Rainy Day Projects

My, it’s been raining here in Northern California. And I mean raining. Over where I used to live in Sonoma County, they got almost six inches of rain in one day last week!

We get a little sun here and there and when we do, I get out and take pictures. I have five cameras with partially shot rolls of film in each right now, so there’s plenty of Fogdog Blog content coming once Mother Nature strings along more than 12 dry hours for me.

In the meantime, I’ve been trying to make good use of the indoor hours, taking stock of my gear, replenishing film supplies and organizing digital files. Here’s a little bit of my photographic housekeeping…

I’ve packaged up my Leica R6 so it can get a proper CLA from DAG Camera. I’ve discovered that Garry’s Camera Repair in Illinois will service my Minolta XE-7. I love the XE-7 but it’s got some sort of shutter curtain synch issue and it’ll be good to get it fixed. I love using my Olympus OM-2n, but the 50mm f/1.8 lens that came with it has quite a bit of dust inside and someone carelessly left some cleaning marks on the front element, so I ordered a replacement f/1.4 lens from KEH this week. KEH’s grade on this new lens is “excellent.” I’ve found the KEH grading system is very conservative, so I am sure my new Zuiko lens will be excellent and then some.

A good Pentax friend sold me a nice 120mm f/2.8 Super Multi-Coated Takumar lens that I’m anxious to try out on one of my Spotmatics. I played around with it one afternoon and I think it will be a fun lens to use!

Speaking of my Spotmatics, I have identified a few duplicate SPII bodies I have. Nice cameras, CLA’d by Eric Hendrickson. If anyone is looking for a sweet Spotmatic, let me know before I eBay them.

I’ve taken advantage of some online deals on film, stocking up on some of my favorites; Kodak ColorPlus, Fuji Industrial 100 and 400 speed Tmax. And I’m kicking around ordering a few packs of the latest Polaroid Originals film for my SX-70 and see how that stuff is evolving.

The rainy weather will soon pass and I am anxious to get out, finish up my half-started rolls and explore my new home.