I was surprised by people saying that a camera cannot be "mint" after it's
cleaned up. By that reasoning, the human body isn't clean even after it's been
soaped and scrubbed.
With respect to the used camera biz, "mint" means that the camera has minor,
not particularly noticeable blemishes. It does not carry the same meaning it
would to coin collectors. For photo equipment, "excellent" is what most people
would call "fair," and "good" is "poor." This "inflation" of subjective
cosmetic quality probably occurs because cameras are fundamentally functional
items, and a terrible-looking camera can still take great pictures.
The SX-70 is, arguably, the greatest camera of all time. (Not necessarily the
most versatile or the one that takes the best pictures. Just "the greatest." )
It's also one of the most technologically outrageous products ever produced.
It's rugged, too, for such a complex camera. I've dropped them on concrete, and
they continue to work correctly.
The basic SX-70 design was invented by Nelson K. Cherrill -- in 1907! (See page
138 of "Cameras -- From Daguerreotypes to Instant Pictures" by Brian Coe.) Its
adaptation to make a very compact 35mm SLR occurred to me over 20 years ago.
The "catch" is that the mirror system that makes it so compact also reverses
the image. This is tolerable only if you work with negative film and do your
own printing.
If you don't own an SX-70 or SLR 680, you're missing a lot of fun. Last
Saturday was the Christmas party of my amateur radio club. I shot four packs of
film and handed out pictures to everyone. I'll be doing it again at our
mountain man party next weekend. People just love photos.
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