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Hi Fame Jane, that's excellent, glad it helped. You'll have loads of fun with that camera.

Hi Thomas, I've got an old book all about the Contaflex system, and it shows some of the optional accessories like the interchangeable backs, but I've never seen one of those in real life. I've seen a few cameras for sale complete with some of the additional lenses, which would be quite nice to have but they were a bit too expensive for me. They're a lovely feeling camera, you definitely get the impression of quality when using the Contaflex.

Thanks Wendy, glad you enjoyed the video. Having a small tripod like this has freed me up to shoot on film in low light conditions without sacrificing depth of field or swapping cameras to one that has a faster film inside.

@@GrumpyTim You're welcome! It's great to hear that the small tripod has made such a difference in your filming process. Being able to shoot in low light while maintaining depth of field is a huge advantage, and it's always nice to have the flexibility without having to switch cameras. Keep up the great work!

Hi Zed John, yeah, it was a bit of a break from tradition doing this video, time will tell if I do more like this or not - I found it far more stressful to create this one than normal (and I get pretty stressed doing them at the best of times). That said, I'm loving having a small tripod to carry around all the time, it opens up the freedom of shooting in low light without sacrificing depth of field. The Bessa is a lovely camera, mine was a bit of a wreck when I got it, but it was suitably cheap, and I think I got it straightened out enough because the focussing seems to be about right. I'll do a video on that one soonish, maybe throw a couple more films through it first. If you'd have told me a few years ago that I'd be using one of those ancient looking folding cameras I'd have just laughed at you, but I've got a few of them now and I love using them.

Hi Mark, most of my film cameras are slightly battered and used copies (the Nikkormat is a bit of an exception) but I'm fine with that, the enjoyment comes from using them rather than looking at them on a shelf for me. I know what you mean about not having the time - my "to do" list is more like a book, or maybe an entire set of books, and it isn't getting any smaller........

Hi ohjajohh, the carbon fibre tripods are definitely handy if you're carrying them around a lot, but I still like my plain aluminium tripods too, just not so much if I'm carrying them all day long. I have, like you, found the K&F adapters to be a good balance of price and quality. Cheers for watching.

Hi David, that's a good idea using the 1/4" mount to hold the phone while filming the back of the camera - I might be able to cobble together something along those lines when I'm filming the viewfinder on an old camera rather than trying (and failing) to hold the phone still during the clip! Cheers for watching.

Haha, found you!🤭Nice to see you here

Ah yes, the tactile paint that seemed to be applied to everything about 10 - 15 years ago and has now turned into a sticky mess - my Motorola Z8 is in a really sorry state these days!!! From the feel of the rubber on this tripod I don't think it's the type that will go off in a few years time, but there's only one way to be sure........

Cheers Jess, glad it was helpful.

Hi jaycrabyyy, I use a fairly common 675 Zinc Air hearing aid battery with a metal size adaptor to boost it up to the same physical size as the original PX13 Mercury cell. If you search Ebay or Amazon for a PX13 battery adaptor you should find the item. There are also batteries called Wein cells (or at least I think that's the name) that are made as a direct replacement for the old Mercury cells, but they seem to be pretty expensive and from what I can tell they use the same Zinc Air battery technology. Talking of the Zinc Air batteries, they don't last very long once you've pulled the tab to activate them, so it's always worth carrying spares, and definitely don't leave them in the camera when it's not in use because they leak - it doesn't appear to be quite as destructive as the leakage from alkaline batteries but it's still undesirable.

Hi chezburger, I've never had suitable equipment to weigh one but similar to you, I've read that they're somewhere just under 100 Kg. Two people can lift one into the back of a van or onto a trailer, so probably that probably fits with the 50-90 kg.

@@GrumpyTim no worries, thanks!

Yeah, they seem to be great little workhorses that people rarely talk about, but I'm definitely a fan.

Hi Alonso, yep, swirly bokeh isn't their party trick, but married to a digital camera they can produce some nice images that aren't quite as clinical as most modern lenses. I've recently got the 135mm Japanese made Helios which I'm trying out on one of my film cameras.

@@GrumpyTim Oh, thank you. Im interested in getting a takumar 135mm f2.5,wonder what would be the similarities.

Очень любезно, Диаригал, рад, что видео понравилось. Я посмотрел ваше видео Pentax 6x7, прекрасная презентация, которую приятно смотреть. That's very kind Diarigal, glad you liked the video. I watched your Pentax 6x7 video, lovely presentation and relaxing to watch.

@GrumpyTim Благодарю 🙏 Thanks

Hi Dr Kopkaish, once you've got over the initial shock that your Nikon isn't actually a Nikon, you can still have just as much fun with it. It's all too easy to get hung up on what make or model your camera is, but if you enjoy using the camera, it doesn't really matter what it says on the front.

@GrumpyTim You right. I ment that I felt bad about Cosina, it made a lot of good entry level cameras but still not popular as other brands. I enjoy my FM10 it's really good camera.

I wonder if Cosina actually minded that their own name wasn't the first one that people thought about when looking for a new camera or if they were happier making stuff for other brands. They appear to have been successful because they're still going, unlike plenty of other, once well known brands.

I'm guessing that it was a small enough dose to have minimal effect. Maybe the staff room where they did the duplicating was a bit more of a problem, but compared to the printing industry where I once worked, it all seems pretty mild.

Hi ajctc, it's been a while since I worked on this camera, but if I remember correctly, once you've got the selenium cell and probably a backing plate out of the way, the front lens housing needs to be unscrewed (the inner ring removes the front element, but the outer one removes the entire lens group, so that's the one you want). Once that lens group is out, you should hopefully see a brass lockring, it almost looks like a gear, and usually there will be a blob of red paint on it, next to a screw that prevents it from turning. If there's no Red blob, make a mark in line with that screw, then turn the screw half a turn (it's cut away on one side allowing the lock ring to rotate). Now unscrew the lockring and you should be able to remove the front section that housed the selenium cell. When you replace the brass lockring, it shouldn't be tightened too far because the mechanism behind won't work, so only do it as far as the red blob.

Hi selkiemaine, I probably have more fun with my "non pro grade" cameras than the fancy stuff. Maybe if you were actually using it for pro work, all day, every day and so on, it would wear out sooner than your Nikon F, but it's not going to disintegrate the first time you put a film through it. I've put hundreds of rolls through non pro grade cameras before digital was a thing without any problems. Really glad you went to the bother of sending your XC-3 to your service guy, many people would just dismiss it and put it to one side.

Hi Ola, I think everyone probably had that Nikon itch when they were a kid - I still like the Nikon stuff, but I have more fun using less popular cameras like the 500 DTL. One exception is my Nikon F-501 - that was an 80s dream and I still love using that thing, with it's 1980s soundtrack and period styling.

Hi J.C,F. yep, that shutter is rather good - the Konica Autoreflex uses more or less the same shutter and it's similarly nice to use.

Hi Mike, the Spotmatic was a good choice, solid as a rock and a massive array of available lenses. I do rather like the old Miranda stuff, they were aiming high and had some pretty good features, such as the removable prism but they probably missed the mark on things such as the lens mount, which in theory was great as it could accept lenses from many of the other brands with the help of an adapter (and still reach infinity), but all but one of my cameras with that mount have had damage caused by someone attempting to fit the lens in the wrong orientation, if only they'd made it so it could only fit one way round. The cameras are pretty nice to use all the same, and you're unlikely to bump into anyone else using the same camera when you're out shooting these days.

@@GrumpyTim Yeah, I've never seen anyone photographing with a Miranda, either back in the day or, especially today. My main reason for choosing the Spotmatic back in 1974 was price. I was still able to shop in the Army PX (Post Exchange) in Germany and their price was attractive. Others opted for Minolta SRT101, but it never really appealed to me. Was using a Leica M3 at the time (which I loved) and wanted an SLR. Sadly, I was foolish enough to sell almost all analog grear when switching to digital; kept my Yashica Lynx 14E which has an excellent lens. Recently I again bought a Spotmatic with three lenses. Takumar M42 lenses are very special.

I was considering selling some of my old film camera gear around 10 or so years ago, knowing that "I'll never use this stuff again", but at that time you could barely give it away so thankfully I held on to it. Glad you're reunited with a Spotmatic even if it isn't your original one.

It's kind of brilliant isn't it Ann - I just had to buy that beer mat when I saw it!!!

Hi Daniele, if I remember correctly the model number is stamped into the case somewhere, but I think it's really tiny and very well hidden. If I remember I'll dig my machine out and check. I've worked on a few Lagomarsino machines and they all had the model number very well hidden rather than shouting about it on the front.

Hi Daniele, I just had a look at my Lagomarsino and the model number is even more hidden than I remembered - it's stamped on the under side of the carriage, partially hidden by the rod that the carriage slides on, but hopefully if you turn yours upside down and use a torch you'll be able to locate it.

@@GrumpyTim Thank you very much. Since it is locked, I will try to disassemble the machine (one of the 9000 series) and look well. Thanks again!

Patience dear boy, patience!!! Hi David, the follow up will come at some point, when I get round to it - suffice to say that the light leaks aren't fully resolved yet. It's still in exactly the same location but somewhat reduced so I'll strip the camera down a bit more to finally resolve the issue. At the same time I'll look at the frame spacing, which has become a little erratic on the third film. Once all that is done and I've run another film through it, I should then be able to do the final video.....

Hi Zed John, it's not even that long ago yet so easily forgotten - I love some of the specialised equipment like this. I've heard of a Praktica camera that was heavily modified with a half frame film gate and only one shutter speed - it was used for Police mug shots - I'd love to get my hands on one of those (and I'm sure the same thing applied to other brands, not just Praktica).

You learn something new every day! I can see why that would make sense. Now I'll have to find more information about those. The only purpose built cameras I recall seeing personally were those dental cameras with the ring light. Apparently they are great for macro photography

I very nearly clicked on the "buy" button a couple of months ago for one of those Dental Eye cameras but I resisted the temptation on that occasion. It's another really interesting specialist camera that might well make it into the collection one day.....

Yeah, I'd love to see the entire setup that this camera was used in - was there the additional leaf shutter within the lens unit? Did it only have one shutter speed? etc etc. I should be able to determine exactly how the camera itself operated once I've done some more stripping down to find out what the mysterious signal at the one second mark was for. It is still possible that signal wasn't used in the particular configuration that my camera was used for - there's clearly at least one feature that isn't used because the output from pin 6 on chip TC4050 just goes through a resistor to an unused tab on the PCB. It definitely makes sense that they would configure the cameras for a particular customer's needs because it was after all, a pretty specialised unit, and probably pretty expensive too.

Hi MM, yes, I think everyone dreams of the Electroboom moment!!! I've not had it happen on any vintage electronics that I've worked on, only on brand new stuff where they've managed to insert an electrolytic the wrong way round - quality!!!!!

Hi John, I had intended to see if there were any traceable date codes so you've saved me the effort, thanks for that. So the camera is probably a couple of years younger than I thought. If the serial number is anything to go by, they made a fair few of these custom versions, probably with many different tweaks depending on the particular application they were being used for.

Hi ohjajohh, I bought that 24mm lens a couple of years ago and haven't actually used it yet - I got the CGCM as a body only but I already have a few Contax/Yashica bayonet lenses to throw on it, and the 24mm was just sitting there.........

Hi Andres, personally I would always opt to shoot this stuff at something like 125 ISO or 100 ISO - most of the shots I've seen taken at 200 just seem to lose too much in the shadows. However, if you've got fairly even lighting it might work fine shooting at 200. I've shot about 3 or 4 rolls of Phoenix so far, all at 100 or 125 and m not tempted to try 200 based on the results I've got.

Hi Axel, yeah I'd heard about some Nikon cameras being modified in a similar way - very interesting items to have in the collection - the shutter on yours sounds fantastic!

Hi Neville, I saw this one, it was cheap, and far too interesting to pass by!!! Once I've decided exactly what I'm going to do with it I'll have fun taking it out and about because most folks won't have a clue what type of camera I'm using.

@@GrumpyTim Hah! I like your thinking. 😁

Hi migsven surfing, I don't think it'll be a prototype for a few reasons: There are a fair few of the Contax CGCM cameras around and there would be little reason to make that many, more or less the same, prototypes. It would be unusual to blank off so many regular features for a prototype, and also the earlier RTS had a much more advanced control system than the relatively agricultural system in the CGCM. If the serial number is anything to go by they probably made a fair few of these customised CGCM cameras, and I bet they sold them for a whole lot more than the standard camera - or at least by the time it got to the end user it would be expensive. Say for instance they were used with high end HP oscilloscopes, you can bet your life that the hood complete with camera and special lens was a really expensive accessory. I'd love to see a sales brochure to find out exactly how much they were. Looking at the PCB, most of the soldering looks like it might have been done in a semi automated process, and then the two smd (surface mounted device) components were soldered by hand afterwards, and they're pretty scrappily soldered - no idea why those two are smd when the rest are through hole components, maybe I need to collect more CGCM cameras to see how others differ......

That's fantastic ahhnastacia, what a fab 21st present. I much prefer learning by seeing someone do something rather than reading an instruction manual where it's all blah blah blah and I fall asleep!!!

I don't think I've stumbled across a Hacker Hunter yet - I do see the odd old radio from time that I just walk away from because I already have a bit too much stuff!!! I didn't intend to buy this Yacht Boy, but it was very cheap so I had to have it.

Hi Brett, cheers for all the info. I'd figured that the shutter was working correctly because the timings are correct (well apart from the fastest which is a bit sluggish), it was just that the shutter sounds a bit uninspiring when shooting at slow speeds due to it's unique design. I was much happier with the second and third film through the Kiev (light leaks aside) and the sharpness is great so long as I don't have the aperture too wide (film 2 and 3 were higher ISO and we weren't in the middle of winter so there was more light anyway). The shots that I was particularly disappointed with on the first film were the ones that I used hyperfocal focussing to get the maximum depth of field - I do this with many lenses to great effect, but the Jupiter 8 didn't perform so well - the point of focus was sharp but stuff in the distance was less so - I've resorted to just shooting at infinity for landscapes and the results have been fine. I always check rangefinder cameras with a piece of ground glass and a loupe before I use them and I'm happy enough that the lens mount is correctly set. If a camera doesn't work when I get it, I'll strip it and repair it so I can use it, but as the Kiev was more or less working I just did enough to take it out and shoot film. However the Kiev is a fussy little camera, over complicated and under engineered, and it clearly wants more attention. When I get the chance I'll strip it down again, although there are many other cameras ahead of it in the queue!!! The remaining issues are the light leak, which can only be from light getting past the baffles behind the rangefinder window as far as I can tell, so I'll make new ones from scratch. Also, on film 2 and 3 the frame spacing has become a bit erratic, so that's another thing to take a look at....

Hi Trung DO, you're right, some/most ebay sellers seem to be asking quite a lot for these nice old radios, even when they're not actually working properly. Two of my three Grundig radios didn't come from ebay - one came from a house clearance place and the other from a flea market - the prices often seem to be better for things like this. I tend to find the best stuff when I'm not actually looking for it - I usually pop into any charity shops, vintage or antiques shops that I see in case there's something interesting lurking inside.

@@GrumpyTim House clearance is the best , people get rid of things to declutter so the prices are often dirt cheap. I just know to replace capacitors , no ability to diagnose and repair at all .

Hi Ullib, have you tired your stack of adapters yet? If I remember correctly, the mount adapter that I got to fit the Contax mount Jupiter 8 to Micro 4/3 was a pretty slim device, nothing like as deep as a standard M42 adapter, but maybe all the ones you mention are slim in themselves - it'll be really neat if that works, and well worth telling people about, because many people are keen to adapt the Kiev/Contax lenses to use on digital.

Exactly, it was a scientific experiment - I'm sure that's what my sister thought at the time too!!!