APCS - Newsletter

On my recent trip while passing through Amish country in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, I spotted an old building set up as an Antique Market. How many times do you visit an Antique Market in a very popular tourist area and know it has been picked over time and time again? Old cameras will be box Brownies or Polaroids. Expecting the usual, you can imagine my surprise when I found only four cameras, all collectable. A Cine-Kodak Model B, a Six-20 Brownie with art-deco front, a No.2 String-Set Kodak and a Speed-O-Matic complete with box and developing kit (which I had never heard of). The No.2 was losing its leatherette, no string and looked pretty sad, but upon opening the front I found the lens and shutter were in good shape. With a 10% discount for cash, the No.2 #3194 and the Speed-O-Matic were mine at what I considered to be very reasonable prices. The moral? Never assume anything!
Another unusual camera was at an unlikely vendor, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The Japanese Sharan Wide 35 is a cardboard kit you assemble, which results in a 35mm cassette loading pinhole camera. There is a standard format available as well. AK

I left the city at 7:00 an uneventful trip until the Pentland Hills where I had to grope my way though the worst pea souper fog I had seen for years. It was a long way to Lake Goldsmith but the trip was worth it. The atmosphere was like a carnival with a cheerful colourful noisy crowd punctuated by the gasps, pops screams squeals and explosions of easily a hundred steam engines of all sizes shapes and purposes and all working . We had arranged to meet at the Food Hall on the hour but you know all about the best laid plans. A phone call to Alan (thank goodness for mobile phones) found that he had lost his way, in fact most of the day was spent looking for everyone and losing them again. One woman had the right idea She had her two children on leashes. It was the only way. If Australia rose to prosperity on the sheep’s back then it was these beautiful behemoths that opened the country and displaced the horse drawn plough and the back breaking toil of manual ploughing. The day was spent wandering around them and avoiding very small steam engines expertly driven by enthusiastic boys. At 2:15 we were treated to the steam rally where the engines were paraded and their place in history explained. Most had a top speed of 25 metres per hour. I passed Alan a couple of times looking for his party but I managed to get some together for a group shot then lost them again. Another tour found Alan still searching for his party. There were many opportunities for photos but it is with deep shame that I have to report that only Alan had film cameras. A good fun day all round and another successful field trip.
Apart from Ian and Jean, Brian and Pat, self, Alan and Ian McKenzie above, Ian’s partner took the pic while Greg Branson & family, John Gregg and wife and Alan’s partner and dog Caddie were elsewhere on the 38 acres. MEM

A record attendance saw over 300 lots knocked down at our July auction. An excellent catalogue from sub-minatures to vintage large format gear, magazines, some darkroom and even an ambrotype in a case. Many items were part of John Heuzenroeder’s collection with more to come in October. Our special thanks to our auctioneer Max Amos and again to Margaret Mason for her organisation.

The May meeting had a display of some of the cameras and the photos produced from the January field trip. It is great to see some of these cameras together with the actual image. Cameras used included a 1929 Box Brownie, Mamiya 7, Hasselblad 500C with 1957 50mm lens, Retina IIIc, 1960 Zeiss Contarex, 1963 Canon 7 with f0.95 lens, Diana type toy plastic, 1932 Voigtländer Prominent 6x9 120 roll film, 1928 Voigtländer Stereflektoscope.

From Newsletter #8...

Found tiny Thornton Pickard

thornton pickard VP

Yes, a 127 film sized folding roll film Thornton Pickard camera. Same size as a VPK. TP did make a few rollfilm cameras , but never seen anything this small. Has the unfinished look of a prototype. Could it be ???? More details to follow after extensive research.... Lyle Curr

From Newsletter #7...

January Field Trip

January Group

“Meet under the Clocks at 9:00...”
My train from Geelong did not get to Flinders Street till a little after, but I was greeted by no less than twelve (and a half to count Sue’s little girl). The event was suggested by Andrew Korlaki late last year and we really had no expectation, but what a fantastic rollup! It is a long time since I (and probably a few others) took the time to take some photographs that required thinking about. So many photos today are just recording some history without using any grey matter. After one shot, I found the lens cap still on my GIII QL. We are spoilt these days!
The lanes between Flinders Street and Flinders Lane abound with colourful graffitti and unexpected subjects; (did anybody expect a string of sneakers suspended 5 metres up?); old facades rub walls with modern towers and the trees of Collins Street never lose their appeal. Just before the coffee stop in Degraves Street, some of us struggled to capture the leadlight ceiling of an arcade, faced with the multiple challenges of low light and limited field of view. The convenience of a fast zoom lens was visualised by those of us relegated to creativity at one focal length. Andrew had great fun with a Lensbaby. A City Circle tram took the group to Docklands and the Ferris wheel, another aspect of playing “tourist” in our own city. What was the purpose of the day? A social get-together to play with some of the toys we collect but rarely, if ever, get around to using. Some results will be seen at the April meeting together with a workshop to check any gear to be used in May. I am looking forward to our May excursion and trying out some of the medium and large format items that stare at me from the cabinet, particularly one item that lives in its field case and makes a great door-stop.

The entourage above from L to R...
Me, Ray Strong, Leigh Harris, John Friend, Neill Smith, Alyse Tsaptsalis, George Scott, Sue Margrave, Jorja Margrave, Andrew Korlaki, Chi Chan, Alistair Butt with Karena Goldfinch kneeling. Missing above is Brian Hatfield who had to leave early. Thanks to Karena for the pic.

Alan King