Hobbymat Lathes

[Studebaker Shop]

Does anyone linked to this forum have a Hobbymat MD-65 series lathe?
Thanks in advance for any response... David C

 

[Studebaker Shop]

Are there any film camera owners who have delt with KEH to buy or sell cameras and equipment?
Just wondering how your experience was and were they honest in value and pricing.
The camera market has shifted to digital and it is becoming difficult to find film and get development.
I don't process my own film any more. May consider selling off some film cameras and just go digital.
I will look for any reply. Thank you, David C

 

[Studebaker Shop]

Photographing work in progress is my reason to ask about cameras. I have to figure how to post scanned images on ths site??? So far I have not had much luck, Maybe the digital format will be easier? David C

 

[Dave455]

Are there any film camera owners who have delt with KEH to buy or sell cameras and equipment?
Just wondering how your experience was and were they honest in value and pricing.
The camera market has shifted to digital and it is becoming difficult to find film and get development.
I don't process my own film any more. May consider selling off some film cameras and just go digital.
I will look for any reply. Thank you, David C

Well, I’ve never dealt with KEH, and I don’t live in the U.S. but I’m quite a camera enthusiast, so I’ll share my 2 cents worth. Unfortunately, all my experiences are in the U.K. / Europe, but I can’t believe we are that different.

If you like your film camera’s, keep them. The last decade or so have seen some huge shifts in the photographic world, but the important words are “have seen”. The snapshot market went digital, and the press too, so in this period a lot of great names vanished.

But, what’s left, the enthusiasts, the art photographer’s, those producing pictures for the long term etc etc, are a solid (and even growing) market.

A few years back I could buy a top quality 80’s vintage SLR for very little money. Not now. Prices are on the up, and the prices of good quality lenses are solid. I believe that the main reason for this is the poor mechanical quality of so many modern lenses. They don’t last.

I’m surprised you are having problems getting developing. I can get it done in 1 hour at any major town, or drop it off at a chemist in a smaller one. I’m prepared to bet there are service providers you don’t know about. I must admit I send off my B and W, but that’s always been the way for the best results.

Most D and P providers I use have embraced the digital age, and develop your film, scan it, and provide your prints both on paper and in digital form, so you have the best of all worlds.

If you want to photograph things to post online, I tend to simply take pictures with my ipad or phone. The distortion can be quite significant, as expected with such short focal length lenses, but the definition is often surprisingly good!

 

[RTM]

I bought a used Ken's from KEH in the 90s, all was fine.

My daughter gets her film stuff developed in Columbus Ohio, shooting from my old FTb, which I used for B&W film thru 1997 or later.

 

[Studebaker Shop]

Well, I’ve never dealt with KEH, and I don’t live in the U.S. but I’m quite a camera enthusiast, so I’ll share my 2 cents worth. Unfortunately, all my experiences are in the U.K. / Europe, but I can’t believe we are that different.

If you like your film camera’s, keep them. The last decade or so have seen some huge shifts in the photographic world, but the important words are “have seen”. The snapshot market went digital, and the press too, so in this period a lot of great names vanished.

But, what’s left, the enthusiasts, the art photographer’s, those producing pictures for the long term etc etc, are a solid (and even growing) market.

A few years back I could buy a top quality 80’s vintage SLR for very little money. Not now. Prices are on the up, and the prices of good quality lenses are solid. I believe that the main reason for this is the poor mechanical quality of so many modern lenses. They don’t last.

I’m surprised you are having problems getting developing. I can get it done in 1 hour at any major town, or drop it off at a chemist in a smaller one. I’m prepared to bet there are service providers you don’t know about. I must admit I send off my B and W, but that’s always been the way for the best results.

Most D and P providers I use have embraced the digital age, and develop your film, scan it, and provide your prints both on paper and in digital form, so you have the best of all worlds.

If you want to photograph things to post online, I tend to simply take pictures with my ipad or phone. The distortion can be quite significant, as expected with such short focal length lenses, but the definition is often surprisingly good!

Thank you for your response. Film photography is still fun, I have my favorite cameras... some of which most people have never heard of: Exakta, Topcon, Leotax. Others that are more commomly known: Nikon F, Nikkormat and my beloved Leica IIIc. Over the years I became a bit of a collector while traveling in the military. I would end up someplace with out a camera and purchase another one to capture photos of my stay. My extended family was also good about adding to my collection. It was known that I developed film and repaired cameras at times. As cameras became old or broken and when a family member passed away their cameras were given to me. My plan is to make a photo and camera diary of the former owners and their cameras, then pass it on as some family history. My son is doing a geneology of our heritage and this may be a good addition.
Respectfully, David C

 

[Farmer J.]

Well, I’ve never dealt with KEH, and I don’t live in the U.S. but I’m quite a camera enthusiast, so I’ll share my 2 cents worth. Unfortunately, all my experiences are in the U.K. / Europe, but I can’t believe we are that different.

If you like your film camera’s, keep them. The last decade or so have seen some huge shifts in the photographic world, but the important words are “have seen”. The snapshot market went digital, and the press too, so in this period a lot of great names vanished.

But, what’s left, the enthusiasts, the art photographer’s, those producing pictures for the long term etc etc, are a solid (and even growing) market.

A few years back I could buy a top quality 80’s vintage SLR for very little money. Not now. Prices are on the up, and the prices of good quality lenses are solid. I believe that the main reason for this is the poor mechanical quality of so many modern lenses. They don’t last.

I’m surprised you are having problems getting developing. I can get it done in 1 hour at any major town, or drop it off at a chemist in a smaller one. I’m prepared to bet there are service providers you don’t know about. I must admit I send off my B and W, but that’s always been the way for the best results.

Most D and P providers I use have embraced the digital age, and develop your film, scan it, and provide your prints both on paper and in digital form, so you have the best of all worlds.

If you want to photograph things to post online, I tend to simply take pictures with my ipad or phone. The distortion can be quite significant, as expected with such short focal length lenses, but the definition is often surprisingly good!

Interesting. So, I should hang on to my Olympus Trip then?
Not used it for a few years, and my Daughter found an expensive modern digital hanging from a tree.. Someone had lost it but never came back and despite efforts we couldn't trace them so the camera became mine!

 

[Studebaker Shop]

Interesting. So, I should hang on to my Olympus Trip then?
Not used it for a few years, and my Daughter found an expensive modern digital hanging from a tree.. Someone had lost it but never came back and despite efforts we couldn't trace them so the camera became mine!

Lucky find! As long as the digital works, it sounds like someone is/was very lucky....?
I have never owned an Olmpus camera but many friend have had and used them for years, both film and digital versions.
There is a new interest in Nikon cameras and the prices are increasing on the used market. My cameras are very clean and well cared for. I have been offered almost as much as I paid for them new....back in the 70's.
If I do sell them I want to include all the lenses and related equipment. It would have to be a student of film or some one with an interest in obtaining a quality working system. I will not just give it away... at a yard sale price.

David C

 

[Kuma601]

KEH is like any other business that when they buy they take a pretty typical retail cut when paying. I have some film gear I had done on their site and it essentially comes down to I would receive 43% off what they sell them for. I've also had them call or email that the gear is not as rated so the estimated is dinged down so anticipate less than quoted. The buying experience is good as well as MPB. My preference is towards MPB when buying gear.

I enjoy the nostalgia of film though for online usage and speed, digital is nicer in that regard. Scanning film for digital uses is slow as well as having the lab process even though their turn around is in hours. Film, development costs then the gas to travel to the lab in multiple trips makes it $. That is part of the joys shooting film I suppose.

 

[JEFinCLE]

"All" your lenses might be a mistake. Many digital cameras can be adapted to use vintage lenses. I have adapters for my Sony digital camera to use vintage Canon, NIkon and Olympus lenses. My little Sony has focus highlighting, which works with the vintage lenses. Of course, auto-focus doesn't, but I really don't care. Auto-exposure doesn't work either, but I don't miss that either. Manual focus and manual exposure almost makes me think I have some control. lol.

I resisted digital for a while, but once you make the jump there's a lot to like.

 

[AreBeeBee]

Long, possibly off-topic comment follows, so scroll on if it's not of interest —

When digital SLRs went Big, a lot of people dumped their film SLR gear. It's kind of like the way you'll find loads of corded hand tools in the ReStore shops, along with old cordless ones that have defunct/obsolete batteries, all of which are unique and proprietary. (Grrrr.)

I bought a good bit of film lenses and bodies from KEH and others, and never got a loser. I'm talking Nikon bodies and lenses using Nikon's AI (no, not artificial intelligence) aperture indexing for lenses. Great stuff bought at what were at the time absurdly low prices — a dime or two on the dollar, if that — as Dave455 says up-thread. That low-hanging fruit has been harvested by now, I think, and prices have gone upward from what they were.

However. At one point for job-related reasons, I bought a Nikon D40 digital SLR. I've always used its kit zoom (18-35mm) and it has worked perfectly for the last 24,000+ exposures. This is a ridiculously high figure compared to film shooting (unless you're a staff photog for Nat'l Geo) — and I started taking photos in high school some 60 years ago.

Pre-digital, my SLR gear consisted of a Nikon F (no meter) and a Nikkormat FS (ditto), a 50mm f/2, and 105mm f/2.5 (both Nikkors), a "Rexatar" 100mm f/2.8, a Hanimex 28mm f/2.8, and a Sekonic selenium-cell light meter. So that's what I had in hand when digital came along.

Now I hate the esthetics of black plastic cameras and battery-dependent gear, and love chrome SLRs and rangefinders from the 1950s, 60s, and into the 70s. My vote for most iconic SLR camera is the Pentax Spotmatic and as the most handy SLR, the Pentax ME Super. You may disagree; that's OK.

In any event, digital is phenomenally easier and better for online image posting. You have vastly more powerful software than even skilled darkroom work can do. And that's not even using Photoshop -- just Apple's Preview app, a really basic piece of software.

I don't have a cell phone, but people who do have a ready camera right at hand. So long as you learn a bit how the phone camera picks what to focus on and sets the exposure, you'll do fine with it.

 

[Aaron_W]

I believe the Hobbymat lathes were also sold under the Prazi name. Look for posts by Raised by Wolves. He has some posts restoring a Prazi lathe and mill.