I haven’t written a post in a while. Honestly, my life has been very crazy and the longer I stay away from this the harder I find it to come back. I suffer from major imposter syndrome and constantly figure no one wants to hear from me anyway. That may be true but I don’t think that’s fair to all of you who have been here for the past 6 years or to myself. So I will just share a quick update on what’s been going on and what I have planned for the near future.
My Health
As you probably remember, I’ve been battling a major flare up of Crohns Disease for a year now. The most recent complication has been severe anemia. Just when I felt like I was feeling a little better, I suddenly became extremely weak and tired, and found out I was severely iron deficient. Therefore, my life lately has consisted of Iron infusions and going through my day half asleep.
It has been extremely rough on me and my family, but some kindnesses really cheered me up. I got a package from my Uncle Barney with cameras he found on his explorations of local antique shops. He sent me a Minolta Maxuum 300si, a Bell & Howell Canonet 17, and an EMI K with a Fujinon lens.
I’ve been able to get a new battery pack for the Minolta but sadly the EMI K has a stuck shutter and the Canonet had a very strangely shaped mercury battery that I have not been able to find a replacement for. Apparently the battery in this Bell & Howell version of the Canonet is very different from the Canon version.
I wish I had taken a photo of the battery before I threw it away. However, I was able to conjure up a little battery pack using electrical tape, aluminum foil and a LR44 battery. It worked but i don’t know how reliable it is and I’m not crazy about it. If you have any suggestions let me know.
Another package I received was from my good friend Mike. He sent me a Praktica and a Miranda. They’re so beautiful I just hold them in my hands most days and look at them because I’ve been too weak to shoot with them.
Finally, I received a package from another very nice guy from the community named Paul. He sent me a camera I’ve wanted ever since I reviewed Mikes Exakta VX1000. He sent me my very own Exakta!
These kind gestures mean so much to me. I honestly can’t describe how much. It’s not even just getting cameras, it’s the fact that people out there care enough for me to go out of their way to make me smile. That is HUGE when you are fighting relentlessly to stay alive. So thank you to everyone for that.
Final Thoughts
So that’s what’s been going on with me. I just wanted to give a little update and let you know I am still here and still working on my reviews and taking pictures when I can. Life has just been relentless on me, and I cant catch a break. I will be reviewing these cameras in the future so let me know which one you’re most interested in reading about.
Until next time, stay motivated and keep shooting.
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I hope you to get better. For some reason, any time I want to push some film I end up reading one of your posts about it. So keep taking pictures, keep writing posts and, above all, keep pushing. 🙂
That’s really nice to hear! Thank you.
Great to hear that your still good, and getting cameras; your work is Appreciated very much, I have Autism, so reading about how people persevere with life’s’ challenges, while keeping on practicing their passions, is really inspiring, and proves what ‘therapy’ photography is, the mindfulness of shooting, and using film, your shots look so good, like a ’70s or 80’s reel, the graininess, colour pallet, such a good eye for it, it reminds me of my own Fathers shoots of us, with his Nikon fd and the oval Agfa movie camera he used (you know, the orange and black oval shaped 8mm camera), they produce such time dated shots, its really nice to introspect on that time, and how film looked then.
Thank you. Your words mean so much to me. I am very glad that my work has brought some value to you.
Wish you all the best and great health.
Good to see you’re still enjoying cameras, Aly. The bane of us all is the obsolete batteries the manufacturers used back when light meters and electronics started to become standard. I recently had my OM-1n serviced and the guy I sent it to adjusted it so I can use an LR/SR44 in an adapter to power the light meter. maybe that could be something to look into for the B&H Canonet 17 in the future?
Stay strong, my friend x
Thank you Jim! That’s a good option. I’m not sure if it would be cost effective but I will think about it as an option.
Thank you for taking the time to share with us, Aly. I am at a loss for words regarding the intense struggles you are experiencing. I am so sorry things are extremely challenging and thankful for the care you’ve been shown by the community you have. Thank you for your honesty, perseverance and inspiration. I wish you all the best. 💛
Thank you Amanda. I appreciate you.
Wonderful post Alyssa! I only wish I could do more to help you than send you cameras. I shared your post with the man who I got the Miranda from. He would be thrilled to see how his old cameras have been benefitting others.
Aww good Mike. I’m glad he will get to see how much I appreciate them.
I have some old Canonets that take this battery: https://a.co/d/heFIqwg
Is that the one you had?
Hey. I purchased that very battery and it’s too short. That’s the issue I keep running into. It’s strange. It just bounces around inside the compartment.
Ally that can mean its the wrong one, from looking at the ‘fix’ one, if the diameter is right what you have is a CR-2 / CR-123A style, they are both similar, the CR-2 is shorter than the CR-123A ; they are common-ish, Hasselblad H, 200 series + V-system metered prisms, Bronica SQ\Etrsi, Leica R8 (the standard compartment + winder grip, they use one type for each option). fyi they are ALL the same small button cell battery!, they just have 2 or 3 of them ‘packaged’ together, to make the 3.5/5 Volts the cameras need, so they are safe to use, you need to lookup the manuals to see which you need, if you have trouble, try the ubiquitous option, aka ‘butkus.ORG’ that site has all manner of ‘oddities’ accessories and cameras, so you should find something there.
I’ll definitely look into that. Thank you!