mystery camera

As well as the Agfa I have a ME Super. SFXn..MZ5n..Fuji Finepix S20Pro and a mint AF 280T flash unit, all redundant to my K10. If I keep any it will be the ME Super. With fading memory, I struggle with the K10 but at least I can see immediately my mistakes. Have just purchased a Tamron 90mm for macro and a Tamron 70..300 Zoom. Beginning to wonder if I have made an error with the zoom as reports suggest purple fringing is a problem. Would I have been better to go for the Pentax zooms to 300mm.?? There are often pentax 70..300 lens new and boxed available on E.Bay. Just concerned at the P that appears in the detail.

The Tamron is not the best but as long as you dont shoot to contrasty a shot (white against dark) its not that bad the Sigma 70-300 APO is an ok lens, not the standard version.
The Pentax zoom would be ok, I hear good reports about it but have not used it myself, I just wish I had the Pentax * 300mm prime lens, but pensions dont stretch that far

Wants..tell me about it. The 300* is my most wanted. I have the 50-200mm but I need to go to 300. Idealy the 70-300 is mostly wasted. Better for me would be the 100-300. The lottery gave me £10 last Saturday..needed another two 00's and I would have been on to SRS pronto. If you didn't have your dreams, life would be a sad plaace to be.

I packed the lottery in,they don't give anything for no numbers
I have used the Sigma 70-300APO with some very good results, have a look at my portfolio, even one of the macro shots was done on the "macro" setting.
That is the reason I will be selling my 50-200mm and one or two other lenses.
I'm going to be in my back garden today to see if i can get one or two Bird shots, tit family and just maybe one of the hawks (Sparrow and Goss) but they are so fast
especially the Gosshawk it just shoots through tiny gaps in the trees,still keep trying

I wont be lending you my Horseman then...

Actually, I find using old kit (a) fun and (b) good discipline. Using digital has made me lazy!

Cheers, Kris.

I will need to wear wellies in my back garden at the moment and the birds will need water skies to land. Do have a red sqirrel at the bird feeder, though. Strange how this critter doesn't know what a peanut is if it's in its case and prefers to do a houdini act to get into my sqirrel resistant bird feeder simply to eat sun flower nuts. Must be this global warming they keep warning us to look out for.

I'm pretty sure that your shooting ratio will be much, much lower with the Horseman than with digital. Every shot will be much more considered.

I'm reminded of a pal link telling me that he started out with 5x4 speed graphic and if you had six plates, you had a lot of film!

In the past I have had many cameras, including a Mamiya press, i could not even pick the damn thing up these days.
I will just leave that to you youngsters and i will just use my K20,that is heavy enough with a grip and a Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 on the front as you get older you just want an easy life, i have done the hard work in the past.
True it makes one lazy but what the hell, us oldies want a rest

Ps, Still got a couple of light meters, more my weight limit.

Great link. I really enjoyed watching his site.

Only have two dark slides at the moment, i.e. enough for four shots! Mind you, by the time I have got my head round tilts and shifts and worked out the exposure using the zone system, four will be enough. I am sure I will get faster in time. I am planning to spend a few weekends in the spring touring the county photographing medieval churches. Should be fun!

Best wishes, Kris.

I've recently been looking at photos of Cromer in it's Victorian heyday as a holiday retreat for the well-healed. How things have changed! In the summer when it's full of holiday-makers, I'm planning to re-create the same photos on the Instantograph quarter plate camera. Initial experiments are pointing towards matte grade 2 paper as the 'film' of choice, due to the colour-blindness similar to emulsions of the day. I look forward to comparing notes, although your Horseman is probably a much more unwieldy beast than the relatively tiny Instantograph.

I agree there Kris, I've started carrying digital and film bodies with me.

Digital for instant results and film for that thoughtful moment that I want to capture.

The film bodies I use most? MX!

I still have "Film" kit and have not long ago got rid of my "dark room" and contents, but being a disabled photographer carrying extra gear around is not possible, a K20, Tamron 70-200mm and other lighter lenses + monopod and all the ancillary stuff.
I will leave the heavier extras to you younger fit ones.
I am still learning the capabilities of the K20 (I have had it for about 8 months.