Out Of Daddy's Closet 30 years later...

[aster]

Hi,

I don't know if I'm breaking any rules of the Minolta/Sony-related forum with a fine user-base here but this is completely off-topic and probably safe to share:

Yesterday late in the evening, my father arrived at where I reside with an unopened box in his suitcase and handed it to me. Never opened, it was forgotten in the back of one of his closets where he put it 30 years ago after one of his trips abroad. He found it two weeks ago and says seeing my interest in digital photography lately, it was best if I made use of this forgotten ancient item too.

A Yashica Fx-3 with a 50mm F1.4 lens attached, brand new, and I'm now intrigued into mechanial film SLR of decades ago with this inexpensive camera while thousand dollars fly off around the recent competitive digital era cameras.

Well, I'm happy to own something so old yet so new and very curious how my films will turn out...

Anyone's experience with such cameras are welcome while waiting for the next digital wonder's news.

Yildiz

[Javelin]

What a great find. those used contax lenses. everyone i've ever seen had leather grips on it that tend to come off or get all carcked. seeing as yours is so new maybe you can look into somethig that will preserve the leather?

[aster]

Hi Javelin,

Yes, I found that out soon enough. Now I have the arc of my nail inprinted on that soft/velvety leather surface. It looks like proper natural leather yet it feels spongy.
I'll look for places to replace the spongy product with a better cladding next week. It's strange design mentality for a Japanese camera company to use such a disintegrating, indurable product on a hands-on equipment which requires tougher/harder materials.

Thanks
Yildiz

[Dr. Harout]

One of my friends (sadly departed now, unfortunately) cherished very much that camera. In fact he only accepted mechanical cameras, didn't like electronic ones and never accepted digital. He made wonderful shots with it, and all photographers were always glad just to see his works.
I hope you'll get lots of excellent pictures with it too (if processing, printing are not problems in Istambul).

[Dr. Harout]

Ooops, forgot to congratulate your new toy. My fault, sorry.

[Birma]

What a great find and gift I hope you have a scanner so that you'll be able to share some pictures with your new camera?

[aster]

Ah, very sorry to hear of your friend's departure Dr. Harout! Making long and lasting dear friends is always hard yet losing them so sudden and unexpected.

Thank you, I hope I can develop my own 'feel' into film photography, my own art and my own mental integration...it's very easy to become mediocre and redundant if not caring deeply.

Labs are abundant in Istanbul, some use scanners as David Kilpatrick mentioned in one of his posts, because they're faster and there are still some providing optical development but might be more pricey. I have yet to find out. A pity I can't set up my own lab at home.

First to-do's are: buy new pair of batteries; buy suitable film; and find a place/shop where Yashica brand is still well-known with its models to change the cladding of the grips.

Dad says that, this camera may cost little itself but the film-developing part is to be the expensive so I better be prepared for it! He actually likes the idea that I shoot digital and see the outcome instantly and choose from between a number of shots to print and insists it's cheaper!

If he only knew.....

Thanks Doc,



Thank you Birma,

I hope I don't disappoint you when I upload some photos..

Yildiz

[Dr. Harout]

Yildiz, I have tons of negatives and one by one I digitalize them with my Microtek FilmScan 3600 (I was hoping for a Minolta D-Scan, but couldn't find any). I'm happy with it. I use a separate software for it, not the one included with the scanner. Whichever film scanner you get, try the Silver fast software (it's a very nice one, though there might be better ones ).
I don't print anymore, I just view them on the screen.

[aster]

Thank you, Dr. Harout,

I'll check out the mentioned scanners. I think printing needs some motivation; I usually visualise in my head where and how I want to use the print, because eg. used on a wall and with a designated size it has the power of changing the whole room, actually it can become the only mood-setter. If for a portfolio or an album, it becomes an easier task of selecting...

Yildiz