Happy SUNday! On the Waterfront A.I.

September 30, 2018Chris and Carol Leave a comment

wheel on dock

at the dock

at the docks 2

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A nice afternoon spent along the waterfront – Fernandina Beach – Amelia Island – Florida.

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

“This is a Toy” – Goofy Stuff from Yashica

September 29, 2018Chris and Carol 2 Comments

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Normally you’d expect to see “this is not a toy” on something not designed to be played with. Here we have a rather odd promotional item from Yashica.

My best translation – Color Camera Yashica Electro 35

Still looks good and holds air after 50 years!

A Yashica float. It’s about 6 feet in length and I’m guessing Yashica didn’t want you to use this at the beach or pool as anything but a toy.

Admittedly a pretty goofy item that we’ve added to our Yashica collection recently. I saw it on a Japanese auction site and well, I couldn’t resist. It was listed by a seller in Shiga Prefecture (which is just east of Kyoto). I paid a silly amount to ship it after paying less than $10 to purchase it. Collecting – jeez. On the bright side, I may have the only matching set of Yashica beach gear in the world!

We now have a matching set of beach gear from Yashica. The Sailor Boy logo was popular with Yashica in the early 1960s – here he makes another appearance to promote the Electro 35 camera.

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Yashica LM -1956

September 27, 2018Chris and Carol 1 Comment

Made by Yashima Optical – my first model LM

This Yashica LM was the first camera that I posted on my Flickr site back in December 2013

The selenium cells were hidden under the nameplate – it was a highly accurate light meter

Yashica LM twin-lens reflex (TLR) 6×6 cm medium format film camera. This is one of my most favorite TLRs from Yashica. It features a built-in light meter (LM) and sharp Tomioka made lenses.

These two images were the first two that I posted on my Flickr site back in 2013. I was fond of using two different backgrounds – a dark blue (pictured above) and a softer light blue. I use a stark white background now but I’m getting a bit tired of it. I may go back to using a light blue (see below).

Thanks for stopping by! BTW, my Flickr site can be found here

Chris

Koinobori – Carp Streamer

September 26, 2018Chris and Carol 1 Comment

I know it’s a bit out of season for a picture of a carp streamer (Koinobori) but this image qualifies as a “found image” from a bunch of “lost” pictures that I had taken with my Canon A-1 and Canon FD 500mm reflex lens. I believe I used Fujicolor.

I had sold this Canon lens (FD 500mm f/8 Reflex) in mid-2013 and never really got a chance to give it a good workout. I have another 500mm lens headed my way and I hope to give this new one more of a workout.

The Canon reflex (mirror lens) produces pleasing highlights in the out of focus background.

Visit my shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com for some interesting photo gear.

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Fujica ST701 – Pretty, Simple

September 25, 2018Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Early 1970s classic from Fuji Photo Film – Fujica ST701

Advertisement from late 1971

Sales brochure for the Fujica ST701

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit our online shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – Chris

My Dad’s Polaroid Pathfinder 110

September 24, 2018Chris and Carol Leave a comment

A camera that I hope stays with my family forever. So many great images were created using this camera over the years – it certainly qualifies as a keeper in our collection.

Pathfinder 110 from 1953

Do you have an “untouchable” camera in your collection? We have a few and I hope to share them over the next few weeks. – Chris

The Fujicaflex Automat- a monster TLR from Fuji Photo Film Company, Tokyo

September 24, 2018Chris and Carol 1 Comment

Fuji’s only attempt at a twin-lens reflex camera – 1954

The Fuji Photo Film Company of Tokyo has a long history of making some very desirable cameras – from simple point and shoot models to high-quality professional medium format film cameras covering most types of film formats (Fuji Photo, after all, is in the business of selling film). Along the way, there have been a few cameras that have stood out for their technical achievements and innovations and one of them is the Fujicaflex Automat (for much more about this model please check out Mr. Koyasu’s wonderful site).

We’ve wanted to add this camera to our collection for many years and the right combination of events led us to this one. It was for sale in Japan a short while back and we missed it – it became available again from a collector in Thailand so we went for it.

Of the many neat features that this camera has, one of the most useful is its close-up capabilities. Although we haven’t finished our first test roll of film we wanted to verify the reported 70cm close focusing feature. By pushing the little button above the thumbwheel you’ll be able to adjust the taking and viewing lenses for a closer focus (notice that the lens rings extend outwards about 4mm or so). The ability to bring the taking lens closer to the subject allows the camera to get closer to the subject without the use of cumbersome auxiliary lenses.