Episode 65 of the Camerosity Podcast marks a deliberate shift in scheduling to accommodate the show's European and African listeners, a demographic that regular hosts Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike acknowledge has been underserved by their usual US-friendly evening recording times. To celebrate, this nearly two-hour episode brings together an unusually international lineup of callers, including returning guests Alan Duncan, Brian MacDomhnaill, Frederico Quaglino, John-Michael Mendizza, Tim Peters, and Wannes Scheipers, alongside first-timers Adrian Cullen, Jeremy Scott, John Kelly, Stuart Pratt, and Tadeas Plachy calling in from Prague.
The conversation ranges widely across cameras and photographic ephemera from Hungary, Italy, France, Czechoslovakia, England, Austria, and Germany, touching on topics as varied as Soviet-era camera manufacturing allocations, the Czech press agency's adoption of Nikon Fs in the 1970s and 80s, and Tadeas's fondness for his Nikon FM2 alongside gear like Canon 25mm LTM lenses, Minolta SRT-101s, Prakticas, and Zeiss-Ikon Taxona and Tenax II cameras. Other discussion points include the history of 35mm cassette shapes and paper-wrapped film reloads in Eastern Europe, Kodak Ektachrome Infrared film and full-spectrum/IR digital shooting, working with expired and cinema film stocks and removing remjet, and the historical use of uranium and mercury in photographic processes. The group also covers a broad sweep of lesser-known cameras and brands, including the Minox 35ML, AGFA models made by Chinon, Pentax IQ Zooms, Voigtländer Perkeo II, Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta, Fuji Super Fujica-6, various rollfilm cameras like the Ensign Autorange 620 and Royer Teleroy, French and Greek cameras such as the Demaria Lapierre Telka III, Sabina 127, and Piccopoulos Picca, the Hungarian Mometta III, Gallus Derby-Lux, Foth Derby, and a range of complicated Italian cameras like the Rectaflex, Ducati, Bencini, and Ferrania. Ilford's Advocate and Witness models come up too, along with a discussion on the merits of scale focus for candid photography.
The episode doesn't offer a single verdict but instead serves as a showcase of the depth and diversity of camera history and enthusiast knowledge that emerges when a wide range of international voices join the conversation. The hosts reiterate their open, non-expert-friendly format, inviting listeners of all experience levels to participate in future episodes, and announce that the next episode will be a first-ever AMA format, with the following regular episode (66) scheduled to record on March 4th.
AI-generated summary. May not capture every detail — read the full article below for the complete picture.
For regular listeners of this show, the gang usually records each episode during the evening for listeners in the United States. For those of you on Theo’s side of the planet, it is either late morning or midday the next day, but this time slot is not good for listeners in Europe or Africa. While we’ve had some graveyard shifters call us, we like to sometimes have episodes at an hour which is more time-zone friendly to our listeners in Europe and Africa.
It has been longer than we’d care to admit, but for this the 65th episode of the Camerosity Podcast, the gang invites our European friends for nearly 2 hours of non-stop Camerosity discussion! Joining Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike are returning callers Alan Duncan, Brian MacDomhnaill, Frederico Quaglino, John-Michael Mendizza, Tim Peters, Wannes Scheipers and first time callers Adrian Cullen, Jeremy Scott, John Kelly, Stuart Pratt, and from Prague, Czech Republic, Tadeas Plachy.
The conversations in this episode ranged all the way from Arsenic to Zeiss, hear about some of the group’s favorite cameras from Hungary, Italy, France, Czechoslovakia, England, Austria, and even Germany! For those of you with access, what can Uranium and Mercury do for your film photography. Who is still shooting Kodak Ektachrome IR film, and what is everyone’s favorite method for removing Remjet? When you invite such a wide variety of people from so many countries, you’re bound to come up with some interesting conversation and boy did we ever!
As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are new to shooting and are interested in having an episode dedicated to people new to the hobby, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining!
The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance.
Our next episode is going to be a little different. It will be our first ever Camerosity AMA (Ask Me Anything) episode. All episodes of the show have an open discussion format, but for this one we are soliciting questions on ANY TOPIC for Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike. Want to know something about either Theo or Mike’s blogs, or any stories about Paul’s days owning his own camera story, or Anthony’s tips and tricks about underwater cave diving or running your own coffee shop? Literally no topic is off the table (except politics). Like all episodes, we encourage people to join us, but if you have a question you’d like to be read on air, please submit them to us through Facebook, Instagram, or Discord before the show airs.
We will record Episode 66 on Monday, March 4th at 7pm Central Standard Time (-6 UTC), 8pm Eastern Standard Time (-5 UTC), and Tuesday at Noon Australian Eastern Daylight Time (+11 UTC). We look forward to hearing from you!
In This Episode
Tadeas Hates Flexarets / Meopta Opema- Soviet Countries were Allocated Camera Types for Manufacturing
- Paul has a Fokaflex / Meopta Enlargers are well respected
- The Czech press agency bought Nikon Fs in 1970 and 80s
- Tadeas loves his Nikon FM2 / Canon 25mm LTM Lenses / Minolta SRT-101 and Prakticas / Zeiss-Ikon Taxona and Tenax II
- 35mm Cassette Shapes Have Changed / East Europe 35mm Reloads Used Paper Wrapped Film
- Kodak Ektachrome Infrared Film / Full Spectrum and IR Digital Cameras / Shooting IR in a Movie Theater / Sony CyberShot DSC-F828
Using Expired Film and Cinema Films / Removing Remjet- Uranium to Increase Contrast on Prints / Mercury to Increase the Speed of your Film / Kodachrome is Bad for the Earth / Arsenic Covered Books
- Minox 35ML / Chinon Made some AGFA Cameras / AGFA Optima Parat and the AGFA Parat I
- Brian MacDomhnaill’s Football Squad Camera Lineup / Pentax IQ Zooms (Espio) / Voigtländer Perkeo II and Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta
- Nikonos III is a simpler camera than the Nikonos V / Fuji Super Fujica-6 / Voigtländer Rollfilm / Ensign Autorange 620 / Royer Teleroy
Demaria Lapierre Telka III / Greek cameras / Sabina 127 and the Piccopoulos Picca- The Hungarian Mometta III / Gallus Derby-Lux and Foth Derby
- French Rex Reflex TLR / Complicated Italian Cameras / Rectaflex / Ducati / Bencini / Ferrania
- Ilford Advocate and Witness / Scale Focus is Faster for Candid Photography
- Mike Needs a Take Up Spool for the Ducati
- Only Service a Camera if it Needs It
Links
The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm.
If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server.
The Official Camerosity Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast
Camerosity Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/
Theo Panagopoulos – https://www.photothinking.com/
Paul Rybolt – https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris and https://www.etsy.com/shop/Camerasandpictures
Anthony Rue – https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/ and https://www.facebook.com/VoltaGNV/
Camerosity can also be heard on the following services:
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@camerositypodcast
Google – https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2NhbWVyb3NpdHkvZmVlZC54bWw
Apple – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/camerosity/id1583252688
Amazon Music – https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9d316c9e-5461-4fa5-9e04-24fd27fffc3f/camerosity
Podchaser – https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/camerosity-1985806
First of all greeting from Across the Pond. There’s a slight typo in the contents list of the podcast.
‘Paul has a Fokaflex’ should read ‘ Paul has a Focaflex’.
Right, now that’s out of the way I’m off to listen to what’s said about that interesting camera design and much more.
Good catch Richard, unfortunately, the camera is a Fokaflex from Czechoslovakia. It is a simple Bakelite twin lens box camera in the style of the Lubitel.
Thanks for your email Mike and pointing out the fact that this is a different camera to the French made Focaflex camera which also are rare – at least in working order.
I was in email conversation with a collectible camera dealer here in the UK and we were talking about the (French) Focaflex and its innovative design. He had bought one as part of a larger collection and sent it off to be repaired in order to resell it.
It was.
However his repairer – someone that the dealer uses regularly – said he was never to send another one as it was so difficult to work on.
As for the Fokaflex – I’m off to learn about that too.