flashboxx
05-18-2006, 21:49
Hey guys,
This is my first post here, so I am going to keep it short and sweet. I recently came across a Zorki 4 on Philadelphia's craigslist page, and i promptly snatched it up for $20. The body was a little ragged, and i had to do some reconstructive repair on the interior rangefinder cam, but all in all, it wasn't too terrible, except for the fact that the viewfinder showed about an 85mm field of view and the second curtain shutter didn't close correctly. Ok, ok, so zorki's are pieces of garbage. BUT it came with a cute little Jupiter-8 50/2 lens, and believe you me, that was worth every penny(all 2,000 of them!) Add to that the fact that this guy is a nimrod and doesn't know what anything is worth, and you have a classic poster boy for my favorite saying: "never underestimate the power of stupid people with internet connections". So i figure "ok, i have this zorki that works about half the time, so its not so bad". But then it gets OH so much better. Exactly one week later, I get an email from him saying he got another batch of cameras at an estate sale, and proceeded to rattle off what he he had plundered. Among the usual Brownie's, Polaroids, and an AE-1, was this "stupid little Leotax thing". So, 30 seconds and a quick ebay search later, he had a response asking how much he wanted for the Leotax. Needless to say, being a LeoTARD, he sold it to me for $10. Now if you run a little background check, you will see that these fine pieces of Japanese engineering generally far outsell their Wetzlar counterparts(a Leotax Leica III copy generally sells for 800-1200USD). So, aside from aquiring a MINT collector's grade Leica copy, I had just received my first real dose of that sweet sweet drug known as "Leicaphetamines" or "the red dot special". I quickly slapped the Jupiter on there and shot 2 rolls of tri-x. I finally developed them yesterday, and all I can say is "WOW". I was expecting very little to come out thanks to the (or so i thought) crappy russian lens. They were sharp as a tack, the exposures were good, and they were far contrastier than i was expecting. Sure, there was some flare when i was aimed in the general direction of the sun, but all in all, the results were stellar. I will have some scans up here tomorrow sometime. Believe it or not, after only one day, I had already pawned off some of my posessions to feed my addiction:P I traded a 1979 Raleigh Professional team issue racing frame for a Canon Serenar 85/2 with the original case and finder, plus a 50/2.8 Schneider Componon-S enlarging lens. Yes, these are the confessions of a budding Leicaholic(not to be confused with leicaphile), and what you hear is the Leitz, the whole Leitz, and nothing but the Leitz. Good night and good luck!
Alex Cowperthwaite
AKA The Funnyman
Flashboxx Photographics
This is my first post here, so I am going to keep it short and sweet. I recently came across a Zorki 4 on Philadelphia's craigslist page, and i promptly snatched it up for $20. The body was a little ragged, and i had to do some reconstructive repair on the interior rangefinder cam, but all in all, it wasn't too terrible, except for the fact that the viewfinder showed about an 85mm field of view and the second curtain shutter didn't close correctly. Ok, ok, so zorki's are pieces of garbage. BUT it came with a cute little Jupiter-8 50/2 lens, and believe you me, that was worth every penny(all 2,000 of them!) Add to that the fact that this guy is a nimrod and doesn't know what anything is worth, and you have a classic poster boy for my favorite saying: "never underestimate the power of stupid people with internet connections". So i figure "ok, i have this zorki that works about half the time, so its not so bad". But then it gets OH so much better. Exactly one week later, I get an email from him saying he got another batch of cameras at an estate sale, and proceeded to rattle off what he he had plundered. Among the usual Brownie's, Polaroids, and an AE-1, was this "stupid little Leotax thing". So, 30 seconds and a quick ebay search later, he had a response asking how much he wanted for the Leotax. Needless to say, being a LeoTARD, he sold it to me for $10. Now if you run a little background check, you will see that these fine pieces of Japanese engineering generally far outsell their Wetzlar counterparts(a Leotax Leica III copy generally sells for 800-1200USD). So, aside from aquiring a MINT collector's grade Leica copy, I had just received my first real dose of that sweet sweet drug known as "Leicaphetamines" or "the red dot special". I quickly slapped the Jupiter on there and shot 2 rolls of tri-x. I finally developed them yesterday, and all I can say is "WOW". I was expecting very little to come out thanks to the (or so i thought) crappy russian lens. They were sharp as a tack, the exposures were good, and they were far contrastier than i was expecting. Sure, there was some flare when i was aimed in the general direction of the sun, but all in all, the results were stellar. I will have some scans up here tomorrow sometime. Believe it or not, after only one day, I had already pawned off some of my posessions to feed my addiction:P I traded a 1979 Raleigh Professional team issue racing frame for a Canon Serenar 85/2 with the original case and finder, plus a 50/2.8 Schneider Componon-S enlarging lens. Yes, these are the confessions of a budding Leicaholic(not to be confused with leicaphile), and what you hear is the Leitz, the whole Leitz, and nothing but the Leitz. Good night and good luck!
Alex Cowperthwaite
AKA The Funnyman
Flashboxx Photographics