Cameraquest.com is awesome

kshapero · 06-08-2009

I am not trying to butter up the boss but every now and then I revisit Cameraquest.com and always seem to stumble on a page I never saw before. What a goldmine for folks like us.

Way to go Mr Gandy.

Al Patterson · 06-08-2009

Yeah, he has some great pages there. Many of them have cost me money...

Al Kaplan · 06-08-2009

Now if only somebody like Fred Spira would bring Spiratone back to life the world would be perfection!

kshapero · 06-08-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Al Kaplan

Now if only somebody like Fred Spira would bring Spiratone back to life the world would be perfection!

nice thought.

JRG · 06-08-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Al Kaplan

Now if only somebody like Fred Spira would bring Spiratone back to life the world would be perfection!

Ah, yes: Spiratone! Those were indeed the days.

Avotius · 06-08-2009

a great site indeed, for a long while it has been blocked here in China but I just noticed just now that it is not anymore! Still I should stay away, I dont have any money to spend now.

back alley · 06-08-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Al Kaplan

Now if only somebody like Fred Spira would bring Spiratone back to life the world would be perfection!

i used to go to his store in new york when i was a kid, just a vague memory now.

Al Kaplan · 06-08-2009

Sorry to hijack the thread, kshapero and Mr. Gandy. I guess in many ways you ARE the Fred Spira of the 21st century!

raid · 06-08-2009

There is a wealth of information on Stephen's super site.

As for Spiratone, I have a few of their lenses.

Pablito · 06-08-2009

Spiratone was a fun store with lots of inexpensive useful things and just as many low quality gizmos and gadgets for those who liked to pimp their cameras. CQ, on the other hand, has real quality stuff! No disrespect to Mr. Spira, quite a fellow from what I understand. Quite an obit he had in the Times.

mabelsound · 06-08-2009

I was actually going to start a thread about CQ. OK, so I'm in a small town on the east coast. I order something from Stephen at 4pm on Saturday afternoon. He sends it priority mail. It gets here NOON MONDAY! From California, to upstate NY! If I had ordered from KEH and paid for NEXT DAY AIR it wouldn't have even SHIPPED until today at noon.

I don't understand how this is possible. Amazing.

januaryman · 06-09-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Al Kaplan

Now if only somebody like Fred Spira would bring Spiratone back to life the world would be perfection!

Spiratone! I practically used to live there when I was going to NYU many many years ago! They sold me my first enlarger, bulk film loader and something called a stabilization processor for quick and dirty prints that worked, I guess, on the same principle as polaroid film. What a loss! I think I still have a Spiratone lens for Canon FD mount laying around the house somewhere... Thanks for reminding me, Al.

Ronald_H · 06-09-2009

Nothing has taught me more about classic cameras than Stephen site. He did not cost me (much) but the drop in productivity must count for something

buzzardkid · 06-09-2009

Both CameraQuest and Karen Nakamura helped me decide what camera to get as my first Leica M.

Before that, CQ and Dante Stella had already gotten me up to speed on the Hexar AF.

I used to buy whatever I liked, shoot and fiddle it for a while and then sell it for a profit. By the time I got to the Hexar, then a Minolta CLE and subsequently a Leica M3, I was hooked. Kept on buying and fiddling, but the Leica and Konica RF gear stuck with me, and will continue to do so.

So, thanks!

kuvvy · 06-09-2009

Stephen has a very informative site for us guys here, that's for sure. His service too is very efficient with speedy delivery times. What we need now is a 'half-price sale'

Al Kaplan · 06-09-2009

Stephen, I realize that Cameraquest is likely a one person operation and that digital has changed the face of the planet but some of those goodies Spiratone used to sell would still find customers. A lot of the special effects "filters" like the Starburst and Rayburst, their soft focus "filters" that were better than Hasselblad's versions, and their fish-eye converter which worked nicely on the Hasselblad.

It seemed to be beneath the dignity of pro photographers to use their gimmicky products but everytime I did a fish-eye shot from the church balcony at a wedding the bride loved it. I did two record album covers with one of those cheap 400mm f/6.3 lenses. A 400mm Leitz Telyt would have cost as much as I got paid for just one cover. A Rayburst filter shot was used for the cover of an annual report.

One thing that I'd really like to buy would be a 15mm Heliar with a filter slot for inserting a small diameter filter between the elements.

BillBingham2 · 06-09-2009

I still have two Spiratione cases that I coated with ArmorAll years ago. They both look great.

I think we need to reach out to HeavyStar for that sort of stuff. Sadly some of what we bought really cheap can be done now with Software.

Just a rainy day here in my head today. Sorry.

I too miss Spiratone, never made it to their store, but their ads made at least me think.

B2

zenlibra · 06-09-2009

I agree with the sentiments expressed here. The wealth of information is helpful and fun to read. I've bought two lenses and both arrived within 48 hours from L.A. to Toronto.

januaryman · 06-09-2009

Yes, of course CameraQuest is great! I bought the CV II meter, got it very fast, an Ultron 35 and the Skopar. From you other guys I have all sorts of "gently used" equipment, including a Bessa R, a Yashica Electro 35, a Canon FD SLR (gasp!) super wide angle lens and plenty of other stuff. What a great place!

dmr · 06-09-2009

I was a semi-regular at Spiratone (the Manhattan shop) back in the days. It was sad to see that one go to the dogs and then close.

I mostly bought film and odds&ends there, plus took color film there for Processing By Kodak<tm>. My brother bought one of their huge honking el-cheapo 400mm (300mm?) lenses there. It worked but it had a very funky stop-down mechanism.

Fred Spira's son was posting for a while over at APUG shortly after Fred's death.

Oh well ...

Trius · 06-09-2009

I avoid Cameraquest as it contra-indicates detachment.

As for Spiratone, the thing was that you could get a very wide variety of accessories ALL FROM ONE CATALOG, and if you really needed a lens that you couldn't afford from a major manufacturer, Fred would have 3rd party that, as it turned out, wasn't too bad. And all the darkroom stuff you could ever dream of. I love Freestyle, too, but it doesn't come close.