Hi Marc, > You DO know about the demise of the Ikonta line > -- you are, after all, one of the acknowledged > whiz-kids on the brand. Only Super Ikontas, but I know little to no history about the business end. That's your forte. > I own the perfected 1000F, a Kiev 88. Absolutely > accurate. Absolutely bullet-proof. This is what > Hasselblad OUGHT to have made! I have some Russian variant as well. I think a Salyut or something like that. Well, not really bulletproof...it's really flakier than the 1000F IMO. At least it feels that way. I forgot about that camera. Hum. I'll have to go find it now. > Both Jason Schneider and Herbert Keppler spent a > lot of time with the 1000F. Both left the camera > with relief, finding it erratic and unreliable -- > Keppler later stated, "great lenses, bad > camera". Peter Dechert, a working pro of the > 1950's, also found the 1000F very > unreliable. I'd like to know what they mean by unreliable though before drawing any conclusions. > The stories of the 1000F's > unreliability may well be mythical -- lord, life > is full of such myths! In any event, I do not > believe that a serious pro in the 1950's would > have used a 1000F. Who do you think the sales were to then? > I can put you in touch with > Rick Nordin and Peter Dechert. I know Rick. He and I have conversed many times. As far as I remember, he feels the same way about the 1000F as I stated. > Austin, we may be talking at cross-ends here. > > First, I am NOT disdaining the Hasselblad. I did not think you were. But I do think the reputation of the FP reliability you are citing is more myth than reality. Just like Hasselblad jams. > I do not have the vast holdings of rare cameras you own. I have been dwindling my collection down over the past few years. I don't want my wife and kids to have to sell them off, so I'm taking care of that now. > Someday, you and I ought to > drive to Philadelphia to meet up with Charlie > Barringer and Dan Black. Charlie wants my serial numbers. Some day I'll take the time to give them to him. > Charlie is quite > ill... I didn't know that, and I'm sorry to hear that. Best Regards, Austin --- Rollei List - Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx - Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Online, searchable archives are available at //www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list