Good morning;

Upon opening the Groups Section on APUG, it was a surprise to see that there had been activity recently in the Bolshie Blads Group. Quickly I brought up the group to see what had been entered by others, and what discussion had been taking place.

Well, I will admit to having some disappointment at learning that there had been merely someone reading some of the topics in the group. I had such hope.

And, yes, I must admit that I have not contributed very much in recent times. There has been a lot taking place, with others in my life needing medical attention, some surprising developments with some of the grandchildren, and my having an opportunity to help them in their efforts, and a few other things, such as a large motor home Recreational Vehicle (RV) or what our good friends in the UK would probably call a "caravan."

This last one, the caravan or motor home, does not have a really good capability for adding a darkroom for making prints from my film, so I need to wait until I am back home to print the negatives, but I can take along a developing tank and some chemicals for processing 35mm and 120 roll film while out there. That way they are completed and ready for printing, and I do not need to worry about the latent image degrading with the high temperatures there can be inside it at times, usually when I am out of it. Of course, the refrigerator is there for short term storage until I get back home. But one of the clear realizations is that this is a place with limited space, and is probably better suited for one of the digital cameras. And, with a computer and a printer, it is possible to make prints from the .jpg files while I am out there. There are some applications for digital technology.

I hope that all of you other users of FSU cameras are still doing well. I am still looking for another Kiev 35mm rangefinder camera, and it might yet become available. The Kiev-6C, Kiev-60, and Kiev-88 gear is all doing fairly well at this time. Yes, there is still something about picking up and using a camera where it is expected that I will be involved in the photographic process, instead of internal computers in the camera doing the focusing, calculating and setting the exposure, and so many other things that are so popular with the digital cameras today. I like being part of it and involved in it, instead of just pointing the camera in the general direction of the subject of interest and letting off a string of image files to be checked later to see if there is anything on the memory device that is considered to be worthy of retention. Who knows? Those few retained files might even make it to a paper print!

Enjoy;

Ralph
Latte Land, Washington

Good morning;

Sometimes things happen that really are not at all expected.

On another group for the Kiev cameras, there are some changes coming in the leadership for the group. Much to my great surprise, seemingly because of some coming changes, I had asked if there had been any consideration for increasing the number of moderators for the group, since the Owner/Founder of the group is experiencing some changes in his life and might not be able to have access to the group as often as he might like.

As the old saying goes; "Be careful what you ask for; you might just get it." and its corollary; "He who asks about something may very well find himself appointed to head the committee for it." Well, I did ask about talking with the Owner/Founder, and then with no additional discussion, the next time that I looked at the group, it had all the appearances of presenting everything normal for a moderator for that group. Yup, without any comment to me, he had made me a moderator. And now he seems to be having difficulty finding time to answer my inquiries about this news.

This actually does remind me of another group where I had asked the Owner/Moderator about something in the group, and the next thing I knew, I had been designated the Owner/Moderator, and he had resigned from the group, and anything sent to the last e-mail address listed for him was returned as not being addressed to a valid e-mail address. That one really did remind me of the old story about hearing the doorbell ring, and when opening the door, discovering a basket on the doorstep with a baby in it. That is literally how I got one of my "orphan" groups.

Still lots of things happening. Yes, I am still looking for one more Kiev 35mm rangefinder camera, but I am wondering what is happening in Ukraine right now with the people that I know there. One of them is in Odessa not too far from where the first really serious activity took place resulting in the "transfer" or "appropriation" of the Crimean Peninsula to the Russian Federation.

And there are other things happening in some slightly related ways. There is a motor home RV, or what the English call a "caravan," here now, and, in addition to being repaired and modernized in some ways, it is being fitted also with a small portable printer for use in printing digital prints from a couple of different bodies. One is a dedicated Canon DSLR, and the other one is a Nikon D60 that accepts my old NIKKOR non-AI and AI lenses for the Nikon F and F2 SLR 35 film cameras, so I can also use my NIKKOR glass and print things while I am out there. It is not really necessary to bring the film back home and develop and print it here, and then try to distribute the prints. I can make them right while I am out there and pass them out to the people while I am out there. There are some places where a digital camera does have some advantages, but I still prefer to use my film while I am in reasonable range of home. Perhaps I am just being old fashioned, or perhaps just continuing to work in my old habitual ways. Well, it did take quite a while, back in 2005, before I bought my first DSLR and succumbed to the exhortations to join the modern wave of photography.

Still, while I do have some digital equipment, yes, I also still prefer film, as mentioned earlier. Even unusual, sometimes weird, and occasionally recalcitrant FSU cameras that seem to want to arm wrestle with you before they yield and go ahead and take the photograph that you want.

Enjoy;

Ralph,
Latte Land, Washington

Good morning;

Just recently, I "won" a bidding war on that well known or infamous Internet auction site. This was not anything that I was really trying to do. It was just a half-hearted effort with the thought that it might be nice to have another Kiev-88CM body, but I wasn't really trying. Well, as I said, I wound up with the high bid for the body. And it arrived here this last weekend. Now, I think that I am really supposed to have this particular camera body. There is nothing really special about it. It is just a Kiev-88CM with a waist level viewfinder and an ARAX crank handle on the shutter -- film advance knob. And I have not yet put it on the camera tester to check the shutter speeds, but my initial reaction to the sound is that it is about right and progresses down appropriately as you go to the shorter speeds.

The really interesting thing about this particular camera turns out to be the serial number. As I was looking at it, I was also thinking that it sounded really familiar. When I checked the camera inventory list, I noticed that there is an NT (New Type) film magazine here with the same serial number. I seem to have the film magazine here already that originally came with this camera. I will put the two of them together again.

Enjoy;

Ralph
Latte Land, Washington

Good morning, all;

The Kiev Kamera Kommunity I think is small enough to allow this bit of news: Last month Frank, who started the Kiev Kamera Group on Yahoo Groups, retired and has moved to build a new house and enjoy his retirement with his wife in a more tropical climate and with a projected lower cost of living in his retirement. He is also much closer to the family of origin for his wife.

And there does seem to be some additional activity with groups who formerly supported Kiev cameras no longer being in business and able to do so any longer.

At least here in the United States of America, we still have some people who are working on our Kiev cameras, and Gevorg Vartanyan is still running ARAX, so we have ways to keep our Kiev cameras going. And 120 roll film is still available, and I did find an Anti-Newtonian Ring glass negative carrier for the Nikon CoolScan LS-9000ED(u) film scanner.

While some things in life do intrude occasionally, for the most part things are going well. I hope all had an enjoyable Summer this year, and you were able to record a few moments from this Summer with your Kiev camera.

Enjoy;

Ralph
Latte Land, Washington