I do not know where the first quarter of this year has gone. I have had my attention drawn to so many small tasks, flitting from one to the other, that I have not noticed the days, weeks and months passing by.
In January I acquired a half frame Olympus Pen F SLR in a SAS auction - a camera which had fascinated me since I first started my photography. I have sent it to Newton Ellis for a clean and check over and am waiting for its return.
I have also been keeping an eye out for darkroom equipment for a newly formed A-Level darkroom at my son's school. It is good for a purchaser but very disappointing for a seller that prices for certain originally expensive equipment have fallen to virtually nothing now.
I purchased a Philips PCS 130/150 6x7 enlarger with tricolour head for £0.99 (originally in 1979, circa £500) for the school and a Rolleivision 35 Twin Digital P complete with twin Schneider zoom lenses (over £1000 in 1990), also for £0.99 for me. Both items were local so there was no additional carriage cost.
A good friend of mine goes to car-boot sales and buys many items because he is amazed by the low price he has to pay. He does not really want these items, nor does he need them, nor does he have the space but "they are a good price"! I am not like him, but I will look for a good deal for something I want. I invariably find that I will buy something for a good price, but then a few days later, the same product will go on Ebay for not much more than £0.99. I regret not having been more patient, but at what point do you decide that a good price is on the table and you are unlikely to find something at a lower price?
The same works the other way, when it comes to selling something; at what price do you let it go because you are unlikely to find anyone willing to buy it for more? But someone somewhere will buy an identical item at considerably more than you achieved for yours...
Contents:
Front Cover: "Awaiting the Catch" by Danny McClure.
3 In Passing by David Morgan
4 Our Trip to Germany by Mike and Sue Anson
10 A Riverside Walk in Castleconnel, County Limerick by Dáithí ó Scannláin
14 The Greater Fool Theory
16 Panoramas with a Rolleiflex SL66SE by John Wild
18 DHW Insolvency Auction
22 Photographic Mirrors, Care and Maintenance by David Morgan
23 More Tales from a Suffolk Studio by Steve Barnham
23 Matin Slide Film Cutter
24 The Pre-War 127 Rolleiflex in Practical Use by David Morgan
26 Your Forum
27 Rollei Film Supplies
28 Of Rolleiflexes, Splott and a Swap by Pete Davis
Rear Cover: Haworth High Street, Yorkshire, by John Wild
