Merten Merit Box Camera

My Merten Merit Box camera.

We're three weeks into February, which I've deemed Box Camera Month for my blog posts. I purchased this camera about five years ago at a camera show I attended in Kent, WA, a suburb of Seattle. This show, which is a gathering of camera enthusiasts and collectors, is coming up again in early April. It's a great opportunity to see a wide variety of vintage cameras and photography equipment. If you're in the Seattle or Portland area, please stop in. I plan on having another few tables to sell off some of my collection.

 Getting back to the camera of the week, I had previously owned the Merten Merit Box camera many years ago. Still, it wasn't nearly as good of condition as this one. It was missing one of the outer viewfinders, and there were many chips in the Bakelite, so I was pleased to see this example at the Kent camera show, and it was at a very reasonable price. One of the things that initially drew me to the camera was the color of the camera. It has a dark brown color with a smooth texture throughout the camera, with the exception of the faceplate, which has a pebble finish to the Bakelite.

 The other nice thing about this camera is that Merten made two different models. The one I had previously was a 6x4.5cm format camera on 127 film. This camera is a rare version as it takes 120 films and produces a 6x9cm format image, so the negative is larger, and the film type is a lot easier to purchase. The other nice thing about this camera was the handle was intact. Due to how the camera is built, I have seen many examples where the strap is broken or missing. This camera has very few chips in the Bakelite, and the strap is intact and in overall great condition. The shutter also works.

 Since all the stars are aligned with a 6x9cm format camera and a working shutter, the camera takes 120 film. I figured it was time for me to take the camera off the shelf, load film into the camera, dust off and clean the lens, and take a walk around the neighborhood to take photos with this wonderful photo-making machine.

The Company:

French ad for Merit Box

In 1906, the Merten brothers Ernst, August, and Emil founded the Gebrüder Merten Gummersbach (GMG) company in Windhagen-Gummersbach, Germany. They started manufacturing electronic installation components. In 1926, they focused their attention on manufacturing plugs and sockets, which is where their business grew.

 In the early 1930s, Mertens used their Bakelite presses for various purposes, such as producing equipment for laboratories and, yes, in 1933, even producing a series of cameras for the rapidly growing photographic market. These were the only cameras produced by Mertens, and they turned their focus back to the electronic field.

 By 1985, Mertens had grown to the point where they were producing electronic accessories items for the commercial trade, and by the year 2000, intelligent devices were added to their portfolio of electronic products. Merten's products for smart buildings are available in more than 130 countries, where they produce electronic products for residential buildings, offices, public buildings, hotels, schools, hospitals, and businesses. 100 years after they started their business, Schneider Electronics purchased Mertens in 2006.

My Camera:

My Merten Merit Box Camera is 4.5" tall, including the leather strap, 3.5" wide with the winding knob 5.5" deep from the front of the lens to the back of the camera. The camera weighs 1 lb, 1.6 oz without film loaded into the camera. The camera is a typical box camera with two different viewfinders, one for vertical images on top of the camera and one for horizontal images on the right side. 

The Merit Box camera has a Rodenstock lens, around 80mm, and the aperture is F11. There are two positions for the shutter, which is set by a toggle arm below the lens, either a line for instant photos or a round circle setting for timed exposures. There is an option to screw in either a self-timer or cable release just above the shutter release button, which is located just to the right of the lens as you're preparing to take a photo. There is also a sliding bar on top of the camera, which allows for three different aperture settings. When the sliding bar is in the lowest position, the aperture is F11. Then, slide the bar up to the following setting, F16, and all the way to the top would be F22.

On the back of the camera is the name of the camera embossed into the Bakelite, the red window to tell the photographer which frame they are on, Germany, Film B-2, which is an Agfa reference to 120-size film, and finally, the film format 6:9.

 One of the very unique features of the camera other than the beautiful dark brown color is the interwoven strap on top of the camera. The strap or top handle doesn't come off. Instead, it has two interlooped sections that allow the strap to lengthen as you take the front off the back of the camera to load film. This makes it more difficult to load the film as you need to deal with both the front of the camera and the rear when you load film into it. It's not difficult to deal with, but at the same time, it's more than most people are used to when loading a simple box camera, mainly used for the less professional photographer.

There are two locking mechanisms on each side of the camera to load the camera. Rotate the knobs counterclockwise to unlock the back from the front. Then, you'll need to slide the strap apart to allow the camera's front and back to be removed from each other. On my camera, the strap holds the two pieces together as the strap is somewhat tight and stiff. Once you slide the two strap pieces apart, the front and rear of the camera open easily; from there, you can load the film into the camera.

 Once I put a roll of film into the camera, I attached the front to the back of the camera. I turned the locking knobs clockwise to lock the two together and slid the strap back to the shorter position so it would hold the front and the back together a bit better. It could quickly be done if I needed to make the handle a bit longer to hold the strap as I used the camera.

The one thing I noticed when I went to load the film into the camera was the winding mechanism didn't engage with the film spool very well. I needed to press the winding knob, and I was turning the knob to advance the film. The flat end of the winding mechanism that fits into the spool didn't seem long or thick enough to fit tightly into the film spool. The whole winding mechanism seemed very wobbly. I did try t tighten the screw, but that didn't help. The camera is almost 100 years old (92 years), and I'm guessing that it's just worn a bit, but I doubt it's been used very much because the strap is in great condition and still intact.

 

My Results:

Now that I had wrestled with the strap and held both the front and rear of the camera in my lap to load the camera with a roll of 120 films, it was time to take a walk through the neighborhood to see the results from this beautiful brown bakelite camera from the early 1930s. Here are some of the results from my walk.

Conclusion:

The one thing that I struggle with when using these simple box cameras is the close distance required to get a somewhat sharp image. Since it was somewhat sunny outside, I figured that using the sunny 16 rule would be my rule of thumb for exposures. 

 For those unfamiliar with the Sunny 16 rule, you use the shutter speed closest to the ASA, or as it's known now, ISO in your camera. (Yes, I'm old school.) If it's sunny outside, you use f16. I had ASA 125 film in the camera and figured the shutter speed was close to that, so I put the aperture setting in the middle setting for my exposures outside.

 I photographed my daughter and her dog, Bean, initially about 4 to 5 feet away. Then I took a step back, and the photo still was out of focus, as were many of the images I took between 4-6 feet from the subject. The one image that is nice and sharp is the more scenic photo of one of the neighbors' houses, which turned out very well. My guess is the best minimum distance is 8-10 feet away, looking at some of the results I achieved.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to look over this unique and simple camera from about a century ago. It was fun to take it off the shelf and use it as it was intended. The results are the best, and my guess is that due to several different reasons, the Merten Merit Box camera wasn't a huge seller during its time.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Gomag Holly Camera

My Gomag Holly Camera

As I declared February as 'Box Camera' month, I found myself gazing at the camera collection on the shelf above my desk. Tucked away in the back corner was a hidden gem, the Gomag Holly camera, a treasure I had forgotten about until I reached my hand back there. The joy of rediscovering this unique piece of history was overwhelming, and it brought back a flood of memories.

 Looking back at my records, I purchased this camera in late 2010 or early 2011 from an online auction with a few other box-style cameras. What intrigued me about this camera was its unique design, with two viewfinders built into one camera, and its ability to set both shutter speeds and aperture, which was unusual for a simple box-style camera. The rarity of the Gomag Holly camera added to its allure, making it a prized possession in my collection. 

 Another thing I liked about the Gomag Holly camera was the rounded corners, which gave it a less industrial look and a more refined appearance—something you'll want to pick up and use. When I picked up the camera to start writing about it, I heard something rattling around in it. My initial thought was that the camera wouldn't be usable. Still, I opened the camera and found one of the film transport rollers lying in the back of the camera.

 When I initially purchased the camera, I can't remember if I noticed that three of the sockets that hold the two rollers on the back of the camera, which prevent the film from scraping across the film plane, were missing. If I remember correctly, I didn't think much of it then because I thought, "I'd never really put the camera to use," as it was mainly for the show in my collection. That was until recently when I viewed the camera and wanted to write about it for my weekly blog post.

The Company:

I've done exhausting searches on the web. I cannot find anything about this camera or its manufacturer. I did come across an article from the Photographic History Society of Canada named The Holly and the Ivy that did a very short article about this camera, and in the article, they state the camera was made by Allgäuer Kamerwerkstatte Gomag, which roughly translates to (Allgäuer) a region in southern Germany, (Kamerwerkstatte) Camera Workshop, (Gomag), which is my guess of the company that produced the camera. They were located in Pfonten, Germany.

Holly camera logo

The only other information I can find about this camera comes from McKeown's Camera Guide from 2005-2006 on Pg. 361, which states there were actually two versions of the camera. The first version was from Gomag and had "HOLLY" embossed above the lens in 1950. Then, the company was purchased by Dr. Riemerschmid & Co., and the later version without the embossed name and with different lenses and shutters was shown at Photokina the same year but was not released until 1952. According to the McKeowns' Guide, the earlier Gomag version has Emylar or Gomar lenses, and the later Riemerschmid has the Rictar lens. They also state that the last version has "Riemerschmid & Co. Munchen" around the shutter face. Still, my camera doesn't have that, so there must be different versions, or I didn't bother with this camera.

 I've looked at several websites about camera manufacturers but cannot find any information about them. If you're reading this and do have information, please write to me and let me know. I'd love to add that information as an update when I have it.

 The one thing that I enjoyed reading the article on the camera was that the camera they were writing about was red. Now, that excited me, as I'd love to have a red version of the camera. The thought of owning a rare and unique red Gomag Holly camera keeps me hunting for the odd and unusual cameras. There may be a red version somewhere that they won't appreciate and will let me purchase for a reasonable price. My fingers are crossed.

My Camera:

My Gomag Holly camera is a bakelite camera that measures 4.25" tall, including the viewfinder in the collapsed position, by 3.5" wide, including the winding knob, by 4" deep, and it weighs 11.3 oz. The Gomag Holly camera has an 80mm f3.5 Rictar lens; mine has serial number 1886T. The camera has three different shutter speeds: 1/200, 1/50, 1/25, and "B" for timed exposures. The shutter speeds are set by sliding a ring around until you get the black pointer pointing to the desired speed. There is a small knob on the shutter speed ring that makes moving the shutter speed dial easier. You'll need to cock the shutter t, which is above the shutter speed setting ring and is pulled in the counterclockwise motion to cock the shutter. The shutter release is in the upper right-hand corner as you hold the camera to fire. There is a flash PC outlet on the other side of the shutter release, which I find somewhat odd, especially for a box-style camera.

 When  I first picked up the camera for this blog post and started to fire the shutter, I noticed that the shutter was lagging. It would fire, but the speeds seemed very slow. One thing I learned early on was to "exercise" shutters, so I spent the next ten minutes cocking and firing the shutter, which seemed to work well. After just a few minutes, the 1/200 was working as it should, and all the shutter speeds seemed to spring back to life and were firing at what sounded like the correct speed.

 The aperture setting ranges from F3.5 to F16. It is set under the lens, indicated by a silver pointer indicating which aperture is being set. The focus on the lens ranges from 1 meter to Infinity. It is stated on the top of the camera by a black triangle, along with the depth of field scale on either side of the focus mark.

A dial on the side of the camera is turned counterclockwise to open the back to open the camera. A small red dot on the dial points forward when the camera is locked and to the rear of the camera when it is unlocked, and the camera body can pull away from the lens to load the film.

Since my camera was missing the two rollers that the film rolls across during transport, I didn't want the roll of film to drag across the shutter, causing scuffs and possible static on the film during transport from frame to frame. I wanted to add felt to the sides of the film opening to decrease the possibility of scratches. I didn't have felt in my bag of tools, etc., but I did have some very old and expired rolls of 35mm film, which I use as test rolls. I thought these canisters were made of felt material, so I took the canisters apart and peeled the felt from them. Unfortunately, the felt on the 35mm canisters is too short, so I needed a couple to cobble together.

Once I took the back off the camera and pulled the felt off the 35mm canisters, I did have some excellent double-sided tape, which I cut into strips and placed on the top and side of the film opening. After that, I cut the felt from the film canisters into lengths that would fit onto the back of the film area, and since I needed two to cover the area, I staggered them on different sides of the film chamber. I probably didn't need to stagger them, but in my mind, it was the right thing to do.

 Once the film was in place, I let them adhere for a few minutes. I took an Exakto knife and trimmed any excess from the film area so I didn't have straggler hairs from the felt hanging over the film chamber. I wanted a clean edge between frames. Once I had that done, I loaded the camera with a roll of 100 ISO/ASA film into the camera. I proceeded to advance the film until I saw the "start" on the film backing. I put the film back onto the camera body and locked the back in place, then proceeded to wind to my first frame, looking through the closable window on the back of the camera.

On top of the camera are the viewfinders. There are actually two on this camera. In the back of the collapsed viewfinder is a small ridge. You pull back, and the "sport" finder pops up. You can pull up a smaller glass finder within the more extensive sports finder. A round glass lens is on the bottom of the rear portion of the sports finder. When the glass finder is pulled up, you can view your subject through the rear glass lens, which looks clever for a simple box-style camera and does a fantastic job when viewing through. To collapse the glass finder, push it down, and a clip will hold it into place. Then, you can close the "sport" finder's back portion and the larger front folds to keep them in place. It is a straightforward but valuable addition to the camera.

My Results:

Now that I have the camera loaded with film, it's time to walk through the neighborhood and see what results I can get from it. Since the camera has a "B" setting, I wanted to see how it would do on some longer exposures, especially since, living in the Northwest, we don't get much sun between November and March.

 Here are some of the results I achieved with the Gomag Holly Camera.

Conclusion:

The camera did an outstanding job. The images were sharp, well-exposed, and very good for a relatively simple box-style camera. The camera was very fun to use, and I had a fun time getting the camera in the proper shooting condition. The felt on the back of the film chamber worked well, especially since the two film rollers were missing. I'll need to get a small swatch of felt to keep in my bag of tricks in case I need to do the same to another camera I come across. If I go to sell the camera, I can always take the tape off along with the felt and have the camera back in the condition in which I purchased it.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your busy schedule to read about a very unknown but fantastic camera.

 Until next week, please be safe.

 

KAPSA Box Camera

My Kapsa camera

On my blog, February is a special time for vintage camera enthusiasts like us-it's Box Camera Month, a time to celebrate and explore the unique charm of these classic cameras.

 Looking through my collection, I noticed I had several different box or box-style cameras that I wanted to use and write about. So, in the middle of January, I thought I should spend the month of February using and writing about the four box cameras I was thinking about.

 The first camera that I noticed was the Kapsa camera. It's been on my shelf for a couple of years, and I purchased it in a large group of cameras from an online auction. At first, I didn't think too much of the camera as the items within the group I was primarily interested in were a couple of Olympus Pen F half-frame cameras. As I was unboxing and unwrapping the items I had purchased, the Kapsa was a camera that drew my attention due to the heavy Bakelite material. The name was one that I wasn't aware of.

D. F. Vasconcellos (DFV) Logo

 After doing some research on the camera after the unwrapping, I found out that the camera is rare in North America because it was made and sold in Brazil. I thought that was unusual and dug a bit more into the camera; it also comes in an aqua-blue color, which makes me want to get that version even more because of my love for colored and unusual cameras. I found even more interesting information when I did more digging into the camera and the company that manufactured the camera.

The Company.

D. F. Vasconcellos (DFV) manufactured the Kapsa camera in the 1950s, but the company, which was founded in 1941 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, began manufacturing precision optical instruments, like surgical microscopes and other items for the Brazilian military.

 In the 1950s, D. F. Vasconcellos diversified into consumer items like binoculars, magnifying glasses, and loupes. This was also the time they ventured into camera manufacturing, a move that filled a growing market for photography in Brazil. 

Brazilian ad for Kapsa camera.

 My guess is that companies like Kodak and Agfa, which were making simple cameras and importing them into Brazil, were somewhat expensive for the average Brazilian consumer. Since D. F. Vasconcellos was getting into the consumer market, they decided to manufacture an inexpensive, well-made, but simple camera for the Brazilian market. 

Getting into the camera manufacturing business must have been successful because they made cameras other than the Kapsa for the Brazilian market. They had a total of six cameras in their lineup. Some of the different cameras D. F. Vasconcellos made are very similar to some of the cameras made by Ansco. One camera made by D. F. Vasconcellos was the Zina 25, which is a copy of the Ansco Cadet II. There are thoughts that some of the cameras made by D. F. Vasconcellos were from older Ansco molds. This makes sense, as other cameras within their lineup have similarities to the Ansco line.

 D. F. Vasconcellos continued to manufacture cameras into the mid-1960s. Still, soon after, they shut down their camera manufacturing to concentrate on the items they are known for today. According to their website, D. F. Vasconcellos manufactures surgical microscopes and other specialized equipment used in the Ophthalmology, Veterinary, Otorhinolaryngology, and Dental fields.

My Camera:

My Kapsa camera is the size of many standard box-style cameras from the 1950s. It's 4.5" tall, including the strap lug, 3.75" wide, including the winding knob, 4.75" deep, and weighs 1lb. 2.6 oz and is made of a thicker Bakelite material with a pebble finish over the camera body. The Kapsa camera has a 110mm F11 Vascromat lens. Similar to many other box-style cameras, there are two viewfinders on the camera. The viewfinder on the top of the camera is for vertical format photos, and the second one on the side of the camera is for horizontal format photos.

There are a couple of interesting items within this camera. The first is the controls on the right side of the camera as you hold it, which adds a bit of complexity to the camera. On top is the shutter settings for "I," which stands for instant and has a shutter speed of around 1/100 sec. The other setting is "T" for times exposure. Next to the shutter release is "Trava" or Lock, so the shutter doesn't accidentally trigger while transporting the camera. Under that is the ability to set three different apertures, F11, F16, or F22, and along the bottom is the focus control, which is in meters. There are also flash contacts on the camera for their bulb flash gun, which you can see in the posted ads, but something I don't have.

Camera controls on the Kapsa camera

To open the camera, the locking/unlocking lever is on the left side. This lever allows you to open the camera to load/unload the film. You turn the dial to "ABRE" to open the camera or "FECHA" to lock the camera. Once the camera is unlocked, the right side of the camera pulls away from the camera body so you can load or unload the film.

There are two "wings" on the camera that convert the camera from a 6x9 format camera to a 6x4.5 format camera. I liked this feature as it allows the photographer to get twice as many photos from their roll of film. If you're in the 6x9 format with the "wings" retracted, you'll get eight pictures on the roll, but by flipping the "wings" over the film opening, you'll get 16. The one thing that you'll need to remember, and this alludes to me at times when I do this, is it also changes the format of the image. If you're in the 6x9 format, the camera is in the vertical format when holding the camera vertically. Once you change to the 6x45 format, the format of the image is horizontal even though you're holding the camera vertically. It's just something you need to be conscious of when changing formats.

Many of the articles I read about the Kapsa camera state that it can use either 120 or 620 film. However, my camera is only set up for 120-size film, as the film reel holders have larger openings for 120-size film, not the smaller openings for 620-size film reels.

 My Kapsa camera has a couple of issues. On the back of the camera, there should be two red windows for the two formats the camera can use. The first issue is one of the red windows on the back of the camera, which reads the frame number when advancing the film, is missing.  It's the right window that's missing, and it is used for the 6x4.5 format photos. That's not a deal breaker when it comes to using the camera. I just taped a small piece of foil over the window since I didn't have red acrylic to glue into the camera. Also, there is a small ship in the Bakelite close to the seam where the film insert fits into the camera body, so I added a small piece of black tape when shooting. My camera is also missing the strap.

 

My Results:

Since my camera shoots 120 film, I loaded a roll of Ilford FP4 Plus, 125 ISO film into the camera with the "wings" back so I was shooting 6x9 format images. The plastic winding knob is on the right side of the camera, just behind the horizontal viewfinder. I wound the film in the first frame, walked through the neighborhood, and snapped a few images.

 Once I was done, I got out the dark bag and processing equipment, loaded the reel with the film, and processed it. Here are some of the results. 

Conclusion:

Shooting a box camera brought back some great memories from childhood. I still enjoy holding the camera in a lower position and looking through the waist-level finder to frame the image. Maybe that's why I enjoy medium-format cameras so much; it's the tactile feel of using this mechanical instrument to capture memories that I'm fascinated with.

 The camera was fun to use, and the images are good, especially considering what many people feel is a toy. But the world took millions of images with this style of camera.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your busy day to read about this fun and somewhat rare camera from Brazil. Now, I will be on the hunt for the blue model, preferably in better condition than the camera I have.

 Until next week, please be safe.

R. F. Hunter, Gilbert Box Camera

The cameras that caught my eye early in my collecting years were mainly colored cameras. Red, blue, green, brown tan cameras were the cameras I enjoy. If they had the original color bellows, it was that much better, or If the cameras had some design, even better still. Then I started to add red bellows cameras, as well as the odd and unusual cameras. When I first got a look at the Gilbert Box camera, which had the name R. F. Hunter LTD. London, under the lens, I knew I needed to own one. I thought it was not only a great camera but close to a work of art and a mid-century masterpiece.

R.F. Hunter, Gilbert Box Camera with filter

R.F. Hunter, Gilbert Box Camera with filter

Company Background

R. F. Hunter, LTD. London was an importing and distribution company which was initially located at 40 Doughty St., in central London, England. In their later days before going out of business, they were located at 51 Gray's Inn Road, London. They started in the early 1930s, mainly distributing cine projectors and cameras.

Their main claim to fame was Franke & Heidecke Rollei products in the UK in the 1930s. This was the first distribution of their products outside of Germany, mainly due to Cyril Hunter, the Managing Director of R. F. Hunter's close relationship with Herr Franke. The story goes that Herr Franke brought his son to the UK just before WWII and asked Cyril Hunter to watch him in the UK during the wartime. He did so but needed to report to the authorities frequently with his son.

After the war, Franke & Heidecke went back into full production, but licensing the UK's distribution was limited. It wasn't until 1950 that the country changed the licenses, and robust distribution could of the product started to flow freely. According to advertising for the Gilbert camera, R.F. Hunter introduced it in 1953.

The Camera

The brushed stainless steel body with lizard skin sides are what drew me to this camera. When I first saw it, I needed to have it for my collection, just for the camera's refined look, the shine, the color, and Lizard skin sides. It had everything someone like me coveted. It had it all. Once I bought it and received it and started to play with it, I knew I had a superb camera. The whole viewfinder rotates for vertical or horizontal photos. The camera has a double exposure lock, so you can't take multiple images on the same frame. It takes 8-6x9 negatives on 120 film.

The camera measures 4.5" tall by 3.5" wide by 5" deep, including the lens. The lens is an approximate 105mm lens with two aperture setting (Dull) F5.6 or (Sunny) F11. The aperture settings are controlled by lifting or depressing a tab on the camera's upper right, next to the viewfinder. There are two shutter speeds for taking photos (fast) 1/50 and (slow) 1/30, a tab on the camera's left side. My camera doesn't allow me to pull up the tab to get the "slow" settings, so mine is 1/50. There is another setting located on the shutter release of the camera. If you pull the shutter release away from the body, there s an option for "T" or time exposure if needed. Another oddity about this camera is on the side where you focus the lens. As you rotate the lens, there are settings for 8,12, or 20 feet. I wonder why this was in feet as opposed to meters? Was this made for the US market?

On the left side of the camera is the film advance knob, which also cock the shutter, preventing double exposure. Behind the film advance wheel is a liftable latch that holds the camera's body portion to the lens/shutter area. Lifting the latch and pulling the body away from the lens, opens the camera for film loading. The camera's back has a slight curve outwards to replicate the film plane's arc, and there's a window that opens/closes so the photographer can see the frame numbers pass by when advancing the film.

Looking at the top's rotating viewfinder, you can see the etched line for registering your image for vertical or horizontal photos. I prefer the etched lines instead of the cropped corners many other box cameras have. My camera also came with the yellow filter, which fits snuggly into the lens. Next to the shutter release is a couple of flash sync posts. The camera's bottom has a tripod socket in the middle of 3 legs that prevent the camera from sitting directly on a table or ledge, which keeps the bottom from getting scuffed up.

Images

I loaded the camera up with Ilford Delta 125, black and white film. I only wished I had a faster film to shoot as the day I went to shoot was very overcast, so the photos are a bit dark, but not too bad. These images are also unretouched and quickly scanned for the post.

Conclusion

I've enjoyed this camera for many years from afar as it was sitting with my other cameras, but I am happy that I took it off the shelf and took photos with it. To me, it's a beautiful camera. I love the design, the look, and the lizard skin coverings. It is a mid-century beauty that I intend to cherish for many more years for an almost seventy-year-old camera.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day to look this over. I'd love to hear from you about your experience with the camera and if you've taken it out to use. If you have questions or comments about this or any of the other cameras I've written about, drop me a line. Until next week, please be safe.