First time shooting in the city. Didn’t really know what to expect or what to take photos of but these are some of my favorites. Not sure what the lines are that are in a couple of the photos but I’m going to assume that’s CVS’ fault.
Surprise, surprise.
I decided to veneer my first rangefinder, my Canon Canonet 28 which I featured yesterday with a roll of film, and I took a different turn with it this time. I went with a dark stain this time instead of a clear coat, that highlights the natural colors, and I think it worked really well. I also took a couple photos of it with the other cameras I have veneer and I think you can tell a striking difference in the quality of my work since my first one compared to the Canonet.
I’ve been thinking about starting to sell these on the side or even possibly start a Kickstarter Campaign to get a headstart. Comment if you’ve had any success with Kickstarter or would be interested in getting one.
The dark stain just looks so luxurious.
Finally finished shooting my first roll off of my Canonet 28 but I didn’t really check to see the condition of the light seals before I shot it all. So with that having been said a lot of them didn’t come out at all or had some pretty bad light leaks. But I don’t mind, I think it adds some character to them and it just gives me another camera restoration project.
I really enjoyed converting the Minolta Rangefinder from a leather to wood veneer cover so I decided to buy another cheap rangefinder and give it another go.
This week’s custom camera is a Ricoh 500G produced in the early 1970’s with a f2.8 Rikenon lens and even has an 8 second self-timer. You can find these fairly easily for under $20’s, not counting shipping if you’re going to buy it from eBay or something like that. Only two photos but when I put a battery in it I’ll be sure to show some photos I’ve taken with it.
It’s a solidly built camera with a metal body and according to a lot of the reviews I have read, it takes really sharp photos so I’m really excited to use it. It’s got a great feel when it’s in my hands.
Remember that Minolta Hi-Matic F I posted the other week?
Well, it doesn’t really look like that anymore.
If you’ve never heard of the company Ilott I highly suggest you check out that guy’s work. He refurbishes old film cameras and gives them new life with a new wood veneer cover instead of the faux-leather that’s on most old film cameras. If you’ve ever worked with veneer you should not it’s really not that hard to work with, and this guy refurbishes $30 cameras, services them, and put’s a veneer on them and charges $2000 for his work, even though it is magnificent, I wouldn’t say it’s worth all that.
So I decided I’d give it a little trial run on that Minolta I have and I think my results are pretty darn good for my first try.
I’d love to hear everyone’s comments and I’d really like to do a few more of these or maybe some custom orders once I get the hang of it.
Thanks again,
John Kirby
Life as 35mm 