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. The Tech Notes section is growing [How'd you like to be able to use your 35mm SLR lenses on a Pentacon Six (at all distances, with full 6x6 coverage)?], and I've got my entire camera collection (well, it's kind of a moving target: I just posted another dozen or so) in the Camera Stuff area! I think I have all the links working properly and all the photos in now - let me know if you encounter any problems. I've also added a section of about a dozen old camera ads from the 1930s, 40s and 50s, if you like that sort of thing. And, I've begun adding some old articles that I wrote about 20 years ago on various camera-related topics; some are neatly typed in, others I just scanned in from the original paper newsletters that they had been printed in. The most recent is one on American TLR cameras, and I've retyped the 'History of the Viewfinder' article to make it load faster and look better; you'll find these at the 'Camera Stuff' page too.
New Hope for the Flash-Impaired: Fool Proof Flash! - A simple and proven system to improve your flash photography.
And some interesting things in CAR STUFF: The Archives of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has sent me the official qualification photo of the Osteweg Special! What makes it so special? Click here to find out!
More New Stuff! I just added a page showing some of my dad's craftsmanship. Dad was a Gun Person in much the same sense that I'm a Camera Person. He didn't hunt, but he was an excellent marksman, and he also engraved, built and rebuilt guns, and made fine gunstocks. Much of his interest was based on his admiration for the fine quality of the machinery - he was a perfectionist, and it showed in his work as well as his marksmanship. See for yourself!
Thanks for visiting!
(Please note: If you don't like the little advertising banner that just popped up, DON'T CLOSE IT. Just click your mouse somewhere else on the page and it will disappear and not bug you any more. If you close it, it just keeps popping back up every time you change pages.)
This picture was taken 4/7/2001 at Carter Caves State Park in eastern Kentucky, using a Contax IIa and a collapsible 50mm f/2.0 uncoated Sonnar lens.
A recent self-portrait: the camera is a Leica IIIa, manufactured in 1939 in Wetzlar, Germany; the lens is an f/1.4 Nikkor, made in Japan in the early 1950's; and the operator originated in Illinois in 1953.
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@yahoo.com
