Re: Bill "Snapshooter" Davis on Kodaks

[P3D E R Swanson <ers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bill says it! All I would add is that it's worth learning the camera and
eliminating the dependency on someone else to fix it (you can buy them
even cheaper that way!) The Kodak is a very simple machine. The following
is an extracted/expanded excerpt from my off-list post to George...

(And I also have watched with amusement as Realist shooters go "Oh damn!"
when the perfect photo opportunity is missed because they forgot to cock
the shutter! In fact, to be honest, I've done it myself once or twice...
:)

---------

Of the three, I'm in the same camp as Alex Klein-- the traveling/general
all-around-funky-everyday-use camera of choice is the Kodak, because it
has first rate optics (triplet, as you most likely know already) and is
fast to deploy.  It's light and reasonably tough (when Alex was here on a
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visit we discovered my 2-year-old using his Kodak as a foot stool, and it
still worked fine!), plus it operates easily and logically. The drawback
is that you *must* learn the camera mechanically. If you go with a Kodak,
it's best when it's a camera you have personally torn down, squared away,
and set right.  (And keep the WD-40 away from it!)  Fortunately, it is a
very simple camera to take apart. The only trick you need to use is the
loop of string around the upper assembly counter arm when putting the top
back on (needs to be held back from the ratchet).  Doesn't hurt to have a
Reel-3D repro of the exploded view... From a design standpoint, the
internal mechanism didn't experience a huge number of changes, so you only
need to learn it once.  Also, if someone steals it or something, no
problem getting more of them! Tons of them to be had for cheap because it
has a bad rep due to people oiling the shutter.

I don't have an Ilex, but I know people who do, and really like 'em. I do
have a Realist Ektar (originally a 3.5 that had the lenses and shutter
upgraded when a friend found the 2.8 Ektar lenses in an envelope in the
bottom of a parts box and gave 'em to me), but use it only as a special
purpose camera because it has doo-dahs like the Rochewite polarizers and
Steinheil wide angle accessories. (I built a wide angle Kodak by modifying
the lens housings and adding Accura w/a series V lenses and also modifying
the finder to a w/a view)-- takes very sharp photos.) The Ektar is a good
lens, maybe the best ever put on a Realist, but the mystique and scarcity
has made it more expensive than is justifiable, imho. And when you're more
worried about the value of a camera than the use of it, you're less likely
to use it because you're concerned about it getting damaged or stolen. I'd
think twice about chucking the Ektar in a backpack, but no such concern
about the Kodak.  Just wrap it in some cloth and stick it in a ziplock
freezer bag and off you go! 

And hey, if I wreck it fighting off drunks or sheep, or squash it against
a saddle pommel, I have another one... or two... or three... sitting in
the "funky camera" box ready to bring online.

As a pitch, I'm always interested in Kodaks if they're cheap enough. If
you have to pay someone else to fix one, it usually isn't worth the cost
of repairing unless the camera has sentimental value.  Despite this desire
of mine to buy them cheap I still recommend learning how to repair them. 
If you do it yourself, you *know* what has and-- equally important-- what
has not been done to it.  Out of that batch I ended up with from Harry a
year or two ago, I ended up with 4 working cameras for under $40 each and
a few pleasant hours of tinkering (and box of spare parts!)

--Elliott


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