It all began in Hong Kong.....

Late in 2000 I got the bright idea to take in the double header of camera shows in Florida, which take place in February. I used to live in St. Petersburg, and still have my Florida License, albeit with my Hong Kong address, and retain a certain affection for the place. This would also give me an opportunity to visit a couple of camera friends, Greg Bedore, Wayne Cogan and H. Keith Melton.
 

Northwest Airlines had space available, and with three hops (Hong Kong-Tokyo, Tokyo-Minneapolis, Minneapolis-Miami) taking 24 hours total, I was in Miami. I arrived too late in the evening to even think about making the almost four hour drive across Florida to Largo. I decided to spend the night in a Hotel near the airport. In hind sight I might have been better off driving through the night. The Hotel I stayed at looked like the movie set for every third rate drug dealer movie I have ever seen. I had a fretful night's sleep with a chair wedged under the doorknob, and my money hidden in a dirty sock.
 

Largo, February 10th & 11th, 2001

At 7:30 AM I installed myself on my assigned table, with Ronald Swan and his wife Karin on my left. The proved to be entertaining and enjoyable neighbors. On my right I had an empty table. As a matter of fact there were several empty tables the whole week end. Even with dealers being urged to spread out, the holes were evident. My first camera show in the USA in a number of years, and I was already getting a lesson in how the Internet was effecting the interaction among collectors. Or is it the recession?
 
 
 

The usual pre opening hustle and bustle of dealers buying and selling to each other had not seemed to have changed. Several foreign "buyers" were there. Many with hair much grayer than I remember. John Craig had almost a whole wall filled with his selection of Instruction books and repair manual copies. Joyce, his wife (Yes it's true, they married in 1999) was there, and we had a great chat, catching up on events. We have known each other since 1977, and have dozens of mutual friends. I remember selling her son, Ian, box cameras way back when. BTW Ian was chosen as the alternate for the US Tae Kwan Do Olympic team.
 
 
 

Zeiss guy, Greg Bedore had stopped by my hotel room in St. Pete the night before, and said he'd be at the show for a while on Sunday only. I know Greg from a visit my wife and I made to his collection about 10 years ago. Greg writes "Something Zeiss to Say" in the "Camera Shopper" magazine. His Zeiss oriented web site can be found at: IDCC He and I would be staying with Wayne Cogan during the Miami show. Both Wayne and Greg are members of the Internet Directory of Camera Collectors or "IDCC" as it is known. Did you know that Camprice.com subscribers receive 18 months subscription for the price of 12 if they are members of bona fide collector clubs, in the real world or online?

Largo Show Summary

Pentax ES (black) with 1.4 normal lens, missing the battery cover. Minolta 101 with normal lens, case and flash. Beauty 35 mm Rfr camera in the box. Vivitar 70-210 Series 1 lens in Olympus mount with non working aperture (fixed in 2 minutes with my trusty Swiss Tool.) Minolta 16 sub mini camera with plastic box, case and IB Original post war Konica, working Lots of filters, adapters, cable releases, a couple of flashed and general flotsam in the bottom of the box. I sold everything but the Konica, Minolta 16 and Vivitar lens before I left Largo. I got my US$100 investment back. (I sold the Vivitar lens to a friend here in Hong Kong so I'm ahead of the game.)

Bottom Line: Largo was fun, I got to see old friends and make new ones. All in all, except for the few empty tables, missing middle of the road older cameras and woodies, the show was like I remembered it.

On the Road to Miami

I made my way back across Alligator Alley (which does have lots of alligators along the canal next to the road) and went to H. Keith Melton's house for a stay. I have known Keith for a couple of years. I first noticed his name when I bought his book "The Ultimate Spy Book" He had pictures of cameras in it which were unknown to me at the time. (Amazon.com lists it as available.)

 I had no idea what I was in for when I accepted Keith's invitation to stay with him. As it turned out, I was given access to a 4000 square foot private museum, with my own personal tour guide. I saw things (not only cameras) which made my eyes bug out. So many unique images and artifacts from the cold War Era of East/West spying that I can't begin to describe them. Historic documents and and reference material lined shelves on two stories of the museum. Keith's expertise is such that he is a consultant to the FBI and CIA concerning the "trade craft" of spying. If one camera stood out in his collection, it would have to be the CIA produced all in one camera where film was exposed and developed in one small (about two cigarette packs big) steel device. His Soviet "Pin Hole" camera isn't bad either. As Keith and I were talking, I expressed doubts as to the usability of the PK1040 type wristwatch camera. (are you reading this Jerry F.?) Keith picks up the phone and calls Virginia to a retired friend from the FBI who was in charge of testing photographic equipment for the Bureau. The friend was not home, but Keith left a message. When I returned to Hong Kong an email was waiting for me.

My friend "...reports that they did once obtain an image from the PK camera, but they never proceeded with it for the bureau..."

 That's what I call going to the "source" for information Keith was responsible for part of the Discovery Channel two part series "Spy Tek". He also was involved with the "Master of Deception" show which aired November. 2000.

CNN.com has an interesting online essay by Keith.

When I left Keith and Dawn Melton's, I went up the road about 30 minutes to Wayne Cogan's new house. I have known Wayne since before I left New Jersey, back in 1985. I last saw him in Bievres last year, with his wife Lynn. The plan was that Greg Bedore and I would bunk at Wayne's house and travel down to Miami together for the show on Saturday.

Greg arrived before me, and staked his claim to one of the guest bedrooms. I was delighted with the room which was to be my home for the next two nights, especially since Greg snores enough to rattle windows.

A 6 o'clock wake-up call allowed plenty of time for a shower and fast breakfast before making the one hour trip to North Miami. Little did I know that with Greg at the wheel the trip was more like 45 minutes. I have to say that he didn't go more than 80 MPH, except for a couple of times, one when he was racing a Porsche, the other when he was trying to get past a load of offensive smelling farm animals.
 

Miami 17th & 18th February, 2001

I needed something to put on my table. I had sold most of the stuff from my Largo junque box, and my table was looking bare. On a table just across from me I was able to find a very early Kuribyashi 6x4.5 folder with a Carperu shutter. Why not a Basseru or Percheru shutter you might ask? Well, Carperu sounds somewhat like "Compur" when enunciated in the Japanese Language. I paid US$40 for it, took a picture or it, and sold it easily Sunday afternoon for US$60. It's in McKeown's for US$90-130. My other "stock" purchase was a Ricoh Super shot 2.4 35 mm camera with "Dia Focus." This gem was an interesting find, and a real conversation starter during the show. For one thing, it looks harmless enough, even if it does have a strange 2.4 normal lens. It ia made a bit more exotic by the addition of a wind-up motor drive. But for me, the charm lay in the focussing aide. The camera looks like a range finder camera, but is one "window" short. In the viewfinder, centered in the frame is a rhombus (I like this word better than "diamond") I spent a good part of my time asking people how they thought the focussing system worked. Only one out of the dozens of people I asked was able to come up with the answer immediately.

It works based on the assumption that all adult heads are the same size chin to top of head. The lens is focussed by placing the person's head in the diamond and turning the lens until the chin and top are entirely inside. Polaroid used this same technique in a couple of their cameras, one of which had a "zooming" circle instead of a rhombus. For headless scenes, a pictorial scale was visible across the top of the view finder. I sold the camera Sunday afternoon, and the new owner was just as charmed with it as I was.

My one "large" purchase happened late Sunday afternoon. It often seems to me that I am able to find a real neat item late in the day, or in this case, late in the second day. I had been by the seller's table many many times, and had not noticed the large wooden view camera. This time when I stopped, I asked if I could take a closer look. As soon as I picked it up it was love at first sight. I held in my hands a "Noba Wide." I had heard of the camera (Noba view cameras are listed in McKeown's, but not the Noba Wide) It's an 8x10 special purpose wide angle camera with a 6 1/4 f9.5 Wollensak wide angle lens in a Betax shutter. I paid US$800 for it, which included two modern double film holders. The camera is in very good condition (8.5) , and the red leather bellows are almost garish in contrast with the dark mahogany of the camera body. It has more movements than I will probably ever use, and the brass fittings polished up very nicely. Not only that, how many people can say they have a Mexican View Camera made for a Texas distributor in their collection? I'll soon have 25 sheets of T-Max to play with. I'll write a review of the results when I have them.

 All in all, Based on my experience of these two Florida shows, I'd say the camera show scene has changed from what I remember it to have been. Opinions as to why this has happened are somewhat varied, but often contain similar elements. Internet, particularly the eBay auction site, seems to take the brunt of the blame. More people are online than I thought. It's almost the exception NOT to be online now a days. The Recession starting in the US is another reason mentioned. People are scared of spending money they might need to pay the electricity bill next year. A couple of people said they thought that there weren't enough younger people getting into the hobby, therefore lack of interest was taking its toll. I have to admit there were not many "younger" people through the gate at either Largo or Miami. Those that did stroll by were usually looking for a lens for their Canon SLR, or a filter for their Minolta rather than an old collectible/usable camera.

I had one other experience at Miami worth noting. I finally got to speak with someone (Ron Mitro) connected to the "Orion Blue Book" price guide for cameras. He's an "advisor."I have a real pet peeve about this book, and none of the responses to my email enquiries to the publisher had satisfied my curiosity. I'll leave this story for another day, however, because I can already feel my blood pressure going up just thinking about it. If you want a laugh, go to their site and look up a camera. I used a Burleigh Brooks Veriwide as an example, because I know what they list it for their hard cover edition. It will cost you US$3.95 for a SINGLE camera search, and when you get the results back telling you that the Brooks Veriwide is selling retail for US$106, and a wholesale buyer might pay US$32 for it, you can feel pleased to know you have been served by an outstanding product with more than 26 years behind it! With advice like that I'm not surprised that Ron found it a "...a blessing and a productive tool for his business."

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