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Archive 2011Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics
p.1 #1Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics
Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics and etc.
When I was growing up, way back in my 40's, just 10 short years ago, Monaghan's Megasite (MM) was one of my favourite sites for information on photography. It was an incredible resource for cameras, lenses, technology, and technique. Unfortunately, MM has been, effectively, offline for many years. One of my favourite parts of the MM site was the "Cult Classics" section. This is where I learned that Vivitar Series 1 lenses from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s were really, really good, as well as many other specific lenses from other brands. Unfortunately, the Cult Classics web pages have been offline for many years. So, I've decided to post the Cult Classics pages on my site, in .pdf format, converted from a .doc file that I made seven or eight years ago. Here's the link,
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/MonaghansCultClassics.pdf
You'll probably recognize some of the 'unknown' brands. Many of them are now very expensive, if you can find them...
The main Monaghan's Megasite index page and the "Third Party Lenses..." pages are still available online,
http://medfmt.8k.com/
http://medfmt.8k.com/third/index.html
... but the Cult Classics and many other pages are gone.
Anyway, there it is. I apologize if this raises any copyright or personal issues. If you don't think it should be posted, then let me know, and we can talk about it.
Cheers, Jim
[Edit: to include these extra pages]
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/ThirdPartyLenses.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/CultClassics.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/CuringLensEnvy.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/FisheyeLensAdapters.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/listBig4focal.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/listBrandName.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/listFocalLength.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/Manufacturers.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/PrimeVsZoom.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/Reviews.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/TestingTips.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/Ultrawide.pdf
Edited on May 08, 2011 at 04:39 PM · View previous versions
When I was growing up, way back in my 40's, just 10 short years ago, Monaghan's Megasite (MM) was one of my favourite sites for information on photography. It was an incredible resource for cameras, lenses, technology, and technique. Unfortunately, MM has been, effectively, offline for many years. One of my favourite parts of the MM site was the "Cult Classics" section. This is where I learned that Vivitar Series 1 lenses from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s were really, really good, as well as many other specific lenses from other brands. Unfortunately, the Cult Classics web pages have been offline for many years. So, I've decided to post the Cult Classics pages on my site, in .pdf format, converted from a .doc file that I made seven or eight years ago. Here's the link,
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/MonaghansCultClassics.pdf
You'll probably recognize some of the 'unknown' brands. Many of them are now very expensive, if you can find them...
The main Monaghan's Megasite index page and the "Third Party Lenses..." pages are still available online,
http://medfmt.8k.com/
http://medfmt.8k.com/third/index.html
... but the Cult Classics and many other pages are gone.
Anyway, there it is. I apologize if this raises any copyright or personal issues. If you don't think it should be posted, then let me know, and we can talk about it.
Cheers, Jim
[Edit: to include these extra pages]
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/ThirdPartyLenses.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/CultClassics.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/CuringLensEnvy.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/FisheyeLensAdapters.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/listBig4focal.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/listBrandName.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/listFocalLength.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/Manufacturers.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/PrimeVsZoom.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/Reviews.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/TestingTips.pdf
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/Ultrawide.pdf
Edited on May 08, 2011 at 04:39 PM · View previous versions
May 08, 2011 at 06:29 AM
p.1 #2Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics
Thank you for treasuring this and then sharing! It's enlightening and informative. I was so naive to think that nobody cared about alt-glass until 5-6 years ago when the fullframe digital revolution hit the masses. I look forward to go hunting for some of the lenses mentioned 
May 08, 2011 at 09:31 AM
p.1 #3Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics
New book marks for me - a big thanks!
May 08, 2011 at 10:21 AM
p.1 #4Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics
Plugged into the archive.org, you can still get access to most, if not all of the sections of the site. Date doesn't really matter, he stopped updating the site in any significant fashion at least 5 years ago.
The list is great for finding details on old odd lens.
The list is great for finding details on old odd lens.
May 08, 2011 at 12:48 PM
p.1 #5Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics
dirb9 wrote:
Plugged into the archive.org, you can still get access to most, if not all of the sections of the site. Date doesn't really matter, he stopped updating the site in any significant fashion at least 5 years ago.
The list is great for finding details on old odd lens.
Thanks for the hint. Do you have any links? I just tried searching for some phrases like "cult classic third" and "megasite", at www.archive.org, but I had no luck.
OK, wait a minute... Hmmm. I found a useful looking link when searching for "http://medfmt.8k.com". It points to classic-web.archive.org, but my Norton Internet Security objects strenuously to letting me go there. Among other things, it says that it found 72 viruses and 58 drive-by downloads. I think I'll stay away from there.
Plugged into the archive.org, you can still get access to most, if not all of the sections of the site. Date doesn't really matter, he stopped updating the site in any significant fashion at least 5 years ago.
The list is great for finding details on old odd lens.
Thanks for the hint. Do you have any links? I just tried searching for some phrases like "cult classic third" and "megasite", at www.archive.org, but I had no luck.
OK, wait a minute... Hmmm. I found a useful looking link when searching for "http://medfmt.8k.com". It points to classic-web.archive.org, but my Norton Internet Security objects strenuously to letting me go there. Among other things, it says that it found 72 viruses and 58 drive-by downloads. I think I'll stay away from there.
May 08, 2011 at 01:24 PM
p.1 #6Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics
Hmm, thats odd. I've never gotten viruses from archive.org before, they are most definitely a reputable website (they're registered as an official library). Does this show up as a problem?: http://preview.tinyurl.com/3bth5h8 If it still does, it would probably be helpful to them to notify them that they are hosting a virus.
May 08, 2011 at 02:03 PM
p.1 #7Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics
The site that my Norton objected to is
http://classic-web.archive.org/web/* /http://medfmt.8k.com
I was directed there by http://www.archive.org/web/web.php, which is OK with Norton. So is http://replay.web.archive.org/, OK with Norton.
I just went through your tinyurl, and it says
"Site Temporarily Disabled
This site has been disabled. If you are the site owner please call 1-801-437-6060"
I'll try again later.
http://classic-web.archive.org/web/* /http://medfmt.8k.com
I was directed there by http://www.archive.org/web/web.php, which is OK with Norton. So is http://replay.web.archive.org/, OK with Norton.
I just went through your tinyurl, and it says
"Site Temporarily Disabled
This site has been disabled. If you are the site owner please call 1-801-437-6060"
I'll try again later.
May 08, 2011 at 02:45 PM
p.1 #8Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics
A sad day when the monster site closed. I particularly like the retention of conversations, from which so much can be gleaned. I saw a link to 'Zooms versus Primes' in this document, sadly not activated.
Being a zoom user by preference, this subject is one I always look into. I read some comments by Erwin Puts on Leica's 35-70mm f2.8 zoom from 1998 in which he stated that zooms can be better than primes...
Being a zoom user by preference, this subject is one I always look into. I read some comments by Erwin Puts on Leica's 35-70mm f2.8 zoom from 1998 in which he stated that zooms can be better than primes...
May 08, 2011 at 04:01 PM
p.1 #9Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics
philip_pj wrote:
A sad day when the monster site closed.
I agree.
Anyway, I also have the Primes vs. Zooms pages, plus some others, all with the conversations intact (AFAIK). So, I just downloaded the lot of them to my site, and edited the OP to include links to them.
A sad day when the monster site closed.
I agree.
Anyway, I also have the Primes vs. Zooms pages, plus some others, all with the conversations intact (AFAIK). So, I just downloaded the lot of them to my site, and edited the OP to include links to them.
May 08, 2011 at 04:41 PM
p.1 #10Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics
Kristjan and Dave, you're welcome.
May 08, 2011 at 04:44 PM
p.1 #11Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics
I spent a fair bit of time reading http://medfmt.8k.com/ too, years ago. Does anyone know why it has stagnated?
May 08, 2011 at 05:09 PM
p.1 #13Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics
Jim! Thank you very much for sharing!
A
A
May 08, 2011 at 11:09 PM
p.1 #14Monaghan's Megasite, Cult Classics
I found this page interesting...
http://medfmt.8k.com/brondeath.html
Number of serious amateur and professional photographers:
1981 1/2 million
1993 1/2 million rate of growth = zero
Number of cameras sold in U.S.:
SLR cameras:
1981 2.6 million
1993 725k*
rate of decline = 146k less per year ==> Is 1998 the year of the last SLR?
Point and Shoot (camera + fixed lens)
1981 800k
1993 13 million
Disposable cameras:
1981 - 1993 22 million USA
1993 62 million Japan
http://medfmt.8k.com/brondeath.html
Number of serious amateur and professional photographers:
1981 1/2 million
1993 1/2 million rate of growth = zero
Number of cameras sold in U.S.:
SLR cameras:
1981 2.6 million
1993 725k*
rate of decline = 146k less per year ==> Is 1998 the year of the last SLR?
Point and Shoot (camera + fixed lens)
1981 800k
1993 13 million
Disposable cameras:
1981 - 1993 22 million USA
1993 62 million Japan
May 09, 2011 at 04:26 AM