Due to the elimination of the personal exemptions, my taxes will go up approximately $1,800 a year. The Republicans are going to lose big time when the general public discovers this tidbit. Folks with more than three exemptions will get hammered.
My LX was CLA'ed by Eric Henderson in 2015; it should outlive me. I recently got a Mamiya RB67 and picked up a set of replacement foam seals. Will install them after the holidays. Nice thing about the old stuff is they are generally repairable as they do not rely on circuit boards/electronics. Granted, the LX does, but its backup is a K1000.
Church Key
I decided to go back to film as a lark. Bought a Pentax K1000 from fleabay (vendor was KEH) it had an unusable (de-silvered) viewfinder. Rather than get into a return pissing contest sent a note to Eric Henderson. He replaced the viewfinder and did a CLA for $70. It works like a new camera. Uses standard SR44 batteries. Like it so much, I then got a Pentax LX, which is the top-of-the-line 35 film Pentax. The nice thing about Pentax's are the amazing amount of lenses available for them. You can quench your GAS for not much money.
Church Key
I've been sort of doing the same thing as the OP. Got back into 35mm B&W and collected a bunch of Pentax LX gear (big time GAS). Then decided to try 120 film and got an RB67, which is really a monster. Have decided to keep the GAS for it to a minimum for now.
Church Key
First the paperless office; now the paperless bathroom!
I recently got back to film after about a 15 year break. Started with a Pentax K1000 and then upgraded to a Pentax LX. Started collecting LX accessories; as usual, went overboard. Only shooting B&W which is processed by the Darkroom in LA. They develop and scan the negatives. Recently picked up a Mamiya RB67 Pro, which is a monster. Going to change out the worn light seals as soon as they arrive from fleabay and then try it for a while. Glad I hung onto my massive Bogen tripod. The biggest problem for me is that film lenses are so reasonably priced there is a temptation to get a few more.
Church Key
Being very old and hard of hearing, I like to hear a shutter click. That said, I recently started fiddling with a Mamiya RB67. Nothing else comes close to its clank.
Church Key
The software for your PC that's provided with the camera usually can be used to change the photo pixel amounts. As an example, I use a Pentax K-S2 and its software allows me to right click on a photo (in a folder on my PC) and adjust the quality which it then saves as another picture with a different name. Just did it tonight as I also use AOL, which for me seems to have a >10MB limit; otherwise I get a "failed try again" message. Max picture quality for me is **** or 11MB; * is about 2MB. You will have to hunt a bit to find out how it works with your software, but once figured out it becomes easy.
Church Key
My digital is a K-S2; film is a K1000 and an LX. Have about 1/2 dozen lenses of various eras. All good stuff.
Church Key
Folks - Thanks for all the replies. The RB67 seems to bring back plenty of good experiences by its past and current owners.
I finally figured out all the minor differences between my original RB67 (Professional) and the PRO S, as I had obtained a manual for the latter. Mostly a few minor changes dealing with upgraded double exposure prevention, etc. The one thing that gave me a fit was removing the focusing hood, as mine did not have a hood latch. Finally just used brute force, pushing hard on sliding the nameplate to the right; worked fine. Another thing is that the shutter must be cocked before rotating the back from horizontal to vertical. Could not find this noted anywhere. The only accessory I'm going to get right now is a carrying strap. I'll use a canvas tool bag for a carrying case. I have a tendency to suffer a case of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome); don't ask how many accessories I've added to a recently-acquired Pentax LX. Have to tone it down a bit with the RB.
Again, thanks for the help and interest.
BTW - Church Key was my CB handle in the 70's. My motto was "Likes little brown bottles." Those under 50 will not have a clue what this means.
Church Key
I've been sort of drifting back to film, specifically B&W. Picked up a Pentax LX (the top of line ca. 1980) and several lenses. Took a bunch of nice pics at a Cowboy Action Shooting match. Ended up digitizing them and sending to the participants. Decided I might want to try 120 film, so just got a 1970 Mamiya RB67 w/127 lens and 120 back. Picked it up from Fleabay for $199 shipped from Japan. Bought it on 11/13, arrived on 11/17. It's a monster, all mechanical and metal, weighs 6 pounds. B&H has 120 film. Will dig out my heavy tripod, Gossen meter and shoot some landscapes. At least I'll get out of the house with a specific purpose. Will post results in a while.
Beats having to wait (and pay for) for a Nikon 850; duh!
Church Key
There is the premier Pentax film camera repair person, Eric Henderson, who is still doing excellent work. You can Google him. I recently had a K1000 CLA'ed and a prism replacement done for $70. You get what appears to be a new camera back. Go to the Pentax Forum for more info. He also did a CLA on a Pentax 28mm M lens which had a sticky diaphragm for $42. Again, as clear as a new one. I cannot speak to any other camera brands. I went back to Pentax film cameras because of his availability.
Church Key
Sorry - I thought this was being posted in the Buy/Sell/Trade (B/S/T) area; my screw-up. Some of the boards I deal with have notices to remind the sellers to post whenever an item is sold to prevent unnecessary PM's. It seems to me to be a basic courtesy, but not in this forum however.
In the future, I'll just ignore the stuff for sale.
Church Key
It would be helpful if the poster (seller) states something like: " The first I'll take it, gets it. PM me for payment details."
A "PM me if you want it" keeps other potential buyers in the dark. A later PM gets an "Item sold" response, which I personally find very annoying. Why not just state it is going to be bought?
Transparency saves a bunch of frustration and wasted key strokes.
Church Key
Sent a PM for the 521/2.
Church Key