The Voigtlander Vitomatic cameras are really heavyweight 35mm rangefinders, you can no longer find such solid constructions in modern cameras anymore. I took a measure of the Vitomatic Ia, and it came in at almost 800g! It's exactly this same reason why 50 years later, finding a working piece in the market is really not that difficult, these machines are built to last. 

I have a Vitomatic Ia and a Vitomatic II. The Ia, manufactured in 1960-1963, comes with a view finder while the II, manufactured in 1958-1959, has rangefinders built in. The "a" and "b' models means having the meter instrument mirrored into the finder. The design and engineering of these cameras are simply amazing. Especially when you consider that these were made back in 1950s with limited technology, yet they came up with such sophisticated equipments that doesn't even need battery to operate. 

The 1a I'm having is in mint condition, both function and cosmetic. I intend to run a roll of film through it to see if I can get anything interesting. It's definitely not easy to use, as least for someone like me who's been on digital all this while. Found a good site with downloadable user manuals for most of the Voigtlander models. Meanwhile, I'm also gonna try to get a piece of rangefinder to go with it. 

specifications … 

Voigtländer Vitomatic Ia (1960 – 1963) Viewfinder
Format:  24 x 36 on 35 mm film (135)
Optics: Color-Skopar 1:2,8  50mm
Shutter:  Prontor 500 SLK-V  B + 1 sec.. => 1/500 sec. 
Misc.: Rapid wind lever, coupled lightmeter, twin match needle type

Voigtländer Vitomatic II (1958 – 1959) Rangefinder
Format:  24 x 36 on 35 mm film (135)
Optics: Color-Skopar 1:2,8  50mm
Shutter:  Prontor SLK-V  B + 1 sec.. => 1/300 sec. 
Misc.: Rapid wind lever, coupled rangefinder + lightmeter, match needle type w. external read-out

Finally tried out the PX100 film from the "Impossible Project" on the SX-70 Polaroid. I was so excited that the SX-70 actually worked! Love the sound of the film getting ejected from the camera, that's something modern cameras can never reproduce. 

According to Mijonju, the PX100 film is extremely sensitive to heat. This film is supposed to be work best at temperature below 20ºC and first 10 seconds of taking the picture is most crucial as the film is still sensitive to light. So for my little experiment, I had the aircon blasting at 20ºC and pointing straight at my table. Once the film is ejected out, I immediately turned it over and left it on the table under the aircon to let it develop. It was fun (to the point of being hilarious), and I do wonder does that mean that I can never get outdoor with this film? Let's see how it goes. 

At US$22/- a pack for 8 pictures, that works out to about SGD$3.80 per picture, this is certainly not cheap. Hope the price will get a little more affordable if this gets more mainstream.   

The Impossible Project has just released a new colour version of the film, PX70 FF Color Shade. Apparently this new film no longer have the problem of being too sensitive to heat. I'm gonna give it a try soon.  The 2+1 triple pack is now going for US$44/-. 

Since young, I have always had interesting encounters with dreams, but because recent years I don't get much dreams anymore, I have almost forgotten about it. It's only after watching Inception, I realised maybe I am not "unique",  the guy who came up with the idea for the movie must have had similar experiences as well.

While I'm dreaming in my sleep, I was often aware that I'm dreaming and I always took the opportunity to "test" things out since I knew there is no consequences. I knew I can simply get out of the dream if it became too unbearable, I just need a "kick" to wake up. So I usually try doing things (mostly naughty ones) that I will never dare of doing in real life. This often involved scolding, killing, hurting people … which often ended up as me being chased by someone :). As for the "kick", that's this strange fast ticklish feeling running up my spine when I lie face down, that's always what gets me out of my dream state suddenly. 

As I'm writing this, I just remembered another part of my strange dreaming habits … Déjà vu. Often in real life, I have scenes in my dreams being replayed. It's a totally weird experience where in a conversation or event, I will suddenly realised that I have dreamt of the exact scene or conversation before. At that moment, I will then intentionally say exactly what I said in my dream or does the specific action I did in my dream, and everything will unfold accordingly. 

So how's this related to the first part of being "aware" of my dreaming state? Because of the déjà vu experience, I'm convinced that dreams are real, perhaps our life has been planned all along, we are merely going by the timeline and "play" our life. Perhaps my déjà vu experience was caused by a "bug" in the system which unintentionally allowed me to preview some part of my future. Therefore, often at the point when I'm aware that I'm actually dreaming, I will try to see if I can uncover anything significant about future. I can't say I have much success with that yet, but perhaps I already knew the future, but I just need that déjà vu moment to remember it. *complicated* lol

After a stupid scare that the package went missing, this finally came via DHL today. A 1973 (July 24, 1973) Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera. 

Purchased this from Yai & Yeam Art Store on Etsy for US$189/- a couple of weeks ago. The camera and the leather tote are in fantastic condition. This camera is supposed to be in fully working condition, now I just need to wait for my impossible film to get ship and I will be able to try shooting with it. 

This is my first polaroid … and I have a strong feeling it will not be my last :)

Ok, this is seriously something way too cool. Original Polariod Factory Jacket discovered deep in the vaults of the former Polariod factory in Enschede, Netherlands. They are out of stock now, probably forever … else could got have gotten it for about US$70+ I think. 

Adding another camera to my collection :) Just ordered a Polariod SX-70 from a Etsy store. It's supposed to be in working condition, so let's hope it will work. Together with shipping to US address, it cost about US$200/-.

Next … getting the Impossible film.