Hi Malcolm, yeah, I guess it was, and also the Kodak Retina Reflex, which is very similar to the Bessamatic, sharing the depth of field markers, lens mount (well almost, they put an extra little bump on one version so the lenses weren't interchangeable) and Synchro Compur shutter.

That's a good likening, pity they didn't keep up the styling because it's definitely a camera that stands out in a crowd.

I just like the name Voigtlander, it sounds impressive, so far I've got a couple of Bessamatics, a Vitoret and a Brillant pseudo TLR, but I'm sure a Vito will add itself to the collection at some point. Like you say, there are so many variations on the Vito, it could be a collection all on it's own.

Oops sorry, I didn't spot this one Neville, yep, it's not the best bolted together camera in my collection!!! I've still got more work to do on the Kiev, the light leaks are better, but there were still a couple of occurrences on the third film - I deliberately carried the camera around with the case open so it was exposed to the sun, and the leaks were nowhere near as bad, so I'm getting closer to fixing it. I also noticed on all three films that the frame spacing was a bit inconsistent, in fact it seems to be getting worse, so I'll need to look at the film advancing mechanism, there'll doubtless be some latch that's sluggish or something like that. That's a job for another day.......

@@GrumpyTim I wonder if there is a Soviet equivalent of being built on Friday? 😁

I bet there is something like that in most cultures, but possibly more so in some than others!

Cheers Nedra, it's a lovely little thing and the sound is so soothing as you cook your food. Since I made the video, the non return valve in the bottom of the pump failed - usually you can replace these with the correct tool, but even with that tool it wouldn't budge, so I had to un solder the entire pump, replace the valve and re-solder the complete pump back into the body - it was a bit of a daunting project, but it worked and the stove is back working again.

Hi Jeremy, coo I'd have loved to have one of these in 1982, mind you I probably could have bought one by the mid 80s, but by then I thought that new was best and headed off looking for a shiny new camera... Glad you've still got your Nikkormat. It's a pity there isn't an exact replacement for the old mercury batteries, they had a very stable discharge curve and lasted for ages, whereas most of the current solutions have some sort of compromise.

@@GrumpyTim Thanks for the reply. I got an F3 in the end and it has proved itself although not as precious as my Nikkormat. I have moved on to a D800 now which is on another planet!

Hi Luzr, quite a few of my film cameras were bought for their lenses, initially so I could use the lenses on digital bodies, but the attached cameras felt so great that I eventually drifted back into film photography, and it's definitely bought back the fun that I used to have taking photos.

@@GrumpyTim A very similar story to mine, and it's such a shame to not put such well-made gear to use. I'm not that far down the rabbit hole yet, but i am aware of the danger. Have a good one and Cheers!

Hi Luzr, yep it's a dangerous rabbit hole and I've fallen right into it, no turning back now!!!

Hi Neville, yep, I think the AF on the F-501 is probably more for historical interest than anything, but it works reasonably well all the same. The F-301 and 501 are the camera(s) that I always wanted but couldn't quite afford, and they still excite me now. It's that 80s thing, a bit like people buying a Golf GTi because that was the car they wanted when they were a kid (although you definitely can't buy a Golf GTi for a few pounds these days!!!). It makes me smile every time I use the F-501.

Hi Michael, I'm still blown away by the quality and feel of the Nikkormat, I was expecting it to be good, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. There does seem to be a bit of snobbery surrounding certain cameras and brands, which may well be justified, but it slightly puts me off ownership in case I found myself looking down at mere mortals with their cheaper cameras - or maybe I'm just jealous/envious!!!

Hi Lars, I tend to buy the occasional old camera magazine to use for reference purposes, it can help finding prices and other details such as when a particular camera was on sale and so on. I haven't got a magazine for every year yet, but even the few that I do have really help.

Hi Guarim1000, all the music I use is my own self penned stuff - the track for the gallery on this video was "Where Was I Going" and the music for the outro was "As Yet Untitled", you can listen to the full tracks on my Bandcamp page grumpytim.bandcamp.com - there's nothing brilliant on there, I just fumble my way through the best that I can!!!

Hi Paul, yes, the diagonal split screen seems like a completely logical idea, I'm surprised it didn't appear on more cameras. I quite like the Ricoh cameras - my main SLR was a Ricoh XR-X for many years, right up until I went digital in fact - can't remember what the viewfinder/focusing aids were like on that model, I'll have to check.

Hi Neville, I bet you can guess where one of my regular vintage camera hunting grounds is if you recognise some of the locations in the photos - the shots on the old bridge were taken about two days before it fell down!!! Your Canon bundle was a bit of a bargain, as you say, unlikely to be repeated, but there are still some little gems to be found from time to time.

Hi Martin, there are probably a few different battery options, obviously if you could travel back in time and get the correct Mercury batteries, those would be the best. My 675 (Blue Tab) hearing aid batteries give about the correct voltage once they're under load in the camera, but they probably only last about a month or two in the camera, so if you're slow to use up your films like I am, then you'll be replacing the batteries a few times. I'm sure some people will get away with using a pair of LR44's or better still SR44s (because the voltage is more stable with the silver oxide batteries) but I haven't tried that myself. The meter on my camera isn't that accurate anyway, I think the CDS cell (or it might be a pair of CDS cells, I can't remember) is tired, so I mostly use a hand held light meter. I'm less of a fan of inserting a diode into the camera to reduce the voltage from the new 1.5 volt batteries - to get that right you really need to measure the load drawn by the light meter at the correct voltage in order to select the correct diode, and then you ideally need to use only Silver Oxide batteries because that have a better discharge curve than Alkaline batteries. I am quite strict with myself and I remove batteries from any camera that's not in use because it's so easy for them to leak, causing much more hassle.

Cheers Zed John, it's funny how you end up gravitating towards certain cameras, in my case there are some cameras that just make me happy when I'm using them, so those ones are rarely without film. Thanks for watching.

Wow Ray, that makes my Nikkormat seem expensive!!! In reality it works for everyone, the folks wanting to clear stuff get rid of it without either having to throw it away, or worse still, having to pay someone to remove the stuff, and for us enthusiasts/collectors/hoarders (select whichever applies) it's like Christmas has come early.

Hi Paul, I'd spotted that the FT3 has the Ai indexing lug, that would be really handy being able to use all those later lenses.

@@GrumpyTim The FT2 went over to silver oxide battery rather than the older mercury type. It also added a hot shoe. The FT3 was identical to the FT2 except that it used the. Ew ai indexing system. The ai coupling tab could be folded back to allow non-converted pre-a lenses to be fitted, and used with stop down metering. The FT3 was only in production for a few months, until the FM was ready for release. There were three cameras with electronic shutters, the Nikkormat el and elw, the latter could take a power winder. The final camera in the range was the Nikon el2. They had dropped the Nikkormat name but it was basically a Nikkormat Elwood but iththe new ai indexing system. Like the FT3 it was short-lived until the FE wa released. There were two versions of the cold shoe for the FS/FT/FTn. Both had the standard ISO shoe on top, butone version had a sort of groove running front to back on each side below this. These could take a flash designed to be used with the special shoe on the F and F2 without an adapter. These were the SN7e electronic flash and a bulb flash with a folding reflector and a special holder which could take three different types of bulb. I can’t remember the name of that one. Since the Nikkormat shoe was a cold shoe a sconces cord had to be used with these flashes when fitted to the Nikkormat, unlike on the F and F2.

Hi Stephen, it was quite an exciting time for camera development around then, lots of interesting developments. I'd heard about the Ai coupling tab that could be folded out of the way when using pre Ai lenses - a definite Gold star for Nikon by accommodating the use of older lenses on the next generation of camera. I had wondered what the additional groove and tension spring were for on the cold shoe, just below the standard shoe bit - clearly it was there to mount something, but I didn't know what......and now I do, cheers.

@@GrumpyTim The ability to mount pre-ai lenses was continued with the FM, both early and later versions, and the Fe, but was removed on the FM2, FE2 and later cameras. It was provided on some of the professional models, but I’m not sure which ones. It could be provided as an option on the F6, and was actually a standard feature on the Df.

Hi Ian, yeah, it's competent and purposeful, and I think it could definitely stand up for itself in a fight!!!

@@GrumpyTim 😀😀😀😇

Hi Marc, I bet the FT3 is good, by that time it will have a few enhancements over my version yet retain that amazing build quality.

Hi Gary, that sounds like a nice collection, do you have a favourite one to use?

Hi ohjajohh, I'm much the same, unless there's a particular camera that I want, I wait until I see something interesting at a bargain price before I spend my hard earned cash.

Hi Flowermaze, the Nikkormat was definitely a camera that I'd completely ignored, I was aware that it existed but that was as far as it went - very glad I've got one now! My brother has a Canon FTB, that's a lovely camera, I'm quite envious of him having that one.

Hi Yat, I'd spotted that some earlier versions don't have the extra plastic bit on the film advancing lever - I guess my FTN is quite a late model if I'm right and it dates from 1973. I suspect the original owner of my Nikkormat bought a few optional extras with his camera, there were various bits like a genuine Nikon filter, lenshood, cold shoe, extension tubes and so on with the camera, so it's entirely possible that he ordered the camera with the split image focusing aid as an optional extra too.

Cheers Gunther, they really are a beautifully engineered piece of equipment, no wonder Nikon gained such a good reputation back then. Cheers for watching.

Hi Evan, I've just been through me photos and I don't think I took one showing the back of the battery chamber - it's possible that they relied on the bite of the thread into the insulation material for one of the screws, but a nut would seem more likely. Both screws have to be isolated from the main chassis of the camera because the chassis carries the positive side of the battery while the screw on the negative terminal closest to the prism presses against one of the contacts inside the camera to carry the negative side if I remember correctly. if one of them didn't have a nut it would likely be the one furthest from the prism because the spring contact won't be trying to force that one outward.

Hi Ian, I don't think genius is the right word, maybe hoarder would be more appropriate!!! I do find much of this crazy old stuff really fascinating though and it's often difficult to turn down a bargain.....

It's a bit of a gem Ian, I'm really fond of this camera - really must put another film in it but I have too many cameras, not that I'm complaining!!!!

@@GrumpyTim I just bought a couple of new ones to me, an Ising Isis and a rather tatty Ziess Ikon Contina. so I think that makes 120 cameras, both were £10 each, it is a nasty habit of mine buying cheap in the hope they work or are repairable😇. I was very lucky some weeks ago in finding a Durst Automatica [ the one with the pneumatic shutter button, it "sighs" rather than clicks 😁😉 typical Italian ] for £20 on a charity auction, it is almost mint. Thanks, I will be in touch about the Exa, it is not essential that it works, the main reason for buying was the Carl Zeiss Tessar lens that it was fitted with, it works fine happily.

I'm very much the same, if I like the look of it and it's cheap, it often ends up in my collection - I will usually then get the camera working and put at least one film through it. Mind you, there's a bit of a backlog on the "to be repaired" pile these days, but I'll gradually work my way through them.

@@GrumpyTim Forget about about the Exa Tim, I did get it working, but only about one in three windings resulted in a firing, so it has been reassembled for now with a note as to it's condition, but thanks anyway for the offer. I don't care how humble a camera is, as long as it is interesting or novel, one I picked up several months ago was a French Weber-Fex, I love bakelite cameras, it is the only Fex I have seen with a convenional lens. I have maybe 10 cameras dissassembled to one degree or another I have failed to repair or have forgotten how to put then back together or lost my notes, all a part of being ancient 😂😇

@@GrumpyTim The two cameras I got on Ebay arrived. The Zeiss Ikon Contina II was filthy dirty BUT it works really well, I was shocked 🧐🥴🤗 and pleased. The Ising Isis seemed the better of the two at first glance, until I got to the fucus ring, it was jammed solid, it took several hours to free it up. As you would expect they look far from new, but I am happy. Cheers.

Hi Borger, the likelihood is that the camera is already wound on, at which point there is a latch that stops you advancing the film again before you take the shot. I'm presuming that you can't see anything through the viewfinder, in which case the shutter button will have been pressed which starts a sequence of events - the shutter closes, the mirror and a blanking plate flip out of the way, the aperture closes down to the set value, and only then does the shutter open and close to take the shot. On lots of this kind of camera the shutter often gets sticky and doesn't open or close fully, meaning that the camera is stuck somewhere in the middle of that sequence. Generally the only solution is to dismantle the shutter for cleaning and servicing, if you're not used to doing that kind of thing, one of these cameras might not be the best place to start, but if you are used to repairing stuff like this then that's probably your best chance. There may well be some videos showing dismantling of these shutters, have a look for "Synchro Compur shutter disassembly" or something like that, particularly if you find any videos by Chris Sherlock because he's really good, that way you can see the sort of thing you'll be tackling before you decide to dive in yourself. Often you don't need to fully dismantle the thing because the part that's sticking could even be a rotating ring or lever that's external to the shutter itself.

@@GrumpyTim Thank you so much for your answer. I will make sure to check it out. Great video by the way!:D

Hi Gluttonite, you should be ok swapping the connector for one that takes a PP3, just as long as you keep the polarity the same way round. Obviously the PP3 won't last as long because it's a much smaller battery, and it may even struggle for power at louder volumes. I'd be tempted to use two PP3s in parallel, in other words, fit two PP3 connectors, keeping both the red leads together and the two black leads together, that way you just get more power but remain at 9 volts.

Hi Ian, I'll try to dig my Exa out next week and take a look. In the meantime, if you wind on with the back open, do the shutter curtains move to the top (or is it the bottom, I can't remember which way they wind) and immediately trip, or do they stay still and it's just the film advance sprocket and so on that moves?

@@GrumpyTim Hi Tim, thanks for the prompt reply. I think I may have found the "culprit" although as yet unsure. The curtains go down and up as they should on the 500, rather stiffly at first when it arrived, but is now moving more freely after some judicious lubrication with watch oil, although, as I mentioned, it does not get to the firing stage. I have wound the camera dozens of times watching the mechanism carefully [ the body has been removed 😁😇] , yesterday I noticed a hair like spring doing nothing, it was supposed to hold a chrome lever arm in tension, a very weak and poorly designed arrangement. This lever arm appears to be the "culprit", I repositioned the spring, nothing changed except the spring would not stay in position constantly, the lever arm goes under the bottom of two fine toothed cogs one above the other which rotate clockwise when the camera is wound, I noticed that on the underside of the lower cog there is a small protusion, which I think is supposed to latch onto the end of this lever arm holding the firing mechanism ready to fire 🧐🙃watching it carefully it is "obvious"that they are a hairsbreadth away from doing just that. With a bit if manipulation I got them to latch and the camera fired as it was supposed to, so somehow I have to get the spring to stay in place permanently, and "stretch" the mechanism for the magic to happen 😁. Sorry about the longwinded reply.

Hi Ian, When I get the chance I'll take a look at mine again, if you want to email me I'll see if I can take a photo of my camera to show how that spring sits, which might help work out why yours isn't doing what it should. grumpytimchannel@gmail.com

Cheers Dieseldragon6756, glad you liked it. When I was talking about the relative price of the Sterlicon I was just meaning that the £77.25 current price is good for a nicely built thing like the Sterlicon but it doesn't compare well to a current cheap calculator or phone app, I wasn't intending to say you could get those in 1970 when The Sterlicon was around. I do have quite a collection of old calculators and adding machines, both mechanical and early electronic, and they're lovely things. By 1970 valves were a thing of the past as far as calculators were concerned, with chips already taking over from the earlier discreet transistor based units. I'll drop a link below to one of my rather nice 1970s electronic machines if you fancied a look. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-00vAkeb3cb0.html

Hi SokratesP, I haven't seen any videos that delve into what specific chemicals etc are best for repairing old cameras - I wouldn't be surprised if there's something in the general camera servicing guides at Learn Camera Repair dot com, but I haven't looked for them. I think some of the products will vary form one location to another - many people recommend a glue called Pilobond for gluing shutter curtains to the drums on the camera or for re attaching the leatherette after servicing a camera, but I've never come across that glue in the UK - I did see some online for sale at a stupid price, which I didn't buy!!! If you do find a list of recommended products, you may need to track down alternatives that are available in your location.

@@GrumpyTim Thank you very much for the answer. I have to search forward and make a list off products that other people use, as you sugest. Keep up the good work!🙏👍

Hi Ivanbogush, the manual I was using came from Learn Camera Repair dot com, and it's the "Canonet Repair Manual 1962" (it's on page 2 of their big list of Canon service manuals). It's not necessarily the easiest manual in the world to follow, but it had the bit of information that I needed regarding the orientation of those shutter blades, so it was worth having.

Dollars and Sense. 😋

Hi Dennis, the machine in the video was one that I was fixing for a friend so I can't take a look at it now. If I remember correctly, and this is the case on most similar machines too, there are various spring loaded latches to prevent things like pressing two keys on the same column and pressing a key once you've started cranking the handle. It's more than likely that many or all of the spring loaded latches (they're like a metal rod with cut outs on the under side of the keyboard plate) are stuck with dirt and old oil. Also, I think there's some sort of lock out that won't let you pull the handle again until the machine has finished the previous calculation - in theory this should happen automatically as soon as you move the handle back to its rest position, but again, there will be some sort of spring loaded part that is probably sticking. If I get the chance I'll take a look at my friends machine next time I'm over there, but for now you could do worse than simply removing the case and observing the mechanism, giving the handle a little jiggle and seeing what moves and what looks like it should move. Don't use force, but you can try to gently jiggle individual parts with a small screwdriver to see if they're moving freely, and applying a small drop of oil to and pivots that seem sluggish and so on.

Oh yes, only the finest special effects on this channel!!! Cheers for watching Amerajank

Hi Paul, for this lens you'll need a Canon FD to Micro 4/3 lens mount adapter - you should easily find one on Amazon or wherever you prefer to shop. The K&F Concept adapters are usually pretty good, they're not the cheapest or the most expensive but the ones I've used have been excellent. I think the Super Ozeck lenses were also made with other camera mounts, so you'd need to be sure that yours was a Canon FD mount before getting the adapter - the Canon FD version has the breech lock ring at the back to lock the lens onto the camera.

Cheers Jimmy, much appreciated. Helicoid grease, now there's a thing - the stuff I use is Polar Bear Camera helicoid lube, soft - they did various different grades and ideally I should have bought several different types, but I'm tight, so I just make do with the one. It's about right for most of the metal double helicoid lenses (ie, where the front of the lens doesn't rotate as you focus the lens), but it's a bit on the light side for some of the single helicoid lenses. It just looks to me like some sort of synthetic grease, and I'd bet you could substitute many other greases that would work just as well. Lots of old lenses used all kinds of mineral greases, many of which become solid when they get old and dry out, theoretically a modern synthetic grease should last longer but only time will tell. The only real worry is how the grease degrades because it can be the deposits from degrading grease that end up on the internal lens elements causing haze.

Hi Ingrained, I agree, my preferred choice is always either a fully manual camera or at least one that offers manual as well as auto. Of my cameras that do have various auto modes, I will occasionally use aperture priority auto but never program mode. It's possible, from my own point, that I'm applying a bit of snobbishness by saying that "I always shoot manual", or "I never shoot in program mode", but being forced to shoot in program mode on the T50 (because that's all it has), reminded me that program mode isn't all bad, and I should maybe give it a little more credit now and then. Theoretically, the T50 should really be able to shoot in aperture priority mode, and I can only presume that Canon omitted that feature to ensure enough people went for the more expensive T70.

Cheers Stephen.C, glad you enjoyed it.

Hi Nigel, I guess it slightly depends on what other cameras you're using - I've been using a KMZ Start, Kiev 4 and Argus C3 recently, all of which have their charm but they could also be described as ergonomic disasters, and in comparison the T50 is pure luxury. Love that TR6 in your thumbnail by the way.

Hi Mr Standfast, I'm definitely guilty at times of dismissing "auto only" cameras because I don't have the level of control that I usually like, but I've loved using the T50. I've already put 2 films through it (I just haven't taken the second roll to the lab yet) and now I've got the video out of the way I'll be putting a third roll in.

I couldn't think of an imaginative title for the video - I was stuck at "Canon T50" and it needed more words - I might change the title sometime if I get inspired with something a bit more interesting.

Hi Jackie, I'm sure there must be a decent source of replacement ariels, but I haven't tracked it down yet. I needed a replacement ariel for one of my other radios and I couldn't find anything, so I just repaired what I had as best as I could so I could use the radio.

Hi Fettarme, I haven't got my notes with me today, hopefully I'll have written down what I did to remove the aperture ring, I don't recall it being too difficult - I'll try to have a look at my notes next week and let you know.

Hi Andrew, yes, it is just that, a point and shoot SLR, and a surprisingly good one at that. I didn't realise how much fun it would be to use, I expected to be frustrated at not being able to adjust the exposure but instead it allowed me to relax a bit more. I've already put a second roll of film through it, just haven't taken that roll to the lab yet.