Littman?

[John_4185]

I've never seen a Littman camera in person, so I've wondered about them. Today these two things came up on the auction site.

Littman 45 Single. The Opus + Arte Collection
Introduced at NY Photo Plus & Expo last weekend Item number: 7558521936

LITTMAN 45 SINGLE Par Pez Hazard Opurt REPAIR JOB !!!!!
You bought the hype, you're going to need it fixed. Item number: 7560846332

What's the story on the Littman?

[Frank Petronio]

The first one is a rip-off, the second one is a service

[John_4185]

The ad for a Littman includes this If you are a US buyer and buy / have bought one of the butchered knockoffs offered in this site or elsewhere you may face legal costs ranging between 10 and 100k. all cameras in question sold to the US must be subpoena as evidence dismantled to allow through examination.we know who has bought these [...]

Whew. The ripper-offer must not be Chinese, eh?

[Philip_5765]

I'm surprised ebay allows these kinds of listings. One is just an advert and the other is a veiled threat.

rebus

[David A. Goldfarb]

It's all that patent bluster (at one time Littman was threatening to sue anyone who bought a 110 series Polaroid on eBay on the grounds that under his patent, no one else had any use for them), that makes people want to buy other people's Polaroid conversions as a matter of principle, whether they need one or not. The Littman is a neat concept and in most cases seems to be a good camera, but who needs the paranoia?

[darter]

What a loon! What language is he writing in? Klingon?

[Ralph Barker]

My attorney has advised me not to comment on anyone selling, making, or talking about Polaroid conversions. ;-)

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Hi there,

This just poses a question: Why Bother?

Converting a Polaroid is a bother, converting a baby SpeedGraphic is a cakewalk, it takes more lenses, has more movements, has a better rangefinder if you wish, and is smaller, lighter and cheaper.

Why bother?

[Alan Peck]

I had a chance to handle one and shoot it when a friend visited with hers. I love the concept and execution but the price for me is a killer. The 5x7 camera I bought this summer cost me $20 and that's more my speed :)

[David A. Goldfarb]

The attraction of the Littman is that you can focus and frame in the same finder, like with a normal rangefinder camera, and there is parallax correction for fairly close distances.

Other Polaroid conversions aren't as sophisticated as this, but the attraction of one of those would be that some people find them more handholdable than a press camera.

[Philip_5765]

I had Four Designs convert a 110b for me many years ago. I ended up converting it to a 4x5 for my own use (through much trial and error on my part). I hope Littman doesn't sue me.

[mark blackman]

"If you are a US buyer and buy / have bought one of the butchered knockoffs offered in this site or elsewhere you may face legal costs ranging between 10 and 100k. "

I'm no lawyer (I can point to at least a couple of friends), but is this really the case in the US? You, the consumer, buys something in good faith that turns out to breach a patent, then you can be liable for these 'legal fees'? How so? Does this mean that following all those legal cases about copyright etc between Microsoft and Apple (for example), US consumers of PCs /Macs have to cough up 'legal fees'?

[David Van Gosen]

Go to Photo.net and search on this topic. You'll find out all you need to know about Mr. Littman.

There's no way I'd buy anything from him.

[John_4185]

Mark, the message in question has confused language. No ordinary person buying the items in question for personal use, not for purposes of resale is going to be sued; the maker, seller might be. Methinks the author would do well to consult his attorney before making such announcements.

[Paul Droluk]

A few months ago on the other LF Forum there was this VERY LONG thread wherein Littman raged on and on (quite incoherently) regarding something-or-other about this issue. I never did figure out what he was trying to accomplish with his antics, other than to alienate readers and cause them to suspect that he was likely under-dosed.

[Mark Sampson]

Pardon me for perhaps hijacking the thread, but I have a question. To wit- apart from the larger image size, what does this camera do that a Polaroid 195 won't? A better VF and a slightly larger print/neg doesn't seem to justify the cost.

[Amund BLix Aaeng]

You can use the Littman with regular 4x5 film holders.....

[Frank Petronio]

Tick tick tick ....

[Neal Shields]

"I never did figure out what he was trying to accomplish with his antics"

There is an old saying that it doesn't mater what they are saying about you, as long as their talking about you.

[Nitish Kanabar]

LOL. Good one "yoshidoo"

http://cgi.ebay.com/Littman-Deprogramming-Save-Thousands_W0QQitemZ7561146678QQcategoryZ15247QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Matt Powell]

$1200 to convert a 4 Designs 110B (that usually sell for $200-250)? Yeesh.

I don't find the legal/patent language in either description, it seems Littman has done some judicious editing.

[John_4185]

cgi.ebay.com/Littman-Deprogramming-Save-Thousands_W0QQitemZ7561146678QQcategoryZ15247QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem (http://cgi.ebay.com/Littman-Deprogramming-Save-Thousands_W0QQitemZ7561146678QQcategoryZ15247QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

Well, I'm tapped out at $1.01
The penny put me over the top!

Sheesh - professional help these days, "Yoshidoo"!

[David A. Goldfarb]

Just in case anything is unclear, Mr. Littman writes in another auction (7560665827)--

"We will tolerate no further interference and any further misleading representations by sellers will be considered as defamatory and or as inducing the public to disrespect / infringe patents by knowingly misrepresenting what is and isnt protected or the existence of prior art which does not exist or any misrepresentation of the extent of such prior art if any should exist so as to knowingly induce the public to brake the law and compete unfairly."

[Frank Petronio]

We really should give Litti a BRAKE. That Yoshidoo guy is going to get fried when Littman's lawyers get done with him. We should all bid on his auction to help with the legal fees.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I just hope he's making a charitable donation to these folks for every "Panthere Gris" that he sells--

http://www.graypanthers.org/

[John_4185]

I sit naked on Zerox copier. Make picture. Copyright it. Send it to Meester Little One. Okeey Dokeey?

[Morten]

Gents!

Just for the record.. Do I need a Polaroid 110b.. or would any of the other Polariod's also do ? For a MUST try this picture-frame-and-rubberband-conversion.... The pictures over at the other LF site looks kinda cool, and as a LF bottom feeder this looks like a fun project for the comming winter... :-) Just for the heck of it... !!

ps.. its only fair-use or...

Regards
Morten :-)

[Christopher Nisperos]

I don't get ANY of this, but it has me giggling my head off. So, sue me!

[Matt Powell]

The 110A works if you want to do a Polaroid pack-film conversion (3x4 negs), but if you want a 4x5 it has to be the 110B I think (or else the back blocks one of the viewfinders).

[David Van Gosen]

Just read some recent posts on photo.net. Dude's definitely off his meds. Get a Crown Graphic or a medium format rangefinder instead.

[Dean Jones]

If all the threats, intimidating phone calls and related garbage doesn`t soon cease, I could be tempted to put up a Littman page on my website. Then I could include all manner of interesting goodies, from links to the various forums that have appeared over the last few years, numerous pics of the simply marvellous engineering employed, not to mention the many L45 reworks and repairs I`ve carried out recently.
All the latest hullabaloo on Ebay is a sign of nothing more than devine madness.

I can`t figure the listings either, everytime I go to place a bid they vanish......

[Dean Jones]

Now this is more like it!: Ebay item 7564053817

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Hi there,

Like the hammer!: Ebay item 7564053817

[Jason ****]

Tyrannical trainwreck from first impression to last. His real name is Gialermo Litman, but should be Litigationman. His pre-threats to his customers says it all. His cameras are over rated, and over priced. The patent he holds is bull****, and one day will be thrown out so others can once again make 4X5 conversion without hiring a lawyer first.