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Hi Ingrained, I agree, my preferred choice is always either a fully manual camera or at least one that offers manual as well as auto. Of my cameras that do have various auto modes, I will occasionally use aperture priority auto but never program mode. It's possible, from my own point, that I'm applying a bit of snobbishness by saying that "I always shoot manual", or "I never shoot in program mode", but being forced to shoot in program mode on the T50 (because that's all it has), reminded me that program mode isn't all bad, and I should maybe give it a little more credit now and then. Theoretically, the T50 should really be able to shoot in aperture priority mode, and I can only presume that Canon omitted that feature to ensure enough people went for the more expensive T70.

Cheers Stephen.C, glad you enjoyed it.

Hi Nigel, I guess it slightly depends on what other cameras you're using - I've been using a KMZ Start, Kiev 4 and Argus C3 recently, all of which have their charm but they could also be described as ergonomic disasters, and in comparison the T50 is pure luxury. Love that TR6 in your thumbnail by the way.

Hi Mr Standfast, I'm definitely guilty at times of dismissing "auto only" cameras because I don't have the level of control that I usually like, but I've loved using the T50. I've already put 2 films through it (I just haven't taken the second roll to the lab yet) and now I've got the video out of the way I'll be putting a third roll in.

I couldn't think of an imaginative title for the video - I was stuck at "Canon T50" and it needed more words - I might change the title sometime if I get inspired with something a bit more interesting.

Hi Jackie, I'm sure there must be a decent source of replacement ariels, but I haven't tracked it down yet. I needed a replacement ariel for one of my other radios and I couldn't find anything, so I just repaired what I had as best as I could so I could use the radio.

Hi Fettarme, I haven't got my notes with me today, hopefully I'll have written down what I did to remove the aperture ring, I don't recall it being too difficult - I'll try to have a look at my notes next week and let you know.

Hi Andrew, yes, it is just that, a point and shoot SLR, and a surprisingly good one at that. I didn't realise how much fun it would be to use, I expected to be frustrated at not being able to adjust the exposure but instead it allowed me to relax a bit more. I've already put a second roll of film through it, just haven't taken that roll to the lab yet.

Thanks Geoffrey, I always love going to classic car shows, and they're such good subjects to photograph too. The slightly desaturated look of the outdated film added to the classic feel of the images too.

Hi Morris, the T90 is the big daddy of the T series isn't it - I don't think I've seen one in the flesh, but it looks like they were a little more reserved on the styling for the Pro / serious amateur model. Does the T90 also have a big "click" at the end of the film advance or have they damped that down a bit - I suspect it's the mirror cocking lever returning at the end of the wind, but I haven't checked. I love the Tamron Adaptall lenses, especially the SP versions - I have quite a collection, but a few of them are still on the workbench awaiting cleaning or fixing. They are horrible lenses to get apart, I've had to make special tools, and even then they appeared to use some strong lacquer/threadlock or similar on some of the threads and I've not yet managed to get some of them apart.

It's a pity not to use multispot. It's a feature that disappeared from high end cameras that was very useful. Never missed the desired exposure with it.

@@GrumpyTim It definitely makes the click. I have a spare 28-80 27A that needs minor repairs; if you need one for parts just drop me a PM.

The T-90 is great but I think I prefer the Nikon F-100

Glad you liked it GR8FLMD3AD

Cheers David, it was a cheap repair and it worked well. A few people have got a little upset because it wasn't a professional repair, but I think they're missing the point, the Sofa cost something like £25 (or it might have been £30) from a charity shop and sending it to a pro for repair would have been pointless. It's still holding together well after 2 and a half years of daily use, so the owner of said sofa is perfectly happy with it. Cheers for the comment.

Hi Sinan, glad you enjoyed the video. Is your camera still firing the shutter? If advance the film advancing lever with the lens off, you should see the mirror being lowered by a little pin in the back left corner of the mirror box area, the front left edge of the mirror should then be caught by a little catch so you can see through the viewfinder. If you press the shutter button once the shutter has been fired, you should see the little catch moving with the shutter button (the catch sits about half way up on the left hand side of the mirror box. If that catch has stuck in the forward position, try giving it a gentle touch to move it backwards - it's pushed forward by the shutter button and returns with a spring, if the mechanism has got sticky it might have stuck in the forward position and therefore isn't catching the mirror. Those are just my initial thoughts without taking the camera apart. Let me know how you get on.

@@GrumpyTim Hi Tim, thanks for replying so quickly. I haven't been able to fix the problem yet, but I've spoken to someone in a camera store, he couldn't take a detailed look at the camera, but mentioned that some Edixa's have the problem, that if you change the exposure in the wrong order before shooting it might get stuck. It could be that, although I didn't have the time to verify it.

I can't remember if that's the case with the Edixa cameras, but it's certainly the case with some cameras. Is yours the same model as mine or slightly different?

Hi Alex, I've really enjoyed using the Jupiter lenses on a digital body in the past, they seem to perform very well when attached to a digital body. The second film I put through the Kiev worked much better due to it being a slightly faster film and not shooting in the middle of winter - that allowed me to stop down a bit more and the results were much sharper. The only issue still to resolve is a little bit of a light leak that still remains, other than that I'm pretty happy with my Kiev.

Hi Randall, I've got a few Miranda cameras in the collection now - the Automex III from this video, a Sensorex, a pair of Sensomat RE and a Soligor TM which is basically a Miranda TM with a Soligor badge - the TM is more or less the same as the Sensomat RE apart from the fact that it has an M42 thread mount instead of the combined mount of the earlier Mirandas. All of the Miranda bayonet mount camera bodies that I own have suffered some damage from a lens being put on the wrong way round, I think this was probably Mirandas biggest slip up by not having some system to prevent incorrect orientation of the lens when fitting to the camera. In the case of one of the Sensomats, the lens had been inserted the wrong way round, bending the aperture activation lever, this caused the camera to jam without completing it's cycle. Someone then tried forcing the camera winder, breaking off the ratchet pawl in the process - that's all fixed now, and I really must put a film through that one soon. Thanks for all the additional information, it's always nice to hear about these cameras. I very nearly bought a Nikkorex recently, but got pipped at the last minute by another bidder.

@@GrumpyTim As you may know, the Nikkorex F was one of several models Nikon subcontracted out to Mamiya in the early 1960s. They were intended to let Nikon into the down-market of consumer cameras without having to be distracted by the "ordinary". The F was the only one which didn't get a terrible reputation. I used mine regularly from 1962 to 1976 without a CLA or repair, and it looked new and worked perfectly until replaced with a Nikomat FT2 bought in Japan. After Nikon discontinued the Nikkorex F, Mamiya continued to make and sell it under several names with a little external modification, the last, I think, being the "Argus SLR". If you find a collectible F to acquire, let me know, and I'll try to find and send you the little accessory cold shoe piece that goes in the body-front retainer and the original box and manual, all of which I forgot to bring out when I sold my F at a swap meet about 35 years ago.

That's really kind Randall, I'll bear that in mind if/when I get myself a Nikkorex F

Excellent, they're a nice little radio once they're up and running. I have a bit of a soft spot for the old Grundig radios, there are three of them in the collection so far.......

Hi petruska, the first, and probably obvious question, is there a battery in the camera and does the LED light up when you press the test button? Assuming all that is ok, I have a few thoughts: Sometimes when a camera gets jammed someone will attempt to force the film advancing crank, breaking it in the process - if your camera was faulty when you got it, that's always a possibility - I've received a couple in that condition (not Yashicas). It could be as simple as a winding pawl on the film advance ratchet is sticking and not engaging (unlikely but not impossible). There might be a problem that can occur on the FR-1 where something gets sticky causing the camera not to finish the complete cycle of taking a photograph, and until the cycle is finished, advancing the film cannot commence. There is a problem of this type with many Pentax ME Super cameras - something in the mirror box assembly gets sticky, the photo cycle doesn't complete and the film advance just keeps winding without cocking the shutter (I have an ME Super in that condition that I'll need to completely disassemble to fix the issue). Can you tell if the shutter is actually in the cocked position (on the right) or the released position (on the left) (sometimes you can see a little bit of the curtain edge metal by peering into the side of the image frame in the back of the camera). Is the mirror stuck up or is it in it's rest position? I haven't had to do anything more than the simple counter repair on my FR1, so I haven't examined the entire workings of the camera, but my guess is that there is something sticking, stopping the camera from completing it's cycle.

Hi Gary, the cine film is a really good film with plenty of exposure latitude, and as you say, it has a very vintage vibe. It's a bit of a hassle getting it developed though, so I don't think it's going to be my main colour film just yet.

Hi Gary, I really like the F-501 (and F-301) now mine is working properly, and it's nice to finally own the camera that I wanted in the 80s. It would be good if my simple switch wiggling method worked for your camera too. I will at some point disassemble one of my spare copies to learn a bit more about what's going on inside, and maybe identify where the electrical fail points are.

I wouldn't despair 1marcelfilms, although I didn't immediately fall in love with the look of NC500, when I reviewed my photo album a few months later (in which I print out a few of the best shots from each film), my favourite shots from the whole of last year were on NC500, so although not every shot on the film was good, when it was good, it was really good. I've shot a second roll, which I rated at 200 ISO in the hopes that I get less of the really depressing looking shots, but that film hasn't gone to the lab yet. I've also bought two more rolls, so I'll keep on experimenting.

Hi Jackie, I don't suppose you have a multi meter so you can check to see exactly how much current the radio is drawing while turned off. In theory the on off switch should cut the power to the radio completely, so either the switch is somehow still letting power get to part of the circuit while turned off, or someone has done a repair at some time that partly bypasses the switch......but thinking about it, if there's any sign of old battery leakage like my radio had, there could be some rusty mess on the circuit board that's conductive, not enough to stop the radio from working, but enough to drain power when switched off. Probably a good idea to have a quick look for dirt/rust/battery electrolyte on the circuit board. Are you using the big PP9 battery, or are you substituting a small PP3? my guess is that a PP3 won't last very long. For what it's worth, I haven't turned mine on for about a year - just tried it and it's working fine, so if you can track down whatever is ailing yours, you should have a nice little radio in the end.

@@GrumpyTimthanks, I’m temporarily using smaller pp3, but there’s definitely some kind of energy leak after turning it of, because sometimes I can hear hum in the speaker. It doesn’t happen all the time, but occasionally it comes alive like this.

Hi Jackie, yeah, there's definitely something funny happening there - if I get a chance I'll take a look at mine sometime to see if the switch is a multi pole switch that isn't turning off one side - it might be cutting power from the tuner but leaving the amp powered or something like that.

Cheers Rog, hopefully your Contaflex will be as good as described, they're a cracking camera. You're right, collection and using classic cameras is highly addictive - I've just got a couple of new arrivals to check over, and repair if necessary, before heading out with film in them.

Hi Kenneth, I think all makes of camera can suffer from reliability issues at times, and there's bound to be people out there who had issues with the Yashica FR cameras, but I'm definitely a fan of them. Glad your FR served you well.

Hi Alastair, there must be plenty of vintage camera repairers in the UK, but I've never had the need to seek them out, so I don't personally know of any, good or bad. I do occasionally repair cameras for other people, but I'm not a professional repairer and can give no guarantee of success, and in the case of one camera that I'm doing for someone, I started work on it but it was being awkward, so it keeps getting put to one side in favour of other jobs (I've had it since January!). Feel free to email me if you can't find anyone - you'll find the email address in the "about" tab of my channel.

Hi Tester, for the smaller holes I use a set of cheap punches (anything up to about 15mm diameter), and for the bigger holes I use a Olfa compass cutter. I just use scissors for the outer shape. If I'm cutting something tougher, like head gasket material, I place the gasket on a block of wood and use chisels (curved and straight) - many tiny cuts to make a circle, but it does the job.

@@GrumpyTim thanks for that - painstaking, but worth it, as that gasket looks perfect.

Hi Bob, I actually like the Kiev more than you might think from my video, it just wasn't quite as brilliant as some people seem to say. I love my Zorkis and I've just got a Fed 4, which was in a pretty sorry state when I got it, but it's now got film in and I'm loving using it. Compared to the Kiev, the Fed is a joy to work on, and everything fits, unlike the Kiev. The second roll was already in the Kiev when I got the first roll processed so I wasn't able to address the light leak for film 2, but, light leak aside, I was much happier with roll 2 - I'd pushed the film one stop, plus it was shot in spring rather than winter, so there was more daylight anyway - that allowed me to stop down a bit more and the results are great. The third film is now at the lab, so I'll see if I've managed to cure the light leak, or if it's going to be back on the workbench for more attention.

Cheers Joseph, I must get round to watching your Tractor Fest video soon, because that one will be great.

@@GrumpyTim Take your time to enjoy.

Hi Moriah, there should be adaptors available for most mirrorless digital cameras, ie M42 to Sony or M42 to Micro 4/3. It can be more tricky if you're trying to fit it to a traditional DSLR, because in some cases (Nikon) you won't be able to focus to infinity, and I believe the back of certain lenses can hit the mirror when adapted to mount on a Canon full frame DSLR. It's possible that Chinon also produced this lens in other mounts such as Pentax PK bayonet (for the later Pentax cameras), in which case you'd need the appropriate mount adaptor to adapt it to a mirrorless digital camera. If you're talking film cameras, then this lens will fit on any M42 screw mount camera such as the Pentax Spotmatic or countless Praktica cameras like the LTL and so on (not the B series Prakticas such as the BCA - those are all bayonet mount).

Hi Michael, that will be exciting getting your J5 back from the repair shop - I need to fix mine sometime so I can use it again - I wouldn't have had the skill/knowledge when I was a kid, but I should be able to tackle it now.

Wow, that would have been very exciting Mike, if I could travel back in time I would have loved one of those, maybe slightly second hand in the early 80s.

I'm sure I'll end up getting myself a Minister D one of these days - I have a few Yashicas in the collection already, but there's always space for one more!!!

I always regard Nylon as un glueable, but on the odd occasion that I do have to glue it, I always make the surface as rough as possible to increase the chances of success. I haven't tried an adhesion promoter, I might get some one day. I can't believe how well my dramatic reconstruction repair worked - still haven't managed to get it apart!

@GrumpyTim Nylon and similar plastics are near impossible to bond because of low surface energy. That's where the adhesion promoter helps. I'm impressed that your repair has held up. I'd probably try to source a little brass pinion or have one 3-D printed out of polycarbonate.

Hi Linjica, based on that, I'm glad that I've never tried Portra!!! Weirdly, although I didn't immediately fall in love with NC500, since then I've printed my favourite shots from the roll and popped them in a photo album (as I do with each film), and flicking through the album, the shots taken on NC500 are my favourite of the lot, so when you (I) get it right, it's a really good film. Just finished the second roll, so I'll see what results I get with that. I've also got a couple more rolls in stock for more gritty fun.

Hi Conrad, Yep, I know what you mean, there's a few formats I'm avoiding simply because I don't need yet another lens system. I initially got a 24mm Contax/Yashica bayonet lens because I wanted a 24mm to use on mirrorless, and it was cheaper getting the C/Y mount lens and an adapter than getting a 24mm in the other mounts that I already had. Then I figured I'd get a couple more lenses to use with the adapter, and from there getting a Yashica camera body seemed logical........and so it continues.

I found some old school books a few weeks ago, and there inside one of them was an old spirit duplicated sheet of teacher's notes - the smell had long gone but all of the feintness was still there!!!

Excellent, hope you have fun using the lens No. 7054

@@GrumpyTim I sure have! I dressed in my safari hat and walked about a park with the gun stock, and I only received a few odd looks, ha-ha. By the way, thanks for the part two too! It was also quite informative. Thanks again!

Ha ha, I'm sure people would pay to see you in your safari hat!!!

Hi David, hopefully I'm making some progress with the Kiev - I've just taken the third roll of film into the lab so I'll see if I've managed to cure the light leaks now. I was happier with the second roll of film (apart from light leaks) - slightly faster film and more daylight meant that I could stop the Jupiter 8M down a bit, which produced much more satisfying results. I was fixing a rather battered old Fed 4 last week - everything just fitted together better than the Kiev and it was much nicer to work on, but I still like the Kiev, so I'll keep on using it and attending to any issues as they arise.

Hi Virgil, if the fuel is leaking out of the carb when you turn the fuel on, that does sound like the fuel isn't shutting off when the float chamber is full (unless the drain plug at the bottom of the float chamber is missing or isn't sealing properly - that is assuming that carb has a drain plug, some do and some don't). Additionally, it could also be the petrol feed pipe that's split where it attaches to the carb - sometimes the petrol tracks round the carb, seeming like it's coming from somewhere else. Assuming that it is the float not shutting off the petrol when the float chamber is full, it could be that the float is sticking - probably unlikely, unless the metal pin that forms the pivot is damaged in some way. It could be that the seat for the needle has been damaged or has some grit on the surface that's preventing the needle from sealing the hole. Most likely is that the needle itself is damaged or worn out - some of the modern carbs have a little rubberised section at the tip which might have been damaged or has lost it's elasticity. If you take the carb off, and with the float chamber removed but the float and needle in place, blow through the petrol inlet and then move the float to close the valve - it should need very little pressure - it should seal completely, if it's letting any air through, then it's definitely going to let fuel through.

@@GrumpyTim thank you for the reply! Especially from the time past! Will give it a go tomorrow, following your excellent video! Thanks again, and have a good evening!

Cheers ohjajohh, I think my videos back then were even clunkier than they are these days - still haven't perfected the art of speaking!!!! I'm really enjoying using the Phoenix film, it's not perfect but I kind of like how it looks - it's a bit like when someone first gets hold of photoshop and tweaks all the sliders to get a really contrasty image.

Yeah it's a quirky little beast Ben, but very good all the same.

Yep, it's 46mm, although it's an external push fit cap rather than the more common internal type that clip onto the filter threads. It's a tiny little lens on the Miranda, compared to modern stuff anyway.

@@GrumpyTim Cheers, appreciated.

Coo, that's interesting David, I'd love to travel back in time and see the factory in operation.

Hi Tina, cheers I'll keep that in mind. Glad to hear that you're using and repairing unloved old furniture, it's very ecologically sound, aside from the fact that it saves lots of money too.

Hi Mno Liberal, I would think that if your Kiev is ok now, it'll probably stay that way - I have a hunch that my copy might have leaked from the day it left the factory - it would explain why it didn't look like it had been used much. Hopefully the latest work I've done will sort the problem, but if it persists, I'll just have to do a bit more work on it.

Hi Jose, I think even English people laugh at how I speak, so I must sound really weird to anyone from overseas!!!

Hi Monty, it could be that the AM tuner section is ker-put on your radio, or at least not working as it should. I guess if you can raid something else for a suitable speaker that you could transplant, I can't remember if it's an 8 ohm or 4 ohm speaker (or even something other than that). When I was a kid I used to just try whatever speaker I could find and if it worked, then I used it - I didn't get bogged down with things like the correct resistance and so on.

I've no idea how good these 3D printed mount adapters are David, but there are some sold on EBAY, search for "Kiev RF to Sony E Mount Adapter" - they do have a focusing helicoid but again it's 3D printed so I'd bet that the adjustment isn't very fine. There are also still people selling adapters like mine that use the actual focusing helicoid from a Kiev camera, grafted onto another adapter to fit the Sony, but those are more expensive.

The method is a little unorthodox Paul, but it worked and it so who am I to criticise. Excellent job, that's another one rescued.