the nightmare continues

May 25, 2022Chris and Carol 2 Comments

Heartbroken and heartsick

Happy SUNday! – me and my Nicca 3-S

May 22, 2022May 22, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

I recently rediscovered these images that I had taken with my Nicca 3-S 35mm rangefinder camera a few years back. I say rediscovered because I don’t believe I’ve posted all of the pictures before. They were hiding on a DVD in plain sight.

First, the camera and lens.

Nicca 3-S from 1955.

Super sharp Nippon Kogaku Nikkor-HC f2 5cm lens.

The images are unretouched, just as they were scanned by the photo lab.

Historic District, Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island, Florida.

I’m quite pleased with the results. All images were taken on Fujicolor Superia X-TRA 800.

Thanks for stopping by and have a beautiful day! – Chris

Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.

School outing to Kamakura, Japan – 1977

May 19, 2022May 19, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Late Spring 1977. I believe these steps led up to The Great Buddha (Kamakura Daibutsu). I do not know which school the students were from.

Camera & Film – Yashica TL Electro X Kodak Ektachrome 64

This is not my actual first camera but it’s the first 35mm SLR model that I owned and purchased new in early 1972.

I’ve shot quite a few rolls of this back in the 1970s. Kodachrome was a great color slide film but its ASA was only 25 so if you wanted a bit more speed you needed Ektachrome 64 and later High-Speed Ektachrome 200.

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

wordless wednesday

May 18, 2022May 18, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Yokosuka to Yokohama – take the red train!

May 17, 2022May 17, 2022Chris and Carol 2 Comments

That’s what we were told to do. Go to the Yokosuka train station on the Keihin Kyuko line and take the red train to Yokohama, it’s the fastest way to get there. The only problem, all the trains were red in the late 1970s. But what they meant was to look for the trains with the red kanji in the upper corner of the sign board. There were black kanji trains, green, blue, and red. The black trains were locals so that meant over an hour or more to get to Yokohama and a stop at every station along the way. The greens were the best since they only stopped twice before getting into Yoko. I don’t recall what the blue trains did or where they went.

The train timetable sign at Yokosuka Central Station.

The colors indicated when that train would leave the station. The greens were the best followed by the reds. When I was stationed in Yokosuka on the USS Midway we always wanted to get off in time to catch the 1455 or the 1515 green train to Yokohama (where we lived). There were plenty of times I’ve sprinted from the base main gate through Yokosuka to catch a green train as it would cut about 30 minutes off the commute home. Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Yashica Tominon Lens – a hard one to chase

May 17, 2022May 17, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Shown here mounted on one of my Yashica Pentamatics – 35mm SLR camera from 1960.

Preset lens, Yashica Pentamatic bayonet mount.

Not many of these dual-branded lenses were made and with no accurate data from Yashica, one can only guess the actual production numbers. Less than 3,000? Maybe slightly more or a lot less. This serial number can tell a bit of the story. The number on this lens is 350309. The ’35’ refers to the lens’s focal length, which is 35mm. the last 4 digits are simply the sequential number of lenses made up to that point. ‘0309’ means that this is the 309th lens made since the start of production (whenever that was). My guess is around mid-1960.

So, if you’re up for a challenge try tracking down this lens on the various online auction sites. You’ll quickly find out that you’ll be looking for quite a while – but it’s worth it in the end. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check me out on Instagram at @ccphotographyai – Chris

Happy SUNday!

May 15, 2022May 17, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Bald cypress growing from a seed I planted. The seed came from the big cypress trees I have growing in my backyard. This one will get transplanted later this year – I don’t know where yet but I’m sure it will be happy.

Florida bald cypress about two years old.

One of my backyard beauties. This one was planted about 30 years ago when we first moved here (Amelia Island, Florida).

Camera – Samsung Galaxy S8+

Thanks for stopping by and have a beautiful day! – Chris

Mamiya C33 TLR – 1969

May 14, 2022May 14, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

1969 was a great year, I went on my first date, we landed on the moon, the NY Mets won their first World Series and this wonderful camera from Mamiya was made.

Mamiya C33 twin-lens reflex camera with Mamiya-Sekor f3.5 105mm lens.

As it turns out, the little gold two-letter round stickers on most Mamiya cameras and lenses are date codes. Apparently not much can be gained by looking at Mamiya’s serial numbers but the date code stickers will tell the year and month according to Bill Rogers who is a Mamiya repair technician. His post about the stickers can be found at https://mamiyarepair.com/mamiya-production-date-codes/ – awesome info!

If you own Mamiya equipment (beyond their 35mm cameras and lenses) the stickers should be on almost all lenses and camera bodies (unless they’ve fallen off or were removed). You can just barely see the sticker on the side of the top lens in the picture above. In my case, the sticker is ‘IE’ which decodes to 1969 May. The body date sticker will be in the film chamber. Mine is ‘IF’ which decodes to 1969 May. If you read Bill Rogers’ site you’ll discover the secret to dating your photo gear. Thanks for stopping by today and be sure to follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai – Chris