mikeeckman.com/2019/05/one-hour-photo-2-paul-sokk/

Paul Sokk - http://yashicatlr.com/ and http://leica-copies-japan.com/

Chris Whelan - https://yashicasailorboy.com/ and https://www.ccstudio2380.com/

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

Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris and https://www.etsy.com/shop/Camerasandpictures

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/ and https://www.facebook.com/VoltaGNV/

Episode 57: Robert Shanebrook’s Kodak Moments

Looking back at past episodes of the show, there are a few memorable ones, not necessarily for anything myself or the other hosts contributed, but rather from some of our esteemed guests.  Of those esteemed guests, one that consistently piles on great information and awesome anecdotes about our hobby is Robert Shanebrook.  A former employee of Eastman Kodak who while working there did everything from build cameras that went to the moon, to helping create some of the company's best film emulsions ever made, even some like TMax which are still being made today.

With an incredible wealth of knowledge about Kodak's past and present, Robert still has his fingers on the pulse of the company and the industry and can often give insightful comments on where the industry is headed, so any time Robert agrees to join us, you know you're in for a ton of great information!

Joining him on this show is returning guest Mina Saleeb and first time caller Jesse Wisdom.  Of course, joining Robert, Mina, and Jesse are the four horsemen of the world's first and only open source film photography podcast, Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike!

In this episode, Robert shares his insights into Kodak's recent announcement of their intent to keep making film for as long as there is demand, and what exactly that means for the film community.  Robert reminisces on his days torture testing film and all of the great lengths Eastman Kodak went to making sure only the best film made it to your cameras, he talks about regional films, and a few more memorable film emulsions like Verichrome III and Supra.

In addition, Jesse shares his passion for instant film photography and we learn of some history behind Polaroid's lawsuit against Kodak in the 1980s, and how if it weren't for Kodak, Polaroid might have never existed.

Mike brings up his Kodak Aero-Ektar surveillance lens, and two recent pickups, a LOMO LC-Wide and W-Nikkor 2.5cm f/4 rangefinder lens.  Anthony shares his experience going to a recent KEH film event in Atlanta and how there is a clear disconnect between younger film enthusiasts and the older generation.  Jesse takes a stand and says that we need to connect the two groups of people as each can benefit from talking to another, but young people don't go on Facebook and old farts don't go on Discord.

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 new to shooting and are interested in having an episode dedicated to people new to the hobby, 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, 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 devoting the entire show to Yashica.  From the earliest Yashica TLRs to Nicca rangefinders to screw mount Yashica SLRs to the final Contax/Kyocera/Yashica SLRs, we plan on covering the entire output of this once great Japanese camera maker.  To help us traverse Yashica's long history, we will be joined by not one, but two Yashica experts who are certain to share with us a great deal of Yashica history and GAS!  If you've ever had any questions about your Yashica Electro or Samurai, this is the episode you won't want to miss, so be sure to join us on Monday, October 30th for the recording of Episode 58!

In This Episode

• The Ultimate Debate: Tim Tam Biscuits vs Mint Slices (aka Girl Scout Thin Mints)
• Kodak's Statement That They'll Stay in the Film Business As Long As There's Demand
• Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer Has Increased Interest in Film / 65mm Kodak Double XX Film
• How Kodak Scaled Down Their Production While Keeping Quality High
• Kodak Built in Different Tolerances for Consumer and Professional Films / Kodak Torture Tested Film
• Does Film Need to be as Consistent Today As It Used To Be?
• You Can Make a Lot of Stuff and Throw Away What's Bad, Or You Can Just Make Only Good Stuff
• Did Kodak Ever Resell or Give Away Their Film That Failed Quality Checks?
• Is Expired Film Stored at a Consistent Temp More Stable than Film Stored in Varying Temperatures?
• 120 Degrees Seems to be the Breaking Point for Film / Humidity is More Detrimental than Temperatures Are
• Were There Differences in the Same Film Produced in Different Markets? / Tropical Film and Cameras / Kodak ProImage 100
• The HBO Series Euphoria Was Shot on Ektachrome / Why Aren't There More Ektachrome Films?
• Differences in E2, E3, E4, and E6 Processes / Chemical vs Light Reversal
• How Similar are 1990s Pro Film to Today's Portra? / Iridium Doping Gets Rid of Reciprocity
• There Was Supposed to Be a Film Before Portra / Vericolor III
• When Portra Came Out Kodak Couldn't Sell Their Vericolor III Anymore So It Had to be Destroyed
• What Happened to Kodak Professional Supra Film?
• Instant Film / At Kodak the People Working on Instant Film Were in Silos
• Kodak Initially Helped Make Polaroid Film / Edwin Land Would Have Failed Without Kodak's Help
• Kodak Made the Negative for Polaroid Type 55 Peel Apart Film
• How Kodak Would Work With Fuji / Advanced Photo System
• Kodak Had an Earlier Attempt to Make a New 35mm Film in 1979
• Aero Ektar Military Lenses / Lenses with Thorium / Don't Lick Radioactive Lenses
• Ice Station Zebra / 30 Mile Long Rolls of Film in Satellites
• Dental X-Ray Film / Minilabs in Dentist Offices / Yashica Dental-Eye
• Anthony Goes to KEH and Sees a Bunch of Youtube Influencers with Very Expensive Cameras / Film Discord Servers
• Younger People are Enthusiastic About Film and Older People Are Enthusiastic, But the Two Groups Aren't Talking to Each Other
• Shooting Expired Film Means Something Different Depending on Who You Ask
• Mike Has a Cat Camera In a Can Made in Japan by Holga (WTF?!) / Film Photography Echo Chambers
• Mina Bought a KMZ Horizont After the Soviet Episode / Mike Gets a LOMO LC-Wide / W-Nikkor 2.5cm f/4 Rangefinder Lens
• Robert Shanebrook's "Making Kodak Film" Book is Back In Print, So Order Now if You Want One

Links

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 or Instagram page, or email us at camerosity.podcast@gmail.com.

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

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

Keppler’s Vault 56: Kodak 35mm Film Prototype - https://mikeeckman.com/2020/02/kepplers-vault-56-kodak-35mm-prototype/

Robert Shanebrook - http://www.makingkodakfilm.com/

Mina Saleeb - https://www.instagram.com/crookandflail

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

Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris and https://www.etsy.com/shop/Camerasandpictures

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/ and https://www.facebook.com/VoltaGNV/

Episode 56: Советские Фотоаппараты

Very few episodes of the Camerosity Podcast are recorded without mentioning at least one Soviet camera, or something about the Soviet photo industry.  When deciding what we should discuss in future episodes, it was quite a surprise to the gang and I when we realized we had never devoted an entire episode to the subject, so for Episode 56, we put out the call for all our Soviet comrades, poured a large glass of водка, and loaded some film into our favorite Советские Фотоаппараты.

Joining us on our tour of camera factories in Moscow, Kyiv, Leningrad, and Minsk are esteemed Soviet camera collector and blogger, Vladislav Kern and all around Soviet enthusiast Mark Beadle.  In addition to Vlad and Mark, regular callers Mark Faulkner, Ray Nason, and Ira Cohen came along for the ride as well.

As we often do, Episode 56 starts off with some history and a quick summary of Soviet factories and how their photo industry differed from those in Germany, Japan, and elsewhere.  A whole lot of Soviet GAS was discussed including recommendations for first Soviet cameras for someone whose never shot one, Mike raves repeatedly about Soviet triplets, Paul shares with us his incredibly rare Soviet Leica Summicron lens, and Anthony gets into a discussion about the Soviet motion picture industry.

In this episode we talk about Smenas, the half frame Chaika and Agat, the panoramic Horizont, medium format Iskra, the Leningrad and Droug rangefinders, Soviet fakes, swirly bokeh, and a whole host of other Soviet GAS.

Later in the show we get into a round of Soviet Mythbusters in which Mike asks Vlad several commonly cited "facts" about Soviet cameras, and whether they are true.  Find out if orphaned children really built FED rangefinders, whether cameras with English logos are built with a higher quality, or whether or not you really need to wind your Soviet camera before changing shutter speeds.

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 new to shooting and are interested in having an episode dedicated to people new to the hobby, 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, 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 coming back to a favorite topic of the show, which is film stocks and film developing.  We will be welcoming back Robert Shanebrook from Eastman Kodak to talk about all the different types of film from history and past, and hopefully get some insight into what might come in the future.  These film emulsion episodes are always fascinating, so be sure to join us on Monday, October 16th for the recording of Episode 57!

In This Episode

• Differences Between Soviet and Other Country's Camera Industries / Soviet Factories
• Camera Production Was a Cover for Military Manufacturing / Very Little Official Information About Camera Production Was Kept / Photography Was Encouraged to Aide in Soviet Propaganda
• What Soviet Camera Would a Photography Student Buy? / Smena 8 and 8M
• Home Developing and Recycling Everything / Camera Repair Manuals Were Common
• Pre-Soviet Cameras / Export Cameras Were Controlled by TOE aka the KGB
• Soviet Cameras were Distributed All Over the World as Kalimar, Global, and Many Others
• In the UK, Soviet Cameras Were Pretty Common and Seen as Good First Cameras
• A Zenit SLR Could Be Bought For Less Than a Third of a Nikon or Canon
• Soviet SLRs Came in M39, M42, Pentax K, Nikon F, and a Few Proprietary Mounts / KMZ Start
• Soviet Cameras Built for Export Were Generally of Higher Quality / Latin vs Cyrillic Lettering
• Ray's Distributor Used to Bring Him Kiev 60 and 88s for Ten Bucks Each
• After the Soviet Union Collapsed, the Arsenal Factory Attempted to Privatize and Compete on the World Market / Kiev USA
• Arax and Hartblei Also Refurbished Kiev Cameras Making them Better than New with Upgraded Features
• The Soviet Motion Picture Industry / Stalin Had to Approve Every Script That was Submitted for a Motion Picture
• French and Japanese Equipment Was Used to Make Movies
• The FED and Zorki Weren't the Only Soviet Leica Copies / VOOMP II Pioneer and Foto Apparat Geodeziya
• KMZ Started Producing Leica Copies After the War and For a Very Short Time, So Did Arsenal
• Did Orphaned Children Really Assemble FED Cameras? / American Children Worked in Coal Mines
• Are Other Eastern Bloc Cameras Made in Czechoslovakia and Hungary Part of Soviet Camera Collecting? / MOM Mometta III
• The Soviet Union Helped China Start their Camera Industry / Chinese Copies of Smenas and Zenits
• GOMZ Sport SLR / The Soviet Camera Industry Pioneered More Things Than They Often Get Credit For
• Arsenal Kiev Rangefinders Were Built Using Actual Zeiss Contax Parts and Machinery
• Paul Has Never Ever Shot a Soviet Camera / Mike Recommends the Smena 8 for Paul / Agat 18K
• Mike Thinks Soviet Cloth Shutters Hold Up Better than Other Cloth Curtains
• Soviet GAS / Lubitels / Kiev 17 and 19 / Kiev 10 and 15 / Kiev 30 Submini
• LOMO LC-A / Chaika and FED Micro Half Frame Cameras
• Panoramic Cameras / KMZ Horizont / KMZ FT-2 / Fedor Vasilievich Tokarev
• Soviet Mythbusters:
  • Some Soviet Cameras Use Animal Fat Lubricant
  • KMZ Cameras Built for Export are of Higher Quality
  • Lenses with Serial Numbers Beginning with 00 Were Made for VIPs
  • Whole Warehouses of New Soviet Lenses Are Still Being Discovered
  • Don't Change Shutter Speeds Until After Cocking the Shutter / KMZ Narciss
• Soviet Fakes / Paul Has a Summicron 50mm f/3.5 Leica Lens / British Reid Soviet Fake
• KMZ Droug Has a Rangefinder Coupling Wheel
• Is it Difficult for Vlad to Get So Many Soviet Cameras Living in the United States
• TSVVS Prototypes / Mike Raves About Vlad's Collection and Rambles Off a Bunch of Soviet Cameras We Didn't Talk About
• Where Do You Get Soviet Cameras Repaired?

Links

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 or Instagram page, or email us at camerosity.podcast@gmail.com.

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

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

Vlad Kern - http://ussrphoto.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/ussrphoto/

Mark Beadle - https://www.instagram.com/Mark_Beadle90/

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

Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris and https://www.etsy.com/shop/Camerasandpictures

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/ and https://www.facebook.com/VoltaGNV/