Boring Techie Stuff: How Lens Coating Works!
And Another One: What's "BOKEH", Anyway?
And another: How does Depth-of-Field work?
Or if those aren't enough: How does a "Bright Screen" work?
And another: What's a Diopter? and why do I care? (or, everything you need to know about focusing a lens)
Or how about: How to Spot a Fake Leica
Old Favorites: THE DAIRY QUEEN COCKROACH SAGA


Hi!



My name's Rick Oleson and this is my web site. Most of it is dedicated to old cameras and photography; there are some other things too, including a few cartoons, some cars & related machinery.... even a little family type stuff.

Even though the front page doesn't change much, I do regularly add stuff to the site; so if you haven't been here in a while come in and wander around - you might find something new.

OK, you're right .... I DON'T add stuff as regularly as I used to. I've taken to posting my photos on my Flickr page instead of making pages for them here. So, if you're interested in my Tech Notes, or an old camera review or a focusing screen or any of that stuff, this is the place; if you'd like to see recent photos, click over to Flickr.

Camera Collection

If you happen to be that sort of person (heaven forbid), you might enjoy dropping by the Tinkerer's Corner, where you might find some ideas for wasting time and amazing (or at least bemusing) your friends!




The Tech Notes Collection
The sketches and notes in the collection are the traces of what is now over 30 years of random tinkering with an embarrassing variety of cameras. If you're familiar with the Tech Notes pages on this site, the contents of the collection are basically the same, except at higher resolution for printing and LOTS more of it (about 575MB) than I could fit on the website.... in all it contains a total of over a thousand sketches and photos covering a wide (and in some cases odd) variety of cameras, lenses and related bits of hardware. It's not a complete overhaul manual in any case, some models are covered much more thoroughly than others; but if you've found the Tech Notes page helpful I'm sure you'll like it. To get a general idea of the basic makes and models that it touches on, CLICK HERE
the price is $15 for a PDF download online
CLICK ON THE PHOTO ABOVE FOR MORE DETAILS






Focusing screens for medium format cameras
Click for information




My FAVORITE Photographic Quote!

My Source for World News

Here are links to some of the main sections of the site, in case you're in too much of a hurry to scroll down (but you'll find more stuff if you do):
Tech Notes
Hard-to-Find Parts & Supplies
Camera Stuff
Lens Mount Identification Guide
Photography
Cartoons
CAR STUFF
Gun Stuff
The Museum of Obsolete Technology

Now YOU TOO can look like a Real Professional Photographer!


Recommended Reading Selections for Camera Collectors










Notes on Converting a 1974 Mercedes 450SL to use 21st Century MegaSquirt Electronic Fuel Injection (click on photo above for details)
(may also be useful for other pre-1976 Mercedes and other cars that used Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection)

More old Mercedes notes: Replacing the covers and padding in the seats (not a real fun job)

Still more Mercedes fun: how to replace the water pump in the 450SL!

.... and chances are you're going to need an electric fan to go with that new water pump ....


So where does it all lead?
The links below lead to collections of photographs from home and abroad, cartoons featuring my (current and former) cats, and examples from my camera collection, as well as other things I'm interested in. Check in again later and see what's new! If you're interested, my email address is rick.oleson@gmail.com

(last updated September 8, 2022)

Some NON-OBSOLETE technology: check out these neat inventions! I ATE A COCKROACH AT DAIRY QUEEN Photography Camera Stuff Camera Tech Notes Cartoons! Car Stuff Baha'i Faith Links to other camera collecting sites My Dad's Photos of the Graf Zeppelin! This is where I work... Some Previous Olesons ...all the news that fits in Lexington... This is a really good search engine!