Cameras and Watches...

[yoyo22]

Originally Posted by NickTrop

(...) It's a new Chinese eBay special for like $20. It runs a couple minutes fast each day (which is really no biggie actually...) and it's a BIG skeletal. (...)

Isn't that part of the beauty of mechanical things - the mechanical tolerances which stand in contrast to the binary zeros and ones of all those computerized things. That certain uncertainty of a complex little mechanical miracle, made of gears, jewels and springs.

[gavinlg]

Great analogy. I wear a dw5600 g-shock for gym and everyday beating and a citizen nighthawk when things get a little nicer. I have a gorgeous tissot dress watch that my grandfather used to own as well - quartz I think, but so thin and pretty.

I personally don't mind how it's powered that much - quartz/mechanical/solar. Each watch has it's own character. I've put my g-shock through hell over the last 3-4 years and it still looks and functions new, and is only about 4-5 seconds fast a year.

When I can afford it I'll buy a Nomos Zurich, a nice Speedmaster and the current Casio G-shock Frogman. Those 3 watches make up my dream list, and pretty much represent everything I could ever need in a watch!

[filmtwit]

Honestly if you're going with Japanese camera's, then you go with Japanese watches. The Seiko Automatics come to mind.

[andydg]

I did not wear my Rolex on a daily basis. I just sent it back for service a 3rd time since buying it new in '87. While in the military and receiving flight pay, I could afford the buy it (although it was purchased at a local store at home.) The service cost has been as much as the purchase price to date.
Original watch price $2k. First service $500, second $1.2k, 3rd $600. (I don't baby it at all. The rotor came loose 2nd, 3rd time, band wore out, case is dented, crystal has been replaced, etc.)
The quote Rolex sent me last week stated that their insurance amount, in case my watch is lost comes to $9k.

Hmmm, I'm not that attached to it, an M9 would be a nice replacement and it has a built in clock.

[Richard G]

I have my grandfather's Cymaflex, popular with GIs in Europe after the war. He wasn't one of them. Very nice watch. Too good except for occasions. Very good time keeper. My father's Omega Seamaster was a rugged watch that never kept good time. It gained 2 minutes a day. He bought it in Singapore on his honeymoon in 1958. I had a quartz Seamaster for many years, but I got tired of it's 1986 look, and more tired of it needing a new battery which was never convenient, and saw me either without a watch for a week or two or risking my grandfather's to work and the street. My best friend had lost his grandfather's watch on a hike in our teens and I have never forgotten that.

So this year I did something exceedingly rational. I went into a jeweller I knew and asked for a waterproof, automatic steel banded watch as plain as possible. The Raymond Weil looked too precious, but the Oris was just right, and $900. It' s not a chronometer grade time keeper, but many days it comes within those parameters. I do like seeing the smooth sweep of the second hand of a mechanical watch. I am disappointed by the very rapid high pitch of the watch movement. But I am pleased I can still hear it. And it's 26 jewels by the way.

In an episode of Colombo he needs to interview a jeweler in a very Fifth Avenuish store - this is LA. He asks the woman front of house if he can get a new strap for his own watch. She examines it. "Oh, 7 jewels." He smiles proudly. She suggest a replacement band option, with the price. "Oh no, I just want a new band, not a whole new watch."

[mathomas]

Originally Posted by NickTrop

...

And - if you're a Leica shooter, you're apt to sport an Omega...

...

Guilty as charged. I've had an automatic Seamaster for about 15 years now, though I don't wear it much these days. I've joked that a diver could have less weight on his belt if he is wearing this watch on a dive.

[gilpen123]

Rolex to a Leica and CLE to Omega

[hausen]

I like the analogy as well. My wife is Swiss which means we go there a bit. I used to have 9 automatic watches but have recently exited a few as my Leica GAS has taken over, still have:
Omega Planet Ocean Chrono
Tag Link Chrono
Mont Blanc Timewalker Chrono
Oris Worldtimer

They all work well with my M9.

[jky]

I must have the Voigtlander Cosina of mechanical watches... Seiko Spirit with the 6r15b movement. Much cheaper than the Omegas for example, but accuracy beyond its price point (+4-5 seconds/day)....

[Chris101]

Six Westclox, a Benrus, a Waltham, and a Majestyme. All work, all were cheap, and two of them - the Wesclox Pocket Ben, and the Benrus wristwatch - have radium paint faces. None of my mechanical camera lenses have thorium elements, but I want one!

[NickTrop]

Originally Posted by Chris101

Six Westclox, a Benrus, a Waltham, and a Majestyme. All work, all were cheap, and two of them - the Wesclox Pocket Ben, and the Benrus wristwatch - have radium paint faces. None of my mechanical camera lenses have thorium elements, but I want one!

LOL! Very funny... Love your collection by the way. I'm drawn to the cheaper "every man" watches too.

[brachal]

Oh man ... I have:
A 60's Omege Speedmaster, the model that went to the moon.
A 70's British Army G10
A pair of great Poljot Comanderski's
A Traser quartz
And a G-shock.

[NickTrop]

Oh - man, my own thread is giving me GAS! Damn!
Now I want a Seiko and another Poljot.
I see two new watches in my future.
Already watching a couple on eBay...
Grrrrrrrr.

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Originally Posted by Chris101

Six Westclox, a Benrus, a Waltham, and a Majestyme. All work, all were cheap, and two of them - the Wesclox Pocket Ben, and the Benrus wristwatch - have radium paint faces. None of my mechanical camera lenses have thorium elements, but I want one!

I have a Westclox Pocket Ben that belonged to my great-grandfather. He gave it to me before he died, when I was a little kid. It still runs great and is very accurate.

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Originally Posted by NickTrop

Great point.

Another similarity... Like the FSU Leica and Contax clones, the Russians made some excellent undervalued timepieces. I had a nice, serviced 17 jewel vintage black dial Poljot that I stupidly sold. I sometimes get GAS for another Poljot but I "have too many watches already".

Sound familiar?

I have a Soviet KGB Automatic watch. One of the originals, not one of the copies that Russian factories have put out in huge numbers since the fall of the USSR. Last year, it quit working. I loved it, it was very accurate and was a cool watch. Liked it better than my expensive Seiko Quartz Chronograph. I can't find anyone who will work on it though. Who serviced yours, Nick?

[kermaier]

I have a Waltham hunter case pocket watch from 1892, but it doesn't run well anymore after being manhandled by incompetent jewelers tring to service it.

My everyday watch is a Blancpain ultra-slim automatic in stainless steel. Runs a bit fast, which bugs me. Blancpain have graciously sent it to Geneva for overhauls about 4 times, with only limited success. Can't fault their customer service, though, and it's a really enjoyable piece to wear.

I also have a mechanical Swatch in a green, plastic see-through case. It's an automatic, and keeps better time than the Blancpain (annoyingly). I wear it at the beach, etc. It's also fun to wear, and to look at works as it runs.

::Ari

[jky]

I must add that my Seiko Spirit is rated @ -15/+25 seconda per day.... which is still really respectable. Mine however has been very accurate the past 3 years.

[Santtu Määttänen]

I have countless vintage watches, literaly countless since I've bought them over the years and the ones that don't see wrist time are in drawers and boxes, uncounted. But the ones I really wear (first the modern ones): OWC Blacktie, OWC 5517, Precista PRS20. And vintage ones that get wrist time (or pocket time), Elgin Military Pocket watch from 1941, Doxa pocket watch from 50s, Omega pocket watch from 50s with cal161 movement, Tissot PR516, Poljot moscow olympics watch, Alpina military watch from 1940s, Tissot military watch from 1940s, Russian type-1 wrist watch conversion and maybe some others..

Those all go well with my vintage mechanical cameras, I do own one quartz watch too (Eco-Zilla, used for diving and sports) and I own one digital camera as well at the moment (E-P2) so I'm not against modern technology, it has it's place. But mechanical is always mechanical, they have soul

Besides it's wonderful to time your long exposures on vintage mechanical pocket watch

[citizen99]

I recently revived my love of mechanical watches, the brisk tick is like a living heartbeat ( also steam engines but that would be another thread ). I had a Longines Conquest automatic for my 21st in the early '60s, but it wasn't reliable at the time, even after supposed servicing, and I put it in a drawer. Then recently one of my boys bought me a Sekonda automatic for Christmas, with the bonus of the transparent back for admiring the mechanism. Inspired by this, I got the Longines serviced, and this repairer did a proper job (maybe now the remaining servicers are the competent ones, being in a niche, high-value, market?). So I wear them on alternate days; they both store sufficient energy to keep going this way.
Further inspired, I got a very pretty ('70s ?) Caravelle pocket watch off ebay with transparent front face, and a nice Molniya (Cyrillic lettering) railway pocket watch for my brother to wear whilst playing with steam trains .

[K14]

Originally Posted by citizen99

I recently revived my love of mechanical watches, the brisk tick is like a living heartbeat ( also steam engines but that would be another thread ).

Mamod forum? Well I wear a mechanical Timex I bought for my father when I was 15. He never wore it, liked pocket watches, so he gave it back years later. The watch gains 15 minutes weekly, gets me out of bed earlier I guess.

Gary

[Vince Lupo]

Originally Posted by NickTrop

And - if you're a Leica shooter, you're apt to sport an Omega...

Or.....

[Joao]

Originally Posted by PKR

Well it would depend on the camera and it's distance to the RF source (antenna). It's a 1/d^2 thing like light. If the transmitter is UHF using a high powered TWT for output in the multi KW ERP , where an RF suit is needed to keep you safe near the antenna, the camera's electronics would likely not be happy. In a lesser instance, I would worry about any memory in a digital camera. And possible damage to any non CMOS in the camera's electronics. CMOS is RF sensitive too, but not as sensitive as other stuff. I'm no expert. Maybe someone else on here will help. I use mechanical cameras and film around high levels of RF. Big magnets are also a problem, if you spend any time around places that steer particles with magnets. Mechanical cameras have trouble around this stuff too if there is any Ferrous material in the camera - like a film cassette.

I should also add that mechanical watches don't like big magnets. And not all stainless steel is non-ferrous. Cheap watches do well around magnets and RF. If they haven't changed the time since the last you looked. Buy another $14 plastic digital and take the old one apart for fun.

Valuable information! I was aware of possible magnetic damage (I have professional contact with hospital NMR devices - even credit cards should be kept at a safe distance) but I never tought of RF as a possible source of troubles. Thank you .
Joao

[blindrobert]

Leica M9, M3, MP
Rolex GMT Master II
Timex Ironman
Panerai PAM104

On a similar vein of thought - a semi-retired rock star friend of mine once made an observation about guitar and bicycle culture: both groups have the historians who know all the old catalogs and parts and obscure model numbers, both groups have the professionals who earn money with the equipment and mostly don't give a flip about the name or age or anything except that it works as expected, there are the collectors who have the most beautiful stuff but never ride/play it - they just keep a museum - then there are the folks who only use vintage gear and the folks who always only have the latest cutting edge gear.

Anyway - I think his observation holds for the camera and watch groups as well.

[Rayt]

I equate these Swiss watch makers and German engineers with the old world masters for whom we must pay tribute else the art will be lost and we are doomed to buying $15 fans from Walmart.

[NickTrop]

Originally Posted by Chriscrawfordphoto

I have a Soviet KGB Automatic watch. One of the originals, not one of the copies that Russian factories have put out in huge numbers since the fall of the USSR. Last year, it quit working. I loved it, it was very accurate and was a cool watch. Liked it better than my expensive Seiko Quartz Chronograph. I can't find anyone who will work on it though. Who serviced yours, Nick?

I never had it serviced, it was purchased serviced from an eBay seller in the Ukraine, I think. I usually buy my mechanicals on the 'bay. Like cameras that "you never get on with" I thought the black dial was a little too dressy and thought it was "redundant" with the dark blue dial Bouliva Carravelle I have.

Check out Poljot on the bay, read the descriptions. You can usually find some that were serviced and they aren't terribly expensive - $50 - $100. Mine ran perfectly.