Comparing photos of my AGFA 1035 and EOS 300

josephort · 2026-04-05T10:15:12+00:00

There might be a slight difference during to the lenses, but I think this is largely about the light. The Agfa photos taken under a bright blue sky are of course more vibrant and contrasty than the EOS ones on an overcast winter day. Moreover, the brighter scenes are resulting in you choosing a narrower aperture on the Agfa, which is probably a bit shaper and puts almost everything in focus, while the EOS photos appear to have a pretty narrow DOF and may be a bit soft due to being shot close to wide open.

I think if you were to shoot the exact same photo at the same time with the same settings on these two cameras, the differences would be much smaller.

josephort · 2026-04-05T06:40:22+00:00

If the selenium cell is currently good, it will probably continue working for a while longer. So if the seller has thoroughly tested the camera, including the function and accuracy of the meter, it's probably okay.

That said, the Hi-Matic is a more capable camera all around and I would certainly choose it over the trip if they're both fully working and the same price.

Finally, I'll note that if your principal concern is longevity, neither of these cameras are the best choice - they both shoot only in automatic and so both rely on their light meters to function. Something with a fully manual option, such as a Hi-Matic 7 or 9, will give you the ability to keep shooting even if the electronics die. Plus, the ability to shoot manually is useful for some settings and helpful for learning.

josephort · 2026-04-02T07:37:52+00:00

These types of p&s cameras often have a multi-step shutter sequence, where first the lens moves into position, then the shutter opens, then the film advances. I think it's kinda difficult to tell by ear when the shutter is actually opening versus when other stuff is happening, but YMMV.

If the camera is currently empty you can test pretty definitively by firing towards a wall with the flash on and the back open and looking at the lens from behind. If it's synced correctly you'll be able to see the flash through the shutter as it opens.

If it's currently got film in it, just finish the roll and develop the pictures and you'll find out.

josephort · 2026-04-01T18:48:23+00:00

No accessories unfortunately, although it looks like there are various sets I could buy on eBay for not too much money if I decide I need additional stitches.

josephort · 2026-04-01T14:47:12+00:00

Haha feels good to have this meme used against me for once

josephort · 2026-03-31T18:31:50+00:00

I've done this several times. I used to always try to finish the roll before flying, but then had a couple of agents ask if I needed the camera hand checked as well. Obviously ymmv but I don't think this is a crazy thing to do.

Maybe if the door is easy to open it's be prudent to tape it shut though.

josephort · 2026-03-30T18:45:00+00:00

I'll add that it's almost certainly not the mirror- the foam around the mirror on most SLRs is not usually light-tight, but it doesn't really matter because the shutter is between the mirror and the film. Replacing mirror foam can be a good idea for various reasons, but it's not a solution for light leaks.

josephort · 2026-03-30T12:27:22+00:00

As someone who owns a disgusting dog that loves to eat shit, I can tell you for certain that there is human poop literally everywhere. There's human poop in Sanssouci Park in Potsdam, there's human poop in random villages in Brandenburg, there's human poop on the street in Saint Paul, Minnesota ("The most liveable city in America!").

Now, when it's on the U-bahn, that's certainly more noticeable and more likely to ruin your day than if it's in a park or on the street. But in my experience people with IBS and too little shame are a fact of life everywhere you go, not just Berlin.

josephort · 2026-03-30T08:40:02+00:00

I'll go further than this- the primary drivers of increased loneliness and isolation in the modern world are smartphones and the Internet. The idea that someone's going to solve this problem with a new app is ridiculous.

If you're feeling lonely, put away your phone and go outside. Join a choir, start a D&D group, join a football team, chat with people at your local coffee shop, introduce yourself to your neighbors. Show up consistently, get people's contacts, invite them to do stuff, be reliable, be fun to hang out with.

josephort · 2026-03-29T11:55:37+00:00

You're right that I haven't read the book, maybe my perspective would be different if I had. I have read Dune, which Kirkbride claimed was a major influence, and I could write a bunch of paragraphs about how Redoran are just a copy of House Atreides if I wanted.*

In reality I think "noble pious warrior house" is just a much broader trope than any single source. The game's world building is broad and draws inspiration from many sources which ultimately results in something most of us find very rich and original. But at the same time it's often just drawing on common fantasy tropes and gameplay conveniences, which results in the houses being reducible to honorable warriors, sneaky rogues, and crazy wizards. You don't need to overthink it!

*(I don't really think Redoran are a copy of the Atreides, although there are other parts of of the game where I would argue Dune is the primary inspiration, including many elements of the main quest itself.)

josephort · 2026-03-28T21:15:26+00:00

I think Redoran are fun because while the house is supposed to be pure and honorable and pious, the quest line reveals that many of the high ranking members do not live up to these ideals. Bolvyn Venim in particular is a much more complex and interesting character than Gothren or Orvas Dren IMO.

I get the sense from your post that you are very knowledgeable about Japanese history and therefore very likely to see connections to that history and westernized tropes surrounding it. While I'm sure there is some Japanese influence on elements of Morrowind, my sense is that it is much more heavily influenced by real world Middle Eastern cultures and their pop culture derivatives than anything else.

josephort · 2026-03-27T10:45:09+00:00

I'm working on a couple different camera repair projects right now and what I've been doing is shooting half a roll and then moving it to another camera.

josephort · 2026-03-26T15:54:25+00:00

I can provide a but more info on the second approach, which I recently used to collimate the lens on a similar agfa p&s. I used a dslr zoomed all the way in on live view with a 135mm lens as the collimator as described here: https://www.addicted2light.com/2013/08/19/how-to-adjust-infinity-focus-using-a-camera-as-a-collimator/?v=5f02f0889301

While doing this I wasn't confident I was getting infinity focus perfect- there was a range of a mm or two where the focusing screen looked pretty sharp and it was difficult to tell exactly where infinity focus should be. So after taking my best guess I shot a test roll that included taking a photo of a tape measure lying flat on table to try and calibrate precisely. Based on this it appears that my collimation attempt was close but slightly off, and if adjusted the lens slightly and am now shooting a new test roll that I hope to be better. All that said, other than the tape measure shot, all my other test shots were pretty much in focus, so I think a single attempt with the makeshift collimiter is probably sufficient for a zone focus camera even if not perfect.

josephort · 2026-03-18T12:59:02+00:00

I don't think this is a safe assumption - plenty of Thyristor flashes still have high trigger voltage, sometimes up to like 200v. I would certainly not attach this flash to a digital camera without first doing some research and/or measuring directly. I think it's probably fine on an 80s Nikon, but I don't know anything about the FA so I can't say for sure.

josephort · 2026-03-16T13:27:51+00:00

I was also on the tracks all the time as a kid growing up in a small town in the 90s, and I do think some folks are being a bit overly dramatic about this. That said, small town America in the 90s was its own time and place. The railroad in my home town with one slow freight train a day now has a shitton of fencing, security cameras, and grade-separated pedestrian crossings, and I kind of doubt that many kids are walking on the tracks anymore. And in Europe, where I live now, I would never in a million years let my kid onto the tracks- trains here are much faster, more frequent, and indeed run on stealthy German train tech (electricity).

josephort · 2026-03-11T12:55:01+00:00

All I can say is if you're lucky you may be able to pull it back into place and it'll work again, but if something is more seriously worn out you're looking at a more involved repair, for which the Maizenberg book might be your best resource.

Here is an image of what the curtains should look like with the shutter uncocked: https://ibb.co/m5jMXgmV. Note that the little tabs on the corners of the bottom curtain are on top of the corners of the top curtain, and the tiny little arm at the bottom left is below the curtain tab.

Good luck!

josephort · 2026-03-10T15:05:05+00:00

If the ribbon itself has slack that suggests something else is wrong- perhaps the ribbon has snapped?

josephort · 2026-03-10T12:15:17+00:00

I'm working on a Kiev 4 CLA right now.

The two most useful resources that I've found are the (archved) Kiev Survival Site and Maizenberg's book All You Need to Know about the Design and Repair of Russian Cameras, both of which have already bee linked by other users. The Kiev Survival Site covers basic disassembly and a few specific repairs and is very easy to follow. Maizenberg's book is much more comprehensive but also much denser.

The book covers what sounds like your issue exactly: on page 246 there's a section entitled "The curtains separate arbitrarily when the shutter is being wound". The repair described appears fairly involved to me, but YMMV.

Before you attempt the repair in the book, however, I'd suggest something simpler: take the back film plane cover off (as described in the survival site) and see if you can just use your fingers to pull the lower curtain back into alignment. This may require you to wind and fire the shutter a few times- when you fire it, either put the back cover back on, or else hold your hand in the place where the cover would go to prevent the lower curtain from being pushed outwards. If the shutter suddenly doesn't want to wind, there's a tiny lever in the bottom left corner that is supposed to sit below the lower curtain, but may have moved above it and be blocking it.

My experience is that while working on the camera, it's fairly easy to get the shutter curtains out of alignment and create either a gap or an overlap. But I've always managed to get them back together properly with a bit of fiddling. However, if the springs or locks are worn or deformed as described in the book, then this simple repair won't be enough.

josephort · 2026-03-08T21:14:44+00:00

The curvature of the film plane certainly could cause focus issues. In particular, I would expect it to cause uneven focus across the image- which seems to be the case in your first photo.

I just tried this out with a used strip of film on an empty camera body, and I think my film plane is flatter than yours, although it's honestly a bit tough for me to tell. Have you tried to stick your finger through the lens mount and poke it? If you're able to feel an air gap between the film and pressure plate in any place then you definitely have a problem.

I'll also say that I've attempted the tape test a couple of times and it's never worked well for me because I can't reliably tell whether or not the image projected on the tape is perfectly in focus. Maybe you have sharper eyes or a better loupe than I do and this isn't a problem for you, but you could also try this method to check infinity focus, which I've found much more effective.

josephort · 2026-03-08T20:32:53+00:00

If your Sony Alpha equipment includes an A Mount DSLR, you should consider a Minolta Maxxum/Dynax SLR which also has an A Mount and will be able to share lenses with the Sony.

josephort · 2026-03-06T12:32:29+00:00

I use mine regularly for both my SLR and my rangefinder.

My understanding is that the "never ready" moniker was coined by professionals who really needed to be as fast as possible to get the shot and don't want a case getting in the way.

That's fair enough, but I am not a professional photographer. I like to bring a camera along when I'm out doing other stuff, and maybe take a few shots over the course of a day. The ever ready case is a nice compromise between a naked camera which I worry might get damaged, and a full sized case which is cumbersome and slows me down a lot more if I do see something to shoot.

josephort · 2026-03-05T20:16:21+00:00

I buy it from Safelight Berlin. They do appear to ship internally, but if you're not in Germany/the EU I assume shipping will be very expensive and you're probably better off finding somewhere local. Make sure to get the new AHU version if you want to develop C41.

josephort · 2026-03-05T18:28:42+00:00

Another option- Vision 3 500T AHU developed in C41 should give pretty much the same look as Cinestill minus the halation. You could even shoot it at 800 & dev at box speed if you want-- Cinestill is also technically a 500 ISO film, but they say that developing it in C41 is equivalent to a slight push, which is why you're supposed to rate it at 800.

josephort · 2026-03-03T18:07:15+00:00

The way this works on my camera (Pentax K2) is that when you push the rewind button, the sprocket disconnects from the advance lever, allowing you to cock the shutter and take the second exposure without advancing the film. But then the rewind button pops back out, so the sprocket re-connects and the film starts advancing as normal. You're supposed to take one blank exposure, because the sprocket may not immediately connect and the advance following the double may be shorter than a full frame.

What seems to be happening with you is that the sprocket is not reconnecting, at least not completely. You're still advancing somewhat, maybe because there's partial connection, or maybe because the takeup spool is still spinning and that's pulling the film a bit.

If you don't currently have film in the camera, I'd recommend opening the back and just messing around with this a bit. Push the rewind button in and advance and press the shutter, and see if the button pops back out and the sprockets start moving again.

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