[Leica] Re: Birthday presents

[len-1 at comcast.net (Leonard Taupier)]

Larry,

That address is all messed up. It's half e-mail address.

Len


On Nov 30, 2006, at 6:33 PM, Lawrence Zeitlin wrote:

>
> On Nov 30, 2006, at 4:39 AM, Bob wrote:
>
>> So it seems I had a birthday this weekend and decided to get myself a
>> frivolous yet practical & affordable present; to this end I'm having
>> Don Goldberg send me a rebuilt Minox IIIs.  (This simultaneously tags
>> me as a sucker for cool machines and also as an unreconstructed film
>> addict.)
>>
>> Elsewhere in the news someone in the family gave me a really nice
>> Case pocketknife which she sez was her grandfather's (she's my age so
>> this is a somewhat vintage piece.)  It has three blades, two of which
>> are almost identical.  My father-in-law sez that this is because
>> everyone he knew who had a pocketknife back in the day used to break
>> off part of one of the blades and grind the stump into a
>> screwdriver.  Anyone know if this was indeed a common practice in the
>> early-middle parts of the 20th century??
>
>
> Last things first. I have had Case knifes ever since I was a tiny  
> tad and I never heard of anyone purposely breaking off a portion of  
> the blade to grind into a screwdriver. On the other hand, a lot of  
> blades were accidently broken playing Mumbly Peg or attempting to  
> pry off bottle tops. The knives were a favorite of whittlers and  
> the big blade was used to shape the wood while the little blade was  
> kept very sharp to do the details.
>
> The Minox camera is VERY addictive. The IIIs is the best of the  
> series and is the closest to the original Riga Minox conceived by  
> Walter Zapp as the smallest camera one could carry in a watch  
> pocket. (Remember those?) You will end up buying a Minox enlarger,  
> film slitters to slice roll film down to the 9.2 mm, a developing  
> tank, and a zillion accessories. Minox film is expensive and hard  
> to get. Certainly CVS doesn't carry it. Most Minox fans keep their  
> old cassettes and slit and load their own film.
>
> The image quality is surprisingly good for an 8 x 11 mm frame size.  
> The Complan lens is optimized for f3.5, its only aperture. The  
> pressure plate curves the film to enhance acuity. Using a good  
> enlarger, you can make a 5 x 7" print which stand reasonably close  
> examination. We are not talking about Leica quality here but they  
> are a good deal better than you could get from a disposable camera.  
> My Minox prints compare favorably fo those obtained from a 1.3 mb  
> Leica Digilux Zoom (a rebadged Fuji 1700 Zoom).
>
> If you really get involved with tiny cameras, check out this  
> site:   <www.SUBMINI-L@yahoogroups.com>
>
> Larry Z
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information