Gordy's Cameras
April 9, 2010 11:09 PM   Subscribe

Naked Zorki Standard

1953 dual format Mamiya-6
8x10 Eastman View No. 2
1869 Voigtlander Petzval
Mamiya Press kit
2 Burke & James Press
And lots more camerapr0n from Gordon Coale, of Gordy's Camera Straps.

(Oh! also, that Zorki up there uses an Ikodot in place of a rangefinder, which is neat.)
posted by carsonb (14 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Both the Zorki and the Fujipet look like RPGs to me.

Engage? Engage?
posted by twoleftfeet at 11:45 PM on April 9, 2010 [1 favorite]


Gordy and his old cameras are very cool. I never tire of looking at and reading about them. The Ikodot is neat too, but not $100 neat. It looks too much like something I could make for myself. (I'd mess it up)
posted by acetonic at 11:48 PM on April 9, 2010


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posted by milnak at 12:34 AM on April 10, 2010 [8 favorites]


Thanks carsonb, I really covet that Press Kit. Me wants. Me wants. Also, these machines look better and better as time passes. I really don't why my first 1MP camera looks like a piece of shit compared to these beauties. Should I hold on to it and will it look as good as these in 50 years time? [Where did we go wrong?]
posted by ouke at 1:18 AM on April 10, 2010


A friend of mine in Art School had an Eastman #2, it was in beautiful condition. But the thought of it petrified me, I mean, one click and you're using up a whole sheet of 8x10 inches of film. Even 8x10 B&W sheets cost a bundle, I don't want to think about color.
The only thing that scared me more than that was when she asked to shoot my portrait. If I blink at the wrong time, all that film goes to waste. She never did show me the results of that shoot (all 2 shots).
posted by charlie don't surf at 2:36 AM on April 10, 2010


Thanks for this Carson. holgagirl (mrs. beelz) is among the die hard Wet Process photography profs. We've got our own collection of camera pr0n--nothing like Gordy's--but many toy cameras, Diana & Holga, obsolete Polaroids, Kodak boxes, a war-era Graflex with about 6 or 7 different backs.

Charlie, don't fear for the 8x10--the 8x10 delivers so much depth in an image it's insane. To put it into a rough comparison, you'd need a 500 megapixel digital sensor to approximate the resolution of 4X5 film.

Digital is fine for many, many applications, but for printing large, you need to shoot large film.
posted by beelzbubba at 5:40 AM on April 10, 2010


I really don't why my first 1MP camera looks like a piece of shit compared to these beauties. Should I hold on to it and will it look as good as these in 50 years time? [Where did we go wrong?]

It very well may look that good later on. My Kodak DC40 is rather handsome at 15.
posted by carsonb at 6:22 AM on April 10, 2010


obsolete Polaroids
Not anymore!

All these cameras are great, but it always irks me that whenever people have this much gear, they only take photos of the gear itself. It'd be like a car lover with a garage full of antique Porsches and Ferraris all with 0 miles on their odometers.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 6:30 AM on April 10, 2010


To put it into a rough comparison, you'd need a 500 megapixel digital sensor to approximate the resolution of 4X5 film.

This would be theoretically true, but there's no lenses that afford that level of resolution, even when shooting to sheet film.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 6:34 AM on April 10, 2010


I've got a Zorki 4, it's built like the proverbial tank. It's part of my collection of Soviet cameras that includes a Lubitel 166U and a Kiev 6. Both the Kiev and Zorki came with surprisingly good Soviet lenses and can take lenses for Leica and Pentacon 6 respectively (if you have lots of cash, of course). Those commies could make very good copies when they felt like it.
posted by tommasz at 7:01 AM on April 10, 2010


it's nicely minimalist with a touch of steampunk

you keep using that word. i do not think it means what you think it means.
posted by nathancaswell at 8:21 AM on April 10, 2010 [1 favorite]


for the record i own, among many others, a 4x5 camera and a hasselblad 500 c/m and my absolute favorite camera in my colletion is a petri 7. the images it makes are extraordinary. it is a magic little machine.
posted by nathancaswell at 8:25 AM on April 10, 2010 [1 favorite]


Trust me, Threeway, most of the Polaroids we have are still obsolete, even with Impossible Projects (which we too have been following). Yes, we have some SX-70s/690s, but we have some going back to the early 60s, and some that were meant to take little pull strip film with adhesive backs (Polaroid Joy)

And we aren't "museum piece" people. We use most of our cameras--though I must admit we pick some up for cheap at garage sales knowing that they likely never will be used.

My resolution equivalency was called "rough" b/c of many qualifiers that would go into the calculation. Still--blow up a 4x5 or 8x10 silver-gelatin negative to 1m x 1m or blow up a Canon 1Ds file scan to the same size.

Digital is great for many things, and shooting color film is officially an anachronism, but lenses aside, a shot made with an 8x10 camera can make a breathtaking and breathtakingly large print.
posted by beelzbubba at 11:35 AM on April 10, 2010


I =love= folders and press cameras and TLRs. I adored my old Koni Omega and Yashicamat... convenient, quick, elegant... the Koni Omega especially was more than a match for the massively expensive Japanese medium format SLRs. (Well, in black and white, anyway.) 1/500sec flash sync! Leaf shutters FTW. Hand-holdable at 1/30th! Rangefinders FTW! Needle-sharp 16x20 enlargements. Tri-X and pyro 6x7cm negs FTW!

As digital sensors get cheaper and better, I hope we eventually see a flourishing of neo-retro cameras at enthusiast-friendly price points. I'd love a 12mp pocketable pop-out folding rangefinder with a super-sharp prime.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:30 PM on April 10, 2010 [1 favorite]


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