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The Casual Collector

Sites of Interest

Places to go. Things to see. Banal comments.

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Cameras and Collecting  

CameraQuest Stephen Gandy's large and informative site. Big sections on Leica and Nikon. Everything you ever wanted to know about the new millennium rangefinder revival.

Classic Cameras   Karen Nakamura tries just about anything that holds film, then writes about it. Great Site!

Classic Camera Repair Forum  In over your head? Find help here.

Canon Camera Museum  Fabulous manufacturer maintained site. Pictures, profiles and specs of just about every Canon ever made. Insight into design and manufacturing, too.

Photography in Malaysia  Too much to describe! Just go there.

Konica SLR user's pages  Konica made auto-exposure standard equipment. Find out how.

Collecting Mamiya 35mm  Ron Herron knows more about these cameras than Mamiya themselves!

Mamiya 35mm SLR Homepage  Jeorg Krueger suffers from the "M" affliction, too.

Mamiya35mm.com  Hey! Three's a crowd! Paulien Brussee goes for the MSX/DSX models.

Minolta Manual Focus SLRs  Nicely done site on the SR, SRT and X series cameras.

rokkor.com  Craig Holmes has begun a comprehensive site dedicated to SLR and RF Minoltas.

mirandacamera.com  Craig Holmes has also devoted a site to the next marque up the alphabet.

Bill's Miranda Camera Page  "Miranda Bill" is a devoted follower of this fallen camera maker.

Nikon Web Magazine  An excellent manufacturer maintained site.

Nikon Historical Society  Bow, kneel, genuflect, whatever... I can't get this serious about collecting.

Olympus  Skip Williams has devoted pages to the Pen and OM cameras.

Pentax Collector Homepage  Excellent site when it is there. Deadly Midi-Piano music.

quickreleaseplate.com  Photographer/Machinist/Musician Larry Welker makes accessories for Leica.

rapidwinder.com  Photographer/Machinist/Uncollector Tom Abrahamson makes accessories for Leica.

Rick's Page  Spanner and pencil in hand, Dr. Oleson goes where few dare and lives to tell.

Russky Rangefinders  Comrade Stoisha has sniffed too much laquer thinner! GREAT SITE!

Screw Mount Cameras  From Argus to Zenit, screwing around in the "land down under".

Third Party Lens Megasite   Judged by the amount of information, the first two parties never left!

The Topcon Collection  Leon Schoenfeld examines the RE Super with an engineer's mind.

Yashica Old SLR Homepage  Alan Corey's collection of screw mount Yashicas.

Photography   Just a few of the people I look up to.

Kyle Cassidy  Originator of the Photo A Week project. Kyle and I grew up in the same town. We're products of the same school system. How did he get all the talent?

Tom Hildreth  Planes, trains, automobiles and the Vermont countryside. A good friend with a good eye.

Jeffrey Smith  Photo A Week true believer!

Dante Stella  Interesting portraits, well thought out opinions on the equipment he took them with.

Davidde Stella  What are the odds of two guys with the same name being excellent photogs?

Bicycles   I find tinkering with old ten speeds very therapeutic. Here are some old schoolers.

Harris Cyclery  Sheldon Brown, ex camera repairer switches gears and careers, embraces internet.

Rivendell Bicycle Works  Steel ideals in a world of aluminum, titanium and carbon fiber.

Peter White Cycles  Need studded snows for your bike? Get 'em here!

Machines  

     In 1980, I moved to Springfield, Vermont.  Springfield, heart of the "Precision Valley", had been dominated by three machine tool companies since the early 1900s. During the 50s and 60s each of the companies was bought by a larger conglomerate. As the 80s progressed, the conglomerates realized they had made the easy money and there would be no more. They spun off the industries to sleazy operators and ruthless holding companies that squeezed the remaining blood from the stones. During 2002 I attended the funerals, the auctions that sold off the assets and trademarks. One acquaintance remarked that Springfield's future was behind us, but to a small extent, that future passed, is still with us.

Gearworks  A small upstart owned by a friend. Gear manufacturing and re-building a classic Springfield machine, the Fellows Gear Shaper. I bear a hand here occasionally and designed the web site.

Bryant Grinder  Locally owned once again and the only one of the big three to remain in town.

J&L Metrology  Precision optics and mechanics, but Springfield never made a "Leica Copy". This is the remains of the Jones and Lamson Optical Comparator Division. Locally owned again and in good hands.

American Precision Museum  This place helped me gain perspective on our local industrial history.

D.A.P. Enterprises  When Land Rover left the U.S. market in '73, D.A.P. was founded to keep a supply of parts coming from the U.K. I signed on when the company moved here in '95. Though I moved on to other things, I still help out in the shop occasionally.

MacDermid Equipment  My employer once again ( 3rd time! ), at least for now. This can be a very fun job, fabricating and assembling equipment for making printed circuits. Oh! Note that they have trademarked the term "Planar". What would Carl Zeiss say?