I had this big post about Potato Guns but then figured that might be a poor idea to document such unruly behavior so I pulled it. There were never any potato guns. Building them is dangerous, blah blah. But I hear rumors from a very reliable source that if you were to build them they are pretty darn fun

Here is a good site with more information on this rather interesting topic.

The final camera from my e-bay binge just arrived. The Kiev 4a. It’s definitely more used than any of my other cameras and is in really rough shape. The lens does look ok and it does seem to be working though. Yay!

Update: Still haven’t finished my test roll with this guy but it seems to be firing reliably with realistic shutter speeds. The shutter on this thing is amazingly quiet. No big click noise here just a soft swoosh. Cool! It’s a bit smaller than the FED3 and rather nifty looking. The view finder is microscopic but the focusing rocks. Compared to my FED and Yashica this has the easiest, brightest, double image yet. Wow!

So on Sunday morning I dragged myself out of bed determined to catch the sun rise (which I did) with my camera (which I didn’t). It seems once again something that looked cool in my head looked stupid when actually recorded to film. I used almost 2 rolls of film trying different angles and foregrounds and in the end they all sucked. Doh! I really nope this will get better.

On a brighter note both the Olympus XA2 and the Yashica Electro 35 GSN work great. The Yashica lens takes some very very nice photos!

So this morning around 11am I finally received the Yashica. Now I’m down to waiting for only one camera (The Kiev). On cursory inspection the camera is in pretty OK shape. The owner must have been a smoker because the camera stinks. It’s pretty grungy on the outside but the inside is mint. The shutter release button is quite sticky and requires a fairly solid push to trip it (this will probably have to be fixed before really using it). The lens is in good shape, it came with both UV and polarizing filters, the original leather case, and a ugly beige camera bag. It did not come with a battery so I hit Radio Shack at lunch and bought a 4LR44 replacement. I salvage some wire out of a dumpster here at work to make a spring to fill the slack (the original battery is wayyyy smaller than the 4LR44) and it just works. The metering seems right and the shutter speeds do seem reasonable. I took a few minutes to give the front and back of the snazzy 45mm f1.7 lens a good cleaning and loaded it up with film so we shall see how it really works.

In addition to fixing the shutter release it looks like I’ll also have to rebuild the light seals as they are mostly dissolving. I’m really hoping I don’t have to mess with the range-finder calibration as that doesn’t sound even a little bit fun.

Other little things: the view finder on this sucker is wayyy nicer than my FED3. It’s very big and very bright.

Update: Got my test roll back and what I’ve heard is definately true. This sucker takes really nice pictures! They are extremely sharp (when I’m not being an idiot and shooting indoors at night on slow film and contrasty. Here are a few test shots [1]. I had some better shots but don’t have scans of them. Excellent colors too. Very nice. Also has a very nice feel except for I find the focusing is really awkward the way I’m holding the camera. The fingers of my holding hand (right) keep blocking my left handy from focusing properly.

Just typed in a tracking number I received from the seller of my new Yashica Electro 35 GSN and it sounds looks like the package hit Calgary about 3:50 yesterday afternoon so I hope it should be delivered this afternoon. Yay!

We had a really great weekend. Super productive and got to see lots of people we haven’t seen in a while. Unfortunately I didn’t get any photography in but hopefully I’ll get after it soon.

On Friday evening Steve came over and helped me build some shelving for the garage. It took us some time to make progress but by the time Steve left we had the job about half done. The shelving turned out much larger than I would have thought but for the moment it works great. Once we have two cars we might have to trim the one down a bit so the driver can get out

On Saturday I finished the shelving and that evening we had Scott and Candice and Grace, Doug and Brandi, and Tara over and had homemade pizzas and watched Super-size Me. That was one nasty, but not particularly shocking, movie. Some stuff I agreed with. Some just seemed rather weak. It seemed to be pushing the stance that the fast-food industry is responsible for so many obese people. I find it really stupid to hold the industry at fault. If fast food is making you fat, and if you are eating it it probably is, then stop eating it. There are plenty of healthy alternatives. grrr. I hate stupid lawsuits from people unable to take an responsibility for their own inadequacies. Right up along side this are parents who sue game manufacturers blaming them for their children’s actions. How about trying parenting! Anyways…

Sunday morning we cleaned up and then I built a cute little picnic table for Kailey (see below). That evening Pam and Ryan, Jon, Kevin and Tara came over to hang out. Pam and Ryan brought super tasty steaks and we BBQ’d. Mmmm. Only downside was the -20C temperature made life a little chilly for the BBQ’er (me). We had a nice evening. The guys all played a lot of foosball and after dinner we tried out a new dice game Jon learned over the holidays.

Yes this table is that tiny. That’s our dirty civic behind it. Kailey fits the table perfectly and boy is it sturdy

Just dropped off at my desk is a shiny “new” Olympus XA2 I bought off E-Bay. At a quick glance it looks in almost perfect shape. Only problems I see off hand would be the light seals seem a bit gummy which is pretty normal for 70′s Japanese cameras. It even came with the A11 flash.

On the weekend while I was over at Mom and Dad’s I brought along some wood and used Dad’s tools to build myself a couple of nice sanding blocks (Pictures: 1 2). They turned out pretty well and with the course grit paper are super handy for the rough carpentry I do.

Last night I picked up a Mastercraft 10″ compound mitre saw on sale from Canadian Tire. When we got home Anji and Kailey went to bed and I stayed up another four hours or so setting it up and building a work bench for it capable of supporting larger lumber. (Pictures: 1 2)

Anyways on the todo list now are to building some sturdy shelving in the garage to store tools and whatnot I’m not using, build a light box for looking at negs, build a photographic enlarger, and finish the deck. Unfortunately I’m pretty much out of lumber so I’ll have to order some more.