What’s cooking 1 – 30 October 2023

I’d like to use “what’s cooking” for a semi-regular update over what’s likely to appear in the shop in the short-to-medium term.

• I am working on some Pentax 35mm SLRs. There are ME Supers, MG, MVs, and a K2 I would like to end restoring (one other entered my stash as I enjoyed using it plenty).
• I have plenty of spotmatics. Plenty. Most are mechanically sound, most lightmeters a bit iffy. So it’s about deciding how to proceed with them really.
• I am considering putting up  for sale some base lenses (K mount or M42 mount). I have plenty, but I prefer to bundle them with cameras. Nicer lenses should make an appearance the  same in the store though.
• We are likely to see some first attempts at painted cameras. It’s a time consuming process and I think that maybe the first batch won’t be the best – although there is a Burnt Bronze K1000 that might be of some appeal.
• I am shooting with an Olympus Pen F. I wanted to put it on sale quicker, but I was just too curious. I also have a non working sample that is otherwise in excellent conditions but it’s a camera I am not familiar with so it might be some time before I have a go at fixing it.
• We have FIVE Mamiya Six to work on. This will be a longer work but one I am looking forward to. I’ll start with two of them with: general servicing and  cleaning, lens cleaning, focus collimation, upholstery replacement and bellow replacement. The bits needed have been ordered, stay tuned! This is likely a process I’ll try to publish over to Instagram.

In longer plans, I took some Schottcky diodes for another related project. They can be used to reduce the voltage of modern batteries for use in classic cameras.