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As a small child I discovered an old camera. A box brownie. It was so long ago now that I don't remeber where it came from, but I do remember being fascinated by the fact that a little bit of curved glass would project an accurate image on a piece of paper. It seemed like magic. Then later when I was older the idea that there were substances so delicate that a brief exposure to something so nebulous and insubstatial as light could impress a prermanant image withing it's structure, the spell was complete.
At infant's school I was continually being chastised during writing lessons for spending more time on illustrating my story, than actually writing it. I could never understand this. Pictures were much more exiting, and you could put so much more into a picture while words. I suppose that's true for most children, but I was not awate of any of my classmates suffering quite so much. (Maybe I just had a rebellious streak!) Unfortunatley in those days, shcool was about conforming to a standard than nurturing a possible talent, otherwise.....
I remember money was always short it seemed, and well photography can be expensive, so it was many years before I could afford a proper camera.
When I could afford one way back in 1976 I think I must have got lucky, I really did not do much research but I did try a couple and just went with my gut instinct. One camera just felt right, and I bought my first SLR. It was a Pentax K1000. Pentax used to sell their cameras that way. Their tag line was "Just hold a Pentax". It worked a treat on me. I held it and I bought it. It cost me £139, a lot of money in 1976, and for me several weeks wages. The shop assistant, congratulated me on locating whet she considered to be the best camera in the shop. (Well she would wouldn't she!) It was a only couple of months later that I read a review in a camera magazine in which the reviewer claimed that as far as he was concerned in terms of qaulity, the K1000 matched cameras of £600 or more. That was pleasing I suppose, but by that time I could not care. I was in love.
I still have that camera, and I still use it regularly, but sometimes though, I just take it out and hold it.
The following year I
got a job in a local secondary school as a photographer for the Phyics Department, but was reqularly 'borrowed' by other departments for various projects.
Then I entered higher education as a mature student. To study Physics, and Electronics. (Why? Well, Optics for one thing! And I was brough up to be practical. Things like photography were a bit well...airy fairy.)
A few years ago I discovered that you could buy photographic equipmnet on eBay at some ver low prices. I was however appalled frankly at the condition of some of the items that were delivered.
Clearly many of those selling these items had little idea how cameras work, nor the skills to asses them, let alone make viable repairs. A large proportion did not even seem to care. Every time I purchased a camera it seemed I found it necessary to repair it. Occassionally though I found a real gem, but really the amount 'wasted' on duff cameras made this less of a bargain than it seemed.
However I also knew that many of these cameras could be repaired and reconditioned. In most cases the result was an item which works as well as any that left the factory. Others sadly were good only for salvage, and a few were frankly junk! (Well it is eBay.)
So I began to restore cameras for sale on eBay. It seemed like the right thing to do. It seemed such a waste when I knew that people wanted these cameras, and well they deserved better than they were getting.
These days you often hear people say that film is dead, and there's no market for film cameras, and that's the reason why they are so cheap, and that they are not worht repairing. But if that is the case why do so many photographic schools still insist that their students learn to use film? I can tell you why.
First, of course a professional photgrapher has to know his business inside out, and back to front. It's all very well artsy fartst types going on about how the image is the thing, and not the tools used to produce it, but if that's the case why does the painter not throw away his brushes, or pencils? Why does anyone choose to work in crayon, or watercolour? Film is another medium. It has a texture all of it's own, that cannot be reproduced digitally. Also a professional may be called upon to record images of the finest detail, and in virtually real time. That means large format, and as yet no true large format camera has been built using digital sensors that can operate in sub-second time scales. You have to use film. (Actualy the document scanner is a large format camera, and with a bit of ingenuity could be used as the sensor assembly in a view camera. But can you imagin how long it would take to scan a 10x8 inch image at 4800dpi? And the size of the image file...!) So to be a proper photographer, (not merely a paparazzi) you need to understand how film works, and how cameras work. You can't do that with a modern camera which does all your thinking for you. You need a camera which used film and one that put's you in the driving street, and let's you make your own mistakes.
(There's another reason. Chimping! That is looking at the LCD on the back. If you use a digtal camera you can check each exposure to see if you have the right result. Photography by trial and error! So why bother to make the necessary judgement beforehand, when you can shoot again? Because in a moment it might not be there. And because while you are busy chimping, that really good shot, is missed. Just because you never learned to trust your judgement!)
But aside from all that, anyone who has developed their own B&W prints can tell you that there is still a certain magic still in watching that image appear as if out of nowhere right in front of your eyes. It's a chemical thing.
So people still want these cameras. They do have a place in modern photography, and while I don't generally see a lot of large format kit the 35mm format has proven over seventy years or so that it is more than valid.
Before long I realised that not only were people still looking for these cameras, but also they were willing to pay a good price to ensure they got a one in good condition and working. I even got messages from buyers saying how pleasantly surprised they were when they got their 'new' camera. Some even sent me their old 'worn out' one as a thank-you gift! (Sometimes they tell me that the reason they do this is because they know it will be properly restored and sold to somone who will care.)
Thus what began as a hobby has gradually grown into a full-time buiness.
I also run a website where you can have a look at the insides of a few cameras, and see what it is that I do which makes my cameras that little bit special.
Also, you can find out how to do some repairs yourslef, and some thoughts on subjects such as the dread lens fungus!
Thanks...Gordon
PS:
I also have an HNC in software engineering, read science fiction, like
fireworks far
more than is at all healthy, play electric guitar, (not very well despite what my other half says!) and once met Terry
Pratchet.
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