Rangefinder Magazine
July 2002

Problems and Solutions by Bill Hurter

Please accompany your questions with a self-addressed stamped envelope if you wish an immediate reply. Alternatively, you can e-mail me at: bhurter@rfpublishing.com.

From: Bob Schulz
rhandppschulz@mymailstation.com
Bill, I need a repair service for Canon A-l SLRs. I have four of them and rotate them on jobs. Canon no longer has parts, and it seems no one else does either. Thanks in advance.

The only source in my files that still repairs Canon A-1s is J. Albert & Co., 1072 Casitas Pass Rd., Ste. 210, Carpinteria, CA 93013; (805) 684-4533. They report that parts are drying up, but they have a good source for remanufactured parts and can still repair and service most A-1s they get in.

From: Roger Stevens
sroger9@msn.com
I am interested in upgrading to a new digital camera. However, I would like to get one that uses the JPEG 2000 compression algorithm since this is about 10 times better than the original JPEG. Do you know anyone who is making or is thinking of making a camera like this? Thanks for your help.

I forwarded your question to John Rettie, Rangefinder’s digital editor and he responded by e-mail.

“I am not aware of any camera companies that will be adopting the JPEG 2000 standard in the near future. I presume that it will not happen until it is more widely adopted by others. It’s my understanding that JPEG 2000 is more for Internet compression usage instead of storage for image files from a digital camera. In all honesty I don’t think you’ll find it offers much better compression than the current JPEG standard. In most case you’re better off using the RAW file if you want to retain all the information captured by the camera.”

From: Anonymous
In the May issue you referred a reader to a place that repairs Ascor packs. I have several QC-1000 packs. IMHO [in my humble opinion], the advice you should give is to get rid of the Ascor packs. They don’t have modern safety features; and they’ll blow the switch (expensive) if you even look at them cross-wise. I was so scared of mine, I’d put on giant rubber gloves (Someone told me the gloves I use are “lineman’s gloves.”) before touching the switches. There are lots of good and safe strobes available. Why keep power packs that a rational man is afraid of?

Mr. “Anonymous” also had these glowing words in a later e-mail regarding Ascor strobes…
• They’re heavy as hell!—25 pounds for 800 watt-seconds.
• The heads are noisy.
• When the switch does blow, the noise is comparable to a gunshot. A model literally wet her pants when it happened.
• When the switch blows, it sometimes blows your fuse or flips the circuit breaker.
• Repairs are very expensive.

As someone who grew up using an Ascor QC 1000 system and someone who has also been scared to death when one “arced” as I went to plug in a head with the power pack on, I truly appreciate your comments regarding these strobes. They were reliable to an extent, but you’re right, they scared the daylights out of all of us who used them.

From: Anonymous
in Oregon
Recently there was an article by a California photographer from Morro Bay, I think, who was printing his own black-and-white postcards on Ilford postcard paper and printing on the back with an inkjet printer. I also am printing postcards, but I have been unable to print on the back with my Epson inkjet printer. It seems the ink smears, even though I set the printer on “+.” I would like to know how I may contact this photographer to ask his advice. Also, please tell me which issue his article appeared in. Thank you.

The article was by Steve Anchell and it ran in the January 2000 issue of Rangefinder. I am forwarding you a text-only version of the article, which also includes Steve’s e-mail address. Feel free to drop him a line with your questions.

From: Curt Nordgren
Knuhm@aol.com
In your last problems and solutions column you state that film should not be frozen. I have frequently kept 35mm and 120 film in the freezer and noticed no problems. Why should it not be frozen?

I have never frozen my film, but I got a return e-mail from Curt, who dug up the following information. “I spoke to the owner of a professional processing lab today and he frequently freezes all types of film for critical work to prevent any color shift or change. 0°F storage is required by Kodak for their check samples, which are shipped on dry ice. 40°F slows change, colder slows more. There is no damage from ice crystals if kept in vapor-tight wrap.”

From: Dick Harrington
San Francisco, CA
photoassc@aol.com
I am trying to obtain a replacement apron for my Simon-Omega Tabletop Dryer (cat. #414001). It was originally made by Pako for Simon-Omega. Do you have a current address and or telephone number for Omega-Arkay? Thanks for any help you can give me.

Omega/Arkay in Westminster, MD is now Omega/Satter. According to the person I spoke with, the dryer was made by Arkay, which was purchased by Regal Photographic in Milwaukee, WI. For more information, call (800) 695-2055.

In last month’s “P&S,” we ran a query from another “Anonymous” regarding a plan to deal with some scurrilous competitors in his area. Here is a recent response from him regarding the problem.

“Since I wrote to you about a month ago, it appears the three photographers that were bashing me by using scare tactics with potential clients have both stopped and apologized. They also are not wedding photographers and do not belong to a single professional organization. I believe other photographers experience the same problem frequently. Thanks again for your reply and immediate attention to this matter.”

I’m just glad things worked out.