Photography Shops in Nottingham


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Welcome Peter.  Whereabouts in Bestwood were you born?

 

(We don't mess about here.. the interrogation starts immediately.... :)  )

 

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I don't know the answer to the question, but it's probably in this photo (1973).  Unfortunately it won't enlarge clearly enough to show names.

I've  just read through this thread right from the begining. A most interesting topic. Don't suppose many of the original posters still write in. I'll  add a bit too. My first camera was an Agfa rapid

I had a Zenith E in the mid seventies too. I had it when we came to OZ, the built in light meter went to places it had never seen in the UK. If I remember correctly it had Pentax screw mounts on

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I've  just read through this thread right from the begining. A most interesting topic. Don't suppose many of the original posters still write in. I'll  add a bit too. My first camera was an Agfa rapide instant in 1965. Shan't  bother with my history but bought a second hand Zenith E in 1979. My first new one, of which I  still use occasionally is a Ricoh KR10 with 50mm and 135mm lenses. Had this one about 40 years. Bought it from a camera shop on Trinity walk I  think. Nowadays I  tend to use Canon SX170is and Pentax K1000dslr. Would the camera shop be called Trinity cameras? Probably got that wrong. Trouble is, I'm  a bit of a gadget fan, just had a count up of video cameras and got to five ! I love making  my own movies and incorporate stills among them, providing slide shows with soundtrack. That's  me bored everybody. " Say Cheese"!

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On 10/2/2019 at 6:49 PM, Beekay said:

Shan't  bother with my history but bought a second hand Zenith E in 1979.

I had a Zenith E in the mid seventies too. I had it when we came to OZ, the built in light meter went to places it had never seen in the UK.

If I remember correctly it had Pentax screw mounts on the lenses. I also had a 1000mm folded light telephoto lens with a pistol grip mount. They were built like brick sh*t houses and the mirror operated with a satisfying clunk. I used it to take surfing shots with 1000ASA film which I developed and printed myself.

I had over 4000 Kodak Ektachrome slides which I developed myself too and recently I went through and culled them, scanned the rest and threw out all the old camera bodies, lenses and developing equipment. So much easier in a digital world.

 

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My first SLR was a Zenit E I bought new in Wollongong around 1980, great camera to learn photography, at the time. All manual, heavy but a highly dependable camera. Still have it somewhere, I have about four different lenses I bought over the years for it. Yep was a screw lens, not sure if it was Pentax screw though.

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The first camera I ever used to any extent - and learned quite a bit from - was a Practika in the 1970s.

 

It belonged to the firm where I worked at the time but I often "borrowed" it for long periods, and no-one ever seemed to notice its absence.

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Just been and wiped the dust off my other Russian  camera, (still as good as new). It's  a Lubitel 166 and uses 120 film.

I've  still got some rolls of film including 35mm for my Ricoh KR10, which I  keep in the freezer. When I'm going to use one I take it out and let it acclimatise like you would frozen food. Zenit E was a screw thread. I used to have a set of extention rings which you put in front of the lens, for macro photography. Still got a large set of Cokin filters, of which I  still use with dslr.

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2 hours ago, Brew said:

I remember Zenits, they had a mirror that went up and down like a pavement slab.

Because of that mirror, it was very difficult to take close ups of animals etc without alerting them, then they'd  be off like a rocket. I did a few weddings and you couldn't  be discreet. 

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Perhaps I was lucky, but the first proper camera I used was one of my dad’s Leica M3s - but only under his supervision! Being a rangefinder camera with a cloth shutter, all you could hear when the shutter fired was a quiet click.

 

First camera I bought was a cheap Chinon SLR, from Dixons. Passed that on to my niece when I upgraded to a Pentax SLR. (She went on to become a senior lecturer in photography at various universities).

 

Now use a Nikon DSLR. So much easier not to have to worry how many frames left on a film.

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5 hours ago, Ayupmeducks said:

great camera to learn photography, at the time. All manual, heavy but a highly dependable camera.

 

5 hours ago, Beekay said:

I used to have a set of extention rings which you put in front of the lens, for macro photography.

I agree Ayup' being all manual has stood me in good stead even in the digital age.

BK I had extension rings for macro photography and also 2x and 3x conversion rings that doubled or tripled the focal length of the lens.

All in all a great beginners camera, rugged, reliable camera with excellent optics that took good photos at a reasonable price.

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Some interesting pictures Jill. Makes you wonder how the old boy would have done if he had today's  digital facilities.

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The old school " Togs" had to be chemists too, they prepared their plates fresh daily, had everything loaded on a horse or horse drawn wagon, ventured out, took their photos, developed and processed them in primitive conditions and still produced good photos. Look at some taken in the mid 1800's in the US.

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With the greatest respect to all photographers, it is very difficult to take a bad picture, ( and I  don't  include camera shake etc.) Even the most simple of digital camera will take a halfway decent shot. They are virtually idiot proof providing one uses a little common sense. The more sophisticated cameras obviously give better results and allow more versatility. 

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Yes I remember Dixons little shop on King Street. Bought my first camera there about 1965. A second hand 35mm Voigtlander camera. Start of a life-long love of photography. A long standing photogaphy shop was Heathcote's on Hyson Green, very near to the Leno's cinema.

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Just read this thread from the beginning and like many others I started with a Zenith E (bought in Andover when I first joined the Army). I then progressed to a Prinzflex TTL, purchased in Dixons. I was later posted to Hong Kong and purchased a Canon FTb (as stated - built like a tank) which I still have together with a collection of lenses, it occasionally gets an outing.

My other cameras, used occasionally are a Yashica Elecro 35 GTN, Olympus XA, Canon IID2 (range finder model from 1955), Mamiya 645 and my go to camera for everyday use a Sony RX10iv. At my age it's easier to carry one camera than a body and a bag full of lenses!

I have lost count of the cameras I have owned and traded in for the latest model, mainly Canon or Olympus SLRs.

 

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I cut me photography teeth on a Zenith E slr. I'm still the proud owner of a Russian Lubitel TLR camera. Still got some 120mm film in me freezer.

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Good camera to learn the basics on. Not like the "press the button and let the computer take over" cameras of today. Not that I'm against them because I have one and have many in the past. Even now the enthusiasts say that to learn photography as a hobby you have to put everything on manual.

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I bought a Canon Ftb back in 73.  Best camera I ever owned.  Still gathering dust.  I'll probably never part with it.  I wish it could be converted to digital.  I've since bought  Canon all the time, video etc.  Never been disappointed.

 

Welcome to NS Fairlad.

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I've got a Pentax Spotmatic around the house somewhere. It was a good camera for film in its day. If I'm doing any serious photography, which is rare, I use a Nikon P610 Coolpix bridge camera. I might get it out if we have a visit from the Red Arrows on Wed/Thur this week. Must charge the battery!

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In the city centre a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that the Jessops Photography shop on Clumber Street has closed - again. Not just for lockdown, but completely forever.

 

That happened a few years ago when Jessops went bust, but the shop later reopened when someone bought the profitable parts of the business. But now after a period of a few years, they've gone again - although there are still other Jessops shops around the country.

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I suspect that this will be the fate of independent photography shops in the future.  With cameras in every phone I doubt many see photography as a hobby anymore. Just a way of taking pointless selfies.  Sad!

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Photography isn’t really a black art anymore. Everyone can take a reasonable picture and you can always edit it. No film costs, no processing costs. What’s not to like? You still need a certain amount of skill and flair to make a really good composition though. The camera can’t do everything for you!

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A friend of mine took a picture at Colwick Park and it won a prize, can't remember the details now. However the picture as published has little in relation to the one he took after he spent a whole day with some very expensive software editing it.

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