Grandfather’s treasures

I had always knew my grandfather was a photographer, but it wasn’t only until recently had I appreciated the fact when I got into film cameras. I’ve been looking forward to finding my grandpa’s collection of cameras in Santo (the island where we reside in, in Vanuatu). I’m amazed at how much he has! It’s a pity though that not everything works… some lenses are molded… and would cost a fortune to clean out, and takes a risk as well.. it may damage the top coating of the glass… so this is what we found (apparently he has more in Sydney, which my uncle had chucked out )

Olympus OM-2

(from wikipedia)

The Olympus OM-2 was an aperture priority automatic camera (with full manual operation selected via switch), based on the earlier, successful OM-1 body. The OM-2 was introduced in 1975, and combined the light, sturdy camera body style of the manual-only OM-1 with a new automatic exposure system.

One of the main selling points of the OM-2 was that all of the OM-1 accessories and lenses would fit without modification, offering a complete photographic system which could be carried easily, and allowing OM-1 owners an easy upgrade path.

The condition of this camera, is still good – except the lenses it came with had mold in it; 35-70mm, 70-200mm (i think), but the 50mm 1.4 is still good to use… phew! What I find funny is it’s sensor, which at first glance looks a lil gross (I have this thing with dotty patterns, looks gross to me… i thought it was like fungi or someting) ..The unique OTF (off-the-film) metering system of the Olympus OM cameras. Two Cds meters on the lower left and right sides of the lens mount capture the light that’s actually projected on the film, a pattern on the shutter (first curtain) reflects an estimated amount of light for exposure times of less than 1/45s, when the time that the shutter (partly) covers the film becomes significant.

Pentax Auto110

This lil guy is absolutely CUTE, for its size.. being ‘the smallest miniature slr system’ at its time (in 1978 i think) ..comes with a small lense (28mm) too.. BUT it doesn’t work! because the catch of the back is broken ;( such a pity… as I would’ve loved to carry this baby around, despite the rarity of 110 film.

Olympus Ecru ~ Limited Edition

This one is absolutely sexy! Released in 1991, as a collector’s item, 10,000 was released in Japan and 10,000 overseas – and the one my grandfather bought is 13,000 (something) of 20,000 cameras available. It was very stylish at the time, and even now! It’s surely a one of a kind film camera (other than lomo’s). its shape, and design…. i love it! Soo me! I haven’t gotten around to using it yet (I have a few film cameras now and it doesn’t seem like a good idea to have film in the cameras… would take forever to finish!)

But I have looked it up and reviews say that is has incredible sharpness and contrasted photos and a really strong flash as well — overall good feedback cept the lens cap itself is a pain to put around, because its ‘chrome’, and yeh its tricky to put back on. Nevertheless I’m so eager to try it out! If I knew my grandfather had this, I wouldn’t have spent $60 on getting a Holga 135BC Lomo…

But I guess the Lomo has its own special effects..

I have recently acquired a few cameras within the month – can you tell? My boyfriend has given me a vintage set of the Canon AE-1 film camera + 3-4 lenses (50mm 1.8, 35-70mm, 28mm 1.8, and the first 35-70mm first ever autofocus) for Christmas! as I’ve always wanted one.. and now I have alot more haha

Also, I have purchased a ‘digital lomo’ or rather its just a cheap toy camera (for its quality) for fun… and ‘on-the-go’ purpose.

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1. Toy Cameras – Don’t Hate, please.
2. Summer and its smile of light
3. The gate to Yesterday