Good morning to all of the M42 Group;

While you slept, things have been happening in the middle of the night. (Well, at least I was sleeping.)

There has been a change in the management of the M42 Group. This change will not affect the operation nor appearance of the M42 Group. We will still be discussing the first widely successful SLR interchangeable lens mounting system, and the cameras and lenses that are found in that system.

The founder and operator of the Group, Rick, formerly known as "ralnphot," has made some changes in his life, including wanting to go off and do other things. He has sold his M42 equipment (I wish I had known about that particular part of the change), and is going on to other things in Photography. He has not left APUG, he is still among the now 49,000 members of the largest Internet group devoted to traditional film photography, and he is still the nominal head of the Pennsylvania Regional APUG Group.

Now, who is the guy that Rick passed his group on to expecting him to maintain and nurture his creation? I am Ralph Javins, located in Latte Land, Washington, home of Starbucks, SBC, Tully's, and many other coffee related industries. I have been actively playing with and using photography in my work for about 50 years now. Like so many, I started out with a 35mm camera, the Yashica Lynx 1000 Rangefinder camera (I wanted the Yashica Lynx 1.4, but the student budget did have some limits). The Lynx 1000 was traded in later for a Minolta (Chyoda Kogaku at the time) SR-1b with the Minolta AUTO ROKKOR-PF 1:1.4 f=58mm lens, and things went downhill from there. Soon I expanded out into other formats, beginning with 16mm and a Minolta 16 II Pocket Camera. Now I am up to a 4 by 5 view camera with a couple of SINAR F and F1 cameras. The Minolta stable has been enlarged an embarrassing number of times to accomodate the growing collection of Minolta cameras. I admit that Minolta is my main interest and strength. There is The 1960s Nikon Project. There are also 6 x 6 and 6 x 7 Medium Format 120 Roll Film Cameras, so I guess I can be accused of being a "multi-format shooter." Back then post exposure equipment consisted of mainly a Durst 606 enlarger with every accessory known to mankind and to EPOI and Berkey Marketing.

Do I have any other interests besides photography? Yes; radio, ski patrol, Search and Rescue, electronics test equipment, cats (with a special appreciation for Blue Point Siamese), kite flying (single line kites up to 20 feet across and both two line and four line stunt kites with frames and soft), and small airplanes. A Lycoming O-320 engine is being rebuilt right now.

Am I a known authority on the M42 system? No, I cannot make that claim, but I can say that I do know about it, and I also know that there are many others here who can answer many of the questions that may come up about the M42, UTM, or Praktica/Praktina/Pentax/CZJ/etc Screw Mount System. My own equipment consists of a Vivitar 450/SLD and an Asahi-Pentax SLR with a modest group of lenses for them. As far as running a group goes, I am a moderator or owner of several Groups on Yahoo.com, so I am not unfamiliar with what is required to perform the day-to-day routine operation of a Special Interest Internet Forum. I hope to do this for this group for at least a few years, until it becomes necessary for another person to take over the background management of the group. I do recognize that we do have a finite lifetime available to us, but that is also how we accumulate all of that experience and knowledge.

If I can help, please contact me. If there are any suggestions you have for ways the M42 Group can be more responsive to the needs of this small photographic community, please speak up, either directly or through the posting of a message.

Enjoy;

Ralph
Latte Land, Washington

Yes, I want to see more PICTURES on this Group -- my ones have been on there for AGES !! Today I have been out with my Pentax Spotmatic with the Russian 85mm f2 lens I got for £1 ($1-51) at my Camera Club auction, and a 150mm f4 Super-takumar I used as well -- I have not finished the film yet !

Good morning, Pete;

I have been wanting to talk with you about getting a 2.0/85mm lens for One New Pound. How did you do that? This is like finding a Leica M2 for $5.00 at a home yard sale or garage sale.

OK. Your point about other PICTURES is well taken. Besides, I have been wanting to get a photograph of my Cosina built Vivitar 450/SLD M-42 mount camera anyway. I just need to get a suitable tool for taking a good photograph of it that will be worthy of display. I think I can do that. There are some lenses I want to photograph also.

And, my association with British currency goes back to the days when a Pound really was a pound. It was impressive watching the people in the bank literally weighing the change (back then, crown, shilling, "tanner," pence, et cetera) to "count" the change. Then everything changed in 1971 with "Decimalization." I guess it sort of goes along with MoT Barbara Castle's "Temporary 70 MPH Speed Limit" from back in the fall of 1965.

Enjoy; Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

Ralph : thanks for your words from 'across the Pond' -- Yes, I really got that Russian lens for £1 sterling and also a 135mm f4 carl Zeiss Jena screw thread as well for £1 ! Club members largely have forsaken the M42 mount for digital Canon, Nikon etc etc ! The Russian Jupiter is very stiff to focus -- the grease must be hard but I got some good results of my kids on rides at Barleylands Farm but I do not want to put photos of my kids on the internet. ( I processed the film a few days ago ) The 150mm f4 Super-takumar I got with a lot of other Pentax gear from a Gent in my town -- a Pentax SV, 150mm, 35mm f2, extension tubes etc all for £25 -- he had contacted the Secretary of my Camera Club if anyone wanted some Pentax gear . I use my DIGITAL Pentax K10D to photograph my film cameras -- I usually do it in the bathroom in the morning when the bright light comes through and bounces around with the white surfaces and I do not need to get out any studio flashes -- just a bit of blue cloth for a background. I was a slo GIVEN three Prakticas that were going to the Council tip -- just in time I got to the gent who had been asked by a widow lady to dispose of her late husband's cameras ans stamp collection -- I got them all FREE !! I have put photos of the Prakticas with the Russian lens and the 135mm on here .
PS the speed limit iis STILL 70 MPH here !

Good morning, members of the M-42 Group;

There has been a change among our membership, and I am not sure how to explain it. "Removed Account2" is now listed as "Inactive," and I cannot send to him any messages. I do not know of any way to contact Erik to see if he is OK and when he might return. Erik was very active on this forum, and he will be missed.

Enjoy;

Ralph, Latte Land, Washington