Vintage Cameras

[frame-it]

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interesting article

https://www.washingtonpost.com/s/local/vintage-camera-photography/2021/10/17/dd2b5058-2df1-11ec-985d-3150f7e106b2_story.html

 

"David was stopped. A TSA worker asked, “What are these?”

David explained that they were cameras.

“Then they said, ‘Well, show us. Turn them on.’ ”

But he couldn’t turn them on. They didn’t have batteries.

David was taken aside for further questioning.

“I had a hell of a time explaining that these do not take batteries,” he said. “They’re purely mechanical. You cock the shutter. You hit the shutter release. I had to waste a couple of pictures showing them how they functioned. Nobody there knew how a film camera functioned.”

One of the cameras David had that day was a Rolleiflex, a German make known as a twin-lens reflex camera. It’s a black metal box a bit squatter than a loaf of Velveeta. It has a viewfinder that pops up like a jack-in-the-box. It has knurled wheels and dials. Turn a wheel and its two lenses move back and forth.

“If you laid it down on your lap and were fiddling with the controls, I can see somebody might say you’re setting a timer to go off any minute,” David said. “But all anybody had to do is say, ‘Excuse me, sir, what is that?’ Trust me, if this guy was a camera enthusiast, he would love somebody to ask him what it was.”"

[luigi bertolotti]

Funny... with a bit of exaggeration, I think... if the person suspecting a bomb was "a woman sitting near him on the plane"  I doubt that the man "wound up face down and spread-eagle on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport " ... 🙄

Anyway... TSA people, on a fly I took 3 years ago, hadn't anything to say about my M240... but inspected with care the Telyt 280... 😉

Edited October 18, 2021 by luigi bertolotti

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[pippy]

3 hours ago, luigi bertolotti said:

... TSA people, on a fly I took 3 years ago, hadn't anything to say about my M240... but inspected with care the Telyt 280... 😉

30-odd years ago I was assistant to a photographer who travelled about quite a bit. Once, when we were returning from a shoot in Frankfurt, the airport security team had us unpack every piece of our considerable quantity of location flash packs, heads, stands, softboxes (ect.); had us set them all up and fire them off to prove they were what we said they were.

Of course it took so long that we missed our flight. Perhaps they were just having a bad day and wanted some light-relief?.....

Philip.

[willeica]

I have had a vintage Leica that I was taking to London from Dublin for repair inspected because it did not have battery. My digital M which did have a battery was not inspected. Luckily the staff at Dublin airport have good senses of proportion and humour and a bit of friendly patter usually works wonders. Frankfurt airport used to be terrible for excessive security routines when I was using it as a hub for flights to the Middle East and I can visualise what Philip endured, but my recent experiences there have been much more friendly. Perhaps competition between airports and airlines is having some beneficial effect.

William 

[Anbaric]

20 hours ago, frame-it said:

“But all anybody had to do is say, ‘Excuse me, sir, what is that?’ Trust me, if this guy was a camera enthusiast, he would love somebody to ask him what it was.”"

I bet that's what happened, but after the first 90 minutes of his relentlessly detailed and enthusiastic response, the other passenger felt her only option was to come up with the bomb story to get off the plane while she still had their sanity.

[tranquilo67]

Hi,

It's a pity but I'm afraid it's a sign of these times. I think I've already said this but that modern fear about almost everything is what made me discard the 400/560 Telyt's. I cannot imagine what could happen if I put one of those in my garden with a proper tripod and try to take pictures of helicopters or planes

Sad but real. Of course, this will mean an important economical compensation for him, paid by the airline, the other passenger etc. Also a sign of modern times.

Best wishes,

Augusto

[JohnW.]

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Perhaps this better stay in the cupboard where it has been for the last 20 years☠️ 

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