October Film Camera – Vivitar 35ES

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SONY DSC

When I first started collecting cameras I decided to start with 1970s vintage compact rangefinders. This was because my first serious camera (given to me by my wife) was a Minolta 7sii (which bears more than a passing resemblance to the camera above. In fact the half case in the picture in from the Minolta and it fits perfectly). This is now the ninth in my series of “Monthly Film Camera” posts and looking back I was surprised to find that so far non of them have been 1970s vintage compact rangefinders, and only one (the very first: a Fuji GS45S was even a rangefinder). So to rectify this omission here’s a compact rangefinder from around 1978: the Vivitar 35ES.

There are already a few good reviews on the internet:

So I’ll try not to duplicate the information found in them.

The consensus of these reviews seems to be that this is a well built camera with a great lens, but which is otherwise uninspired. So why did I get get it?

It all goes back to my beloved Minolta 7sii. I loved this camera, but since I like black cameras I would have preferred it in black. At that point I didn’t even realize that there was a black version of the 7sii then one day I bumped into a picture of one. Wow! Unfortunately it’s quite scarce and rather expensive so I decided I’d have to get along without it. Then I came across this camera. It looked very much like the 7sii and offered a similar feature set (except for the fully manual operation of he 7sii, which I don’t recall ever using in any case) …and it was black and much less expensive. So I decided to get one.

My first attempt was a failure. Although advertised as being in working condition, in fact it wasn’t. I did much better with this, my second attempt. Cosmetically it’s in good shape and everything seems to be working. In fact the viewfinder is significantly clearer than that on my Minolta. The leather is lifting up in a couple of places, but that’s an easy fix.

I’m eager to give it a try. Results to follow.

Picture taken with a Sony Alpha 500 and Tamron A18 AF 18-250mm f3.5-6.3.

On Safari – Elephants

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elephants-7

Of course I’d seen elephants before, but only in captivity: in zoos, circuses and the like. Seeing them in the wild was a completely different experience. In captivity they looked subdued, still magnificent but rather sad as if all their energy had been taken away. In the wild they’re full of energy. As we approached this family group (I assume) the large elephant on the right broke off and moved in our direction. I wouldn’t have liked to have tangled with him (or maybe it’s a her) and thankfully we didn’t have to. This picture fails to give a true impression of their size. Even though it was taken almost 20 years ago I still have a strong memory of their size. They’re enormous.

Taken with a Canon AE-1 and, I think, a Vivitar 70-210mm zoom lens.

On Safari – Two lions feeding

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lionsfeedin-1

This is another shot from our visit to the Masai Mara in the late 1990s (See also: Cheetah). It depicts one of the most dramatic moments in our safari. We were driving along when we came across a young, dead zebra – possibly dead at birth. After a couple of minutes along came a lioness and started to drag it away. Not long afterwards a second lioness arrived and grabbed another part of the dead zebra. This led to a lengthy “tug-o-war” with both lions trying to take possession. As I recall one of them managed to tear of a small piece, which it then took away while the second dragged away the larger portion.

Taken with a Canon AE-1 and, if my memory is correct, a Vivitar 70-210 mm lens.