Episode 106: Camerosity Invades Europe

Ever since the very first episode of this show, we've aimed to include as many of our listeners in our shows as possible, but that our hosts are located in three different countries and in four different time zones makes finding a time that works for everyone difficult, especially those of you in Europe and other European-aligned time zones where it is often the middle of the night when we typically record. In an effort to give more people in these areas of the world the opportunity to join us, on occasion we change our recording time.  For Episode 106, we did just that and saw a large number of people show up! Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike on this show were returning and first time callers, Brendon Wilson, Brian MacDomhnail, Fernando Villava, Ira Cohen, Joey Alvillar, John Wade, Josh Calvetti, Krijn Vogelaar from Holland, Kamil from Norway, Norris Liu, Pat Casey, Stuart Pratt, Vlad Kern, and Wayne Scheipers. On this show, we covered a wide array of topics including one of Paul's most hated Nikons, John Wade shares with us a very interesting Ilford monorail camera which supports shooting on 35mm film, Ira shares his love for Eigenbau cameras, and we admire Krijn's beautifully painted Kodak box cameras. In addition, we cover a large range of cameras from the AGFA Automatic 66, to the Kodak Medalist, Hasselblad SWC, Leidolf Lordomat, Mamiya RB67, the Tom Thumb 'radiocamera', and Mike shares a quick preview of a neat rangefinder camera he picked up called the Wenk Wenka. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance. For our next episode, we are returning to one of the gang's favorite camera families, the Kodak Retina.  To help us navigate the nuances of so many Retina models, we are happy to welcome Chris Sherlock, of Retina Rescue.  Chris has many years of experience repairing Kodak Retinas and other leaf shutter cameras and is sure to have a great deal of insight into these wonderful cameras!  We will record Episode 107 on Monday, April 6th at 7pm Central Daylight Time, 8pm Eastern Daylight Time, and Tuesday April 7th at Noon New Zealand Standard Time.  For more time zones, please consult the World Time Buddy calculator and plug in your time.  Make sure you set your calendars and look out for the show announcement at the usual locations and be prepared to join us! In This Episode Happy Birthday to Pat Casey / Kamil and the Olympus mju Zoom / Minolta Dynax 5 / Nikon F80 Paul Really Hates the Nikon F70 / Mike’s First DLSR was the Nikon D40x Fujifilm Finepix Pro early DSLRs were F80 bodies John Wade has stopped writing books, but still writes for Amateur Photographer Ilford KI Monobar, a 35mm monorail camera John has Stanley German’s (Botanist in 1940s) specially made one off camera with all his slides Ira's Eigenbau and Frankencameras / Machinists Who Make Good Cameras at Home John showed a stereo camera which was converted to a Panoramic Camera Paul likes the pretty Kodak Model F 620 box camera Kodak pushed 620 across the world Agfa Automatic 66 and the Goerz Minicord Krijn's Hand Painted Kodak Brownies Brendan has a Mandelar Leica M lens, they are a hot item Third party lenses are really good value Wayne is shooting a Zeiss-Ikon Contessa 35 and a Kiev 88 Vlad has had a few problems with US Customs Mike has gone 3D printing crazy Josh has a new Minolta Rokkor 40mm f/2 CL Leica mount Joey picked up a Hasselblad SWC which could have gone through the Camerosity rounds Leidolf Lordomat / Brian has reduced his camera collection a lot, he is enjoying the Pentax MX Wishing the I Dream of Cameras podcast congratulations for 100th episode Some cameras have strange battery compartments Fernando has a new Kodak Medalist Many photographers used the collected cameras as workhorses Good photographers do not rely on the camera alone for the results Kamil scored a Mamiya RB67 Pro S New seals are often needed for older cameras / Don’t put cameras in the sun Norris brought in a radio camera called the Tom Thumb Mike Picked Up a Wenk Wenka / Stuart has a Rolleicord 5b and some Zeiss Ikoflexes Links The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm. If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server. Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/ Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/ Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/ Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

For Episode 105, it finally happened!  As eluded to on a great number of previous episodes and on our official Facebook page and Discord server, the Camerosity Podcast finally dedicated an entire show to large format cameras!  And not just any large format cameras, as a special guest for this show, we welcomed John Minnicks, creator of the Aero-Liberator, a home built custom version of a Graflex SLR using aerial Kodak lenses! Joining the gang and John for this episode were a huge number of other guests, several of which own or have shot their own Aero-Liberators.  In alphabetical order by first name, we were joined by some guy named Erie, João Gomes, Howard Sandler, Lloyd Greene, Mark Cornelison, Mark Widhalm, Mat Marrash (from FPP), Parker Pfister, Pat Casey, Ron Gee, and Will Pinkham. In addition to hearing John Minnicks origin story, he shares many stories about people who he has sold cameras to and what has been done with them, including taking portraits of Barack Obama at his inauguration and at impeachment hearings in front of Congress. Mat Marrash from the Film Photography Project joins us and gives us his insight into large format and how well it does from the retail perspective.  We were also graced with the presence of Parker Pfister who shares his tales of developing film using his own urine!  This is the first ever mention of "pee" in a Camerosity episode! We eventually do get into a little bit of GAS, including some pickups by Mark Cornelison from the Chicago Camera show including the Camerosity favorites like the Voigtländer Perkeo and the KMZ Zorki 4. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance. For our next episode, we are going "across the pond" to a European time zone friendly time which will allow for more of our European listeners to join us. We'll keep the topic wide open to encourage as many people as possible to join us.  If you are in Europe or other "European time zone friendly" areas of the world, we will record Episode 106 on Monday, March 16th at 2pm Central Daylight Time, 3pm Eastern Daylight Time, 7pm Greenwich Mean Time (London), 8pm Central European Time (Berlin), and 6am Tuesday the 17th Australian Eastern Daylight Time (Sydney).  For more time zones, please consult the World Time Buddy calculator and plug in your time.  Make sure you set your calendars and look out for the show announcement at the usual locations and be prepared to join us! In This Episode What is Large Format? John Minnicks, Creator of the Aero-Liberator 4x5 SLR Cameras with Kodak Aero-Ektar Lenses Going from a standard Graflex Super D to a custom camera with swings and tilts for a unique lens Three Owners of Aero-Liberators Ron Gee, Mark Cornelison, and Parker Pfister Common Problems with Aero-Ektars / Bringing People Together Photographing Barack Obama with Only 4 Sheets of Film David Burnett and his Aero-Liberator in front of Congress Timtypes / Giving João Gomes some tips on adapting Leitz Hektor projector lenses and Tessar barrel lenses to his Graflex Getting into 4x5 Press Cameras / Crown Graphic and Speed Graphic / Omega and Sinar Monorails Wista, Tachihara, and Linhof Field Cameras Lloyd Greene is shooting a Sinar monorail, Howard Sandler recommends the Graphic as a companion to a Crown Graphic, and how he shares his Fujinon lenses between them Parker shoots 8x10 paper and develops it with help from pee Paul Rybolt misses Cibachrome, Mat Marash from Film Photography Project recommends RA4 reversal X-ray film and trying to prevent scratches Monobath single-shot processing kit as an introduction to developing and a great way to test a camera Sourcing large format films / How to shoot paper instead of negatives and tame the contrast / Light sources for enlargers Erie is a large format nerd and commercial photographer Many different methods for developing and scanning Mark’s trials and tribulations with wet plate collodion Exposure, Computers, and the Kodak Master Photoguide Will Pinkham asks about large format lenses / Schneider, Rodenstock, Kodak, Wollensak, Ilex, Fujinon, Nikkor, even Turner Reich can suit what you’re shooting How do you manage focus when shooting portraits on large format? A bit of GAS: Kodak Retina Reflex III / Nikon Nikonos Mark Widhalm got a Voigtländer Perkeo, which Anthony and Ron love / Howard got an Adox Golf Links The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm. If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server. Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg John Minnicks - https://johnminnicks.com/ The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/ Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/ Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/ Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

We are back with Episode 104 of the Camerosity Podcast.  Unlike the last few shows where we didn't come prepared with a topic to discuss, this time we took a suggestion from our Discord server listeners and attempted to tackle all the new lenses that keep appearing from Chinese companies,  With ever faster maximum apertures and wider lenses selling for insanely cheap prices, are these lenses any good, and why suddenly is the market flooded with them? Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, and Mike are callers Andy Howarth, Brendon Wilson, Fernando Villava, Mark "Cletus" Widhalm, Martin Olsen, Norris Liu, Pat Casey, Robert Rotoloni, and Will Pinkham.  We start off the show with a quick announcement that Fernando has started a Spanish language version of the Camerosity Podcast called "Camerosity in Spanish".  They've already recorded two episodes, and if you speak Spanish, it is worth checking out what him and his guests are talking about! For this show, we briefly start off our lens episode talking about Retina Reflexes, but thankfully we don't stay distracted long as we move into the wonderful world of modern Chinese lenses.  We attempt to cover different brands of lenses and what kinds of options there are out there and which ones we've personally had experience with. Stephen and Norris have a wealth of technical knowledge and historical perspective for how the Chinese manufacturing industry works, and we get into a bit of why you're seeing so many options these days.  While many of the new ultra-fast lenses are extremely affordable, they are built to be disposable and likely won't last nearly as long as the classic lenses many of us collect.  Paul shares with us one (non-Chinese) brand that he doesn't like and Stephen tells us what "onion ring bokeh" is. Eventually we do move off from Chinese lenses to talk about extremely wide angle fisheye lenses and Stephen tells us about a clever use of his Olympus Air A01 and we briefly mention strange cameras like the Nikon KeyMission 360 Double Fisheye lens. With Bob Rotoloni on, Paul asks about a Nikon M he is interested in buying and we get into a discussion about the Nikon M and different variants of that particular camera.  We keep meandering topics before finally ending up Mike's first purchase on the Japanese auction site, buyee.jp. Come See Mike at the Chicago Camera Show: I will be heading up to the Sheraton Suites Chicago Elk Grove hotel for a camera show on Sunday, February 22nd.  At this show will be several callers from this episode, Bob Rotoloni, Norris Liu, Mark Widhalm, and past Camerosity guests like Vlad Kern and possibly others.  Mike won't have a table at this one, but I'll be walking around chatting with people so if you're near the area and want to stop by, come see us! As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance. We don't have a topic for our next show, but we at least know it will be Episode 105 and we will record it on Monday, February 23rd at 7pm Central Standard Time and 8pm Eastern Standard Time.  Make sure you set your calendars and look out for the show announcement at the usual locations and be prepared to join us! In This Episode The Spanish version of Camerosity Hosted by Fernando Villava / Cletus and His Broken Retina Reflex IV Repairing Retina Reflexes / The Risk of Testing an Unserviced Camera / Leaf Shutter SLRs Are Very Complicated Modern Lenses Have Combinations of Focal Lengths and Speed Unheard of in the Classic Era How We Got to Today / Cheap Chinese Lenses Started with Low Quality C-Mount Lenses The Legalities of Making Third Party Lenses / Why is Nikon Going After Viltrox? Who Are the Most Respected of the Current Third Party Lens Makers? / Different Priorities for Film vs Digital Some Third Party Lenses Require You to Calibrate Your Lens to Your Own Camera What is the Difference between 7Artisans and TTArtisans? / DJ Optical Voigtänder Cosina Lenses Are Less Expensive Alternatives to Genuine German Lenses Some Chinese Lenses Feel Nicer Than They Really Are / Excessive Lubricants The Chinese Make a Lot of Their Own Glass / Mike Has No Idea How Glass is Made Leica No Longer Makes Their Own Glass but they Polish It / Onion Ring Bokeh Are There Any Companies to Stay Away From / Paul Doesn't Like MS-Optics Lenses Differences Between Western and Chinese Manufacturing Philosophies Chinese Manufacturers Typically Didn't Offer After Sale Support or Warranties China's Manufacturing Today is Far More Advanced Than Anywhere Else in the World Norris Goes to CES and Admires Hair Dryers / 40% of Exhibitors at CES are Chinese For Vintage Camera Users You Don't Always Want a Technically Perfect Lens Stephen's Olympus Air A01 and a 220 Degree Circular Fisheye Lens Nikon KeyMission 360 Double Fisheye Cameras / Go Pro / Ricoh Theta Camera Brandon Jumped into the Nikon Zf Using Chinese Lenses / Nikon Z-Mount Adapters Fernando Adapted Leica R Lenses to Leica M and the Results are Great Leica SLRs and Alpas are Almost Always Sold Without Lenses on eBay Come See Mike, Bob, Norris, Vlad, and Cletus at the Chicago Camera Show on February 22nd Paul Wants to Buy a Nikon M / The Three Different Types of Nikon M Rangefinders Mike Made His First Ever Purchase on Buyee of 5 Cameras Links The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm. If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server. Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg Chicago Camera Show on Sunday February 22 - https://www.facebook.com/events/sheraton-suites-chicago-elk-grove/chicago-camera-show/774123451683491/ Camerosity in Spanish - https://camerosity.es/ The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/ Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/ Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/ Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

In what turned out to be one of the more unhinged episodes of the Camerosity Podcast, for Episode 103 the gang didn't get the show announcement out until the day of the recording, but that resulted in a near record number of participants, and without a dedicated topic to discuss, we ran the gamut of topics from Theo's recent acquisition of a local lab's Fuji Frontier Scanner, to a very lively discussion about radioactive lenses and why you should not grind up lens glass and snort it. Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike on this episode were A.J. Gentile, Dan Cuny, Doug Doyle, Fernando Villava, Greg McCreash, Ira Cohen, Jeremy Scott, Mario Piper, Norris Liu, Pat Casey, Ron Gee, Vlad Kern, Will Pinkham, plus a few others who didn't say anything. The show starts off with Theo telling the tale of how a Frontier scanner is coming to him and that turned into a very lively discussion about all scanning options from using professional scanners, flatbed scanners, and then eventually to digitizing with a digital camera. Returning guest Dan Cuny shares some vintage digital cameras he's been working on reviews for including the 0.3 megapixel Canon PowerShot 350 and the floppy disc Sony Mavica!  Continuing on the vintage digital discussion was the revelation that three of the five Camerosity hosts all have the 1990s Minolta RD-175 DSLR! Vlad Kern from ussrphoto.com comes on and shares his recent pickup of a spy camera from a shot down Russian drone found in Ukraine which he recently acquired.  Vlad's crazy spy camera looks straight out of a science fiction movie and the hosts wonder how he managed to get that past European and American customs! Of course, we get into a bit of GAS including a follow up to Episode 102 where Ron Gee had ordered an Aero-Liberator camera from John Minnicks, Ron came back to talk about receiving the camera and his initial impressions of it.  Other cameras discussed are the Tele and Wide Rolleiflexes, a rare Foth TLR, the 16mm KMZ Narciss SLR, a very strange and rare American camera called the Millfred Cand-O-Matic and I give an update on some leather I purchased for a Leica IIIa that needed to be recovered. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance. For our next show, Theo will be vacationing in Japan, so he won't be joining us, and there still isn't a topic yet, but Episode 104 will be recorded on Monday, February 2nd at 7pm Central Standard Time and 8pm Eastern Standard Time.  Make sure you set your calendars and look out for the show announcement at the usual locations and be prepared to join us! In This Episode Theo’s big piece of GAS… where will it fit? / Fujifilm Frontier SP-2000 Doug Doyle is excited for the Knokke film scanner Mario Piper gets advice on dealing with spots and dust on negatives Kodak Photo-Flo and Edwal LFN Wetting Agents / Ilford Antistaticum Anti-Static Cloth / PEC-12 Photographic Emulsion Cleaner / ADOX Film Cleaner Add Humidity to your Darkroom to Reduce Dust Epson Flatbed Scanners / Nikon Coolscan Scanners / Camera Scanning with Negative Lab Pro / Romanian Lobster People A good reason to not worry about scanning resolution Dan Cuny is reviewing vintage digital cameras like the Canon PowerShot 350, the Sony Mavica, and the Nikon Coolpix 100 The hosts have way too many Minolta RD-175 DSLRs Scanning Kodak Disc Film and Sawyer's View-Master weddings Vlad Kern Discusses Soviet Film Formats / Russian Drone Cameras Fernando’s KMZ Narciss / Homebrew Photosnipers Ron Gee’s Aero-Liberator / Everyone shares their big Radioactive Aero Ektars Vlad has an aerial camera that’s just missing the MiG-21 fighter jet Jeremy Scott tests his Canon FD concave 35mm f/2 with a Geiger counter / De-Yellowing Radioactive Lenses Foth-Flex and Foth Derby / Tele Rolleiflex / Soligor and Sears 55m f/2.8 macro Lenses / MIOJ Nikkor 13.5cm f/4 version Norris Liu shows off a Millfred Cand-O-Matic made by a Hollywood movie producer Mike reskinned a Barnack Leica with Leather from cameraleather.com Jeremy brings us back around to the start with his bellows film scanning setup Links The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm. If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server. Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/ Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/ Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/ Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

The end of the year has come.  As is the case every year, 2025 was filled with some ups and downs.  For the Camerosity Podcast, we reached the 100 episode milestone, saw a huge influx of Miranda cameras re-enter the used camera market, and a whole lotta pictures of manatees. For Episode 102, the gang got together with some holiday themed alcoholic beverages and discussed what last minute bouts of GAS we had, and other bits of nonsense we were up to.  Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen and Mike were returning callers A.J. Gentile, Leon Blankenhorn, Pat Casey, Will Pinkham, William Ponder, and first time callers Joao Gomes and Ron Gee. In this episode we start right off with recent pickups, Paul is enamored with his Hasselblad digital back which he has almost permanently mounted to his 907x, calling it the best digital camera he's ever shot.  A recent pickup of a Hassy 65mm f/2.8 lens further cemented it for him.  Pat Casey talks about his love for 3x4 Graflexes and first time caller Ron Gee is excited for his new Aero Liberator camera he ordered from John Minnicks. We discuss the shift of German cameras being made in countries other than Germany, why West German companies made so many leaf shutters and seemed to be reluctant to adopt focal plane shutters, and Mike (poorly) attempts to explain the confusing history of the Voigtländer Bessaflex, Zeiss-Ikon Icarex and SL706, Voigtländer VSL series and Rollei SL35 series SLRs. Mike shares his two most recent pickups, the first is the brand new and recently released LOMO MC-A which is an impressive premium point and shoot camera and he feels is the best example we've seen so far of what a brand new premium 35mm camera should be.  His other pickup is a rather ordinary Vivitar XC-3 with the unordinary XC-A accessory which kinda sorta adds Aperture Priority Automatic Exposure to a camera which wasn't built with it. Anthony talks about a $25 Nikonos III he recently picked up and used to take some of the best photos he's ever taken of manatees in the spring by his house.  He also shares with us his oddest camera, the Kirka Electronik Auto Hobby Emergency Car Camera Kit. And right before we were about to sign off, Ron Gee drops not one but two of the largest 6x17 and 6x24 3D printed cameras any of us have seen.  With names like Sasquatch and Kracken, these large beasts are not to be taken lightly! As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance. We don't yet have a topic for our first episode of the new year, but whatever it is, Episode 103 will be recorded on Monday, January 12th, 2026 at 7pm Central Standard Time and 8pm Eastern Standard Time.  Make sure you set your calendars and look out for the show announcement at the usual locations and be prepared to join us! In This Episode Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches / Ron and Joao are Both First Time Callers Long Time Paul Customers Zeiss-Ikon Contax S / Everyone Needs a Praktica Different Types of GAS / Hasselblad 907 w/ Digital Back Pat Casey's 3x4 Graflex Infatuation / Ron Gee is Getting an Aero Liberator from John Minnicks Kodak Aero Ektar Lenses / Gowlandflex TLR Ifbaflex M102 / Voigtländer VSL1 / Zeiss-Ikon SL706 The Shift of German Cameras Being Made in Countries Other than Germany Why Did Zeiss-Ikon and Other West German Camera Makers Make So Many Cameras with Leaf Shutters? The Technical Limitations of Leaf Shutter SLRs Compared to Focal Plane Shutter SLRs Kirka Electronik Auto Hobby Emergency Car Camera Kit Anthony's $25 Nikonos III Find / Anthony Rue: Manatee Belly Scratcher Sea & Sea Cameras Lenses and Housings / Canon Aqua Snappy / Stay Away from the Nikonos IV Olympus G.Zuiko 42mm f/1.2 C-Mount Lens Check out the Camerosity Discord Server, It Is Way Better than Facebook Olympus Accura View 90 Point and Shoot Mike's Thoughts on the LOMO MC-A Premium Point and Shoot Comparing the LOMO to other New Premium Film Cameras like the Rollei 35 AF and Pentax 17 The Camerosity Podcast Still Likes the Chuzhao Three Months In Vivitar XC-3 w/ XC-A AE Module / Will Picks Up a Zorki 4 What Kind of Camera Would You Like to See Come to Market? Epson RD-1 / Zeiss-Ikon ZM Rangefinders We Need to Do a Lomography Show / LOMO Spinner William Asks for an Update on the Zeiss-Ikon Contaflex TLR Review Sasquatch 617 3D Printed Camera / Kracken 624 3D Printed Camera Links The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm. If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server. Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/ Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/ Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/ Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

When it came time to decide what to follow up our 100th episode, the guys made a comment that we should interview a prominent podcaster and blogger in the vintage camera realm.  With a long list of guests already, we thought hard about who we've missed, who is one person who has helped grow GAS as much as any one single person can?  Anthony spoke up and said, "Hey, it should be Mike"!  While I had my doubts about how interesting a whole episode about me could be, I thought that I do like to tell stories, why why not?! Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike this, our 101st episode are returning callers A.J. Gentile, David Palumbo, Fernando Villava, Ira Cohen, Mark Faulkner, Pat Casey, Rob Lattimer, William Ponder, and Will Pinkham. Over the course of the episode, I field a variety of questions from how I got started, what is my while whale camera, what cameras never clicked for me, what was an example of a camera that I felt overwhelmed trying to shoot.  Paul gets me to revisit my 2023 trip to Los Angeles when I went through the collection of Kurt Ingham and what it was like going through such a large collection.   We get into camera accessories, especially how difficult it is to adapt Kilfitt lenses and that the "Rear Window" Kilfitt lens was never made specifically with an Exakta mount, we talk about what is a good first camera is, and we get into how I am resisting the urge to collect carbon filament light bulbs and Nixie Tubes. Amazingly, we make it through the nearly 2 hour run time without repeating too much of what's been covered before, and while doing so managed to cover a whole lot of GAS! As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance. We will be back shortly with our next episode, which is going to be two days before Christmas.  We'll call this one our "holiday eggnog episode" where we recap the year and open up the call in lines for whatever you all want to talk about.  Episode 102 will be recorded on Tuesday, December 23rd at 7pm Central Standard Time and 8pm Eastern Standard Time.  Make sure you set your calendars and look out for the show announcement at the usual locations and be prepared to join us! In This Episode Mike’s T-shirt Sorting Techniques / It was Anthony’s Idea to Interrogate Mike How did Mike get started? One night on eBay… He shares the cameras he used, and the ones that started his collection The origins of MikeEckman.com It all started with a Nikon EL2, then a Kodak No.1 Autographic Special, Model A An avalanche begins: Argus C3, FED-2, Konica Auto S2 The Meeting of the Bloggers / White Whales Just Keep Coming ‘What the hell is this?” The Hasselblad XPan Mike Damaged a Pentacon Six TL That Was Loaned to Him Flying to LA: Kurt Ingham’s Collection Mike’s Camera room (Cave? Bunker? Subterranean lair?) Cameras that didn’t click for Mike / Konica AiBORG / Leia R8 Continuation/knock-off/replica cameras… Kiev vs FED and Zorki, Minolta Auto Press vs Plaubel Makina, Contax vs Nikon Rangefinders Hidden histories Clarus MS-35, Vokar II, thousands of 6x6 TLRs, and the King Regula Fernando Villava asks Mike about His Favorite Film / Anthony shares his bulk film lucky find William Ponder wants to know if finding accessories leads to discovering cameras The Kilfitt Konundrum that Mike created for Paul / Mark Faulkner’s Rear Window Lens / Paul’s NASA Lens Will Pinkham wants to know what rarities are on Mike’s Wish List Rob Latimer wants to know Mike’s Favorite Cameras Vinyl Records, Carbon Filament Bulbs, and Nixie Tubes / Theo wants to know Mike’s other interests Cameras that can start a collection, and a good first rangefinder for the SLR shooter Is Mike a foodie? A coffee connoisseur? A traveler? The importance of keeping photography knowledge alive Could there be a Camerosity spin-off some day? Links The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm. If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server. Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/ Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/ Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/ Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

Can you believe it?  The Camerosity Podcast is back with Episode 100!  From what started out as a spontaneous Zoom call on a random May evening during the midst of a global pandemic has turned into one of the most popular and still only open source film and digital photography podcasts!  While the hosts have changed since we started, its not really the hosts that make this show what it is, it is the guests and callers we have each episode which keep us on our toes with new and interesting topics. For our centennial episode, the hosts sent out invites to some of our favorite guests and also kept the call in lines open for anyone to join us.  We received responses from Todd Gustavson from the George Eastman Museum, Dan Tamarkin from Tamarkin Camera and Auctions in Chicago, Marwan El Mozayen from Silvergrain Classics, Robert Rotoloni from the Nikon Historical Society, and returning for the first time in 50 episodes, Johnny Sisson from Central Camera in Chicago.  Joining these esteemed guests were callers A.J. Gentile, Alex Luyckx, Eric Risse, Greg McCreash, Nick Marshall, Pat Casey, Patrick Rapps, Wayne Scheipers, Will Pinkham, and William Ponder.  It was a star studded cast if I ever saw one! We get things started out with Marwan giving us an update on the all new Widelux-X panoramic camera prototype and where there at in its ultimate release.  While we don't expect to see the new model this year, its release is coming soon!  Todd chimes in with updates from the George Eastman Museum and what's new in their collection.  He shares what he knows about Eastman Kodak's recent announcement of them distributing their own film again and the new Kodak 100 and 200 films and a project to document the most important historical cameras in history.  Dan Tamarkin discusses getting married and the upcoming Tamarkin Camera Auction and gives us a preview of a couple cool Leicas which will appear in the show. Robert gives an update on the state of the NHS Journey and Alex shares what he's working on for his site and an upcoming review of EFKE KB50 film.  Johnny Sisson is back at Central Camera and he shares some updates about what's going on there and what's new in his life.  While we don't expect to see Johnny resuming his hosting responsibilities, he should be more present in the camera collector community. In addition to the guests already mentioned, other callers chime in with their favorite developers for black and white film, Will Pinkham opens Pandora's Box by asking for recommendations for a good rangefinder to use, and Mike shares his thoughts on the Nikon S3 re-release from 2000 and William Ponder shares his love for the Welta Weltini. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance. As we hit this milestone 100th episode, we are taking a short break before our next recording.  As of this post, we don't yet have a date or a topic for Episode 101, but rest assured, once we know, it will be communicated via the normal channels! In This Episode Dan Tamarkin Got Married! / Dan's New Wife is a Leica DLux Shooter Marwan from Silvergrain Classics Discusses the Widelux-X Prototype's Debut Why is it Called the Widelux-X? /  A Little Background The Prorotype's Black and Brass Body / Comparing the Widelux Lens to that of the Hasselblad XPan Todd Gustavson Joins Us and Talks Recent Kodak Film Announcements Whats New at the Eastman Museum? / Most Influential Cameras of All Time Alex is Working on an Article about EFKE 50 Black and White Film John(ny) Sisson Returns / An Update About the Management of Central Camera in Chicago After 41 Years the Nikon Historical Society Newsletter is Now Digital / No More Printed Copies Mike Shoots a Brand New Nikon S3 2000 Rangefinder Johnny Sets up Bargain Bins at Central Camera / People Dropping Off Collections of Cameras The Eastman Museum Has the Rowe Collection Including a Huge Custom Squirrel Cage Flash Jim McKeown's Camera Guide / No One Writes Camera History Books Anymore / Shutterbug Magazine The Tamarkin Auction is Coming Up in November / Dr. Paul Wolf's Leica Paul and Dan's Thoughts on Light Lens Labs Lenses / LLL Peel Apart Instant Film Slow Black and White Films / More People Should Shoot Ilford Pan F 50 Eric's Corfield 66 SLR / Chinese Great Wall SLR Will Asks for Recommendations on a Rangefinder / Nikon S2 Petri Green-O-Matic / Canon VT Deluxe / Canon P / Olympus 35 RC Eric's Strange Wind Up Generator Flashgun Do Any Professional Photographers Shoot Alpas? Welta Weltini / Welta Perfekta / Welta Superfekta Email Todd if You Want a Tour of the Eastman Museum Links The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm. If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server. Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg Official Widelux-X Website - https://wideluxx.com/ Tamarkin Camera Auctions - https://www.tamarkinauctions.com/ George Eastman Museum - https://www.eastman.org/ Central Camera - https://centralcameraco.bigcartel.com/visit Alex Luyckx Blog - http://www.alexluyckx.com/blog/ The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/ Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/ Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/ Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

For the past several episodes, the Camerosity Podcast has covered a wide range of topics from tiny digital TLRs, to Exaktas, to death and while these were all riveting conversations, we realized it had been a while since the hosts could just talk about what we've been up to.  Camera shows, tropical vacations, and recent GAS abound, we decided to not advertise the recording of Episode 99.  Although this show was mostly about the hosts, that didn't stop two additional guests, first time caller Douglas Willoughby and returning caller William Ponder from jumping in! We get things started with Paul's introduction to Doug who repaired his Nikon F4 and explains what went wrong.  William follows with a discussion regarding Miranda cameras and the tale of a Miranda Automex III that he bought from Mike.  We continue on with more Miranda discussion then pivot to Zeiss-Ikon Contax SLRs and other cameras from the Texas collection such as the KW Praktiflex and later Praktica cameras. Mike professes his love for the Contax SLRs shutter and the strange noises it makes. Later we pivot to traveling with cameras, and Anthony, Theo, and Paul all give their tips and shared experiences traveling with cameras and how to get your film hand checked at the airport.  We talk about camera batteries, Stephen's journey of modifying his LEGO camera to look like a Leica which then of course turns into a discussion about actual Leicas including Anthony's crazy tale of how he acquired a Leica M2. Finally, we chat about recent GAS pickups, Theo brings up the Mamiya 7 AGAIN and then Stephen shows off a very strange camera called the Olympus Air A01 which is the same size as a teleconverter, but is an entirely self contained micro 4/3s interchangeable lens mirrorless digital camera. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance. Can you believe it?  The next episode will be number 100!  Since May 2021, the Camerosity Podcast has proclaimed to be the world's first and only, open source film and digital podcast.  Our show has kept that theme through most of those 100 episodes and the amount of feedback and engagement you all have shared with the hosts is humbling. For this, our centennial episode, we are opening the doors for anyone to call in, but we've extended invites to some of our favorite previous guests.  I'd won't give out any names here, but I would be willing to bet if you were to guess, you'd get at least a couple right!  We will record Episode 100 on Monday, October 20th at 7pm Central Daylight Time and 8pm Eastern Daylight Time.  Be sure you mark your calendars and hit up the Zoom link when it is posted and join us! In This Episode Paul Bought some Brand New Nikon F4s That Didn't Work and Doug Fixed Them / Common F4 Issues William Ponder Got a Miranda Automex III From Mike After Episode 97 Black Paint Mirandas / Theo Likes the Miranda Automex III Soligor Lenses / Many Were Made by Kowa / Anscomark M AIC Was Miranda's Importer in the United States Paul's Haul from the Texas Collection Early Contax SLRs / Black Biotars The Contax SLR Shutter is not Like Other SLRs The Sounds of the Contax Shutter Pentacon SLRs / The Zeiss-Ikon East and West German Lawsuit Theo's Choices for Japan / Mamiya 7 and Nikon AF600 Horseman Convertible 852 / Horseman Field Cameras /  Horseman Stereo 3D Camera Anthony's Trip to Mexico / XRay Machine Toasts Anthony's Film XRay Shield Bags / TSA Tips Traveling Camera First Aid Kits / Other Travel Tips Challenges with Batteries on Film and Digital Cameras Stephen Turned a LEGO Creator Camera Into a Leica Anthony's Quest to Own a Leica M2 Reskinning and Repainting Cameras Doug Discusses the Weaknesses of the Pentax LX and Kowa Six Black Paint KW Praktiflex / Mamiya 7 with Pano Kit Minolta Maxxum 5000 and 650si KMZ Zenit 16 / Red Olympus XA2 and other XA Cameras Stephen Shows off the Tiny and Strange Olympus Air A01 Links The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm. If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server. Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/ Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/ Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/ Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

It has been a couple of weeks but the gang finally got back together to devote an entire episode to one of our favorite, and longest lived camera brands, the Ihagee Exakta.  If you are familiar with the Exakta name, you probably know them as a maker of high end, but very quirky 35mm SLRs, however there were far more Exaktas produced in the 20th century using three different forms of film and nine different lens mounts.  In Episode 98, the Camerosity Podcast hosts do their best to try and corral all those models and history into a single episode. Joining Anthony, Stephen, Paul, and Mike are returning and first time callers Daniel from Chicago, Eric Lorenz, Fernando Villava, Howard Sandler, Ira Cohen, Michael Boudreau, Mike Toppo, Pat Casey, and Phil Clark. We were unable to find an expert who could speak intelligently on the history and wide range of Exakta models made, so Mike did his best to cover the history, starting with how the company formed, and we go (mostly) in chronological order from the first 127 Vest Pocket Exaktas, the Night Exaktas, the early Kine Exaktas, into the Varex models, the redesigned VX1000 and Elbaflex models, and into the weeds with uncommon cameras like the Exakta Real, Exakta Twin TL, and some other Japanese and Chinese made models. In addition to the Ihagee Exakta, we also dedicate a bit of time to the Exakta's little brother, the Exa, covering that models strengths and weaknesses.  We attempt to explain how the shutter on early Exas work, and Mike tells a story of a hard to find "System Exa" that's not even made by Ihagee at all. Many questions were asked with varying levels of good answers, including how many lens mounts can be found on an Exakta camera, how many different companies produced Exakta cameras, what is the best introduction to the Exakta lineup, and whether or not Exaktas are good for shooting or just for collecting.  We even spend some time on the infamous Exaka with 400mm Kilfitt lens found in the Hollywood classic movie, Rear Window. And just to round it all off, we spend the end of the episode on the Topcon SLRs which use the Exakta mount, including whether all lenses are fully compatible between the two company's models. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance. The last several episodes of the show have been wonderfully exciting and informational.  We've had a huge number of guests, many of whom are first time callers who joined a long list of people who have contributed to this show.  And while all the hosts enjoy chatting with all of you, we haven't had an episode to ourselves in a while, so for Episode 99, we are not taking any callers.  We want to spend this time to get caught up on what we've been doing, share with you some of the private discussions we have behind closed doors, but mostly, we're looking for an episode that's easier to edit. Don't worry though, for the next, next episode, we hit triple digits, episode number 100.  It gives me chills just typing that here.  We will be looking for something special for our centennial episode and once we know what that is, and what date we are recording it, we will be sure to let you all know!  Until then, Episode 99 will be recorded sometime in early October. In This Episode Exaktas Are an Accidental Collection / Mike Had Wanted to Do an Exakta Show with Hugo Ruys Did Ihagee Ever Make Their Own Lenses? / Canon Once Made a Lens Using the Exakta Mount Did Other Companies Make Cameras that Use the Exakta Mount? Topcon R / Mamiya Prismat / Tokiwa Seiki Firstflex 35 Differences Between a Night Exakta and a Regular Vest Pocket Exakta What is a "Kine Exakta"? / Identifying All the Different Exaktas / Mike Mirrors wrotniak.net Captain Jack's Exakta Website / Exakta Books and other Sites What is the Difference between Varex, VX, and non Varex? Paul's Tip for Cleaning an Exakta Ground Glass The Exakta VX1000 Signaled a Big Change in Exakta Design / Mike Thinks the VX1000 Is the Perfect First Exakta A Kickstarter to Revive the Elbaflex / The Real Elbaflex Using the Exakta's Film Cutter / Cassette to Cassette Film Transport / Exakta and Exa Take Up Spools Differences Between Exaktas and Exas The Ihagee Exa that Wasn't Made By Ihagee / System Exa / How Does the Shutter Work on the Exa? How Likely Are you to Find Working Exaktas and Exas? / Cloth Shutter Curtains What was the Lens and Camera Used in the Movie Rear Window? / Kilfitt Lenses / Adapting Exakta Lenses Olympus Made a 4cm f/3.5 Zuiko Lens in Exakta Mount / Exa and Exaktas Advance Film Opposite of Each Other It's Spelled Ihagee, not Jhagee or Thagee The Horizontal and Vertical Exakta 66 Medium Format SLRs The Exakta Real Was an Attempt to Re-Launch the Exakta With More Modern Features Exakta Twin TL and Twin TL 42 / How Many Lens Mounts Can Be Found on Exakta Cameras? Are Exaktas Good for Shooting or Just for Collectors? / The Exakta Self-Timer and Slow Speed Escapement Do Topcon SLRs Have the Same Mount as the Exakta? / Lens Compatibility Links The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm. If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server. Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/ Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/ Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/ Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

An epidemic has swept Camerosity HQ along with a large swath of the camera collector groups.  It seems a cheap Chinese toy camera has made its way into the homes of all of us and resulted in us sharing images from it online.  Have we gone mad?  Do you dream of tiny TLRs at night?  In Episode 97 we tackle the controversial Chuzhao mini-TLR digital camera.  This $35 camera available worldwide through Amazon and Alibaba is selling like crazy now and each of the hosts ask our listeners what their thoughts are on it. In addition to Chuzhao talk, we spend a good portion of the show on a completely unrelated topic, which is what to do with your cameras when you die.  Mike and Paul both share their stories of picking up large estates of vintage cameras and what we ended up doing with them.  If you think the prospect of being asked to tackle a 4500 piece collection sounds awesome, you should definitely listen to this episode as we have some thoughts on what its like. Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike are returning callers A.J. Gentile, Ed Gabe, Greg McCreash, Ira Cohen, Larry Effler, Pat Casey, Phil Clark, Will Pinkham, and first time callers Doug Doyle, Rob Latimer, and William Ponder. In addition to Chuzhao and Camera Estate talk, Ira shares some selections from his tiny TLR collection including a couple rare Hit film models, Paul shares his thoughts on what you should do in preparation for what happens to your collection after you die, Mike briefly talks about an uncommon 1950s 35mm SLR called the Tokiwa Seiki Pentaflex, and Rob shares his thoughts on the Zeiss-Ikon Super Nettar. Meet Paul and Mike: If you are in the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio on Saturday, September 6th, come to the Ohio Camera Swap at the Hilton Garden Inn Cincinnati/West Chester and say hi to us.  Both Paul and I will have a lot of Miranda cameras to sell!  Who knows, maybe even some other Camerosity Podcast regulars will show up as well.  While you’re there, maybe you can buy something from us! As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you!  Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show.  We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance. For our next episode we are devoting a whole show to the Ihagee Exakta and Exa cameras.  As one of the earliest 35mm SLRs and also one of the most successful, millions of Exakta cameras were made over several decades of the 20th century, so there are a great deal of them to talk about.  As usual, we'll cover some history about the brand, go over their use, and cover some of the more interesting or collectible models.  If we have time, we will even cover the "other" Exaktas like the Exakta Real and the Pentacon produced RTL1000.  Will we stay on track or end up finally discussing large format?  You'll only know if you turn into Episode 98 which will be recorded on Monday, September 8th at 7pm Central Daylight Time and 8pm Eastern Daylight Time. In This Episode Everyone Lost their Minds and Bought a Chuzhao / Many Chuzhao Resellers are Scams / Beware Where You Buy! The Chuzhao is Only Worth it if You get it for the Equivalent of USD$40 or Less / Hacking the Chuzhao Blown Out Highlights / The Chuzhao Is Great for Children or for Having Fun / Battery Life Small Cameras Like the Chuzhao Break Down Barriers when Photographing People Ira Cohen Has Many Other Really Small TLRs / Babyflex, Museflex, and Gemflex / Japanese Hit Film Cameras Constructor and Blackbird Camera / Other Toy Cameras / Lego 3-in-1 Camera 5 Years Ago, Paul Picked Up a 4500 Piece Collection Why Do Some Collectors Have Multiples of the Same Camera Mike Goes to Texas to Get a Large Miranda Collection The Many Variations of the Vest Pocket Kodak Camera / World War I Soldier's Camera Ira Has Negative Niches in His Collection Inheriting a Large Collection is Fun But Overwhelming Advice On What Should Happen With Your Collection After You Die / Tell Someone / Keep Records / Don't Lie How Do You Sell High Value Cameras from a Collection? Mike Recommends Shipping Large Collections with U-Haul U-Boxes Packing Cameras / Estimating the Value of a Collection More Tips for Preparing Your Collection For After Your Demise Tokiwa Seiki Pentaflex / Zeiss-Ikon Super-Nettel / Donating Cameras Yashicaflex TLRs / Do You Get More Satisfaction Getting an Image from a More Difficult Camera? Coated vs Uncoated Lenses / The Non-Rangefinder Version of the Kodak 35 / Canon VI-T Links The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm. If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server. Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/ Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/ Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/ Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/