Wishing everyone a Happy SUNday!

October 20, 2024Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Happy SUNday!

Canon’s ‘Black Beauty’ – the F-1s cousin

October 8, 2024Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Canon EF – A Classic 35mm SLR

A bit of Yashica history

October 4, 2024Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Yashica J-3 Sales Brochure – 1962

My Asahi Pentax H2

August 16, 2024August 16, 2024Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris

My 1959-ish Asahi Pentax H2 with a fabulous Asahi Auto-Takumar f3.5 35mm lens and all of the period correct bits.
I’m a big fan of wide-angle lenses on 35mm cameras, even though a 35 is on the upper end of the focal length scale. Those few extra millimeters can make all the difference in group shots or when working in tight spaces in our historic district.
www.ccstudio2380.com

A modern-made leather half-case contrasts nicely with the vintage satin chrome metalwork.

Asahi Optical Auto-Takumar f3.5 35mm lens. Surprisingly, the early Takumar lenses didn’t usually have a matching Asahi Pentax lens cap. Some caps just had Takumar on them.

Thanks for stopping by, Chris

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Facebook CC Photography of Amelia

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. Copyright © 2015-2024 Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris (Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic), Chris Whelan. All rights reserved.

Canon PowerShot G2

August 15, 2024August 15, 2024Chris and Carol Leave a comment

From 2002, the Canon PowerShot G2. MSRP was $899! That’s a ton of money today and was crazy money back then.
It features a CCD sensor and a fast Canon f2 zoom lens. I can’t wait to take this one for a spin in our bright Florida sunshine (if I don’t melt).
http://www.ccstudio2380.com

From 2002. It’s big and a bit heavy, but nice.

It’s like a brick with a lens (in a good way).

The LCD does articulate and is bright and clear.

Super sharp and fast Canon f2 zoom lens.

I can hardly wait to go out and about with this sharp Canon from the early days od digital photography.

Thanks for stopping by, Chris

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Contax RX – 1994

April 15, 2024April 15, 2024Chris and Carol 2 Comments

Before the dawn of the digital age, camera manufacturers produced some of their most technologically advanced 35mm SLR film cameras to date. Sophisticated autofocus systems, auto exposure, eye-control, and zone-assist focusing to name just a few features. The Canon EOS-1N (1994), the Nikon F4 (1988) which was Nikons first professional camera with autofocus, the F5 (1996), and the Contax RX (1994), AX (1996) which had a basic autofocus system and later, the N1 (2000) a true autofocus camera with a new line of Zeiss lenses.

My Contax RX set. The lens was initially sold separately.

The RX’s ‘highlight’ was the Digital Focus Indicator (DFI) function—not quite autofocus, but close.

It’s a handsome SLR with a timeless, classic look that, in my opinion, modern Fujifilm mirrorless cameras emulate.

The list price of JPY 160,000 was about USD 1,600 in 1994.

Contax RX brochure. Shoots at up to 3 frames per second.

Canon EOS-1N RS (a film eater with autofocus). It’s capable of shooting 10 frames per second! Uses Canon EF lenses.

Nikon F5 1996. It’s capable of shooting 8 frames per second.

The Contax RX. The data back only indicates the year up to 2019. Thirty years on, it’s stuck in the 1990s. The data is printed between the frames on the film, not in the image.

More soon. Thanks for stopping by, Chris

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Canon Collector Classics

April 12, 2024April 12, 2024Chris and Carol Leave a comment

From my personal collection of all things Canon, these are in my camera shop, CC Design Studios, at http://www.ccstudio2380.com—and they’re on sale at 20% off, too!

From Think Tank, Turnstyle 10 V2.0 Sling Bag with Canon Professional Services logo.

New Canon Professional Services padded camera strap by OP/TECH.

Just add your own camera and you’ll have an instant classic.

Thanks for stopping by, Chris

Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai

Happy SUNday! – Contax Bliss

April 7, 2024April 8, 2024Chris and Carol 4 Comments

The Contax 50th Anniversary Edition 137 MD Quartz 35mm SLR film camera.

The ’50 Years’ model had a unique leatherette and a gold Contax ‘button’ on the flash sync terminal.

I don’t usually chase anniversary models, but this one struck me as pure in the early 1980s.

Contax celebrated fifty years, 1932-1982.

One of two standard lenses is shown here.

Contax numbered their cameras, consequently. As far as I am aware, no date code is hidden in the serial numbers.

It’s a simple manual focus aperture priority camera first released in 1980. Notice the location of the tripod socket. The entire baseplate is removable to be able to install the four AA batteries needed to power the meter and motor drive.

I believe the red sticker indicates that the color of the body is ‘fin’ or ‘wine.’ The Google Translate app isn’t apparent.

There aren’t many of these models still available, but they are well worth being chased.

This particular camera was sold in Japan, and unfortunately, I don’t have the original paperwork or Japanese instruction booklet. I’d love to find the correct strap, too. The proper case is a bit of a mystery, but I believe it should have been C-004, according to my friend Graham in the UK. By the way, the period correct flash units made for the 137 MD is the Contax TLA20 and TLA30 Auto Flash units for true TTL flash metering. There is also a 137 Data Back and a 137 Grip Adapter. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit my camera shop (hosted by Etsy) at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – Chris

Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai