Leakey's secondhand book shop, Church Street, Inverness. Nice and warm in there, especially with that huge stove going... not so outside.

A Ricoh KR10 film SLR camera arrived this morning. £6.99 delivered, via Ebay, for parts/spares. I hope to do some tinkering with it, and perhaps fix it. Apart from not working, it looks in really good nick. Perhaps should've said another Ricoh KR10, as one of these was my very first camera, bought back in 1981, and which I still have, and which still works. Needs a new set of foam light seals, as the old ones have done what they do, and turned into a sticky mess. The original one cost me more than a months salary, with the kit (50mm f/2) lens... I've never been a big earner.

(Warning: rant and rude word approaching)

For the new arrival, it took one look through the viewfinder to confirm a suspicion I'd had since buying a DSLR in 2007. Those snooty sales swines in Edinburgh's GD Young's photo shop, had sold me an ex-display camera (at full price... or fool price), for my first one. I'd scrimped and saved for months for it, and I knew no better. I reckon that it had been sitting in the sun for ages, causing the viewfinder focusing screen to yellow, and fairly substantially so. The Ebay one was crystal clear, whereas I'd struggled looking through that yellowed one for 25 years! Are you allowed to say bastards here? They always were so aloof and condescending to this poorly paid sod, that had two jobs, just to afford his low end motorcycling and photography interests. Undoubtedly because they made much more commission on the high end stuff. They made it blatantly clear that the (then) meak little (6'2"ish) me was grudgingly served, whereas they were so delightfully chummy to the more prosperous looking clientèle. There wasn't a lot of competition back then, if you wanted to see anything before you bought it. I'm not bitter. Those bast...

Meanwhile, back in 2015, some shopping in town - manic in the usual places before that day, and then later through to the supremely wonderful, in comparison, Ffordes photographic shop, for a few small secondhand items. An old Ilford film retriever, worked first time for a spool removed from an ancient camera.

(A one photo day, to two journals.)



Nikon F100 : f/2.8 : 1/40" : 40mm : ISO 400

Lens: Voigtlander 40mm f/2 Ultron SL II
Film: Kodak TRI-X 400 (B&W negative)

[Frame : 09]