Introducing myself, plus some questions

DougK · 09-14-2004

Hi all,

I posted a very brief introduction over on the September photo project page, but I'll go into a little more depth here. It would seem rude to just dive right into picking people's brains... :-)

I'm Doug Kirchgesler and a newcomer to serious photography. I started getting serious when I inherited my dad's Pentax K1000 outfit a couple of years ago, but couldn't seem to get the results I wanted. In frustration, I went out and bought a Minolta Dimage 7i and started shooting lots more pictures and enjoying . The digital camera was great for building up confidence along with some basic skills (and I still like to shoot with it), but using it just doesn't feel like "photography" to me. I also wanted something compact for my upcoming vacation, something inexpensive and mostly mechanical yet capable of taking good quality images. I've owned a number of P&S cameras over the years and they just don't do it for me, I never seem to be able to get the image I see onto film with them. So I started cruising the web and ran into something called a rangefinder camera. I happened to go into my friendly neighborhood camera store a couple of weeks back and was able to play with a Yashica GSN. To make a long story short, I am now eagerly awaiting the arrival of two new cameras, a new-to-me Ricoh 500G and an Olympus Trip 35. We won't go into the purchase of the Seagull TLR which has also been a lot of fun....

OK, now on to my questions. I have a feeling that both the Ricoh and the Olympus will see a lot of use and the questions I have (for now, I'm sure there will be more later:-) ) are these:

1) What would folks suggest as the best quality replacement for the PX675 battery; and

2) Can anyone offer suggestions on using the Trip 35? I'm pretty new to the idea of using a scale-focus camera.

Sorry to be so long-winded on a first post, I'll try to keep it a little shorter in the future...

Glad to be aboard!
Doug

rovnguy · 09-14-2004

Hi -

I picked up a Trip 35 many years ago in Japan, intending to present it as a gift to my brother. I liked it so well I got another just for me. What I have learned over the years is to use color negative film because of its wide exposure latitude, and to learn to accurately estimate distances, then move yourself in or out accordingly. With ISO 100 film on a sunny day, what you miss in distance estimation can be covered by DOF. So just play with it and find what works for you.

R / George

Brian Sweeney · 09-15-2004

I have been using silver-oxide MS76 batteries as a replacement for PX675 Mercury cells. I have not noticed a problem in print film, if you shoot slides you can play with the ASA setting to compensate for exposure. For example; use ASA 160 for ASA 200 film. Let us know how you do!

vladhed · 09-15-2004

I have a Trip 35 that I picked up at a garage sale for 5$ in Yellowknife, N.W.T of all places years ago. It takes great shots for such a simple camera (and not so great shots, but that's not the camera's fault

)

For daylight shooting the 40mm lens at 1/200 of sec (the maximum) will have so much DOF that focusing isn't a problem, unless DOF isn't what you want. My 8 year old was the last to run a film through it and nothing was out of focus, including the two indoor shots which would have been at f2.8 or f4. She seems to have no trouble relating to the pictograms on the lens.

I eagerly await seeing the pictures you are going to shoot with these!

DougK · 09-15-2004

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Doug K.

wierdcollector · 09-15-2004

Hi Doug,
Great choices for cameras. I have all of them, but I like the Oly's so much and they're always cheap so I have 4 of them. The photos seem to pop better with the Olympus Trip 35 and Yashica GSN, but the Ricoh 500 G wins the battle of the three 35mm's just for the fact it is as light to carry as the Oly, but has complete control including f stops and speeds without the use of a battery. True the Oly doesn't use a battery but it doesn't give you the control that the Ricoh does. It does however make up for that with a slightly better lens. Can't beat that Oly glass. The Yashica GSN is an excellent camera too but the battery is hard to find, better used with an adapter and different battery. The Seagull TLR as you said is also a lot of fun but a horse of a different colour you might say. Hard to compare the image quality of the bigger negative to 35mm. Just my two cents worth. By the way, welcome to the group.

jdos2 · 09-15-2004

Been up to "Foto Center" on Mayfield yet? They've got interesting "junk" cameras from time to time.

DougK · 09-15-2004

JD,

No, I haven't but it sounds like it's right up my alley. Whereabouts is it? The only camera store I knew about on Mayfield was Dodd Camera at Mayfield and Richmond.

Curt and others,

Thanks for the warm welcome!

taffer · 09-15-2004

Welcome Doug !!

I've used the Ricoh 35 ZF (zone focus version of the 500G) and it's a great tiny camera with a pretty good lens.

Good luck !

jdos2 · 09-15-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by dkirchge
JD,

No, I haven't but it sounds like it's right up my alley. Whereabouts is it? The only camera store I knew about on Mayfield was Dodd Camera at Mayfield and Richmond.

Curt and others,

Thanks for the warm welcome!

It's up across from Mayfield Heights City Hall- and they are of the old school, lotsa used junk (old cameras, enlargers), and so forth. Lots of fun.

Just be sure of what you buy, and don't expect too much from them...

Doug · 09-15-2004

Welcome, Doug! I don't know much about your other cameras, but I'm a (shhh) Pentax fan. Now why didn't they ever produce a Pentax RF camera? :-)

DougK · 09-16-2004

Doug,

I just noticed you're located in eastern Washington - I was born in Spokane and lived there until 1995! I'm a huge Pentax fan myself and love my K1000 but I hate dragging the outfit around with me, which was one of the reasons I decided to go rangefinder (that and I was inspired by National Geographic photographer David Allen Harvey who carries only a Leica and 3 short lenses, 28, 35, and 50 - love his stuff).

JD,
I'll check that place out this weekend.

Brian,
I found a Wein cell but ye gods, the cost! I'll try your suggestion of the silver oxide cells when this one dies.

Cheers all,
Doug K.

DougK · 09-16-2004

George, vladhed,

Didn't mean to slight you guys, thanks for your advice as well, it'll come in handy when the Oly gets here!

Doug K.