You can read all about the Zeiss Ikon Contarex “Bullseye” by Googling it, so I won’t write much here, except to note that it’s as impressive in person as it is in description. What I will do instead is just present a Contarex gallery. Click on an image to see it really big.

(For an explanation of my extremely simple close-up technique, see my previous blog. One little change I made today is to partially collapse the umbrellas so I could get the lights even closer to the camera.)

Enjoy!

A prism finder for my Nikon F arrived today, so the Class of ‘59 was ready for its 50th anniversary reunion picture. Clockwise from the top: Nikon F, Canonflex, and Zeiss Ikon Contarex, all introduced in 1959. I bought the Nikon F back in March from KEH, but with an ungainly Photomic finder. I found a beat-up, but perfectly functional, finder on eBay last week (note the dents) for the amount I was willing to pay. (Prism finders in good shape sell for almost as much as a prism-less Nikon F body.) The Canonflex and Contarex arrived last week, bought on eBay. I also bought from KEH a non-AI lens for the Nikon F, as I didn’t own a normal lens, new or old.

Despite the dents my Nikon now looks much as it did back in 1959, so all three were ready to sit for a group portrait, which they did just a few minutes ago.

I shot with a Nikon D700 fitted with a Tamron 90mm macro at f/32. Lighting was from an SB-600 and SB-800 firing through umbrellas very close to the camera pyramid and on either side of the D700, triggered wirelessly from the D700.

Exa cameras were less-expensive versions of Exaktas that mostly took the same lenses and other accessories. (Exa is half of Exakta.)

I bought my Exa in a small antique store in Buffalo, Wyoming, in 2008. The dealer said he had used it in high school, and that it was a gift from his sister. I doubt if she bought it new, because from its serial number, 229249, it’s very old, dating from 1952 or 1953. If you’re interested in learning more about Exas and Exaktas, use Google to find several excellent and remarkably complete web sites.

Surely the strangest feature of the Exa is its shutter. It’s neither a focal-plane shutter nor a leaf shutter. Instead, it’s in the mirror box. The swinging mirror forms part of it, and another lower part forms the other part. McKeown’s Price Guide to Antique & Classic Cameras calls it a metal sector shutter.

I’ve read descriptions of this shutter on various Exa web sites, none of which are very clear about how it actually works. Some descriptions are wrong; others are just vague. So, I decided to take a look at mine and make some close-up photos. (For which I used a Nikon D700 with a Tamron 90mm macro. Lighting was from two SB-600 and SB-800 Speedlights angled to fire directly into the mirror box from the back and triggered wirelessly by the D700 in what Nikon calls commander mode. I like looking at and handling old cameras, not actually using them.)

When you wind the Exa to return the mirror so you can frame your next shot, the mirror moves very slowly, so I was able to get some shots of the mirror in-progress. I used the bulb setting (on the Exa, not the Nikon) to get shots of the shutter all the way open.

Once the shutter is wound, here’s how things start out:

The upper (mirror) and lower sectors are held together by a lip at the end of the upper sector for a light-tight seal. Here’s the photo, taken from the open back of the camera:

When the shutter opens, the mirror flips up, just as in most SLRs, but the lower sector stays down so the film can be exposed:

After the exposure (1/50 sec., say), the lower sector slides up to once again join the mirror (now raised) to seal off the light:

As you wind the film and reset the shutter, you can see the mirror moving back down, pushing the lower sector down as it goes. Notice how the two stay together to keep the film from being fogged.

The Exa combination mirror/shutter was a clever design that probably helped Ihagee keep costs down, but it had one horrible disadvantage: The fastest shutter speed was only 1/150 sec. The earliest Exas actually went to 1/250, but this was soon reduced, probably because of too many mechanical problems.

As I mentioned last week, I just got all twelve 1959 issues of Popular Photography bound into a book. This was my second attempt at buying issues from 1959 on eBay. The first, a couple of months ago, failed even though I was high bidder. I paid right away, but the seller refused my bid because I didn’t have the required 50 prior transactions. I was in the wrong because he or she had specified this in the listing, but I didn’t see it. (In case you’re wondering, yes, I did get the bound issues by bidding in the last 8 seconds.)

It was just as well because that lot wasn’t complete, but the book I just got is… almost. All 12 back covers are missing, possibly because the issues bound up better that way. Too bad, because the May Nikon ad was on the inside back cover, and I didn’t have it. Luckily, a query just this morning on photo.net resulted in a helpful reader sending me a scan of the missing ad, so now I have the complete set of 12 Nikon ads.

The year 1959 was a big one for SLRs. Not only was Nikon’s first SLR introduced that year, but so was Canon’s. (I have a Canonflex on its way, too.)

As far as I know, the Nikon F was first publicly shown at the Philadelphia Master Photo Dealers and Finishers Association show in March. Pop Photo had a few sentences about the new Nikon “Automatic Reflex” in their May issue, and a few more in their June issue when they had more to say about the show. (There was in 1959 and still is today a lead time of one-to-two months for monthly magazines.) The first full review of the Nikon F was in the August issue. There never was a cover story or anything else really major printed about this important new camera in 1959 (in Pop Photo, anyway). It was just yet another new Japaneses SLR. In fact, Nikon was the last of the major Japanese camera manufacturers to introduce an SLR.

I’ll have more to write in a future blog about what Pop Photo was saying. For now, let’s just look at the ads. There are small versions shown right here. If you click on one, you can see a larger version, and if you’re having trouble reading all that copy, you can go to my Smugmug site, where I’ve posted the full-sized scans (except for May, which is in the size I got it).

The year starts with five months of ads for the Nikon SP, but it’s interesting that the line “Look to NIKON for the most significant developments in 35mm camera design” gets added at the bottom in April, just about when the Nikon F was revealed. Was this a teaser?

Note the huge amount of text in these early 1959 ads, especially February, which caused it to be marked as an advertisement, lest it be confused with editorial copy. Note also the similar style in the ads for March, April, and May.

Then in June the first ad in Pop Photo for the Nikon F appears, in a two-page spread alongside the SP. Despite the big F on the prism, Nikon isn’t yet calling this camera the Nikon F. (Editorially, Pop Photo actually called it the Nikon AR for a while.)

July’s ad is just for the SP, which Nikon had apparently no intent of backing off from. There was no way to know yet if pros who used SPs and Leicas were going to go for SLRs.

For August, it’s another Nikon F ad that looks like an instruction book. I guess Nikon thought there was a lot that needed explaining. This is also when Pop Photo’s review appeared.

Another F-only ad in September:

The SP and F share an ad in October:

Then, surprisingly to me, an SP-only ad in November, with no mention of the F at all, except that now the SP is just for those who prefer a rangefinder, implying that there must also be a non-rangefinder.

The year closes out with another two-page spread, with that Brylcreem guy from November making a second appearance. The photo at top-right is ambiguous: Are these hands reaching for an SP or tossing one away? And that guy with the F? I think I prefer the Brylcreem look. (As a matter of fact, in 1959 I did have the Brylcreem look!)

Thursday I blogged about my imminent bid for a 1959 Canonflex on eBay. I got it for $255.50, outbidding the loser by $5.

Here’s a quick review of how eBay auctions work: Highest bidder wins; all bids before close count (even if 1 second before); if a bid is more than the current high bid plus an increment, only the smallest necessary amount is bid, with the rest being held back for possible future automatic bids until and if the full bid amount is needed. The eBay computer does the automatic bidding for you; all you do is tell eBay what your maximum is. If all goes well, you won’t have to pay that much.

eBay is a so-called second-price auction because the price is effectively set not by the high bidder but by the second-highest bidder, since the final amount from the high bidder is only just enough to top the losing bid, plus the increment. The actual bid from the high bidder doesn’t matter, as long as it’s high enough.

It makes no difference at all when bids are made (unless there’s a tie, which is rare), so one of the great eBay mysteries is why people bid early. For example, today I saw a Zeiss Ikon Contarex Bullseye auction ending in a week with 5 bidders already. The price is now at $11. I’m sure that camera isn’t going go for $11, or even $111. It will go for $400 plus, maybe even $600 plus. (If it goes for $400, I’ll take it myself.)

Update added 25-June-2009: It went for about $450. I didn’t bid at all, but instead found another Contarex in even better shape and got it for $300 in a Buy-It-Now-or-Best-Offer deal.

Maybe people confuse eBay auctions with live auctions, which end when no one tops the high bid. (”Going once, going twice, …”) If they do, it means they haven’t bothered to read any of the excellent eBay help pages, or any of the numerous articles and books about how to buy on eBay.

But this is about the Canonflex. As they used to say many years ago when I was learning to play Bridge, let’s review the bidding. (The names are made up.)

The auction was due to end on 12-June-2009 at 19:16:00 PDT, and the opening bid was $.99. Nothing happened for a few days, and then Ule bid, making himself the high bidder at .99. Remember, eBay uses automatic bidding, so at this point we don’t know Ule’s actual bid, only that eBay used only .99 of it because that’s all that was needed at that particular moment.

The next day, on Wednesday, June 10, Jim bid more than $47, because eBay bumped Ule up to 46, telling us that that was his real bid. Jim is now high at 47. Then Ivan enters the picture, bidding the next day, June 11, bumping Jim off at his maximum of 58.95 and putting Ivan at 59.95. As we’ll find out, Ivan’s actual bid is much higher, but all that’s needed now is the automatic bid of 59.95.

Then several bidders try but are immediately outbid by Ivan’s automatic bids: Xavier at 66, Don at 70, Harry at 121. Then Harry comes back (still on Thursday, June 11, a day earlier than he needed to) with a fresh bid of 151, but again Ivan’s original bid is more, so Ivan is still on top, but now at 153.50. That’s where things were when I wrote yesterday’s blog.

It stayed at 153.50 most of yesterday, the final day, until about 16:40 when Ralph entered the bidding, but he, too, was automatically topped by Ivan, whose original bid must have been fairly high. The price is now at 161.59. Seeing this, Ralph comes back about an hour-and-a-half later, but Ivan’s bid is still too much, and all Ralph accomplishes is to push Ivan to 167.69.

I’m watching this develop, wondering why in the world these guys are bidding at all, since the auction still has over an hour to run. I also realize that probably something over 200 is going to be needed to win, but I still don’t know what Ivan bid, only that it was at least 167.69. Bear in mind that I’m not bidding, just thnking about bidding. That’s a huge difference.

What Ivan doesn’t know is that it’s my Birthday and I decide I’m going to have this camera and I’m going to take my absolute maximum 250 and add 100 to it because it’s my Birthday. This is just me talking to myself. Ivan knows nothing, not even that I exist. (I assume he doesn’t read my blog.)

So, I decide to bid 350, but certainly not on eBay just now, because if I did eBay would immediately enter a bid, and then Ivan would know somebody wants this camera besides Harry. Ivan might increase his bid. Or, maybe he doesn’t have to, but I don’t know that. I only know that Ivan put in a large bid, more than 167.69 the day before. I take heart in the thought that Ivan isn’t a very smart bidder, since no smart bidder bids that early. Or early at all, as I’m about to demonstrate.

I know 350 is my maximum, because if Ivan takes it for that much he is even crazier than I am, and, unbelievable as that is, he then will deserve a Canonflex to ease his pain. The point is that bidders have to have some way to know their maximum.

More activity in the last minute: Mike bids with 51 seconds to go, but Ivan is still on top at 190.50 (Mike bid 188). With 23 seconds to go, Oliver bids 200, pushing Ivan’s to 202.50. Probably not Ivan’s maximum.

OK, now for the fun part. With 8 seconds to go, my bid of 350.25 (I added .25 to break a possible tie) hits eBay, pushing Ivan to 250.50 (he also added a tie-breaker!) and out. (So that’s what he bid.) The camera is mine for 255.50. Not close to 350 at all, as it turned out.

With me bidding at the 8 second mark, if Ivan was even watching, he may not have had time to react. Or, he may have chosen not to. Maybe 250 was more than he really wanted to spend and he was relieved.

But the most important lesson is this: If Ivan had just bid the 250 with a few seconds to go instead of the day before, I wouldn’t have known about him, and the price might have still been in the 100 - 130 range with an hour or so to go. I might have bid 250 or even less, which is what I thought I would do when I blogged Thursday, and Ivan may have won. But, Ivan tipped his hand, I went for 350, and only paid 5.50 above 250.

Every article I’ve read about how to bid on eBay says the same thing: Bid once for the maximum amount you’re willing to pay, and bid as late as possible. The problem with Ralph is that he doesn’t know what he wants to pay. He bids, sees he’s outbid, bids a little more, gets outbid again. Ivan did two of the three things right: He bid once, and he bid for the maximum amount he was willing to pay (I guess), which was 250. But he didn’t do the third thing right, because he bid over a day earlier than he should have. He should have bid in the last minute or, better, in the last 10 seconds.

Mike and Oliver really bid well, although Mike was a bit early. He presumably wanted to pay only 188 and he bid with 51 seconds to go. He should have waited. Oliver bid what he wanted, 200, with 23 seconds to go. It turned that neither bid was going to work, because Ivan had bid 250 the day before. But Mike and Oliver didn’t want to pay 250 and they didn’t have to.

I bid more than I really wanted to pay (Birthday, remember), bid once, bid really late (8 seconds to go), got the camera, and didn’t have to pay very much more than 250 anyway. The price was set not by me, but by Ivan—it’s a second-price auction, recall.

(If you aren’t going to be at your computer when the auction ends or aren’t sure you’re going to be able to get your bid in in the last 10 seconds, you can use a sniping service such as AuctionSniper.)

Now I’m back to watching a few other auctions that are ending in a few days. The bidding is already underway. I have no idea why. If I decide to bid, it will be with 8 seconds to go.

The SLR I want is on eBay. The seller says “It’s in EXCELLENT overall shape, a real beauty, featuring lively and accurate cloth focal plane shutter, sharp reflex viewing, crystal clear optics, and smooth movements.” So far the bidding is up to $153.50, auction ending tomorrow at about 8PM.

What should I do? I’m thinking of a bid up to $250, but maybe I should go higher? (I haven’t bid yet.)

This is Canon’s most advanced, best, newest SLR. So, $250 for a camera that’s “EXCELLENT” is pretty good, right?

I’m reading a review in Popular Photography (the July issue, which I just got today). It says the camera is “incorporating a lot of very interesting features including two items of inestimable value” and  it has “features that put it in the forefront of current designs.”

Sounds good, right? Surely I should go above $250?

OK, if you’ve guessed that something really weird is going on, you’re on the right track.

The camera I’m getting ready to bid on is a Canonflex, Canon’s very first SLR, introduced in 1959 and reviewed in Popular Photography in their July, 1959, issue. Which I really did get just today. In fact, I got all 12 of the 1959 issues nicely bound into a book with the subscriber’s name engraved on the front cover. Won it in another eBay auction that ended just last Sunday, for $22.50.

I’ll write more (a lot more) about what was going on in camera-land in 1959, at least as far as Popular Photography was concerned. Also about how this was my second attempt to get some 1959 issues, and how my first attempt failed even though I was the winning bidder back then, too.

As for the camera, Canon didn’t do nearly as well as Nikon did that same year with the Nikon F. (Read about mine here.) There were about 17,000 original Canonflexes sold, and about 862,000 original Nikon Fs. Canon did much better later, with the AE-1 in the 1970s and with generally better digital SLRs in the 2000s. (Until Nikon’s D3/D700, that is.) As the saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold.

But, in 1959, things were still hot. In fact, the cover story for the April, 1959, issue was “Why is the Single-Lens Reflex Today’s Hottest Camera?”

In the next few weeks I’ll be writing much more  about my imminent (I hope) purchase of the Canonflex, the Nikon F, and the state of cameras 50 years ago as told in the pages of Popular Photography. Stay tuned.

OK, enough about trains.

On Sunday at the start of a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park, I came upon a herd of elk grazing in Moraine Park. I didn’t have a really long lens with me, so I couldn’t shoot an elk close up, but it turns out those shots are really boring anyway. (For proof, click here for a shot taken at 300mm about a month ago.) One elk isn’t nearly as interesting as a few dozen.

So, I took four shots with my Sigma 24-70mm zoom set for 48mm (on a Nikon D700). Photoshop CS3’s panorama stitching is so smart that it figured out what to do with the four images all by itself. I did only a little bit of processing in Lightroom (exposure, vibrance, clarity), and none in Photoshop except for the stitching.

To really appreciate the view, click on the image to see it big and then get your browser to show it actual size.

The train was still there today. It hasn’t moved since before yesterday morning, when I first saw it. I climbed up the hill up to the bike path that goes over the tracks:

And discovered that the train is empty. I guess it will move when there’s a call for more coal.

I couldn’t shoot through the chain-link fence—the links are unusually close together. So, I just held the camera over the fence, shooting 20 - 30 pictures with only a guess at what I was aiming at. Fortunately, one of those was the shot I needed.

Hey, if you’re still with me… I took a series of shots from the top of that overpass which I’ll stitch together in a day or so into a panorama. Then, for my lunchtime series, I will have tried wide angle, short telephoto, macro, fisheye, and panorama. Then it will be time to move on.

Don’t blame me. You’re reading this right?

My continuing quest for an interesting lunchtime photo continued today. (Recall my recent photo essay proving that there was nothing at all to shoot.)

On my way out the door this morning to go to work, I grabbed my 16mm fisheye, last used on my newly acquired Nikon F. Today, it’s on my D700.

Parking my car next to those usually desolate tracks, I found a train stopped there. Just the cars, really. I’m sure the engine was off doing something important. These were perhaps the least attractive cars there are, but the fisheye made them into something anyway. Turns out I needn’t have delayed my appearance at work, as the train never moved all day.

At lunchtime, I went back to the bridge over Boulder Creek:

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