Is this a good thing?

Corry · Sep 22, 2004

Heh heh...I kinda impulse bid on this http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=3840989237&ssPageName=STRK:MEBI:IT

I don't have a ton of money to bid, so I don't know if I'll get it or now (but I'm the current high bidder!)

Anyway...is this any good? Or should I have come to Aunty Terri and Orie and the rest of the gang for advice first. I'm am just too impulsive sometimes!

hobbes28 · Sep 22, 2004

I think I'd see what the Aunties have to say about that one. I'm not so sure myself.

oriecat · Sep 22, 2004

Terri is the Daylab Queen. I know nothing about them. She did say that they are better than the Vivitars as they have more controls, so it could be good. It looks like some previous daylabs went for around $185 tho, so this could very well go a lot higher. :|

Corry · Sep 22, 2004

Yeah, I figured, but it's worth a shot. When I first got my camer (Canon AE-1 Program) I was told that they go for $100-200, and most of the ones I bid on DID go that high at least! But, I nabbed mine for $60!!!! And it's in great condition!

oriecat · Sep 22, 2004

Oh yeah, definitely worth a shot! Sometimes we all get lucky and no one else finds what you did. That's how I got my enlarger. It was categorized wrong and I got it for the $50 minimum bid! Good luck!!!!

terri · Sep 22, 2004

Ha, the Daylab queen..... :queen: How come I feel like this most of the time, then? :Joker:

Well, I looked at this item, and looks like you're winning so far, Corry. Whether or not that's a good thing will be decided by you. :wink:

I've never heard of this particular model. I'm sorry. I scooted over to the Daylab Corp site just to be sure I wasn't missing something new. But I think more than likely it's an older model. It appears to have the same type color head and controls that mine does, so I think it's fundamentally the same thing, with one major difference. Did you notice how the seller asks if you've "ever wanted to print your own 4x6 or 8x10 prints"? This is medium and large format work. And it still looks like a slide printer to me - meaning, you can make these size prints from slides or transparencies (negatives) that are medium format. Do you have a medium format camera? (Even the Holga would do.)

I have a Daylab 35 Plus with three bases: the 3.25x4.25 (for 669 film), the SX-70 base (for Time Zero film) and a "faux" medium format base - meaning, it's a base that will accept a MF sheet film holder, so I can get prints from 35mm format as large as 4 x 5, using various Polaroid sheet films. But the sheet film holder itself is a separately sold item, my model is the Polaroid 545i.

Daylab makes a separate HEAD (not base) that will take 120 format, but to my knowledge it's just called the Daylab 120. However, it sounds like what you're bidding on is an old 120 head, possibly called the 300 back then (who knows why). If you can pick it up for fifty bucks and it works, then you can use your Holga negatives in it to make prints.

Here comes the bad news: this ebay seller doesn't appear to be including a film holder or any Polaroid film with this printer. When you put your slide or transparency into these slide printers, you are exposing your image onto Polaroid film to get a Polaroid print. Last time I looked, a regular box of a Polacolor ER film in 4x5 size was about $60 - for 20 images. :shock: I can't even tell you how much the 8x10 film is. But it ain't cheap!!

Now, it could be this 300 model has a built-in sheet film holder, so you don't need to purchase it separately, like I did with my model. But if I were you, before this deal ends, get online and find out as much as you can about how it works and what it takes to actually get prints made from it.

Hopefully I am not so wrong in my guessing here that I've messed you up too badly! If I knew more I could be more definite about it, but again, I am not familiar with the 300.

Corry · Sep 22, 2004

I do have a Holga. Heh heh...I knew after I bid I shouldn't have been so impulsive! That's a big fault I have sometimes! Thankfully it's not too often!

Heh heh...maybe I'll get lucky and either someone else bids or that it's different from what you think! I'll know better next time and come to Aunty Terri and the gang first!

terri · Sep 22, 2004

Well, there should be better info out there on this model than anything I found in 2 minutes. So keep at it!

Corry · Sep 23, 2004

Well, I've looked all over and can't find ANY info!!! I emailed a question to the seller, so maybe that will help some. Damn I'm impulsive!

Corry · Sep 23, 2004

Ok...just took another look at the ebay description..if you look really close and strain your eyes at what it says on the side of the box, I do see something that says "Enlarges 35mm slides and negatives only". Does that mean yay for me?

terri · Sep 23, 2004

Yep, because it makes it sound more like a Daylab 35 model.

I looked where you were looking and that appears to be exactly what it is saying.

I still don't get it though. I squinted too, and it also says: "uses any color or B&W paper or chemistry, including Agfa, Ciba, Ilford, Kodak (paper and chemicals not included)".

So the instructions must be telling you to pre-fix this paper so it can be exposed to light, and then you can print on it.... I guess. :scratch: But then the paper wouldn't react the same.... me no know.

Just be glad you're getting the manual. Then you can try it out and teach the rest of us!!! :wink:

Corry · Sep 23, 2004

Ok, I'm feeling a little better now about my impulsiveness...I hope I win it, but when I do, I'll be comin to you for help with getting the accesories, Terri!

Thanks!

terri · Sep 23, 2004

core_17 said:
Ok, I'm feeling a little better now about my impulsiveness...I hope I win it, but when I do, I'll be comin to you for help with getting the accesories, Terri!

Thanks!

I'm happy to try! You'll need to go over the manual and see what it says first.

Impulsive buyer, you. :wink:

Corry · Sep 27, 2004

Well, I'm pretty mad. No one else had bid on this item. Then, with LESS THAN A MINUTE to go, someone swooped in and stole it from me!!!! GRrrr!!! I never even had a chance! The second I got the outbid noitce I went to Ebay as fast as possible, highered my bid, probably ony took me 30 seconds to do, and when I hit 'submit bid' I got a thing saying 'this auction has ended'. GRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!