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Excellent Pb Flo, glad you've managed to rescue another old calculator - those EP-102 printers make such an awesome sound.

Hi James, I've liked all the versions of Autoreflex that I've handled, probably largely down to the Copal Square shutter, which is a bit of a gem. The Autorex/Auto-Reflex has got to be the most exciting version though, due to the variable format capabilities. Hope yours works ok now, after it's two repairs.

Hi Tony, since making this video I've returned to shooting film for most of my personal work, and I'm enjoying every minute of it. The 50mm f1.4 spends most of it's time on my OM-20 at the moment, although it might make it's way onto my OM2 once I've done a little bit of maintenance on said camera.

Hi Carlos, glad it helped, and I hope you have fun shooting with the Kiev.

Hi Bentboi, Phoenix is a little bit fussy, particularly if the scene you're photographing is fairly contrasty, but I've shot quite a few rolls now and have been pretty happy with the results. You get a punchy image, but you do have to accept that the sky might be washed out some of the time - better that than the muddy shadows if you under expose to retain the sky.

@ thank you for the input! I just loaded my first roll yesterday and began to shoot at 100 iso. I quite like the halations and bloom I see from the blown out highlights on others photos. Definitely crunchy images but I’m happy to support a new film stock.

Hi chan chun fung, I haven't tested one of those, and I suspect it will depend on which version of the 55 f1.8 you have - I believe some of the earlier ones might be radioactive whereas later ones might not.

Hi Haffschlappe, if I stumble upon a Kiev 5 that I like the look of, and can afford, I might feature it in a video one day, but I'm trying not to buy too many cameras at the moment - the "to be repaired" queue is quite long at the moment!!!

Hi Barbara, I think I put a note in the video description, just search for "Coconix Leather Repair" and you should find their range of kits, although they only seem to have the Black version on Amazon at the moment, but Amazon throws up a similar product from BSCPAM. This method of repairing leather is a good enough cheap fix - the repair I did in this video is still exactly as the day I repaired it, no splitting or cracking, but if you have an expensive piece of furniture and you want a perfect repair, don't use this stuff, take it to a professional leather repairer instead.

Hi Real Topeka People, if the TX takes standard threaded cable releases, then this, or any of the other similar self timer modules, should work. Looking at photos of the TX, it looks like it does have the standard threaded shutter button, but it also looks like it has a built in self timer - or has your integrated self timer jammed up (like so many do)?

Hi Ben, I'm quite fond of cameras like this - they often get sneered at because they're not "pro grade" or because they don't have full manual control, but it's actually quite a capable little thing. That film stock is a bit of a find, probably never to be repeated once the current stock is gone, but I've got a few rolls in stock!!!

@@GrumpyTim Interesting. I would ask them what they mean by "pro grade". I'd pull out my medium format camera.

Hi Gavan, that was only the case when the camera wasn't working correctly, I suspect that there was a bad contact on the focus mode selector switch but it just fixed itself without me having to investigate any deeper into the camera. When the camera is working correctly you should be able to take the shot in the manual focus position regardless of whether the green focus light is illuminated or not. When the camera is working correctly, it's only in single auto focus mode that the camera won't allow you to take the shot unless the green light is illuminated.

@GrumpyTim ohh ok, i guess my camera has the same malfunction yours had. Hopefully mine can just fix itself like yours lol, thank you!

I might one day get round to dismantling one of my spare F501s, which should give me a bit more information on where that particular problem lies. Definitely worth exercising the focus mode switch several times in case it does simply clear up.

Hi Otokichi, I've never been that fussed about flash sync speeds on film cameras, because I rarely use flash for my film photography. Strangely, I've used flash, both speedlights and studio flash, far more on digital than I ever did on film.

Здравствуйте, Василий, рады, что вам понравилось. Zdravstvuyte, Vasiliy, rady, chto vam ponravilos'. Cheers Vasiliy, glad you liked it.

Hi Sam S-J, they're a great little (or not so little) camera. Depending on how much you plan to use the slow speeds you could always just live with it as it is - for general hand held photography they're not always that important. Hope you get to shoot it a bit more in 2025.

Hi moofy, I probably steered clear of recommending any specific lubricants because there will always be someone out there that will tell you that you're wrong!!! For general light applications I use a generic sewing machine oil, for heavier parts, like the winding mechanism (but not ones that should be greased) I often use a slightly heavier Teflon based lubricant - it was an alternative to Tri-Flow that I bought years ago. For re oiling the slow speed timer and self timer modules I'll use a medium weight watch/clock oil, I can't remember which weight it is, but it's one of the Moebius products - it's probably a bit off topic, but take a look at Marshall on Wristwatch Revival - after a couple of his videos it'll give you a reasonable idea about oiling the small timing mechanisms on cameras. I use the dry Moly paste in two ways - it's great for lubricating metal to metal sliding parts that can wear if left un lubricated, such as where a shutter button presses on the actual mechanism beneath, but if they need to move fast, it can be too thick and sticky - the rings in the shutter housing that stop down the aperture on a Voigtlander Bessamatic are a good example - for these I'll wipe over them with dry Moly, plus the housing they sit in, then dry it back off with a cloth but not clean them with alcohol or anything after that - there are still particles of the dry Moly paste that stick in the surface of the metal to make it slide freely without causing drag.

Hi ohjajohh, there were a few medium format (ie using 120 roll film) cameras that could do both full and half frame with the addition of a plate that you inserted to reduce the size of the film gate, but you had to make the decision before you put the film in the camera. The Autorex is the only one that I know of that can change format mid roll, but it wouldn't surprise me if there are others that I don't know about.

That's too bad Rhett, but maybe one day it can be fixed and you'll be able to enjoy some full frame/half frame fun. In the meantime it'll look great on the shelf.

Cheers Gunther.

Hi David, theoretically, if I've made notes and taken photos as I dismantle a camera, the reassembly is usually easier than the disassembly. There are occasions when realigning gears or linkages correctly can be a bit of a pain, and putting in aperture blades or the blades from a leaf shutter usually involves half an hour of not breathing so they don't blow all over the place......and then they still fall out and I have to start again anyway!!!

Oh, and yeah, not sure how well digi cameras will age, in theory, if the sensor doesn't degrade over time and chips don't fail, they might last quite well. I wouldn't fancy working on them all that much, not the same level of satisfaction.

Hi flowermaze, I'm sure if I use the camera enough I'll get used to the viewfinder when shooting in half frame mode. I do rather like the option of shooting in both half and full frame, and I've recently resurrected my old film scanner, so I'll probably do my own scanning with this camera, that way I can swap formats as often as I want and not risk upsetting any photo labs.

Hi Ben, yep it's a fairly interesting and unique camera, beautifully made, and designed to be repaired, like so many things of that time. It kind of depends on the camera and how far I need to dismantle it, but it'll usually run into a few days - some of that time is figuring out how it comes apart and documenting the process. If I stuck to a handful of camera models I could probably turn each camera round in a single day without too much hassle once I was familiar with the process.

@@GrumpyTim That is a lot of time in each camera! Wow.

Nothing seems to happen very quickly in GrumpyTim land Ben, or at least not any projects, it's just time that passes by at an alarming rate!!!

Cheers ciprianoravet, I'm less bothered about non working or inaccurate light meters in cameras these days, I've got so used to using a hand held meter that I use that method of metering instead. I agree, Phoenix isn't really the film for half frame, but I still wanted to give it a go. I might throw a roll of black and white in the Autorex, something with reasonably fine grain might look quite good shot half frame.

@@GrumpyTim Try Adox CMS II, super fine grain on that

Thanks ciprianoravet, I really should experiment with a few more B&W films - so far I've stuck to the two popular offerings from Ilford, the two options from Kentmere and the three from Foma. I have got a couple of rolls of Rollei Retro 400 in stock but they've not made it into a camera yet.

Cheers Neville, the first Autoreflex (I think it was either a model T or A) was at an auto jumble - I really liked how it fired (not knowing that it had the lovely Copal shutter inside at that time) - I very nearly bought it, but I was trying to be good, and had already bought another camera. I regretted not buying it as soon as I got home, so adding some form of Autoreflex to the collection was inevitable sooner or later. If I had all the time in the world I could happily spend it dismantling and repairing old film cameras......

That's fantastic Scott, a vintage camera is even nicer when it belonged to a family member. The first time I held a Konica (it was either an Autorex T or A) I fell in love with it, but bizarrely I didn't buy it because I'd already bought a camera that day and I was trying to limit myself!!! From that day it was inevitable that I'd get one sooner or later.......

Definitely a good one to keep hold of Jeremy, it's as solid as a rock!

Hi Laurie, I haven't used any of the additional lenses on a Contaflex, I nearly bought one that came with two extra lenses, but the price was a bit high and the seller wouldn't budge, so I walked away from the stall. Looking in the book "Contaflex Manual" by Edward Bomback, there are definitely depth of field tables for the additional lenses but it doesn't specifically say (at a quick glance) whether the adjustable section is for focusing or for depth of field - my guess is that it's just there to help you calculate the depth of field when using the additional lenses.

Hi Tim, thanks for the reply my friend. Yes I’m thinking the same re the depth of field. After all the focusing wheel is on the camera so it would be too complicated to have 2 focusing systems. Not really sure what I was thinking. Anyhow, moving on. I still have my Dad’s Voigtländer Bessamatic and really hoping we can still sort something re it’s viewfinder clearance and check etc? It’s a lovely example and so hoping to shoot some film in it. You have my details so please let me know ok. (If you’ve mislaid them I’ll resend) Best to you my friend Laurie

Hi Laurie, it's still possible that you were supposed to leave the camera focusing at infinity (or something like that) and use a separate focusing system within the lens, but even looking at a Contaflex Super BC user manual there's no mention of anything fancy like that so I'll assume we're right, and the extra scale is just to indicate depth of field with the additional lenses. I did reply to your email, and again last night, let me know if you haven't got them and I'll use plan B

​@@GrumpyTim hi Tim, nothing received. Checked Spam and Junk folders too. I'll send you another in case of a typo on my behalf. Laurie

Hi rabbiddog, the dynamic range of NC500 is definitely less than more common films like Kodak Gold, but I'd say that it's easier to hold onto the highlight details than the other new boy Harman Phoenix. I've shot a few rolls of NC500 rating it at 200 ISO without any big highlight disasters, but on a really harshly lit subject it is likely to struggle. I ran a roll of NC500 through my Pentax P30, setting it to 200 ISO as usual, but part way through the film I realised that the meter in the P30 was over exposing by about 1.5 stops, in other words, that would be like rating the film at something like 60 ISO. I shot the rest of that film using a hand held light meter, and I re shot the scene where I discovered the P30 metering issue immediately afterwards - comparing the two shots, the over exposed one looks somewhat washed out and there's no colour left in the sky, but the shot actually looks quite good, and is still vastly better than when you under expose NC500.

Hi ishitaandveeraj, there isn't a huge amount of pricing information available as these machines were mostly sold directly to schools and the like, and adverts didn't tend to turn up in magazines that were available to the general public.

Ciao Rigel59, scommetto che le Contax RTS, 139 e così via sembravano davvero lussuose quando erano nuove, con quel morbido rivestimento imbottito, ma in realtà non si indossavano bene su quei modelli, e la maggior parte di loro ora sembra davvero trasandata!! ! Quando ho acquistato l'FR1 veniva fornito con un obiettivo Sirius 60 - 300 mm piuttosto orribile, ma avevo in stock alcuni obiettivi Contax Yashica che avevo utilizzato in precedenza con fotocamere digitali mirrorless, il DSB f1.9 era uno di questi, e rispetto all'obiettivo Sirius il DSB f1.9 è abbastanza buono, ma credo che ci siano obiettivi migliori in circolazione. Non mi sorprenderebbe se la velocità dell'otturatore 1/2000 fosse semplicemente nascosta anziché mancare sull'FR1, avrebbe senso. Hi Rigel59, I bet the Contax RTS, 139 and so on, felt really luxurious when they were new, with that soft padded covering, but it really hasn't worn well on those models, with most of them now looking really scruffy!!! When I bought the FR1 it came with a rather horrible Sirius 60 - 300mm lens, but I had a few Contax Yashica fit lenses in stock that I'd previously used with mirrorless digital cameras, the DSB f1.9 being one of those, and compared to the Sirius lens the DSB f1.9 is quite good, but I take your point that there are better lenses out there. It wouldn't surprise me if the 1/2000 shutter speed is just hidden rather than missing on the FR1, that would make sense.

Hi Zed John, I really need to fully clean that OM10, because every time I handle it I have to wash my hands......I'll get round to it one day! I haven't entirely programmed myself to find the aperture ring at the front of the lens, so when I first pick up the OM20 after using something else I usually go for the rear - not exactly a big issue though. I probably do usually push the leader further into the take up spool, but so long as it's caught on the tooth I don't get too stressed about it. It's kind of difficult getting a smooth loading sequence filmed and I'll often do a few takes before I get one that looks ok for the video.

Hi ghostexits, I guess there are probably multiple reasons for the poor sound quality: even though the belt is wide, only a tiny slice is being used at any time, less than the width of a track on an audio cassette. I doubt they used the best quality recording medium for the time as the machine was only intended for voice recordings. I'm sure the microphone isn't the best ever, and possibly the most significant of all is that I did enough work to get the machine working but it's not impossible that several of the transistors have degraded and possibly a bit more testing and replacing would have improved things a bit more.

@@GrumpyTim not nearly as bad when you remove the sound of the motor. I commented before seeing that part of your video. Was watching a film of a musician using a bigger IBM 212 to manipulate audio samples/loops. It looked like the device was practically made for the purpose.

@@GrumpyTim Did you try cleaning the tape head?

I've heard of people using various dictation machines for creative musical purposes, I think someone told me that Holger Czukay did that. And, sorry, I forgot to answer the first part of your question, yes, you can move the head around at will by pulling down on the position indicator and moving it sideways as required.

Can't remember that I did - might be worth digging it out again one day and giving the head a quick clean.

Hi Jayne, there used to be a list of some sort on camerapedia fandom camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Radioactive_lenses I doubt that it's an exhaustive list, or completely accurate, but it's the best one that's out there. In the case of some lens models, manufacturers appear to have dropped the addition of Thorium somewhere along the line, so some people will swear that the lens isn't radioactive, whereas others will be adamant that it is.

Hi Kev, didn't know about the different colour exp compensation buttons, but it doesn't surprise me, there are often little tweaks during the lifespan of many cameras - useful to know if looking for one of these cameras all the same. You're right, I had the Tamron Adaptall 135mm lens on the EM for some of the shots. I got the impression that they still had a fair bit of the 517 film left last time I looked - it'll be a shame when it's gone, but at least it managed to find it's way to market rather than just ending up in landfill.

Hi John, I don't specifically remember the OM10 ads, but I definitely remember the high profile TV ads for Olympus, featuring David Bailey, along with Arthur Daley (George Cole) and I think James Hunt also popped up in one. Back then I'm sure young GrumpyTim would have been influenced by such advertising, and maybe that added to my liking of the Olympus brand.

Hi Neville, from what I can tell, the OM20 only ran for about 3 years or something like that, whereas the OM10 was probably being sold for the best part of 10 years, although maybe the latter end of that was just whatever stock was left.

Hi Kev, yes, the OM10/20s won't be quite as tough as the big boys, but I've probably known more people personally who've shot with those models than any other camera, and none of them have had any problems. My brother's OM10 50mm f1.8 is still in good condition, so they do last quite well if stored correctly. Bizarrely, the mouse poo OM10 is the one of mine that has the good copy of the lens, so the barn or wherever it was stored must have at least been dry and well ventilated!!!

Ooh yes, the railway is Severn Valley Railway, that runs between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth - really beautiful line and very pretty stations, well worth a visit if you're ever in the area.

@ "Ok, looks an interesting line, I like to take photograph's of the railway environment, and I frequent my local preserved line, the south devon railway at Buckfastleigh, which is only ten min's up the road from me. cheers."

Hi Kev, I've never been to South Devon Railway, it looks good - preserved railways make a fantastic photography venue, not to mention a good day out.

Hi Jay, in the colour section, pics 1,3,4,9,10,11,12,14 and 15 were ORWO Wolfen NC500, the remainder being Harman Phoenix. Phoenix, I always shoot at 125 ISO because I don't think it looks good shot at box speed. The same applies to NC500, I really didn't like the first roll I shot using that stuff at box speed, but since then I've ignored what it says on the box and shot it at 200 ISO and I've been really happy with the results. I even had a roll in my Pentax P30 set to 200 ISO, but part way through the roll I checked it against my light meter and realised that it was over exposing by more than one stop, so in other words, I was shooting at something like 80 ISO, and those shots, albeit a bit bleached out, are still far better than when I shot the film at 400 ISO.

Thanks Tim. I just bought a roll of Phoenix, I will try it at 125 ISO. Glad I asked the question! I really like the look of the Wolfen NC500 as well, will have to try that next!

Hi Jay, it's still very easy to blow out the highlights on Phoenix - if it's a high contrast scene, something is going to suffer. It's not a film that I expect to get 36 great images out of a roll (not that I get that with any film stock). You'd be forgiven for thinking that I hated NC500 after my first video trying it out - I certainly didn't fall in love with it straight away, but with a little more understanding it's become one of my favourite stocks. I think ORWO could have done themselves a favour by not marketing it as 400 ISO, because most of the reviews I've seen didn't fall in love with it for the same reasons that I found - if they'd badged it as 200 ISO I think people would have got on with it a bit better.

Cheers Ben, yep, B&W often looks like it was taken sometime in the past, and the other two film stocks definitely have a vintage look, particularly the Wolfen NC500, which made up the majority of the colour pics. Those Panasonic bridge cameras are fantastic, and the ability to swap lenses is sometimes overrated, you'd be surprised how many of my SLR's just get used with a 50mm even if I do have other lenses available. Happy New Year by the way, hope you had a good Crimbo.

@@GrumpyTim Yes, I did thanks and a happy New Year to you too! Hope your Christmas was good as well! There's a RUclips video series running through the manual on the camera which is fantastic. Has all sorts of metering options, over and under exposure and all sorts as well as being able to track focus on things like birds. Cost £100 with box in mint condition.

What a bargain!!! I was using Lumix bridge cameras before I got my first DSLR, even their early models back then were good, and they've just got better ever since.

@@GrumpyTim not sure what the date of first issue was but it does 1080p at 50 frames a second and does 24x optical zoom.

Hi Schlipperschlopper, judging by the lack of any wear on the case of my Kiev, I have a feeling it left the factory more or less as it is now, certainly some of the very badly fitting case and chassis components are "as manufactured" and the poor method for realigning the rangefinder is just how it always was. I suspect that over the years the dies for casting components and the tools for pressing parts might have been a bit neglected, leading to some less perfect examples rolling off the production line. That said, I do actually like the camera and I've got some great shots using it. I've still got to get to the bottom of the light leak, which is better, but not fully cured after my second video - the Kiev is due back on the workbench in the next few weeks, so with a bit of luck there will be video number three before too long..... Love your turntable collection by the way, definite turntable envy here - I was just looking at your Korvet 038S, that's a real beauty.

Cheers Kev, Cosina seem to be a largely overlooked brand but I'm very pleased with the CSL, it does a great job. In reality I probably won't use the auto exposure module much, but it's a nice thing to have all the same.

@@GrumpyTim "Hi Tim, Got to give it to Cosina for their novel approach to AE exposure at the time! I don't think I'd use this robot module either! I also have a Cosina pm-1, which I bought from new, and recently a cs3 +28mm macro, all working as they should! Cosina have been around since day 1, producing equipment for most major brands in some form or another! which I suppose explaines their longevity! bye for now."

Thanks Laurie, I'm rather fond of this IC-1 - just need to give it a quick check over before I put another film in it - the second film didn't really show up the dragging shutter curtain much at all, so I might be tempted to ignore that for the moment and just enjoy shooting the camera instead.

@GrumpyTim Tim, I've sent my email to you. Any luck receiving it? (Bessamatic) Laurie (Laurence)

Hi Blue Mario, both Hitachi made machines that I've worked on from around this time are so beautifully built, everything is designed to be easily serviced, and I love them to bits. Things like your broken reed switch should be easy enough to sort out, but like you say, probing the boards while the machine is on will be tricky (impossible) with them in situ. I guess the ideal solution would be to fabricate a dummy board edge to plug into the edge connector on the calculator chassis with a ton of wires soldered to another identical edge connector so you could operate the machine with the board accessible, but that's quite a lot of work. I didn't have to do any serious probing with the oscilloscope on my machine so I don't have any notes on what chips should be performing what task. Definitely worth starting with caps and also looking over all the boards with a magnifying glass because you might just get lucky.

@@GrumpyTim Yeah, I'm thinking it could be as simple as the capacitors. The gray 470uF one like in your video looks like it's leaking on mine, and some of the others are reading wildly out of spec (22uF is just a suggestion). The power board has a circuit that when powered on, sends a specific low voltage pulse to the other boards that tells certain chips to "reset" themselves. What I've noticed, is that this calculator doesn't seem to properly generate this pulse currently, because the calculator starts up in a state where the display is full of garbage values meaning the Clear key needs to be pressed on a first boot. In addition to this, I noticed that sometimes the calculator suddenly behaves as intended intermittently. When this happens, it works like nothing is wrong. Also, as a fun extra bit: I'm sure you've seen my *exact* 32E before. It's all over the internet. OldCalculatorMuseum has it with one of the case blemishes edited out, but they kept the cracked 1 key. Another listing comes from an old Japanese auction, where that listing mentions the same issues as I'm having now as well. And finally, an Ebay listing, which is where I got mine, exhibiting once again the same issues, and the same cracked 1 key (which actually broke off in shipping; I still have the piece and intend to glue it back together). It's surprising to me how apparently rare this unit is, since the only photos I can find are this exact unit, and the rest are text only mentions and very few of those have any real concrete info of use, outside of acknowledging it exists. It's kind of cool in a mysterious way.

Hi Blue Mario, I get the impression that a fair few of these early electronic calculators are pretty rare, that definitely seems to be the case with your machine. It would be really good if it was as simple as a power on reset issue that's bugging your machine, hope you get it working correctly, but even if you don't, it's still a nice thing to have.

Hi Cine Wales, that L bracket idea sounds good, I might cobble something together. I will return to my Kiev 4 soon, just need to strip it apart a bit more and finally fix the light leaks - they are better since my second video looking at Th Kiev but still not fully cured. Also, the frame spacing has got steadily worse over the 3 films I've put through the camera, so I'll take a look at that too. I enjoyed the 8M lens far more on the second and third films, stopping down a bit more made all the difference, I just didn't love it wide open, and also it didn't perform all that well when using the hyperfocal distancing scale.

Hi Laurence, I haven't got my notes with me at the moment, but I will be reunited with them in a few days time. As far as I recall it's pretty easy to get the top of a Bessamatic (I just can't remember if there are any left hand threads to be wary of without my notes). If you have the old version with the selenium cell light meter, cleaning the viewfinder and prism is simple once you've got the top off using a cotton bud dampened with a bit of rubbing alcohol (I use a 70 to 30 mix of IPA and distilled water) - use a fresh cotton bud for each surface and dry with the other end. If things are really grubby, try to gently blow or brush stuff off first, then use a dampened cotton bud to get the dirt off, then a fresh dampened bud to do the final clean - basically, try not to rub over the surface once the bud has picked up debris because that can cause scratching. If you have the later CS version of the Bessamatic, cleaning the viewfinder is a bit more tricky because the CDS cell for the light meter is mounted on top of the viewfinder optics, with an angled semi transparent mirror to reflect the light up into said cell. On the CS that I repaired for a friend, the CDS cell was dead and the mirror had already been cracked by a previous attempt to clean it - in that case I just removed the mirror, allowing me to clean the back of the viewfinder optic and removing the mirror which reduces the brightness of the viewfinder even when it's fully clean.

@GrumpyTim firstly my friend, what a most excellent reply! My sincere thanks to you Sir. Indeed I have the selenium earlier model and would really love to get it done. With that said, I am in Surrey, Eng, is this something you could do for me (obviously happy to pay you as id rather your experience over my guess work) or if not, could you do me a personal video on how to remove the cover to access? I really want to keep my father's dream alive by using it and it is such a nice example that would benefit from your brilliance. I can't emphasise enough how important this is to me. Any chance? Please? Im happy to forward my details if poss? Please come back to me on this as I so need your help Sir. Laurence

Hi Laurence, if you want to email me we can discuss, grumpytimchannel@gmail.com