A walk back in time

This is a photo I made in June 2009 near the castle Groot Buggenum where there was an art fair. The two maidens in historical dress took a walk, back in time, so it seems.

Another photo of trees

I started taking photos around 1970 and continued to do so until the early 1990's. A few years ago I bought a Sony Alpha 700 with the best lens available and started again with my old hobby. I don't spend very much time on it and the results that pass my judgement are few.
Here I have a photo I took somewhere in the 1980's with a home made pinhole camera. It is one of the few pictures from my 'early period' that I still like to look at.

Something else: the auction of the original Folding Pocket Kodak has ended. It ended at a meagre $ 227. Only 6 bidders tried their luck. Indeed, we (the collectors of antique cameras) are on the verge of extinction. Well, to hell with it, I still like my hobby.

Beautiful photos & article I am planning

Today I found some very beautiful photos on the blogs I'm following. When I see such pictures it stimulates me to get my camera and try my luck (or creativity). Here's a little example of what I have done before.

Before I start writing a new detective novel I want to write an article about early Kodaks. I'm planning a story about the simple shutters of the 1890's and why Eastman Kodak made them as they are. It's all about making photography simple for the snapshooting amateur. Well, there should be a nice story in that.

Wow! People are reading this blog

I had look at the statistics in Blogger and to my surprise people from all over the world are reading my blog. There were readers from the USA, Canada, Australia, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands (where I live) and even China. That's really nice. I feared the contents of my blogg disappeared into the big black nothingness, but I'm glad that this is not the case.
Now I have to wait for the first follower. Maybe it's you.

Alcohol & the Eureka Jr and some interesting items at eBay

When I was changing the display cabinets in my private museum I noticed some mildew on my No. 2 Eureka Junior camera. I took a soft cloth, moistened it with a bit of alcohol and wiped of the mildew. This works very well on black leather. But the Eureka Jr is covered with some kind of leatherette and this material got sticky when it was moist with alcohol. I concluded that the alcohol could dissolve the leatherette and I stopped immediately. Not much harm was done, but I won't use alcohol on that camera again!

The Todd Gustavson book arrived and the first impression is very positive. Lots of color photos of wonderful old cameras and no full pages of text. (Is that the bad influence of the internet?)

Last but not least: there are two important Kodaks on eBay right now. The first is an original 1888 Kodak with case. It looks very decent and is a must have for every collector of Kodaks or important cameras.

The second one is the original version of the Folding Pocket Kodak of 1897. It meets all the criteria of the real first version and also is a must have for a collector of early important cameras.

No. 4 Folding Kodet on eBay

A very fine and rare No. 4 Folding Kodet with its leather case is on eBay now. It is described as a No. 4 Folding Kodet Junior, but this is not correct. Asking price starts at US $ 1100. I wonder what it will do.

This weekend I ordered Todd Gustavson's book: Camera: A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital. According to a review it should have information about the cameras, their marketing and users. That's just what I am interested in. It didn't arrive yet, but when I have it, I will write a little review about it.

Cartridge Kodaks in Dutch collectors journal

Today the newest edition of the Dutch photographica collectors journal 'Photohistorisch tijdschrift' dropped into my mailbox, and there it was: my article about the Cartridge Kodaks. Four pages with the photographs in color, whow.
I had written it in June, after adding a beautiful example of a No. 3 Cartridge Kodak set to my collection. It has film and plate backs, 3 plate holders, 3 sheet film holders, ground glass, case and a superior Cooke Anastigmat lens and it looks like new.
In the article I tell why the Cartridge Kodaks were the amateur's workhorses. They were sturdy, versatile and could be equipped with high grade shutters and lenses. They could handle most kinds of serious work.
Writing the article was fun, as it always is. This time I especially enjoyed taking photos of the ground glass of the No. 3, to show the effect of moving the lens upwards and double bellows extension.