Welta Perfekta

My Welta Perfekta camera

As I've mentioned in the past, I'm always drawn to the colorful, or odd and unusual cameras. As a camera collector for over 50 years, and having spent countless hours poring over many of McKeown's price guides to cameras, there are cameras that I'm always intrigued by and would love to own. Cameras like an original daguerreotype camera, the Rectaflex Rotor, a three-lens camera, or a beautiful Compass camera made by Swiss watchmakers Le Coultre et Cie for Compass Cameras Ltd., London, England. All of these cameras are out of my league in terms of pricing, unless I win the lottery and have a few hundred dollars burning a hole in my pocket.

 To me, the most enjoyable aspect of collecting cameras is the hunt to find a rare or somewhat rare camera, lens, or other photographic item. Every once in a while in this collecting game, you come across a hidden bargain.  It could be something at the bottom of a box, or just that the person selling the item isn't fully aware of the value of items, and (to me), that is a highly satisfying feeling.

 Having had that same feeling about a year ago when I was at a garage sale in one of the neighboring towns, and I saw a Welta Perfekta camera. As I picked up the camera, it appeared to be in good condition. The shutter worked, the viewfinder seemed clean for being nearly 100 years old, and all the leather was intact. It was a nice camera, and one I'd love to have in my collection. When I asked about the price for the camera, the person selling it said it was her grandfather's. 

Odd shaped camera body

 Letting the seller know that the camera was in good condition and nice shape. I provided the seller with some information on the camera's age and a brief overview of the company. I let them know that I had collected the camera, written a weekly blog about it, and would love to have it in my collection. The seller said that, since I was a collector, it was important to them that the camera go to a good home, and they offered me the price of $50.00. I was happy to pay that price for such a nice example, and at that point, we were both pleased that the camera had a new home.

 I was familiar with the camera because I had written about the Zeca-Flex camera a while ago, and its shape had intrigued me. The Perfekta has a very similar shape to the Zeca-Flex as they are both folding Twin Lens cameras. These are twin-lens cameras with a large viewfinder that opens and closes, comparable to other twin-lens reflex cameras. The body of the camera folds into the film area, making the camera much smaller and more portable. 

History:

Since I just wrote about the history of Welta in last week's review of their Penti camera, I thought I would spend this review focusing on the history of the Reflekta camera, along with its older brother, the Superflekta camera.

 Both the Superflekta and Reflekta cameras are folding twin-lens cameras. As I previously mentioned, they are considered pocket cameras, which means they are smaller cameras intended to be easily transported in your coat pocket. They are a mix of pocket cameras introduced by Kodak in 1912 with their Vest Pocket cameras, and a Twin Lens Reflex camera introduced by Rolleiflex in 1929.

 The Perfekta camera was introduced in 1934. It's a medium-format camera that takes 6x6cm images on 120mm film. It features a large viewfinder that opens like the Rolleiflex and other Twin Lens Reflex cameras of its time. The body of the camera pops away from the film chamber, utilizing a bellows system that separates the lens from the film chamber, and forms an oddly shaped camera. There is a tripod socket and arm on the bottom of the lens area that allows the camera to stand upright on a flat surface, such as a table, if needed.

 The Perfekta could be purchased with one of three different lenses they sold. You had your choice of either a Meyer Trioplan 75mm f/3.5, Schneider Xenar, or Carl Zeiss Tessar 75mm f/3.8 lenses.

 The Superflekta was the first of this style of camera introduced by Welta in 1932. It's a larger camera that takes 6x9cm images on 120 film. The most intriguing feature of the Superflekta camera is that the film chamber rotates from a vertical position to a horizontal one for landscape-style images. This is very similar to how the Cornu Ontoflex operates. The photographer doesn't rotate the camera; instead, they rotate the film to achieve a horizontal image. 

 Rotating the film's back makes sense, as the camera features a ground-glass viewfinder to focus on the image. If you rotated the whole camera, the viewfinder would be on the side, which would affect composition. Turning the film chamber is a remarkable achievement in that camera. I can see where the Perfekta came into play as it's a bit smaller than the Superfekta. With the square format, Welta could cut down the size of the camera and make it even more "pocketable".

 The difference between the Zeca-Flex and both the Superfekta and Perfekta cameras is that the Zeca-Flex is more linear in design, and doesn't have the almost "S" shape that the Welta cameras incorporate. Only the bottom portion of the Zeca-Flex pops out to take the photo, then can be slid back into the camera's body for transport. 

 While Welta wasn't the first to introduce this style of camera, that honor goes to the Pilot 34 or Pilot Reflex camera made by Kamera-Werkstätten Guthe & Thorsch, another great camera manufacturer in Dresden. This camera was introduced in 1931 and was also a twin-lens camera with a bellows system.

 Both the Welta Superflekta and Perfekta cameras were only produced for a few years due to the complexity of their manufacturing. Another factor that contributed to the downfall of the Superfekta and Perfekta was the larger size of the viewfinder, which prevented it from folding into the camera body, thereby making the camera less compact.

My Camera:

My Welta Perfekta camera is 6.5" tall, by 4" wide including the film advance knob and frame counter, by 3.5" deep. These measurements are with the camera completely closed and in it's most compact state. When the camera is fully open, the camera measures 8.5" tall by 4" wide by  5" deep, and the camera weighs 2 lbs—2.2 oz. My camera has the Meyer Trioplan 7.5cm F/3.5 lens.

 To open the camera and pop the lens area from the film area., There is a round button on the right side of the camera, under the film advance knob, that you press. Once pressed, the body pops away from the film area, exposing the camera's bellows, along with the angled mirror area of the viewfinder system.

On the back, to the right of the viewfinder, is a small button that you slide to the left to open the light chimney of the viewfinder. The light chimney should pop up, exposing the ground glass for focusing. On the inside of the front wall of the light chimney is a magnifying glass that helps with focusing, a feature common in twin lens reflex cameras. On the left side of the chimney is a knurled knob that flips up the magnifying glass when turned, and flips down when turned in the opposite direction. 

Closing the light chimney, fold the sides in first, then the back, and finally, fold the chimney down into the camera's body. It will then lock into place.

 To focus the camera, a knob located just to the left of the lens/shutter assembly slides up and down, allowing you to adjust the focus on your subject. The lens moves in and out on a helicoid from the camera's faceplate. There is no focus distance written on the side of the camera, so you can't set the distance and shoot. All the focusing is done through the viewfinder, which I find somewhat dark and difficult to view on darker days.

 To close the body of the camera for transport, press the two buttons located on either side of the front plate. Once pressed, the body will push into the film chamber area and click into place. Just be sure to flip up the leg under the camera; otherwise, the leg keeps the camera from fully closing. I learned that when I tried to close the camera, I noticed the lever sticking out, ops!!

Taking the photo is pretty basic. The shutter speeds on my camera go from 1/300 to 1 sec. along with "B" and "T" for timed exposures and are set via a ring around the lens. The aperture ranges from F/3.5 to F/22 and is set by a slider arm located under the lens. The shutter cocking lever is located at the top of the lens, and the shutter release is positioned on the right side of the lens.

Loading the film is similar to that of many other medium-format cameras. On the back of the film door is a button that you slide to the left and pull down; the film's back will then open. I first noticed that where you put the fresh roll of film, along with the take-up spool, are hinged guards that both of these items fit into. The winding knob pulls out to make it easier to insert the empty spool into the chamber. Then, flip the small guard down to keep the spool in place. Similar to where you insert the fresh roll of film, once the film is in place, flip the guard down to keep it in position.

While the camera features a covered red window on the back, it also has a unique frame counter. On the inside of the film's door is a slotted rod that rolls on the film's paper backing, and it is equipped with a gearing system attached to a round frame counter, which tells the photographer which frame they are on. 

Here's how it works. Once you load the film, use the red window to access frame number one. On the inside of the frame counter, you slide the knurled wheel from A (Aus=Off) to E (Ein=On). Doing this sets the frame counter to number one, and after you take a photo, the ribbed wheel advances the frame counter every time you advance the film from one frame to the next.

 

Results:

I loaded the camera with an older roll of T-Max 100, the fastest 120 film I had available, and went for a walk with my sister, Laura, and her dog, Sally, taking photos along the way.

 Unfortunately, the day was overcast, and I had forgotten to bring my light meter with me, so I was forced to use a light meter app on my phone, which I dislike doing, as it always seems to get it wrong. However, it didn't fail me again, and the negatives I processed were underexposed.

 Here are some of the better ones from the walk.

Conclusion:

I must say that this camera was delightful to shoot with, and for the price paid, it was well worth every penny. The only drawback would be the darker viewfinder and difficulty I had focusing on the subject.

 I liked the size of the camera; I enjoyed how compact the camera is to use. The shutter and aperture worked well, and the odd shape of the camera was certainly a conversation piece when I talked to some of the neighbors I met along the walk to take photos. The camera is less bulky to transport and carry around than a traditional twin-lens camera, and the optics are excellent—an enjoyable camera that I plan on using regularly.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this unusual, yet jewel-like, camera. 

 Click on the link for some of the other cameras reviewed.

 I also run an online eBay store, Cuny's Camera and Photo. If you're interested in older cameras and other camera oddities, I have for sale.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Welta Penti camera

My Welta Penti camera

The first time I laid my eyes on a Welta Penti camera was almost 45 years ago. I was working as a salesperson at the local camera store in our area, and someone brought in a beautiful gold-colored camera with dark red trim circling the center. I was a bit flabbergasted when I saw it. The customer had just received it from a relative and wanted to know how to use it.

 At the time, I was in my early twenties, and although I had never seen one before, I started to play with it and explained the camera as I tinkered with it. I was learning about the camera at the same time.  The easy part was explaining the items located around the lens, like shutter speed, focus distance, and aperture settings. Still, when I clicked the shutter, and the advance rod came shooting out of the camera, I think I let out a little gasp of surprise as the woman I was explaining the camera to just smiled and said, "That happened to me when I snapped the shutter, but I didn't know what I did".

 It wasn't until I took the back off the camera and noticed that when you pushed the film advancing rod in, it engaged with the film's sprocket holes and pushed the film into the take-up cannister. The rod stayed in the camera body until you snapped the shutter again. Also, with the back off the camera, I did see that the camera took 35mm film, but not the regular 35mm film that the majority of photographers were used to, but the Agfa Rapid style 35mm film. At the time, we did sell a small quantity of Agfa Rapid film. 

The brilliant gold toned Welta Penti camera with advance rod out.

 While I had the camera's back off, I double-checked that the shutter was opening and closing. The aperture was operating correctly, which it was. I explained to the owner of the camera that it was called a Half-Frame camera, meaning it used only half the size of a standard 35mm camera. She would get twice the number of photos from a roll of film. If she purchased a roll of 20 exposures, she would be getting 40, 41, or possibly 42 pictures from the roll. I sold her a roll of film, loaded it into her camera, and sent her on her way. 

 The whole time I was holding this camera, I couldn't help but think, What a beautiful camera. Keep in mind, this was around the same time as I was starting to collect cameras and the ones that impressed me the most were camera with color, like the Kodak Rainbow,  Petites and Beau Brownies camera, so a gold camera with dark red circling the camera just sort of blew my mind and I wanted to know more about them.

 Fast forward 45 years, and at a recent camera collectors fair in Seattle, I purchased two Penti cameras, both in good working condition. I had previously owned a few of the Penti cameras, but sold them off years ago so when I saw them at the camera show, I thought it would be great opportunity to add them to my collection and also to write about them in one of my camera collecting blog posts.

History:

Welta Kamerawerks, a significant yet often overlooked German camera manufacturer, has a history that mirrors the turbulent narrative of the 20th century in its Dresden-area home. Founded in 1914 as Weeka-Kamera-Werk by Walter Waurich and Theodor Weber in Freital, a suburb of Dresden, the company was renamed Welta-Kamerawerk Waurich & Co. in 1919. From its inception, Welta carved out a niche for itself by producing a wide array of high-quality, medium-priced folding plate and roll film cameras, putting it in direct competition with other German contemporaries, such as Balda and Certo.

Welta Kamera Werks

 Before World War II, Welta was known for its solid engineering and innovation. The company produced a range of popular models. Still, it was cameras like the high-end Weltur series that cemented its reputation. Introduced in 1935, the Weltur was a sophisticated folding camera featuring a coupled rangefinder. This design element positioned it in direct competition with premium brands. Welta also ventured into more ambitious designs, creating the unique folding Twin-Lens Reflex (TLR) cameras, the Perfekta (6x6) and Superfekta (6x9). Though not commercial successes, these models are now highly prized by collectors for their fascinating design and mechanical complexity. Many of their cameras were offered with high-quality lenses from renowned makers like Carl Zeiss and Schneider-Kreuznach, appealing to serious photographers.

 The aftermath of World War II dramatically altered the company's trajectory. Located in what would become East Germany, the Welta factory was dismantled and its equipment sent to the Soviet Union as part of war reparations. However, production managed to restart by 1947 under the new state-controlled entity, VEB Welta-Kamera-Werk. The company continued to produce successful pre-war designs, such as the Welti 35mm folder. It absorbed other nationalized firms, including the Richter company in 1950, which led to the development of the successful Reflekta TLR series.

 Despite its resilience, the era of consolidation in the East German photographic industry marked the end of Welta's independence. In 1959, VEB Welta was merged with several other Dresden-based camera makers, including Belca and Altissa, to form the massive conglomerate VEB Kamera- und Kinowerke Dresden, which would later become the famous Pentacon. Following this merger, the Welta name, which had defined quality German cameras for over four decades, gradually disappeared from the market, marking the end of a significant chapter in photographic history.

My dark red and turquoise Welti Penti cameras

 The Welta Penti was introduced in 1959 and produced until 1977 with a few modifications. In 1961, the Penti I and Penti II were introduced. The Penti I had a broader front viewfinder area and small knobs on the lens to control the different lens functions, like aperture and shutter speeds, and the Penti II was similar to the Penti I but incorporated a selenium cell light meter. 

 All Penti cameras are 35mm, half-frame cameras that take an 18x24mm image in a vertical format. The Penti and Penti I cameras have a Meyer-Optik Tripolan 30mm f/3.5 lens. The Penti II has a Domiplan 30mm f/3.5 lens.

 The 28mm to 30mm is considered a standard lens for the half-frame style cameras. The Welta Penti cameras came in different colors; all had a brilliant gold-toned camera body, but the band around the camera came in black, dark blue, turquoise, dark red, or white.

My Camera:

My Welta Penti is a small and compact camera, making it another fantastic option to keep in your pocket or jacket, ready to take photos. The camera measures 4.25" wide by 2.75" tall and is only 1.5" deep, weighing 8 oz. A metal lens hood and case are available for the camera, but unfortunately, my camera does not have either one.

Around the lens, and closest to the camera body, is a ring that controls the shutter speeds, which range from 1/125 to 1/30, and a square that represents timed exposures. Inside the shutter speed control is the lens's focusing ring, which focuses down to 1m. Inside the focusing ring are the lens's aperture settings, which go from F/3.5 to F/22. On the Penti camera, these are awkward to move. Now that I've shot with the camera, I understand why they added the small knobs to the updated Penti I and II model cameras. These are the only settings on the camera, except for the frame counter, which is reset to zero using a wheel located inside the camera.

To remove the back to load the film, there are two grips molded into the back of the camera that you grab and pull the back away from the camera body. The back is held in place with two spring clips that engage with the molded grips to secure it to the camera body.

 Once you have the back off the camera's body, you see the two Agfa-style film cassettes, along with a silver pressure plate that swings down when loading the film and a sliding bar that holds the take-up cassette in place. The nice thing about these film cassettes is that nothing is holding the film inside: no tape or clip is used. The film is loose inside the cassette and has just been wound onto a spool.

To load the Agfa style cassettes, insert 35mm film. Luckily for me, I just purchased a 100' roll of B&W film, which I just loaded into my bulk film loader, so I have plenty of film. Just remember, you don't need a lot of film because you're getting twice as many photos on the roll. 

 Here is the procedure I used to load the cassettes. I removed the film cassettes from the camera and, along with my bulk film loader, placed them in a dark bag. I cut off a piece of film, approximately 2-3 feet long, from my bulk loader and slid the end of the film into one of the cassettes, ensuring the film's emulsion faced down, just like any 35mm film. Once I pushed the film into the film cassette, I removed it from the dark bag and trimmed the exposed film's corners.

I placed the cassette with the film inside on the left side of the camera's body, pulled down the pressure plate, and gently slid the trimmed end of the film into the take-up spool on the right-hand side. I snapped the shutter, and the film advancing rod popped out of the camera's body. The film is transported from the film cassette to the take-up cassette by a piece of metal with two prongs that push the film into the take-up cassette when the film advancing rod is slid into the camera's body. 

 When you take the photo, the pronged metal piece disengages from the film's sprockets. It moves to the left, so when you push the rod in, the pronged piece of metal grabs the film's sprockets and pushes the film from the cassette on the left to the take-up spool on the right. At this point, flip up the pressure plate, and immediately to the left of the viewfinder is a thumb wheel that allows you to zero out the frame counter, indicating the number of photos you've taken. Pop the film back onto the camera body, ensuring it's positioned correctly, and then start taking pictures.

The problem in my circumstance was that, since I didn't know how long the film I cut was, I didn't know how many photos I'd get on the unknown length of film I cut in the dark bag. The good or not-so-good news is that, with these cassettes, you don't know when you reach the end of the roll because you're transitioning from one cassette to another. There's no rewinding the film into the cassette. When you're done with the roll, the pronged metal piece has no more film to push into the take-up cassette, and a film tail (the end of the film) protrudes from the take-up spool.

 

My Results:

Now that I had film loaded in the camera and my trusty Sekonic L-308 meter with me, I took general meter readings. I then took our dog for a walk through the neighborhood. I snapped a few photos, both vertically and by turning the camera to get a few horizontal images. Here are the results from my walk with Ernie.

Conclusion:

What a fun camera to shoot with. It's small, compact, and fits easily into my pocket. The film advance rod popped out as it should, the viewfinder framed the images well, and there were no snags on transporting the film from one cassette to the other, which is what I was most worried about when using it.

 The few minor drawbacks I have with the camera are that, with my larger hands, the settings were a bit clumsy, but not too difficult to use once I got accustomed to their location. Additionally, I was unsure of how many images I had taken on the film, so I had to insert the film cassette. Out of the approximately 2 feet of film I put in the film cassette, I received 22 good images on the negatives, two of which were partial frames.

I also seem to have a slight light leak coming from either the bottom of the camera, as there’s a consistent bright area on my photos, which I’ll need to investigate. The images also look to have an “infrared” glow to them, which I liked.

 To read about any of the other cameras reviewed, click the link.

 I also sell cameras, lenses, and other odd camera items on my eBay store, Cuny's Camera and Photo. Stop by and go shopping.

 Thank you for taking the time to read about this fantastic little camera. I'd love to hear from you, so please email me with any comments or concerns you have about any of my reviews.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Capta Camera

My Capta camera

When visiting another country, I research to find out if there are cameras made in that country that I'm unaware of. If I'm fortunate enough to find one, I can add it to my collection. We were fortunate enough to plan a trip to Barcelona last month, as my wife had a conference to attend and participate in, so I planned on tagging along on the journey to Spain.

 I had a few objectives for this trip, as I'd have time on my own. These objectives were to use my new Fujifilm camera, shoot black and white with my Widelux F7 camera, and attend local flea markets to find Spanish cameras that I wasn't aware of. All three objectives were accomplished. 

 At the local flea market in Barcelona, I stumbled upon a hidden gem-a relatively unknown Spanish Bakelite camera, a Capta camera in a tattered case. The thrill of this discovery was palpable. The camera was in good working condition, took 120 film, and had a 6x4.5 format. I didn't see any chips in the Bakelite. For a decent price, I eagerly made the purchase, already envisioning the stories I would share about this Spanish wonder.

 Upon returning home, I eagerly unpacked the Capta camera. Despite its better-than-expected condition, it was covered in a layer of grime, likely from the leather dust of the case. I  cleaned the camera with a soft cloth, Q-Tips, and lightly soapy water, restoring its original charm. With the camera now sparkling, I was ready to delve into its history and put it to use.

History:

Julio Matutano Benedito

Capta was the brainchild of Valencian pictorialism photographer, Julio Matutano Benedito. Born into a modest family in 1892, he had a passion for art from an early age. At the age of 12, he began his apprenticeship with a local sculptor. Between the ages of 14 and 20, he attended evening classes for artistic drawing at the School of Craftsmen in Valencia. 

 He was an accomplished engraver with his shop in Valencia until he took up photography in 1923, where he honed his craft by taking photos of his family. In 1928, Julio Matutano and a group of his friends formed Foto Club Valencia. Between 1928 and 1936, Julio Matutano won several national and international awards for his photography.

 In 1935, Julio Matutano changed careers. He embarked on designing and manufacturing a new camera company in Spain. His first creation, the Nerva, was a testament to his innovative spirit. This camera, made from stamped aluminum, used 127 film with a 3x4cm format and featured a German Rodenstock lens. It was a true pioneer in its time, selling for 13 pesetas, equivalent to approximately $35.00 in today's dollars.

 In 1942, he designed a wooden camera with a SACO (Sociedad Anónima de Cristales Ópticos) lens, which took 127 film in a 6x4.5 format, named PERFECTA. I couldn't find this camera anywhere, except for the German Perfecta. If you have any information on it, please let me know.

 Julio Matutano registered the CAPTA trademark in 1944. That year, he also designed and introduced the Capta I, a Bakelite camera manufactured by Industrias Sintéticas Abril in Barcelona. The camera featured an optical viewfinder on top and used 120 film with a 6x4.5 format. At this time, the Capta sold for 101 pesetas. Later in 1944, Capta introduced the Baby Capta. I created a smaller version of the Capta, which I named the Baby Capta, featuring a metal face and capable of taking 127 film in a 6x4.4 format. This camera was marketed for a younger audience.

 The Captaflex was designed in 1947. The Captaflex was a Bakelite camera that took 120-size film with an unusual 52.5 x 52.5 cm image area (6x6) format. The camera had a 90mm f/8.5 lens and a helical screw, variable focus lens capable of focusing from 1.5 meters to infinity. The camera bears a strong resemblance to the British-made Ensign Ful-Vue camera. Unfortunately, Julio Matutano died in 1947 before the camera came to market, but his two sons, Julio and Vincente, who had been working in the company since they were 12 and 13. Both sons were artists when they took over the company and moved it to Valencia. From then on, the company's logo was JVM, and the Captaflex was released in 1948 for 375 pesetas.

 The brothers expanded the business during the 1950s, as the resurgence of photography following World War II gained momentum. In 1952, the Capta II was introduced, featuring a coated lens, a focusable lens, and an accessory close-up lens.

 Capta's first 35mm camera, the Capta 35, was introduced in 1953. A 24x24 format camera made of injected aluminum alloy with three shutter speeds and a rectilinear lens. In 1955, the company expanded into other areas and introduced the Capta-Movie. In 1956, Capta introduced the Universal Tank, a film developing tank compatible with 35mm, 127, and 120 films.

 After 1959, the collaboration with Gaspar Mampel ended, and Capta started selling all its products directly to the public. During this time, Capta introduces a microscope, an enlarger, and several other photo-related products. In 1966, the company ceased all production and closed due to extreme financial difficulties.

My Camera:

My Capta camera is 5" wide by 4" tall by 2.75" deep and weighs 10.2 oz without the fitted leather case. The Capta is a straightforward camera with a fixed focus, meniscus lens, and a basic optical viewfinder on top. The camera is a 6x4.5 vertical format camera, and it also has a tripod socket on the bottom.

For shutter speeds, the Capta camera has either "I" for instant, or "P" for timed exposures. These are set by pulling out or pressing in a metal bar that sets the shutter's capability, which is on the right side, below the lens. According to my shutter tester, the shutter speed is 1/40 for instant exposures. The shutter release is above the lens at an approximate 11:00 position, and above the "CAPTA" name on the front of the camera. A shutter release cable can be connected to the shutter release for timed exposures.

To load the camera with film, the back is held to the body with friction. There is no locking mechanism on the camera that secures the back onto the body. On the side of the camera are two small tabs. Push these two tabs apart, and the back separates from the camera body, exposing the area where you load the film. When the camera back is off the body, and you're ready to load film into it. There are three "wings" that can be pulled up to insert the film. These wings make it easier to load the film as opposed to trying to jam the film roll into one of the sides of the camera. There was an interesting empty spool in the camera from a film manufacturer I wasn't aware of. The spool is from Infonal, a Spanish film manufacturer in Barcelona.

The side with the take up spool and winding knob only has one wing that lifts to help load the film. Loading the empty spool is a bit more challenging, as the winding knob doesn't lift to assist with loading the empty spool. After a bit of wiggling, the take-up spool fit into the correct position. Once the film is in the camera, all you need to do is press the back onto the body, and friction hold the back in position.

 The red window on the back of the camera seemed low for the numbers on my roll of film. Still, I was able to see the numbers as they passed and stopped at the appropriate places to capture the whole roll of images on the film.

 

My Results:

I loaded a roll of T-Max 100 film into the camera and took it for a walk through the neighborhood. I should have given the camera one more Spanish experience by purchasing a roll of 120 film at Casanova Camera in Barcelona and trying it out there; unfortunately, I didn't think of it, so I was forced to use the camera in my neighborhood.

 After developing the negatives, I was pleasantly surprised by the results. While the images were relatively sharp in the center, the fall-off of sharpness is rapid as you move to the outer portions of the image, making this a wonderful Lomography camera. It almost has a very dreamy effect on the outer edges which I personally like.

Conclusion:

The camera was enjoyable to photograph with. Using the camera was really applying photography's basic rules, which include ensuring the sun is behind you, framing the image in the viewfinder, pressing the shutter release, and winding to the next frame. In today's world, we'd call this a "point and shoot" camera, as it has no settings. Am I taking photographs or snapshots? Does this make it better or worse? That could be a topic for discussion on another day.

 My trip to Barcelona was a successful one. I photographed many beautiful areas of the town, uploaded my favorite Widelux Images of Barcelona, and purchased a relatively unknown and simple Spanish camera to add to my collection.

 Click on the link to see other cameras I've reviewed from my collection.

 If you're interested in older and collectible cameras, I do have a store on eBay, Cuny's Camera and Photo, where I sell cameras, lenses, and other camera items.

 I'd love to hear from you. If you have a question, comment, or concern, please don't hesitate to contact me.

 Thank you for taking the time to read about this little known Spanish camera.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Canon Demi camera

My Canon Demi camera.

I've never really been a big fan of Canon cameras, as I've always been a Nikon person. In my opinion, Canon cameras weren't well-made, especially in the 1960s, when this camera was manufactured. Their line of early rangefinder cameras has nice optics and is comfortable to shoot with, but I just prefer the Nikon line.

 One of my frustrations with Canon was working in a camera store during the 1970s, when the unbelievably popular Canon AE-1 was introduced. For over a year, the camera was the top seller in our chain of stores as we couldn't keep them in stock, and people absolutely loved it. Personally, I think that Canon held back production on the camera to add to the mystique of having a camera "hard to get", which added to the popularity of the camera. Daily, we had so many questions about that camera. Today, I could do a demo on the camera with my eyes closed.

 I don't remember the exact year I purchased the Canon Demi camera, but I know I've had it for several years.  My guess is it's been about 8-9 years. I do remember, I purchased the Canon Demi camera at a flea market, mainly because the camera was red, and I'm a sucker for colored cameras. Checking out the camera at the time, it had the original red camera case, and the person who sold it to me said the camera's meter wasn't working.

 Having had many cameras with a selenium cell light meter, they tended only to last around 20 years or so until the selenium cell loses the ability to read light and work in cameras. I wasn't worried about that at the time of purchase, as the primary motivation to purchase the camera was that it was red and had a red case.

 The Canon Demi was introduced in February 1963. The camera has a sleek and modern design from this expressive period.  The camera has rounded corners and a straightforward point-and-shoot viewfinder with a zone focus system. It wasn't made to be a professional camera with built-in focus capabilities, but for the family and photo hobbyist. A selenium match needle metering system was easy to operate, keeping costs down for the consumer. By the end of 1963, the Canon Demi came in four colors: traditional, black, white, blue, and red. These colors didn't last long and were quickly discontinued.

My Canon Demi with wrist strap, and 27mm UV filter

 Another advantage of the Canon Demi was that it was Canon's first half-frame camera, introduced four years after the Olympus Pen camera in 1959. Rolls of film at that time had either 20 or 36 exposures, so shooting 40 or 72 photos on a roll of film was excellent and considerably less expensive for the family to use.

 In September 1964, Canon introduced the improved Demi S, which had a 30mm f/1.7 lens and an improved metering system. 

 In April 1965, the Demi  C, with interchangeable lenses, was introduced. You had the standard 28mm f/2.8, and a 50mm f/2.8  was available for the camera.

 The Demi Rapid, with a rapid loading system, battery-operated CD meter, and self-timer, was released in June 1965.

 May 1966 saw the release of the very popular and top-of-the-line Canon Demi EE17. This camera was the same as the Demi Rapid without the rapid loading system. 

In April 1967, Canon returned to the original style with the Demi EE28, back to the Selenium cell metering system, and a 28mm f/2.8 lens. In four years, Canon introduced five different models of the same camera, which were very similar to what the auto industry was doing then.

History:

Canon Inc., a large Japanese multinational corporation, has played a significant part in the evolution of camera technology. The company's journey in the camera industry began in the 1930s and has since developed into one of the most recognized names in photography worldwide.

 Canon's first camera, the Kwanon, was developed in 1934 by a small team of Japanese engineers. It was Japan's first 35mm focal-plane shutter camera named after the Buddhist goddess of mercy. Although it was never mass-produced, it laid the foundation for Canon's future success. In 1935, the company adopted the name Canon, signifying precision and excellence.

Canon ad for Canon Demi

During the 1940s and 1950s, Canon focused on refining its rangefinder cameras. The Canon II, released in 1946, helped the brand establish itself as a competitor to German camera makers like Leica. In the 1950s, Canon began to diversify its product line. By 1959, it introduced the Canonflex, its first single-lens reflex (SLR) camera—this marked Canon's entry into a growing market that prized versatility and interchangeable lenses.

 The 1970s and 1980s were transformative decades. In 1971, Canon launched the F-1, a professional-grade SLR that rivaled Nikon's offerings. Later, in 1976, the company released the AE-1, one of the world's first cameras with a built-in microprocessor. The AE-1 was affordable, reliable, and popular with amateur photographers, helping Canon grow its user base significantly.

 In 1987, Canon introduced the EOS (Electro-Optical System) line, beginning with the EOS 650. This groundbreaking autofocus SLR system used a fully electronic lens mount and paved the way for future innovation. The EOS series would become one of history's most successful camera lines.

 Canon embraced digital technology in the 1990s and 2000s. The release of the EOS D30 in 2000 marked Canon's serious move into digital SLRs. This transition peaked with iconic models like the EOS 5D series, which brought full-frame digital photography to a broader market.

In the 2010s and 2020s, Canon adapted to mirrorless technology, introducing the EOS R system in 2018. This full-frame mirrorless platform represents the company's latest push to stay at the forefront of imaging technology.

 Today, Canon continues to be a leader in photography, producing a wide range of cameras that cater to everyone from beginners to professionals, while also advancing imaging technology across multiple industries.

My Camera:

My Canon Demi camera is 4.5" wide by 2.75" tall and only 1.5" deep, including the compact 28mm f2.8 lens. It weighs 14.4 oz and is not adorned with frills, bells, or whistles. It's a very typical 35mm camera with a zone focus system and shutter speeds ranging from 1/250 to 1/30. The aperture settings range from F/2.8 to F/22.

The zone focus is set by moving the lens to either a mountain for infinity, three people for a group, or one person for a portrait, and these symbols are set around the lens.

The camera uses a match needle system. You point the camera at your subject, and when you turn the dial around the outer ring of the lens, the shutter speed and aperture are set to the ASA/ISO you set within the exposure ring.

The back door latch is on the left side of the camera, which unlocks and opens the film door to load film into it. Drop the 35mm cassette into the camera's left side and bring the leader to the take-up spool. Slide the end of the film leader into the slot on the take-up spool. Make sure the film sprockets are on the back drive gear. 

 One thing I do to make sure the film is moving in the camera is take up the slack by winding the rewind knob a few turns to take uo the slack in the film cassette. That way when you close the back of the camera and wind the camera to get it to the first frame, watch the rewind knob turn so you know the film is advancing in the camera. Checking the rewind knob is a good thing to do with any 35mm camera. I can't tell you how many times I've seen where people think the film is advancing, but the film wasn't loaded correctly, and no images were ever recorded on the film.

Once you've taken all the photos on your roll of film, press the button on the bottom of the camera. This releases the winding gear inside the camera so you can easily rewind the film back into the film cassette. If you don't press the rewind button, you'll tear all the film sprockets on the roll of film, making the process more difficult. After the film is rewound into the film cassette, open the back and load a new roll of film.

 

My Results:

I took this camera on my trip to Barcelona this week, partly because I had a roll of older Plus-X film with 20 exposures, and the second reason was the camera's shutter works, but the meter doesn't. I wanted to experiment with some of the exposures to see if I could get exposures on the roll of film. It probably wasn't the best idea to try a 40-50-year-old roll of film under these circumstances, but I wanted to write about the camera and didn't want to shoot 72 exposures to get bad results.

 The results turned out pretty well, and the camera meter is in decent condition, as many of the images turned out pretty well. However, the film is pretty grainy for being ASA 125. Nonetheless, here are a few photos from walking around one of the main shopping areas in Barcelona.

Conclusion:

My expectations for the camera weren't high, so I was pleasantly surprised by its relatively easy-to-use nature. Basic focus and a match needle meter make this compact camera very fun and easy to use. 

 If you enjoy vintage manual cameras, this is one to put in your coat pocket or hang around your neck. It gets twice as many photos from a roll of film and records memories for the photo albums. It is another excellent camera to use on a daily basis.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes to read about this fantastic, compact half-frame camera. A faster lens would have been nice, but it's unnecessary under most circumstances.

 I also sell cameras on eBay under Cuny's Cameras and Photos. Take a look, and you may see something you are interested in or a camera or two that piques your interest.

 Click on the link to read about some of the other cameras reviewed.

 Until next week, please be safe.

 

Bolsey 8 Camera

My Bolsey 8 camera

Being a big fan of Bolsey cameras, I was thrilled when a Bolsey 8 camera showed up unexpectedly with a "lot" of cameras purchased online. It was buried in the photo, and all you could see was part of the case, so to my surprise, I picked up the camera and unzipped the case to find a somewhat rare Bolsey 8.

 I've owned several different Bolsey cameras and even written about a couple in my weekly camera blogs. One is the Bolsey Flex-Trio, which I had in the original box with the flash. Just a year or so ago, I wrote about the unusual Boley Model C twin-lens camera. Both cameras are very well made, and I've always enjoyed shooting with them and having them in my collection.

 In 1956, the Bolsey 8 camera was marketed and sold as the only miniature 8mm movie and still camera made. There was even a "Lady Bolsey 8" camera sold in the United Kingdom, which I'll need to keep my eye out for a possible future purchase.

 There are many movie cameras that have single-frame capability, which is used in animation. Still, none of them that I'm aware of can change to different shutter speeds when using the camera in the single frame mode. The Bolsey 8 has just that capability and is extremely small and compact. There's an excellent website for subminiature cameras at www.submini.com, and if interested, they have a copy of the Bolsey Manual.

History:

The Bolsey Camera Company was established in 1947 in the United States by Jacques Bolsey, born Yakov Bogopolsky in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1895. Bolsey's journey into camera design began in Switzerland, where he initially studied medicine but soon shifted to mechanical engineering and photography. 

 In the 1920s, he designed the Cinegraphe Bol, a 35mm cine camera, and later developed the renowned Bolex line of movie cameras, which became highly regarded for their precision and durability. After selling the rights to Bolex to Paillard in Switzerland, Bolsey contributed to developing the Alpa camera before immigrating to the United States in 1939.

 In America, Bolsey worked for the government during World War II, designing aerial and ground photography cameras. He then founded the Bolsey Camera Company to produce user-friendly, affordable, and durable cameras for the consumer market. The company's most iconic products were compact 35mm rangefinder cameras, such as the Bolsey B series (B, B2, B22, Jubilee), which featured cast aluminum bodies, coupled rangefinders, and built-in flash synchronization—a rare feature at the time. 

 The Bolsey C series combined twin-lens reflex (TLR) and rangefinder designs. The company also produced subminiature cameras using 8mm film and pseudo-TLR models like the Bolsey-Flex.

 Bolsey cameras gained popularity in postwar America for their accessibility and portability, appealing to amateur photographers and families. However, by the late 1950s, the company struggled to compete with the influx of advanced, competitively priced cameras from Japanese manufacturers. 

 Although the Bolsey Camera Company ceased operations in the early 1960s, its innovative designs and commitment to democratizing photography left a lasting legacy. Today, Bolsey cameras are prized by collectors for their unique blend of engineering, aesthetics, and historical significance.

My Camera

My Bolsey 8 camera is 3.25" tall by 2.5" deep by 1.25" wide and weighs 12.3oz. The camera is tiny yet easy to hold and extremely well-built. The Bolsey 8 has a clock drive spring motor that advances the film cartridge in the camera. My Bolsey 8 camera has a Bolsey Elgeet Navitar 10mm f1.8 lens. A wide-angle lens (6.5mm) and a telephoto lens (20mm) were also available for the camera. The serial number on my camera is 08823, stamped on the back of the camera just under the viewfinder.

The Bolsey 8 camera has variable shutter speeds, which include 1/600, 1/300, 1/200, 1/100 & 1/50. These are set on a small dial just above the lens. The Bolsey 8 also has an aperture range from F1.8 to F22. A large wheel sets the aperture on the side of the camera body, showing what aperture the user has the camera's lens set to. In between the lens and the aperture settings are the focus marks for the distance you are from your subject. The focus on the lens needs to be set from one foot to infinity, with another setting in between, for landscape, group, or portrait. You cannot miss this in front of the camera. 

Also, on the front of the camera, below the lens, is a wheel that turns with "M" on the top, "L" in the middle, and "S" on the bottom. To use the camera as a movie camera, turn the wheel to "M," and for still photography, turn the wheel to "S." Press the button to activate the shutter on the camera in either the "M" or "S" modes. "L" locks the camera's shutter so you can't accidentally run the camera while the camera is in your pocket or fitted camera case.

 On the right side of the camera is the large winding key, which you turn clockwise to wind the motor. In the back, in the top corner, is the footage counter, which tells you how many feet of film are still available to use on the roll.

On the left side of the camera is nothing more than the Bolsey logo on a metal label on the top left front of the camera, and on the bottom right back of the camera is a window that allows you to see the recommended exposure settings information imprinted on the special Bolsey 8 film cartridge. To take the side of the camera to load the film, you pull the side off the camera by pulling from the small knob on the top of the camera. The back will come off, and you can insert the film magazine into the camera body. Then, just snap back on the side of the camera for shooting.

 The film used in the Bolsey 8 camera is a single 8mm magazine of 25 feet. The roll of film that was still in my camera was Kodachrome 25, which is a fantastic still film and one used extensively in the late 1950s and early 1960s. I can remember it's a film my dad used in our family movie cameras.

Results:

The camera wasn't used because the film in it is very old and Kodachrome, a type of film for which processing is no longer available, is not available. 

 

Conclusion:

I can tell you the camera was in good working condition. All the shutter speeds worked, and the lens was clean, so it would have been fun to try it out and see what results you could expect.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this two-in-one camera. It is an excellent still and movie camera built into one small, dynamic package.

 I'd love to hear from you about this or any other cameras I've written about. Click on the link to read other camera reviews I've done.

 I also have an online store called Cuny's Camera, where I sell old, vintage cameras, lenses, and other knickknacks.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Contessa Nettel Cocarette I DeLuxe

My Contessa Nettel Cocarette I DeLuxe camera

As I've mentioned in other posts, colored cameras are some of my favorite cameras to collect. That's a good thing when the camera is a different color than the standard drab black camera and a beautiful, rich brown-toned camera. When the camera is a rich brown-toned camera and is a rarer version, that makes the camera even more special to me. When the camera is a rich brown tone, a rarer version of the black model of the same camera AND, the camera is in good working condition and has a clean lens, then to me, it's, as we say in the U.S. and to use a baseball term  "a real home run."

 The Contessa Nettel Cocarette I Luxus camera was purchased from a seller in Florida five or six years ago. I purchased this camera along with a few other wonderful cameras, like the Zeiss Super Nettel, a Zeiss Tenax II, a Zeiss Nettax, and a few others, which were real gems in my collection for a long time until I sold them, which at times I look back and regret. That's all part of the collecting world.

 The camera appeared to be in great working condition. The bellows seemed to be light-tight, the aperture moved smoothly, and the camera came with an upgraded Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar lens and a Compur shutter, which, upon inspection, were in excellent condition. Also, the exterior leather was without tears and with minor scuffs, and the Cocarette I handle on the camera was still intact.

 When I received the camera, I wanted to find out more about the camera, so as I usually do, I saw if there was a manual or catalog on the camera. My go-to website for camera manuals is www.butkus.org , which has an extensive collection of manuals. They did have the Zeiss Cocarette manual,

According to the manual, Contessa Nettel made three different Cocarette models, each with four cameras of various sizes.

 The three  Cocarette models are:

Special: Called I/0, II/0, III/0, and IV/O, covered in black leatherette and with hinged metal front.

Standard: Described as Cocarette I, II, III, IV, With real black leather coverings, leather bellows, and hinged "Stirrup" front.

DeLuxe: Styled respectively "de Luxe" I, "de Luxe" II, "de Luxe" III, and "de Luxe" IV. This type is covered in the finest brown Morocco leather and has bellows of the same. ​ All the edges are bound in German silver.

 The different negative sizes of the models described above are as follows:

l/0, I and "de Luxe" I . Film 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches

II/0, II and "de Luxe" II . Film 4 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches

III/0, III and 'ode Luxe" III . Film 4 1/4 x 3 1/4 inches

IV/O, IV, and "de Luxe" IV. Film  5 1/2 x 3 1/4 inches

History

Contessa-Nettel AG was a prominent German camera manufacturer based in Stuttgart. It was formed in 1919 by merging two influential companies: Contessa Camerawerke Drexler & Nagel and Nettel Camerawerk. This merger combined the innovative strengths of both firms—Contessa Camerawerke, founded by Dr. August Nagel, and Nettel Camerawerk, known for its advanced strut folding cameras and focal plane shutters. Dr. Nagel, who began his camera design business 1908 as Drexler & Nagel, quickly rebranded it as Contessa Camerawerke before acquiring Nettel in 1919 and establishing Contessa-Nettel AG.

Ad showing the different negative sizes.

 Contessa-Nettel became renowned for its diverse and technically advanced range of cameras. The company offered approximately forty different models, including many variations of the Cocarette, a folding camera that became one of its most famous products during the 1920s. Other notable models included the Deckrullo-Nettel series, which featured self-capping focal plane shutters—a significant innovation. The company also specialized in stereo cameras and produced various compact and portable designs, such as the Piccolette and the Stereax.

 The Deckrullo-Nettel cameras, initially developed by Nettel, continued to be produced under the Contessa-Nettel name after the merger. These cameras were admired for their engineering, particularly their strut folding mechanisms and reliable shutters. Contessa-Nettel's products were recognized for their build quality and design excellence, reflecting Dr. Nagel's eye for detail.

 In 1926, Contessa-Nettel became part of Zeiss Ikon, a new conglomerate formed by merging several major German camera manufacturers, including ICA, Ernemann, and Goerz, alongside Contessa-Nettel. This consolidation aimed to strengthen the German photographic industry and create a powerhouse capable of competing internationally. After the merger, many Contessa-Nettel designs and models continued under the Zeiss Ikon brand, and the Stuttgart factory became a critical Zeiss Ikon site.

 Although Contessa-Nettel, as an independent brand, ceased to exist after 1926, its influence persisted. Feeling out of place at Zeiss Ikon, Dr. August Nagel left to establish the Nagel-Werke factory, which Kodak later acquired. Nagel's subsequent innovations, such as the Kodak Retina and the first pre-loaded 35mm film cassette, trace their lineage to the design philosophy he honed at Contessa-Nettel. The Contessa-Nettel name also lived on in Zeiss Ikon's product lines, most notably in the Zeiss-Ikon Contessa cameras of the postwar era.

 Contessa-Nettel's history is marked by technical innovation, quality craftsmanship, and a legacy that shaped the evolution of camera technology in the 20th century.

My Camera:

My Contessa Nettel Cocarette I Deluxe camera is 6 5/8" long by 3.5" wide, 1.5" deep when closed, and 5.5" deep when opened, with the lens extended from the body. It weighs 1 Lb. 6 oz. My camera's serial number is 422872. It also has a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 10.5cm f4.5 lens, serial #588166.

 To open the camera, there is a button on the side of the camera, which is similar to another folding camera, which you press, and the front door opens, exposing the front of the camera. Just below the shutter is the company name, Contessa Nettel, and on either side of the name are two knobs which you grab and pull the front standard of the camera out from the camera body until they stop. You're now ready to take a photo if you have film loaded into the camera

Pulling the front standard from the camera body lets you see the controls on the camera much better. Looking down at the camera, you have a bright waist-level viewfinder with indents on each corner representing a vertical or horizontal format for framing your photo. Currently, the camera is in the vertical position or, in modern terms, in portrait mode. The viewfinder can also tilt to the side if you plan on using the camera in the horizontal position to photograph in landscape mode. Right next to the viewfinder is a red bubble level to ensure the camera is level for straight photos and does not have crooked horizon lines.

On the camera's bed, just to the right of the shutter, is a focus lever, which allows the photographer to get closer to their subject and take clear photos. The focus lever can go from 2 meters to infinity, with a few different distances in between.

 When you look at the front of the camera and focus on what is on the Compur shutter, on the right side is the shutter release lever, and on the left side is a dial with Z, D, and M. These are used for different shutter functions. Z opens the shutter when you release the shutter lever and closes when you pull the shutter release again. D opens the shutter when you pull down on the shutter release and closes when you release it, and M is for the more normal use of the shutter speeds built into the shutter. The shutter speed ranges from 1 second to 1/250. All the shutter speeds on the camera seem reasonable, even the 1 sec, which is fantastic for a 100-year-old camera.

A small lever is on the bottom of the shutter. Sliding the lever from one side to the other changes the aperture setting, which you can see on top of the shutter. The camera's operations are very easy to see while holding it. You can view the shutter speed, the aperture settings, the focus distance, the viewfinder, and the bubble level, all while composing the photo in the vertical or portrait position.

 On the right side, as you're holding the camera, is a chrome knob on top of the lens standard. This slightly raises the camera lens, which will correct for vertical distortion. It doesn't do much, but it gives you a little movement in several of the better-quality folding cameras from this era.

For horizontal photos, you can swing a wire finder around the lens. On the back of the camera, a small eye finder slides out to create an action or sports finder from the two pieces. Using the camera in this position is a bit more clumsy due to where the shutter release is positioned.

Eyepiece on back up, and wire frame in place for action photo.

Fortunately, the Cocarette I cameras can use the popular 120-size film. The film chamber slides out from the camera body to load the film. On the left side of the body is a lever that you slide to unlock the film chamber from the body. Once the film chamber is unlocked, it can slide up to reveal the take-up spool and the film area. To put the film in the film area, there are holders that you flip up to get the take-up spool and the film into the respective areas.

 When loading the film, slide the paper packing under the thin channel to keep it flat across the opening. Another oddity of this camera is a large cut-away on the top of one of the corners of the exposure areas. I don't understand why this is there, as it did produce the cutout on the negative. If you know why that is there, I'd love to know. It may have had something to do with the older films of that time.

Once the film is loaded into the film back of the camera, slide it back into the camera and lock the back onto the camera body to prevent it from getting exposed to light. A small square red window with a cover is on the back of the camera. Winding the film with the take-up spool will take you to the number 1 photo, and now you're ready to make your first photo.

 

My Results:

I loaded the camera with a roll of Rollei RX100 film and walked through the neighborhood with my trust Sekonic L-308 meter. The day was somewhat overcast, so the contrast in the images wasn't the best. I also used the focus control on the camera. Since the day was cloudy, the settings on many of the photos were a shutter speed of 1/100 and aperture settings of f/4.5, which means there's not a lot of play when it comes to depth of field, and the photos show that.

 Here are the results I got from the Contessa Nettel Cocarette I Deluxe.

Conclusion:

The camera is straightforward to use, which I’m used to because I often use folding cameras. The controls were straightforward to define and comfortable to hold for composition purposes. However, the results I received weren't the best when I used the focus control on the camera. It's very possible my distances were off, and having to use a shallow depth of field didn't help.

 It wasn't bad, but my expectations were too high. Getting a 6x9 format negative with a Zeiss lens, I was hoping for better results. That shows I'll need to take this camera out and try again.

 Thank you for taking the time to read about this beautiful and very functional camera. It certainly looks terrific in my collection, and I enjoy having it.

 Click on the link if you're interested in reading some of the other camera reviews. 

 If you are interested in some of the cameras and other camera oddities I have for sale, I have a store on eBay called Cuny's Camera.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Riley Rilex camera

My Riley Rilex camera

The first time I saw the Riley Rilex camera was at a camera show in Seattle, WA, about six months ago. I was selling cameras and other photo items at the show. A friend who had driven up from the same area I live in and know well approached me looking to sell the Riley Rilex camera.

 He handed me the camera, and my first impression was that it was an odd and unusual-looking press-style camera. It was a full-sized 4x5 press camera, but It's a more miniature 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 press-style camera. There's a large handle on one side, making it very easy to handle and carry, but what caught my eye was the bright aluminum camera body and how light and compact the camera was. A rangefinder was attached to the side of the camera, and the focusing method seemed sketchy and rudimentary but was in working condition. 

 Playing with the camera, the shutter worked well, the aperture moved as it should, the bellows were intact and seemed in excellent condition, and the focus was smooth. When my friend told me the asking price, I told him I didn't do much with this style of camera and handed it back to him, but then he lowered his price, and my thought was, this seems to be an odd and unusual camera, it would be fun to write about it. I had never heard of a Riley Rilex camera, so it would be fun to research it. I thought I had some holder back home, so I pulled the trigger and purchased the camera from him with the intent to write this article about it.

Nameplate on my Riley Rilex camera

 I've owned several Graflex Baby Graphic cameras, so I'm not unaware of the smaller press cameras made during the 1940s and early 1950s. The Baby Graphic cameras are fully enclosed within the camera body, which is covered in black leatherette. Here is the Riley Rilex camera, which is almost the direct opposite. It is bright and shiny, made from lightweight aluminum, and without a boxy case, the lens and bellows fit into. What an odd and wonderful-looking camera.

The Company:

Several camera companies opened up in Southern California just after World War II. Companies like Printex, which manufactured a 4x5 Press camera in Pasadena, CA; Newton Photo Products in Los Angeles, CA, which made a lightweight view camera; and Brand Camera Company, also of Los Angeles, also made a rail-style view camera. All of these companies opened right after World War II, between 1947 and 1947, giving returning soldiers employment and hoping to build onto the growing photographic industry of the time.

 Curtis Riley was a tinkerer, amateur inventor, and aircraft engineer at Lockheed in Los Angeles, CA, during the 1940s. A photographer friend, frustrated by the weight of press cameras during this time, mentioned to Curtis that the cameras were rugged to carry around. Curtis, at the time, was working with lightweight aluminum for the aircraft industry, so he took up the idea of coming up with a lighter-weight camera for the industry.

Ad for Rilex camera

This was the start of the husband and wife-owned company, Riley Research Company, located at 128 Berkeley Street, Santa Monica, CA. Curtis came up with the design of the Riley Rilex camera, and they started to produce the aluminum body camera. It's unknown how many employees they had or if they did most of the manufacturing themselves. The design is relatively simple, and once the camera pieces were machined, putting them together wouldn't be difficult. It was confirmed that Gay, Curtis's wife, would fold the bellows at the kitchen table, and from what I understand, it wasn't her favorite job.

It's estimated that The Reily Research Company produced around 800 cameras over three years, during which the company was in business. The cameras had the option of a Wollensak Raptar lens in an Alphax shutter. If you wanted the Rapax shutter with speeds up to 1/400 sec., that was an additional $12.00.

 Advertising of the camera started in the fall of 1948 with ads in Popular Photography and local camera stores. The Riley Rilex camera was advertised for $49.50, including a tax-free lens. The rangefinder was "optional Equipment." In the advertisement listing the included Lens and Rangefinder, the camera is listed at $99.80, with a savings of $35.24.

 Unfortunately, the Riley Rilex was only advertised for three years, from 1948 to 1951. Due to the success of this small camera company in filling a requested need, other larger manufacturers began building a similar style of camera. After 1951, Curtis and Gay moved on to other endeavors, and the Riley Rilex camera became a desired collectible camera. 

The Camera:

My Riley Rilex camera measures 7" wide, including the metal handle, by 6" tall, including the eyesight knob, which doubles as a tightening screw on the back of the camera by the rotating back, by 6.5" with the bellows extended or 5.25" with the lens and bellows retracted. My Riley Rilex camera weighs 2 lb. 14.6oz and includes a 101mm f4.5 Wollensak Raptar lens in a Rapax shutter. My camera was an upgrade to the information above. I also have the Model B camera with the serial number 617 

 The Riley Rilex camera was made in three models: A, AB, and B. The first model, the "A," was short-lived, as the recommendation of adding a rangefinder to the side of the camera was made. The first production run was halted to add a rangefinder and the focusing rod to the camera's right side. I've seen some examples of the Rilex camera with a Kalart or Hugo Meyer rangefinder. One of the other modifications was having a rangefinder that supported an external flash.

To use the external rangefinder on the Rilex camera, a focusing rod comes out of the top of the rangefinder and leans up against an aluminum block attached to the focusing rack and pinion rod for focusing capabilities. When you used the rack and pinion focusing on the camera, the focus rod would move, thus focusing on the rangefinder.

 You can also use the traditional ground glass on the back of the camera, which flips down or up depending on the orientation of the camera's back. The back of the camera is highly polished chrome, which adds to its look.

To change the orientation of the cameras back from horizontal to vertical, the eyesight, which can be used with the wire built into the front frame, can be used as an action finder, which can be turned to lock or unlock the back rotation. There is a small line just behind the eyesight knob to show the camera's back is level with the camera.

 The camera offers full swings, tilts, rises (no falls), and horizontal shifts from the front brace of the camera. Like the back, there are centering marks on the front to quickly return the camera to a level and even settings on the camera. One thing on my camera that I'm sure some have already noticed is that I'm missing one of the knurled nuts that hold the 2 3/8"  lens board onto the camera body. That wouldn't affect the clarity or ability to use the camera. It's more of a visual appearance flaw than anything.

Unfortunately, I don't have the film holder for this size of the film, and the back of the camera cannot be easily removed to use a roll film adapter, so I could not use the camera, which would have been fun to try.

 

Conclusion:

I've had the absolute pleasure of continuing correspondence with Curtis and Gay's granddaughter, Barbara. She has helped me with this article by providing fabulous family photos and advertising for the family company. I want to thank her for all the insight she's offered me, which is tremendously appreciated.

 The camera itself is marvelous. It's small, compact, and visually appealing. The bellows are made from a stronger material than most view or press cameras, and it's terrific to think they were all hand-folded.

 I need to find a small film holder to try out this camera. I know I've had them, but I must have sold them with other cameras or just separately. Once I actually use the camera, I'll be sure to update this post with some images it produces.

 Thank you for reading about this unique family-owned camera company from Los Angeles that filled a niche product people were asking for at the time.

 Are you interested in reading my other camera reviews?

 I also have a store on eBay, Cuny's Camera, which has some odd and unusual products, including cameras and lenses.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Futura-S Camera

My Futura-S camera.

As a camera collector for over 50 years, I was unaware of the Futura cameras for almost 45 years. It wasn't until a friend and fellow collector mentioned the Futura camera that it stuck in the back of my mind, as I haven't come across one in all these years of collecting.

 After hearing about the Futura cameras, I did some research and had many questions: How well were they built? How many lenses were available? How many different models did they offer? What lens mount did the camera offer? So I pulled out my trusty camera bible, McKeown's camera guide, and started to learn about the little-known (to me) brand of Futura cameras.

Futura Logo on the camera

Having purchased my Futura-S camera in a "lot" of cameras purchased, and it wasn't until I received the box of cameras that I noticed one of the cameras was the Futura-S. The only thing in the photo of the camera "lot" was the back of the brown case. The top of the case was missing, so I figured it was some random or very common camera that I've owned in the past, but when I took the camera out of the case, the Futura was in surprisingly good condition and seemed to be working, too.

 Picking up the camera, I set the shutter speeds to higher speeds to see if the shutter fired, and it did. The transport moved and cocked the shutter. The lens looked clean, and then I tried some of the slower speeds on the camera. That's where I ran into some difficulty. The slower speeds locked up the shutter, and it wasn't until I reset the shutter speeds to a higher speed that the shutter closed, and I was able to cock the shutter again.

 One of my first thoughts was I wanted to run some film through the camera to see how it handled it. Then, I felt compelled to write about my experience with the camera and how it was handled, knowing I couldn't use any shutter speed lower than 1/50 in my testing experience.

History:

Fritz Kuhnert founded Optische Anstalt in Freiburg, Germany in 1942. The company initially manufactured optical equipment for the German military during World War II. The factory was bombed and destroyed during the war. In 1946, Fritz rebuilt the company in Gundelfingen, a nearby town, and concentrated his efforts on producing consumer cameras due to the growing photography market.

 1947, the company introduced its first camera at Photokina, the Efka 24. It was a simple scale-focus camera that used 35mm film to produce 24x24mm images. The name "Efka" was derived from the phonetic spelling of Kuhnert's initials, "FK." In 1950, the company introduced the Futura, a more advanced 35mm rangefinder camera with interchangeable lenses and a proprietary screw mount. The lenses were named after Kuhnert's family members: Elor (his wife Elenore), Evar (his daughter Eva), and Petar (his son Peter). 

 In 1951, due to financial difficulties, Kuhnert sold the company Hamburg ship-line owners Ernst and Eduard Komorowski, who renamed it Futura Kamerawerk GmbH. Under their ownership, the company produced four different 35mm rangefinder cameras, including the Futura S, which was introduced in 1952. This model featured a Synchro-Compur shutter and maintained its predecessor's distinctive design and lens mount. They also produced two of the fastest standard 50mm and portrait 70mm lenses of the time with a maximum aperture of F1.5, named Futura Frilon.

 Futura Kamerawerk struggled to compete with established German brands like Leica and the emerging Japanese camera industry despite producing high-quality cameras. The company ceased operations in 1957 and closed the factory in 1958. Today, Futura cameras are valued by collectors for their unique design and historical significance.

My Camera:

My Futura-S is 5" wide by 3" tall by 2.5" deep with my Futura Elor 50mm f2.8 lens. Without the fitted leather case, my camera weighs 1 lb. 9.4 oz. The Futura-S is a very well-made camera but a bit heavy due to its solid cast metal body. I prefer heavier cameras because they fit my hands better. Cameras like the Nikon F body, the Robot Royal, and now the Futura cameras feel comfortable.

The "S" in the Futura line stands for Syncro-Compur, or the shutter system used on this camera. All of the exposure controls are located around or on the lens. The shutter speed dial is located on the outside of the lens area and is moved by two knobs on opposite ends of the dial. The shutter speeds go from 1/500 to 1 sec. along with "B". Also, on the bottom of the shutter speed ring is "Futura Freiburg."

 The focus is controlled by the ring just inside the shutter speed control. This ring has a larger knob sticking out to change the focus as needed to create a sharp focus. The aperture ring is on the lens barrel itself. The aperture range is f/2.8 to f/22. There is an even larger knob located on the outside of the shutter speed ring, which sets the flash sync for "X," electronic flash, or "M," bulb flash.

To remove the lens, you unthread it from the body. The lens has a proprietary thread mount of 33.8mm, so it's not your usual Leica or Pentax thread mount system. I must say, the lens has a very fluid and lean look to it. On the back of the camera is the rangefinder viewing eyepiece. The rangefinder on my camera is exceptionally bright and accurate. We'll see when I test the camera with film in it.

On top of the camera going from left to right, is the rewind knob, which has an arrow on top to show the direction to turn to rewind the film into the cassette. Next is a cold shoe used for a mounted meter or flash attachment.  Behind the cold shoe is a pointer switch, which you can point to either  SW, 'Schwartz/Weiss' (Black & White); C, 'Color'; CN, 'Color Negative.', which is a reminder to the photographer to the film in the camera. Thank you, David Babsky and Mike Eckman, for this information. 

 Next to the cold shoe is a lever which on my camera is a non working on my camera self-timer. Above that and slightly to the right is an additive frame counter. Twist the dial to "0" when you load the film, and the frame counter increases. Just below the frame counter is the cable release threaded shutter release. An interesting item about the shutter release is you can "lock" it down for longer exposures by turning it to the right after depressing it, which locks it in the open position until you turn it to the left to release it. 

Having the locking shutter release is good if you don't have a cable release, but the bad thing is you're still moving the camera a bit during exposure, which might create blur in the image. On the far right is the film advance knob. This turns counterclockwise to advance the film.

 Four nubs on the bottom of the camera lift it and give it stability when placed on a flat surface. Also, there are two knurled buttons, one on the left, to release the drive gear and allow the film to be rewound into the film cassette. The larger one in the center of the camera opens the back of the camera to load film. Slide the larger button toward the arrow pointing to "O," and the back will come off by pulling it down.

Once the back is off the camera, the take-up spool comes out for more effortless film loading. The camera's serial number is imprinted on the metal plate under the frame window. My serial number is S11244. When you put the back onto the camera and slide it up, it automatically locks onto the camera.

 My Results:

Now that I have put a roll of T-Max 400, 24-exposure film into the camera, which I purchased out of date a few months back, I want to walk around the neighborhood to take photos. Unfortunately, my wife was taking a nap, so I needed to keep my eye on our two dogs, who have a tendency to bark when out of sight. So, I just stayed mainly in my backyard to take the photos.

 I have to say the camera was extremely fun to shoot with, but the one thing that kept bugging me was the camera advance knob. I'm just not used to turning the knob counterclockwise to advance the film. It's not that big of a deal, but I kept turning it clockwise for the first few frames to advance the frame. Once I had it in my head that the winding knob was "backward," it went smoothly, and the camera did a fantastic job. 

 Here are a few of the frames from my backyard.

Conclusion:

I don't know how I didn't know about the Futura-S for so many years. It's a fantastic German rangefinder camera with excellent optics. While my camera could use a complete CLA to bring it up to excellent condition, I have to say that for its condition, it did great.

 I can see why this is a desirable camera, especially for the discounted price from top brands like Leica or Alpa. The camera is compact and easy to use, and the rangefinder produces fantastic results.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this underappreciated German rangefinder built in the 1950s.

 I'd love to hear from you if you have any questions or comments about this camera.

 Until next week, please be safe. 

Rajar No. 6 Camera

My Rajar No. 6 camera

I don't know what it is about the Rajar No. 6 camera, but ever since I purchased my first McKeown's camera guide more than 40 years ago and spent hours leafing through the pages learning about all the different styles and shapes of cameras, I've always desired to have one in my collection.

 It wasn't until just a few months ago that I pulled the trigger and purchased one from a great reseller in the U.K. It was listed for parts that were not working. The seller was selling the camera for a friend and wasn't sure if it was in good working condition. They mentioned the shutter fired but couldn't guarantee the other working parts of the camera, so I took a chance and purchased it. I don't know why it took so long to get one.

 The shape of the face and the crosshatching on the camera's face drew me to it. It has a very classy and classic look, which is something I find on many cameras made during this timeframe.

 It took a while for the camera to arrive from the U.K., but it arrived last week, and I was anxious to see its physical condition. To my surprise, the camera was not only in excellent physical condition with no chips in the Bakelite, but the shutter was firing, and there was a roll of film still in the camera, which the seller failed to mention, so I was doubly happy.

 I took hold of the film advance knob to see if the film was advancing, and it was so at this point, I didn't see anything wrong with the camera. Not knowing how old the film was, I went outside to take the last few frames on the included old roll of film, and it wasn't until I got to the final frame I found out what was wrong with the camera. 

 I wasn't aware of what was so different in the film spool until I took the film out of the camera, which I needed to do in a dark bag since the camera stopped winding right after I took the final photo on the roll of film included with the camera.

 The Rajar No.6 camera has a special take-up spool written right there on the back of the camera, "only the Rajar No. 6 spool will fit this camera". I saw that when the camera arrived and at first I thought I couldn't shoot with it because it took a different or special size of film. Nope, it's the take-up spool. At least in my camera, the take-up spool is special and has a square tip that fits into the take-up spool instead of a slot that fits into most 120 spools. 

 It appears the Rajar No.6 has a brass item attached to the metal take-up spool that had become loose, making it impossible for the camera to wind the film to the next frame. The drive portion came loose, and the film wouldn't advance anymore. The disconnect of the brass piece and the take-up spool must have happened during the winding of the film, as it was working for a few frames. Another explanation is that the brass portion was stuck to the take-up spool and became loose after the film was with a few frames.

The Company:

Rajar No. 6 nameplate

Rajar Ltd. was established in 1901 as an offshoot of Brooks-Watson Daylight Camera Company Ltd., which had a facility in Liverpool. The company produced camera film, paper, and Rajar film backs for daylight loading film. In 1904, it moved to Moberly and was renamed Rajar Ltd.

 In 1921, Rajar Ltd. They merged with six other companies to form APM, Amalgamated Photographic Manufacturers Ltd. In London, in 1928, four companies involved in film manufacturing formed APeM, Amalgamated Photographic Equipment Manufacturers Ltd. APeM, which would eventually be rolled into Ilford, which is still one of the major film companies today.

 The Rajar No. 6 camera was introduced in 1929, just a year after APeM started. APeM also produced box camera as well.

The one thing that makes the Rajar No.6 camera unique is that the camera body, faceplate, and back are all made from Bakelite. The Rajar No. 6  was the first camera to have the majority of the camera built with the new material. As I mentioned earlier, it's incredible that after almost 100 years, the Bakelite is still in fabulous condition. There are no chips to be found, and the camera still has the gorgeous shine of the new camera.

My Camera:

My Rajar camera measures 6.5" tall by 4" wide, including the winding key, by 4.5" deep when the camera is extended. My camera weighs 1 lb. 0,6 oz., so the camera is very light. The camera is extremely simple as it has a meniscus lens, and an "Everest" shutter, meaning it doesn't cock. When you move the shutter release from one side to the other, the shutter fires, and then when you move it back, the shutter fires again, so you'll need to wind the film right after taking the photo to avoid double exposures.

There is no aperture setting, as the lens aperture is set to what I'm guessing at F8. The only shutter speed setting is for instant or timed exposures. The Rajar No.6 camera is a strut-style folding camera, which means the camera body pulls away from the body on four chrome rigid arms, as opposed to the traditional folding bed style.

 It took me a few minutes to figure out how to pull the faceplate away from the body, but when I held the camera upside down, the faceplate dropped, and it was easy to pull it away from the body and lock it into position. To close the camera, you only need to pull outward on the four strut corners, and the faceplate folds back into the camera body. There is a small viewfinder on the top of the camera, but this only works for vertical photos. There is no viewfinder for horizontal images unless you tilt your head, which is very uncomfortable.

To open the back of the camera to load film, two clips hold the back onto the camera's body. Just flip back the clips, and the back can be lifted off easily. The Rajar No. 6 camera is a 6x9 format camera and takes eight exposures on a roll of 120 film. Yes, the only difference between the No. 6 spool is the take-up spool. It's not a different film size, as 120 film fits the camera well. I've even seen that Rajar made an adapter to fit onto its square proprietary film take-up end to fit into 120 film spools. I don't have one of the adapters, so I'll need to keep my special take-up spool and reuse it with each roll of film.

My Photos:

Since the take-up spool appeared to be broken and I couldn't pull the film from it, I glued the special square drive area directly onto the metal spool that it was spinning freely on. After waiting an hour or so for the glue to dry, I loaded a roll of 120 film into the camera and onto the special take-up reel. The take-up spool worked wonderfully, and I got through the roll of film without a hitch. In fact, the film transport was extremely smooth.

 Here are some results from walking through my neighborhood with the Rajar No. 6 camera.

Conclusion.

The images have a softness that I find appealing. They are very similar to Lomography-style cameras like the Diana. They seem a bit sharper than a Diana, but the lens has a creamy effect on the images (in my opinion). I enjoy that the corners are rounded on the negatives. I also see that the images extend into the rebate portion of the film's border, as I can see the film name and other information in the image area.

 The camera worked great. The shutter was smooth, and the film transport was even smoother. Once I glued the two pieces together and dropped the film into the camera, the photo-taking experience went flawlessly.

 The camera is compact, rugged, and a real "point-and-shoot" style camera. I aimed the camera for horizontal images and figured the lens on the camera was most likely for wide images, which proved to be true.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes to read about this fun and easy camera to shoot with.

 I'd love to hear from you, so if you have any experience with this camera or any of the others I've written about, please email me.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Kowa Six MM Camera

My Kowa Six MM camera.

For some odd reason, I've always felt negative about Kowa cameras. It goes back to when I worked in a camera store in the mid- to late 1970s. The first job I had was handling camera repairs for the shop, which meant packing up the cameras, shipping them to the manufacturer or independent repair facilities, handling the repair estimates, pricing them when they came back from repairs, and calling the customers to let them know their camera was back and ready to be picked up. 

 I can remember when I received notices from many of the camera repair facilities that Kowa cameras were no longer serviceable due to a lack of parts, and that still sticks in my mind to this day. There was always a thought in the back of my mind that if you had a Kowa camera and something happened to it, it was not repairable. 

 It wasn't until many years later, and when I say many, probably 40 years later, that I visited a repair facility in Los Angeles. This person had many Kowa cameras and said he could repair them. He liked the quality of the camera. These weren't the 35mm Kowa camera but the Kowa Six medium-format camera. At that moment, my thought process switched, and the negative stigma of a horrible camera turned to something somewhat positive.

Kowa Six MM with grip.

 Fast-forward about five years, and I had the opportunity to pick up a Kowa Six MM camera for a reasonable price. I didn't know if the camera was in good working condition, but I knew where to get it fixed if it wasn't working.

 When the camera arrived, I started to fiddle with it for a bit, and my negative thoughts faded when the camera was in good working condition. The Kowa Six had a 55mm f3.5 lens, which I like, and a grip for the camera, which gave the purchase more value. As I was playing with the camera, I went from a negative feeling about the camera from many years ago, to WOW, this is a nice and well-built camera. It was time to put some film in the camera and see what this camera can do.

Company History:

Kowa, a Japanese company, has a long and fascinating history in optics, including producing high-quality cameras and lenses. Founded in 1894 as a trading company, Kowa Co., Ltd. initially focused on textiles and later expanded into various industries, including pharmaceuticals and electronics. Its entrance into the optical and photographic industry began in the mid-20th century, marking a significant era for the company.

Ad for Kowa Six camera.

 Kowa began producing photographic equipment in the 1950s, when Japan's camera industry flourished. One of its earliest camera lines was the Kowa Six, a medium-format 6x6 cm single-lens reflex (SLR) camera introduced in the early 1960s. The Kowa Six and its successors—the Kowa 6 MM and Kowa Super 66—became particularly popular among professional and serious amateur photographers due to their solid construction, sharp lenses, and competitive pricing. These cameras were often praised for their simplicity and reliability. They offered interchangeable lenses and accessories similar to more expensive competitors like Hasselblad.

 In addition to medium-format cameras, Kowa produced a range of 35mm film cameras. The Kowa SW, a fixed-lens wide-angle camera introduced in 1964, was particularly notable for its ultra-wide 28mm lens. Other models, like the Kowa SER and Kowa H series, featured leaf shutters and high-quality fixed lenses, catering to various photographic needs. Despite strong optical performance, Kowa's 35mm cameras struggled to gain significant market share, especially against major players like Canon, Nikon, and Minolta.

 Kowa eventually withdrew from the still camera market in the 1970s, focusing instead on its core strengths in optics and electronics. However, the company remained in the optical field, becoming well-known for producing spotting scopes, binoculars, and lenses for industrial and medical applications. Today, Kowa lenses are used in various professional contexts, from wildlife observation to television broadcasting.

 Though Kowa's time in the consumer camera market was relatively brief, its medium-format cameras have left a lasting impression. Collectors and film photography enthusiasts who value their durability, sharp optics, and mechanical precision still seek them out. While sometimes overlooked, Kowa's contribution to photographic history represents a unique chapter in Japan's post-war camera industry boom.

My Camera:

 My Kowa Six MM camera is 5" tall when the light chimney is closed and 7.5" tall with it open, 4.5" wide including the winding lever, and 4" deep without the lens attached. The serial number on my Kowa Six MM is 325240. The lens on my camera is the first of three generations and is a  55mm f3.5 lens. The serial number on my lens is 153507. One of the great things about the Kowa Six system is that all the lenses have leaf shutters built into them, which is very similar to the Hasselblad system. My Kowa Six MM with 55mm F3.5 lens weighs 4lb. 9.7oz without the side grip.

The shutter speed built into the lens goes from 1/500 to 1 sec. Along with "T" for timed exposure, the aperture ranges from F3.5 to F22. One of the advantages I found about the Kowa Six MM was how easy it is to set the focus, shutter speed, and aperture, which are all located on the lens barrel. Each setting has its ring and is easily moved and marked. The focus ring moves smoothly, and the shutter speed and aperture rings click into the desired setting. The lens also has the flash PC socket, along with a switch to set the 10-second self-timer (V), along with the flash settings for bulb (M), electronic flash (X). The shutter release is on the front and bottom right of the camera body. There is also a locking collar around the shutter release to prevent releasing the shutter when you don't want to.

 When reading about the camera, a few things were mentioned. One of the items mentioned was that the camera tends to move the focus slightly due to the mirror movement, causing the image to lose sharpness. I'm unsure if the focus or the camera is moving, which causes the image to be a bit soft, but I'll be aware of that when I shoot the camera.

 To view your subject, open the light chimney. Pull up on either side of the light chimney, and the viewfinder opens easily. There is a magnifier for critical focus, which you can activate by sliding a button along the back of the front. Sliding the button to the right pops up the magnifying lens. Pushing it down will lock it out of position. The light chimney has hinges on the side that must be squeezed together to close the viewfinder.

You can change to a different viewfinder by pressing a chrome button between the strap lug and film locking lug. Once the button is pressed, slide the viewfinder forward to remove it. You can also remove and change the focus screen by pressing the same chrome button and lifting the focusing screen. Put the focus screen back, line up the red dot on the camera with the red dot on the focusing screen, and drop the screen back into place. Pressing the chrome button to seat the focusing screen into position. You can slide the viewfinder back on, and it will lock into position once it's pushed back onto the camera.

The collar on the body must be turned counterclockwise to remove the lens. Before moving the collar, you'll need to wind the camera so the camera is in the "cocked" position and the mirror is down. You can move the collar somewhat, but until you slide the lens locking button back, the collar won't move the entire way to remove the lens. To put the lens back onto the camera, you'll line up the red mark on the lens to the red mark on the camera body, and turn the collar clockwise to lock the lens back onto the camera body.

To open the back to load film, turn the lever on the bottom of the camera to the "O" position, and the back of the camera unlocks. Lift the back door, which exposes the film chamber. Bring the empty reel from the bottom of the chamber to the top, which will now be your take-up spool. Pull out the film locking knobs on the side of the camera to put in the empty spool and the new roll of film you're loading into the camera. Bring the leader up to the empty spool and thread the lead into the slot and turn the winding knob on the right side of the camera to take up the loose film. There ia a handle built into the winding knob to make the turning of the knob easier. Keep winding until the "start" arrow points to the red dots on the sides of the shutter, close the back, and continue to wind until the winding lever stops. At this point, the frame counter will be on number one, and you're ready to start taking photos.

 The Kowa Six MM will take either 120 or 220 film. If you plan on shooting 220 film, be sure to change the pressure plate to the proper position, and on the side of the camera, make sure you've selected "24" on the selector between the strap lug and frame counter on the right side of the camera. Selecting 24 tells the camera you're shooting 24 images on 220 film instead of 12 exposures on 120 film.

You can also lock the mirror "up" by turning the knob on the right side of the camera to the "up" position. This function reduced camera vibration. You can also do double or multiple exposures on the Kowa Six MM. To do so, after your fist image, turn the knob on the top of right side of the camera from the orange dot and orange line which is for normal film advance to the red dot and red line. This is disengaging the film advance so you can do multiple exposures. Once you're done, turn the dial back to the orange dot and line position, and the film will advance.

As I mentioned, my Kowa Six MM camera has a side bracket, making it easy to hold and handle. Still, I didn't realize how nice this grip was when I went to take it off. Not only is there a nut that hold the bracket onto the camera, but there also a screw that locks the nut into place so it doesn't accidentally get unscrewed and have the camera fall off the grip.

My Results:

Since the clouds were moving in and out, I didn't want to shoot a slow-speed film, so I loaded the Kowa Six MM with a roll of Ilford 125 ISO film and proceeded to walk through the neighborhood, focusing on many of the spring flowers that have been blooming this time of year. After walking around, I went home and processed the film. Here are the results from my walk through the neighborhood.

My Conclusion.

WOW!!! Was I wrong for so many years? This camera worked fantastically and was fun to use. The viewfinder was bright, the magnifier was easy to use, the shutter speeds sounded accurate, and having the shutter speed, aperture ring, and focus all in the same spot was fantastic.

 The film advance was smooth, and carrying the camera with the grip made it very comfortable. I understand why the technician who coveted the Kowa liked the camera so much. The system offers nine lenses from 19mm to 500mm, different viewfinders and focusing screens, so it's complete. The price of these cameras is less than half of Hasselblad's, and they are smaller and easier to handle. I'll keep this camera for a while and see if I can expand the lenses I have for it. While I like the wide-angle lenses, getting an 85mm standard lens would be nice and slightly cut down on the weight.

 I love to hear from the people who read my posts. If you have a question or comment, please let me know. I'm always looking for ways to improve this experience.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Original Model K1 Rolleiflex

My Rolleiflex K1 Camera

As is common for me, I purchased this original Rolleiflex model with many cameras, which included some other items I was more interested in. In the photo of the camera lot, I could see the Rolleiflex name, but the image was so small that I couldn't tell what model it was or even if it was in working condition. I took a shot; as I mentioned earlier, I was more interested in some items, and the Rolleiflex was more of the icing on the cake regarding the importance.

 Once I received the items in the lot and looked them over, the main items were great, and I was happy to have them. I picked up the Rolleiflex and checked on the camera's serial number, which was a low number. I have serial number 118104. From what I can see online, this is one of the first batches of cameras made. While the original Rolleiflex camera was only made from 1929 to 1932, a few modifications were made.

 In the photo, the Rolleiflex looked well used, and the top light chimney looked a bit wonky, which it was and still is today. When I tried to open the top, one of the side wings was jammed closed and wrapped under one of the other side wings, and I couldn't look down the chimney to see if the focusing screen was there. I took out my set of small screwdrivers and unscrewed the top 4 screws to remove the light chimney to fix it and bend the sides out a bit to make the chimney more usable.

Early Rolleiflex name and serial number

 Once I took the top off, I noticed the focusing screen was in good condition and still had the bubble level. It was a very clever idea to put in the camera when it was manufactured almost 100 years ago. 

The Company:

I reviewed the original Art Deco-style Rolleicord a few months ago, and here's what I wrote about the company's history then.

 Rollei holds a significant place in photographic history. Founded in 1920 in Braunschweig, Germany, by Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke, the company originally bore the name "Franke & Heidecke." Initially, it focused on precision mechanical devices, but by the mid-1920s, Rollei began producing cameras that would revolutionize photography.

 Rollei gained international recognition in 1929 with the launch of the Rolleiflex, the first twin-lens reflex (TLR) camera. The Rolleiflex was compact, robust, and designed for medium-format photography. Its unique twin-lens system featured one lens for viewing and focusing and another for capturing the image on film. This innovative design allowed photographers to frame shots at waist level, making candid photography more discreet and practical. The Rolleiflex quickly became a favorite among professionals and enthusiasts, particularly for portrait and documentary work.

The success of the Rolleiflex led to the introduction of the Rolleicord, a more affordable version aimed at amateur photographers. Both models showcased Rollei's commitment to precision engineering and optical excellence, which became hallmarks of the brand.

 During the 1930s and 1940s, Rollei continued to innovate, refining the Rolleiflex and Rolleicord lines with features such as automatic film winding and improved optics. Despite the challenges of World War II, the company maintained its reputation for high-quality cameras. In the post-war era, Rollei played a significant role in the resurgence of the German camera industry.

The 1950s and 1960s marked a golden age for Rollei. The Rolleiflex TLR became synonymous with professional photography and was used by renowned photographers such as Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, and Vivian Maier. Rollei also ventured into other formats and technologies. The Rolleiflex 35mm SLR, introduced in the late 1950s, showcased the company's adaptability to the changing market demands.

 By the 1970s, the rise of Japanese camera manufacturers like Nikon, Canon, and Minolta introduced intense competition. These companies offered high-quality single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras at more affordable prices, challenging Rollei's dominance in medium-format and professional photography. However, Rollei's resilience and ability to adapt to changing market conditions inspired by its history.

In response, Rollei diversified its product line, introducing the Rolleiflex SL66, a medium-format SLR, and the compact Rollei 35, which became one of its most miniature 35mm cameras. Despite these innovations, Rollei struggled to maintain its market share due to its higher production costs and its competitors' rapidly advancing technology.

 In the 1980s and 1990s, Rollei faced financial difficulties, leading to changes in ownership and restructuring. The company shifted focus to digital imaging and niche markets, including high-end studio cameras and digital backs for medium-format systems.

The Rollei legacy endures as a symbol of German engineering and innovation, reflecting a century of dedication to the art and science of photography. This enduring legacy evokes a sense of respect and admiration for the brand's contribution to the field of photography.

My Camera:

My early Model K Rolleiflex is 5.25" tall and 3.5" wide by 3.75" deep. These measurements are with the light chimney closed. If I open the light chimney, the camera is 7.5" tall and weighs 1 lb. 9.7 oz. with the original lens cap and without film loaded into the camera. My camera has a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 7.5cm f3.8 lens, serial #1310339, for the taking lens, and for the viewing lens is a Heidoscope Anastigmat 75mm f3.1 lens, serial #120850. 

The lens is in an F.Deckel-Munchen Compur shutter with speeds from 1/300 to 1 sec. along with "B" & "T". The shutter speeds are set by turning a chrome ring on the outside of the shutter ring. The shutter cocking lever is on the left side of the camera as you view it from the front, and the shutter release is on the right side. The aperture ring goes from F3.8 to F32 and is set by a sliding ring just outside the shutter ring.

Taking lens, and shutter-aperture settings on my original K1 Rolleiflex

The light chimney or light hood is the most interesting thing about the camera. To open the light chimney, on the back of the camera, there is a small lever you need to press down to unlock the chimney. The front and sides will spring open if the chimney is in good working order. Since mine is not in perfect condition, the front opens, but I need to coax the sides to open correctly. Once the chimney is open, you can view the focus screen.

 On the back of the chimney is a magnifying glass on a spring. It can be flipped over and locked into the front part of the chimney, where it can be used for critical focus. Pressing the front part of the chimney releases the magnifying glass, and it returns to its normal position. 

 On the backside of the front wing of the chimney was a mirror, or a highly polished metal piece that flips down with a lever on the left side of the chimney. When the magnifying glass is in the "up" position, and you flip the lever down, the mirror will be at an angle that you can use the back as a level finder and focus the camera while viewing the image through the back opening of the chimney. I really liked this feature as it gives the camera a lot of flexibility when shooting. To close the chimney, fold down the sides first; the back and the front will close, covering the camera.

On the right side of the camera are two knobs. The larger knob on the top is the film advance knob. Around the knob are numbered from 1-12, but the numbers aren't in order; they go 1,7,12, small space, then 5,3,8, small space, 9, small space, and 6,2,10,1,11. At first, I thought these were frame numbers, but the sequences are so off. I know the first camera models were made for film size 117, and the camera only took six exposures with larger gaps between frames. There is also a red arrow pointing towards the number, but it didn't change when I put the film in the camera and advanced it to the next photo. Maybe someone can explain this sequence to me.

 The lower and smaller knob is the focus knob. On the inside are distance numbers, but there is no feet or meter setting. On the camera's left side is a lug, which was used to connect the strap.

The back door locking mechanism is on the bottom of the camera, and there is a tripod socket and a second red window with a cover. I didn't use that frame counting window, as I used the one on the back of the camera as I would for most cameras. To open the back door to load film, you lift the silver-hinged locking mechanism, which opens the back door. After doing some research on the camera, I found that this model doesn't take 120 film like all the other Rolleiflex models. 

I tried anyway, and it's too wide and didn't fit into the film chamber. Luckily, I have some outdated Agfa 620 films that fit correctly. I put the empty spool on the top. You can pull out the larger knob to load film into the camera, then press it in to lock the reel into place. I put the outdated Agfa roll into the camera, fed the leader into the empty spool, wound the film to start, closed the back of the camera, and wound the film to frame number 1. Now, I'm ready to take the camera out on an adventure to see how the camera performs.

 

My Results:

My wife and I planned a trip to Lake Quinault in the Olympic National Forest, so I wandered the lake's hotel grounds with a fantastic camera loaded with film and took some photos. Here are a few of the images from this trip.

Conclusion:

The camera performed very well, and the images were nice and sharp. The focusing screen was dark compared to the newer cameras. Still, it did an excellent job for a camera almost 100 years old and was extremely fun to shoot with. Due to the age of the film, the images have a mottled appearance when looking at something without detail, like the sky or lake. But that doesn't affect the camera's usability, which was overall very good.

 I'd love to hear from you. If you have one of these cameras and have questions or want to let me know what you think of the camera, please leave a comment, and I'll get back to you soon.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this fantastic camera.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Merlin Camera

My Merlin camera.

This week's posting is about a relatively uncommon camera with an odd and unusual look made by a tiny company in the UK. The camera is the Merlin, produced by United Optical Instruments in Southend-on-the-Sea, England. 

 I had seen the Merlin camera in books and online when looking at subminiature cameras. Still, it wasn't until my wife. I was on a trip to London a couple of years ago when I came across this odd bird at the Camera’s London stall on Portobello Road on a day that my wife and I were scheduled to go home. 

 Our flight wasn't until later in the afternoon, and I wanted to look for cameras before leaving, so I went there early in the morning to make it back in time to go to the airport. That's where I spotted the Merlin camera and a few other cameras I brought back to the States with me.

 What caught my eye about the Merlin camera is the very odd shape of the camera. It has a wide part of the body, then narrows down, but the lens area flares out again, and the winding knob is on the bottom of the camera. You need to display the camera on the side unless you rest the camera on something due to the winding knob on the bottom of the camera. It just doesn't sit evenly on a flat surface.

The Company:

United Optical Instruments is only known to have made two different cameras, and neither was very popular. One of the cameras they manufactured was the Jupiter camera, a simple plastic camera with an Art Deco faceplate that took 127-size film. The only controls on the camera were two shutter speeds, the winding mechanism, and the shutter release. The other camera they manufactured was the subminiature Merlin camera. 

ERAC Camera

 I can find little information about United Optical Instruments, which is located in a resort town on the Thames Estuary in Essex, southeast England, about 68 kilometers from London. However, I did find that the company was associated with the Erac Selling Company.

 The Erac Selling Co. manufactured and patented two slightly different, oddly shaped cameras that resembled a pistol made from thermoplastic material. One of the items was the Erac Automatic Pistol Camera, and the other was the Erac Mercury 1. These pistol-shaped cameras housed a Merlin camera without the viewfinder inside the pistol's body. When you pulled the pistol trigger, the camera took the photo. 

 According to the information I found online, the Erac is described and illustrated in a patent issued to Harry Steward of Southend-on-Sea in 1931. The early version uses a different type of film advance, and the Merlin doesn't seem to be in this version.

 Harry Steward and Harry Covill were issued an improved patent in 1937. The second camera's patent described it as a pistol-shaped device. The patent drawings show it to resemble a Merlin camera inside, but there is no mention of Erac.

 Since the Merlin camera is inside the Erac Pistol camera, they patented a camera without the Merlin inside. Still, they found it too difficult to make it work. A few years later, they decided to put the Merlin camera inside the camera without the viewfinder.

The Camera:

As you can see in the photos, the camera is very small. It's only  2" wide, 2" deep, and 2" tall with finder up and 1.5" when it's down, and it only weighs 3.9 oz. The camera is made from cast metal and painted with a crackle finish, as the exterior has a rough surface. I can see areas where it's either chipped off or some flaked off. My Merlin camera is black, but they also have blue, green, and red cameras.

 The Merlin took a special film of only 20mm rolls with a negative size of 18x18mm. It came on paperback rolls similar to the small "hit" style cameras, and to load the camera, the top of the camera, which is attached to the back, slides off, exposing the film chamber. Put in the roll of film, bring it over to the take-up spool, slide the top back on, and advance the roll to the first frame. The winding knob is on the bottom of the camera, as I mentioned earlier.

 Another slight issue is that the top of the body doesn't lock, so if the camera falls, the top can slide off, exposing the film. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't have any original fill spools, only the blank areas where the film goes.

The bottom of the Merlin camera.

 There is only one shutter speed, and the shutter release is on the bottom of the camera along with the film advance knob. The only item on the top of the camera is the fold-down viewfinder. The lens has no focus as it's a meniscus-style lens.

Conclusion:

Since I didn't have the film for this camera, I couldn't take it out for a walk through the neighborhood to take photos and see how it did. That's OK. I can use other cameras to do that.

 I really like having this small camera in my collection, and now I want to find a Jupiter or Erac camera to add to it.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this wonderful camera made almost 100 years ago by a very small company in England. It has a nice place in my collection and hopefully inspires you to find one for it, too.

 I'd love to hear from you if you have questions, comments, or concerns about this or any of the cameras I've written about.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Polaroid SX-70 Camera

My Polaroid SX-70 camera.

When I was looking over the cameras in my collection and thinking about which camera to write about this week, the Polaroid SX-70, which I have right over my desk, seemed to jump up and say, "My turn this week." I thought about it for a moment and thought, "It's not that old of a camera, but it is." 

 The Polaroid SX-70 was introduced in 1972, during the era of many "modern" inventions, like the home VCR, floppy discs, and email. It was not too far after the music and pop revolution in the late 1960s, which brought interesting and new designs. Currently, the SX-70 is a 52-year-old camera and, in my opinion, the last camera introduced with a genuinely different and unusual design.

 Being a fan of Polaroid from an early age, I remember getting a Polaroid Swinger for Christmas of 1965, just a few months after the camera was introduced. To focus the Swinger, you'd squeeze the focus dial until a "YES" would show up in the viewfinder, telling the photographer the camera was focused and ready to take a photo. That was tremendous and, to this day, a fun innovation of its time.

 When the SX-70 was introduced, there was much fanfare, magazine covers, and writing about this revolutionary camera from Polaroid. The SX-70 was officially sold in the Miami area in late 1972 and became nationally available in 1973. It was sold for $180.00 for the camera and $6.90 for the film, with ten photos in each pack.

 The interesting thing about the Polaroid SX-70 film was that the batteries that powered the camera were in the film packs, so every time you put a fresh roll of film into the SX-70, you were also putting fresh batteries in the camera. Batteries in the film pack were good unless you tried a pack with depleted batteries or tried out-of-date film where the batteries were dead. At that point, the camera was unusable.

Polaroid Acecssory Kit

 What made this camera unique was its odd and different design and its very slim design. It was an SLR camera with through-the-lens focusing, exposure control, and accessories that would enhance the photo experience, such as a remote shutter cable, tripod mount, close-up lens and diffuser, lens hood, self-timer, and accessory holder. Other companies soon came out with accessory lenses and electronic flash units.

 In 1974, due to the success of the original SX-70, with its chrome and tan-colored leather covering, Polaroid introduced lesser-expensive models and kept introducing other models soon after that. 

 The SX-70 camera was a massive success for Polaroid and gave instant photography a shot in the arm like few I've seen in the photo industry. Kodak would create their version of an instant camera in 1976. Still, Polaroid sued them for patent infringement, which led to Kodak discontinuing production of their line of instant cameras in 1985.

Company History:

The Polaroid Company, founded by Edwin H. Land in 1937, pioneered light-polarizing technology. Originally called the Polaroid Corporation, the company first made waves by producing polarized sunglasses and optical devices. However, its true innovation came in 1947 when Land introduced the first instant camera—an invention that would forever change photography.

Polaroid SX-70 ad from 1970s

 Land unveiled the instant camera at a meeting of the Optical Society of America, demonstrating how it could develop photos within minutes. This breakthrough led to the Polaroid Land Camera Model 95 commercial release in 1948. The camera's unique ability to produce finished photographs quickly became a cultural phenomenon, redefining personal photography for decades.

 Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Polaroid expanded its product line and refined its instant photography technology. It gained popularity among both amateur photographers and professionals. The introduction of color film in 1963 further solidified Polaroid's position as a dominant force in the camera industry.

 Polaroid also became known for its iconic camera designs, such as the SX-70 in 1972—a folding single-lens reflex camera that was both portable and innovative. During this golden era, Polaroid enjoyed tremendous commercial success and was often seen as a symbol of American ingenuity.

Cutaway view of Polaroid SX-70.

 However, the rise of digital photography in the late 1990s and early 2000s caused Polaroid to struggle. Despite attempts to adapt, including digital products and partnerships, the company couldn't maintain its market dominance. In 2001, Polaroid filed for bankruptcy and began selling off assets.

 The brand saw several changes in ownership over the following years. Yet, in a surprising turn, Polaroid experienced a revival in the late 2000s and 2010s, fueled by nostalgia and a renewed interest in analog photography. The Impossible Project, a group of former Polaroid enthusiasts, acquired the brand's last factory and began producing new instant film. Eventually, this effort led to the relaunch of Polaroid as Polaroid Originals in 2017, and later simply Polaroid.

 Today, Polaroid continues to produce instant cameras and film, embracing its vintage roots while appealing to new generations of photographers drawn to the charm and simplicity of instant photography.

My Camera:

My SX-70 camera measures 7" long by 4" wide by 5.5" tall when it is opened and only 1.5" tall when it is collapsed. It weighs only 1 lb. 7.6 oz. and has a 4-element 116mm f8 glass lens. My camera is one of the earlier models because it has the embossed serial number on top of the film chamber. The serial number on my camera is FE3028170DK.

 To open the SX-70 camera, place it in the palm of your hand, grip the top ribbed section of the viewfinder, and pull up. This will open the camera and lock it into place. The locking bar is on the left side of the camera. If the camera isn't locked when you pull up on the viewfinder, you can slide the locking bar forward to lock the camera open. 

Once the camera is open, it exposes the black rubber bellows built into it. It also exposes the rear viewfinder for focusing, and on the front of the camera, the red shutter release button and the exposure control the camera. I was taught to hold the camera in the palm of my left hand, and with my right hand, I can focus on the camera. 

 Putting the camera up to your eye and looking through the camera, you'll see a split-image focusing screen. A small black wheel controls the camera's focus on the camera's right side. Turn the black wheel back and forth until the subject looks sharp. The split image focusing allows the photographer to find a vertical item, and when out of focus, the line will be split and together in one line when in focus. The camera can focus as close as 10.4" from the subject.

On the other side of the camera is the exposure control wheel. The camera is auto-metering, which is metered by the opening just below the lighten/darken wheel. Generally, you leave this wheel in the center position with half the white or black portion in the middle. 

 If you want the following image to be lighter, move the wheel so more of the white is showing. If you want it darker, turn the wheel so that more black is showing. There is no rule of how much to move the wheel for a lighter or darker image. It's all just a guess. The camera shutter can shoot from 1/175 to longer than 10 seconds.

To open the camera to load the film pack, on the right side of the camera is a button with a yellow sticker, and inside that yellow sticker is a "down arrow." Push that button down, and the front door opens to reveal where the film pack fits. The original film packs were color-coded, so you would line up the yellow, black, and blue sections of the film back to the colors on the film chamber and slide the film pack into the camera. You must press it all the way in so the film door can close. Closing the film door with a fresh film pack in the camera will eject the dark slide from the film pack through a small slot in the film door. The camera is ready to take its first photo when the dark slide or cover is ejected. There is a small window on the back of the camera, the frame counter.

When you take a photo and light hits the film, the camera ejects the film through a pair of rollers on the film chamber door. When the film passes through the rollers, they squeeze the chemicals onto the film, and the photo starts to process.  These need to be cleaned; otherwise, the photo won't be processed correctly after you take a photo. Another issue that dirty rollers can cause is dots on the photo. The dots are caused by dirt on the rollers, and they press into the photo, and the chemicals can't reach that area, causing white dots throughout the photo.

 If you're indoors and there's not enough light to take a photo, a flashbar fits into the slot just above the lens and takes five electronically timed flashes per side of each flashbar. They worked well. All you needed to do was snap the flashbar in the slot, and everything was done for you, except for turning the flashbar after five flash photos.

Flashbar on Polaroid SX-70 camera.

The electronic cable release attaches to two small holes on the camera's right side. The accessory tripod mount would fit on the bottom of the camera, and the accessory holder and close-up lenses would fit into the flashbar holder. 

 To close the camera, slide the locking bar back toward its arrow. The camera will start to close. Press the top down into the body, and the camera will click into the closed position.

A common issue with the SX-70 is the mirror gets locked in the up position, and the camera won't close all the way. You can also tell when this happens when you look through the viewfinder; there is nothing to look at, and the finder is black. The lock-up can be caused by a lack of power from the battery or the film not getting ejected properly, but there's not enough power to cycle the camera. Something you can do to correct this is a bit tricky and not too difficult, but it means taking a small and fragile piece of plastic off the camera to expose the gearing system of the camera. If you're nervous or think you'll break the piece of plastic, DON'T try it.

 On the right side, by the film release button, is a small and thin piece of plastic that you can CAREFULLY pull up at the front of the plastic piece. Some are easy to come off, and some are very tight, so please be careful. Once the piece is off, you can see the gears in the camera's body. The front gear can be turned, which will bring down the mirror system allowing you to view through the camera and cocking the camera. Many videos on YouTube show this process if you are interested. Once the camera's mirror comes down, you can put the piece of plastic back and snap it into place. You'll need a new and fresh film pack to ensure the camera is in good working condition.

My images:

Unfortunately, I didn't buy film before I wanted to write about this camera, and when I looked to purchase some, they were out of stock, so I'm forced to show photos from the late 1970s or early 80s. 

 Here are some of the family photos from the SX-70 camera.

 

Conclusion:

The SX-70 brings back many fond memories we had with family and co-workers. It's one of the classic cameras made in the 20th century, and I am thrilled to have a good early model in my collection.

 One of the real advantages of the original SX-70 film was the ability to manipulate the images during the processing, which took a minute or so. We'd take different thicknesses of knitting needles and swirl the chemicals around, which would cause a flow in the photo, which was very artistic. The new film doesn't allow for this creativity.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your schedule to read about this wonder camera from the 1970s.

 Please feel free to email me if you have questions or concerns. Until next week, please be safe.

 Click on the link to read about the cameras reviewed. 

Asahi Pentax 6x7 Camera

My Pentax 6x7 camera with 105mm f2.4 lens, TTL Finder and wood grip.

When I started photography, I used an older Univex Twin Lens Reflex-style camera that my uncle gave me when I was around 8-9 years old. From there, palling around with my buddies, that camera was too big and bulky to bring around with us. So, I opted for the smaller, more compact 35mm camera, which I could keep around my neck and under my coat when it was colder outside. 

 The Pentax 6x7 cameras have always held a special place in my heart, perhaps due to their unique blend of size and resemblance to a larger 35mm camera. While I still cherished the Twin Lens Reflex style, there was an undeniable elegance and familiarity about the Pentax 6x7 cameras. The interchangeable lenses and finders were reminiscent of the Nikon system I had grown to love in my later teen years.

 I purchased my Pentax 6x7 camera a few years ago at an online auction. It appeared to be in good condition, and its camera is complete with the TTL finder, standard 105mm lens, wood handle, and Pentax-branded strap, all wrapped up in a wonderful cube-shaped case that it all fits nicely into. I noticed a pouch on the top portion of the case. There were a few accessories in it that the seller didn't show, so when I received the camera, an external battery holder, and covers for the finder, A focus grip was included in the kit. Now it's time to look at the Pentax 6x7 manual to double-check all the ins and outs of the camera.

The Company:

The history of Pentax cameras is deeply rooted in the evolution of photographic technology, with a legacy that spans over a century. Pentax began as Asahi Optical Joint Stock Co., founded in 1919 in Tokyo, Japan. Initially, the company produced lenses for eyeglasses and later expanded into camera lenses and optical equipment. Not until after World War II did Asahi make its mark in photography.

Ads for the Pentax 6x7 camera system

 In 1952, Asahi released its first camera, the Asahiflex, the first Japanese 35mm single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. This launch marked a significant milestone for the company and Japan's emerging camera industry. Asahiflex featured innovative mirror-return mechanisms that set the stage for modern SLR design.

 The turning point came in 1957 with the release of the Asahi Pentax, which gave birth to the Pentax brand name. The camera combined the best features of previous SLRs. It introduced a pentaprism viewfinder, allowing photographers to see their subject right-side up and laterally correct. It also standardized the use of the M42 screw mount, which would become a popular lens mount for decades. The success of the Asahi Pentax was so profound that the company eventually adopted "Pentax" as its corporate name.

 Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Pentax established itself as a leading manufacturer of SLR cameras, competing with brands like Nikon and Canon. They moved into the medium format by introducing the Pentax 6x7 camera. Iconic models like the Spotmatic series (launched in 1964) introduced TTL (through-the-lens) metering, significantly improving exposure accuracy. Pentax cameras became known for their durability, reliability, and affordability, making them popular among professionals and amateurs.

 In 1980, Pentax expanded the medium format market with the Pentax 645, which offered larger film sizes for high-resolution photography. These systems were found to favor studio and landscape photographers.

 Pentax transitioned to digital imaging in the early 2000s with models like the Pentax istD. It later gained attention for its weather-sealed DSLRs and in-body image stabilization. In 2011, Ricoh acquired the brand, becoming Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company.

 Today, Pentax focuses on traditional photography experiences, emphasizing optical viewfinders and rugged build quality in an era dominated by mirrorless technology. Their commitment to DSLR development and legacy lens compatibility maintains a loyal following, preserving the Pentax name as a significant part of photographic history.

My Camera:

Researching the Pentax 6x7 camera for the article revealed three upgrades to the original Pentax 6x7 camera when it was introduced in 1969. The Pentax 6x7 camera was shown at the 1966 Photokina as a prototype camera, and it was called the Pentax 220 and had chrome and black bodies. The official introduction was in 1969, with the name Pentax 6x7, and only black bodies were available. The Honeywell Pentax 6x7 was available for the US market, but here in the US, I rarely see the Honeywell Pentax 6x7 around; the vast majority were Asahi Pentax 6x7.

Dual Bayonet mount for longer or shorter focal length lenses.

 In 1976, the Pentax 6x7 (MLU) camera added a mirror lock-up mechanism, and in 1990, with their third modification, they made a few minor cosmetic changes to the camera. Now, the camera is named Pentax 67. No more 6x7. The fourth change camera in 1999 was when Pentax launched the Pentax 67II camera, which offers a built-in right-hand grip, a brighter viewfinder with interchangeable focusing screens, a more advanced AE metering system with three different modes, a dedicated time mode switch, a self-timer, and multiple exposure capabilities. 

 I own the Asahi Pentax 6x7, so mine is the second-generation camera with the mirror lock-up capability. The camera weighs a whopping 5 lbs. 5 oz without the wood grip. The camera is 7.5" wide by 6" tall by 6.75" deep, measuring from the back of the camera to the front of my 105mm f2.4 lens. The Pentax 6x7 cameras have a dual bayonet lens mounting system, with lenses from 35mm to 300mm fitting inside the body, similar to many 35mm cameras and lenses from 400mm to 1000mm mounting on the outer bayonet. Even the front lens cap has a bayonet mount on my camera, so it's not a clip or press-on style of a lens cap.

The Pentax 6x7 camera is a fully electronic camera system. The entire camera is dependent on the PX28, 6v battery. The meter, or the shutter, won't work without the camera battery. After putting in the battery, I discovered the metered finder was working, which was good news. At first, I thought it wasn't working, but after reading the manual, I learned that you need to remount the lens once the meter is removed so the lens will couple with the meter.  I didn't think it would work because there is a crack on the front running across the nameplate, but you never truly know until you try. With the fresh battery in the camera, I still wasn't sure the camera was working because there needed to be film in the camera for the shutter to fire. 

 Looking online, I did find a video showing a way to trick the camera into thinking there was film in the camera, which is by opening the back of the camera and, before closing the back, turning the frame counter to just past the first frame while holding the frame counter there and closing the back of the camera allows you to wind and fire the camera. The only issue is that there is no way to honestly tell if the shutter is opening or closing when you depress the shutter. You can tell at slower speeds by taking the lens off and looking into the mirror chamber to fire the camera. If you can see the film's pressure plate, you can tell if the shutter is opening and closing. What do you do to achieve faster shutter speeds?

Looking online, I did find a way to trick the camera into thinking there was film in the camera, which is by opening the back of the camera and, before closing the back, turning the frame counter to just past the first frame while holding the frame counter there and closing the back of the camera allows you to wind and fire the camera. The only issue is there is no way to honestly tell if the shutter is opening or closing when you depress the shutter. You can tell at slower speeds by taking the lens off and looking into the mirror chamber to fire the camera. If you can see the film's pressure plate, you can tell if the shutter is opening and closing. What do you do for the faster shutter speeds?

 One thing I did was use my cell phone in video mode and use the "slow motion" setting. I started the video and then tripped the shutter. I could then go back to the video and look at a few of the frames of the video tell if I could see the slit from the shutter move across the film plane. It did, so I knew the shutter was working on all shutter speeds. That's fantastic, so now I was good to go. I prefer to use my Sekonic meter for all my metering needs as they are always more accurate than most camera meters.

 Shutter speeds on the Pentax 67 camera range from 1/1000 to 1 sec. Along with "B" for timed exposures and "X" for flash sync, the shutter speed dial is on the far left side of the camera body and is turned with a large ring that is easy to grip and move. Just below the shutter speed dial is a battery check button, with a red light lighting up just to the right of the shutter speed dial if the battery is good.

Moving around the camera, on the front and the left side of the camera body are the flash sync terminals for both FP and X, and just below the flash terminals is the lens release knob, which needs to be pressed towards the camera's body to unmount the lens. To unmount the lens, press the lens release button and twist the lens counterclockwise. To mount the lens onto the camera body, line up the red dot on the lens to the red dot on the camera body and turn clockwise until the lens clicks into place.

 The mirror lock-up switch is on the other side of the camera body, still on the front. Pressing this switch locks the mirror up to reduce vibration in the camera, which is good for longer exposures or using longer lenses that are more sensitive to camera movement. On the far right side of the camera body is a switch for using either 120 or 220 film.

The film advance lever is on the top, far right side of the camera, with the frame counter inside the center of the winding lever. There is a serrated dial that you can turn to change the frame counter if needed. This is also the knob that I turn to trick the camera, as mentioned previously. Right next to the film advance lever is the shutter release button, which can be locked by turning the outer ring from the white dot to the orange dot to "locked."  

 On top of the meter, a finder is an on/off switch used to turn the meter on. Two silver buttons must be pressed on either side of the camera body to remove the finder and put on a different finder. You can lift the finder off the camera body to replace it with a few different viewfinders available for the camera. The metered finder extends over the shutter speed dial, so when metering, you can change shutter speeds to adjust the meter settings. You should remove the lens before taking the viewfinders off the Pentax 6x7 cameras, then put the lens back on the body once the viewfinder has been reattached.

To load film into the camera, pull down on the silver tab on the left side to open the back door. Two locking switches are on the bottom of the camera, just under where the film reels go. These need to be unlocked, allowing you to pull them down to load the take-up and fresh roll of film into the camera body. Once the film is in the camera, turn them to the locked position to keep them in place. Bring the leader to the take-up spool, thread it into the slot,  and advance the film to start the film advance. Bring the arrow on the film leader to the arrow next to the 120 at the top of the shutter curtain, close the back, and wind until the camera stops. You're now at frame 1 and ready to take 10 photos on a roll of 120 film.

I wanted to put the wood handle on the camera before I took the camera out for a spin and tried it out. I always thought it was odd to have a grip on the camera's left side, as it's the left hand that I cradle under the lens for focus and setting the aperture. Let's give it a try because so many people think it's a great selling point for the camera.  The wood handle also has a cold shoe for a flash attachment or other items you might want to put, like an external meter.

 To put the handle on the camera, you need to unscrew the locking screw, which is located in the middle between the two areas that fit onto the camera lugs, which are on the top and bottom of the left side of the camera. Snap the handle into position and screw down the locking screw to lock the handle into position, which also presses a small knob on the camera in. To take it off, unscrew the knob and pull out the knob and slide the handle up to take the handle off. The handle won't fit on the right side.

 The camera has four lugs located on the front and in each corner. These can be used for the camera strap to carry the camera vertically or horizontally or to put the wood handle on one side and the strap on the other. There are many ways to carry the camera comfortably while lugging 5 pounds around.

My Results:

This time, I walked through the neighborhood, taking a few photos. While I was taking my normal photos, I ran into a good neighbor who is an artist. He was showing me his studio, so I took a picture or two around his studio, then proceeded to take some of the regular photos I do when trying a new camera. 

 Here are the results of my walk through the neighborhood.

Conclusion:

I had a lot of fun shooting with this camera, considerably more than anticipated. I used the wood handle more as a tool to walk around with the camera than to shoot with it because it made transporting a 5-pound camera easy. I had the strap on the camera, but found the handle easier.

 My lens is very sharp, and the camera felt comfortable in my hand. The focus was smooth and accurate, the transport was soft, and all the camera operations seemed effortless. 

 I'll need to look into other lenses for the camera and possibly a few other accessories, as this is a keeper camera for now.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about a fun and extensive camera system to use.

 Until next week, please be safe.

 Here's a link to my other camera reviews if you want to see some of the other cameras in my collection.

 If you're interested in some of the vintage cameras and accessory items I have for sale, please look at my online store: 

Olympus O-Product Camera

My Olympus O-Product Camera

In high school, my good friend Greg Copeland introduced me to the Olympus camera system in the early 1970s. He was the first person I knew who bought into the Olympus OM system with the OM-1, which I believe was in 1973. At that time, Olympus was very innovative, making the most miniature SLR camera system, which included a complete line of small, compact lenses with very nice optics. I can still remember Greg telling me how much he enjoyed how nice the camera was made. He would take the camera with him all the time. At the time, I was using either the Topcon Super D or, possibly, I had moved on to shooting with a Nikon Nikkormat.

 I started working in the photo industry in late 1973 when I was hired as a seasonal employee in the camera department at my local K-Mart. That position didn't last long, but it led me to work at the local camera store chain about a year later. I was hired to work in the warehouse and handle all the camera and lens repairs.

 When I started working at the local camera store, the Olympus OM system had a decent hold on the market. However, it was still lagging behind the big kids in the marketplace. Olympus was continually pushing the envelope with many new and exciting products like the terrific XA camera line, which, to this day, is one of my favorite cameras. Olympus introduced new additions to its system yearly, which always had customers in the store talking about its products.

Olympus O camera & Flash

 I tell you this because I have seen many odd and unusual cameras introduced by camera companies over the years, and many of them came out in the 1980s to the mid-1990s. The Minolta Prod 20, the Yashica Samurai, and Canon had the Epoca series of cameras. There's a great blog on some of these cameras on the Kosmo Foto Blog.

 One of the cameras that greatly impacted me when it was introduced in 1988 was the Olympus O-Product camera. It was a limited edition, and only 20,000 cameras were made. The Olympus O-Product camera had a very unusual, art deco look of a circle in a square and was made of brushed aluminum. At the time, the cost was prohibitive for me to purchase, but I remember thinking that someday, I'd really like to have one in my collection. Its unique design always intrigued me.

The Company:

The history of Olympus cameras is a story of innovation, precision engineering, and a relentless pursuit of compact, high-quality imaging tools. Founded 1919 in Japan as Takachiho Seisakusho, the company initially specialized in microscopes and thermometers. In 1949, it was renamed Olympus Optical Co., Ltd., and it soon began making a name for itself in photography.

 Olympus entered the camera market in 1936 with the launch of the Semi-Olympus I. This bellows camera used the German-made Zuiko lens, setting the stage for a signature brand name synonymous with Olympus Optics. However, it was not until the post-war period that Olympus truly revolutionized the photography industry.

 One of the most pivotal moments came in 1959 with the release of the Olympus Pen. Designed by the legendary Yoshihisa Maitani, the Pen was a half-frame 35mm camera, meaning it could shoot twice as many exposures per roll of film. It was compact and affordable and helped democratize photography for a wider audience. The Pen series enjoyed massive popularity and marked Olympus as a leader in miniaturization without sacrificing quality.

 The next major innovation came in 1972 with the OM system. Again spearheaded by Maitani, the Olympus OM-1 was a compact, lightweight SLR (single-lens reflex) camera that offered full functionality in a significantly smaller body than its contemporaries. This system appealed to professionals and enthusiasts alike, reshaping expectations for what an SLR could be.

 In the digital age, Olympus continued to push boundaries. In 1996, they released their first digital camera, the Camedia C-800L. However, the Four Thirds system, introduced in collaboration with Kodak in 2003, made a lasting mark. This was followed by the Micro Four Thirds system in 2008, which eliminated the mirror box of traditional DSLRs, allowing for even more compact and lightweight cameras. The Olympus PEN E-P1, released in 2009, revived the classic Pen design in a digital form and was among the first mirrorless cameras to gain traction in the market.

 In 2020, Olympus exited the camera business, selling its imaging division to Japan Industrial Partners, which rebranded the line as OM SYSTEM. Despite the transition, Olympus's legacy lives on through continued innovation and the enduring influence of its designs on modern photography.

The Camera.

I've always thought of the Olympus O-Product camera as more of an art piece rather than a functioning camera, but it is fully functional. In its simplest form, the Olympus O-Product is a "point-and-shoot" camera. There are no settings on the camera that the photographer needs or can really set, which makes it incredibly simple and straightforward to use.

Camera’s number from production lot.

 The camera is relatively small, measuring 4" wide by 3.5" tall and 2" deep. These measurements are for the camera alone and not with the flash attached. If I add the detachable flash, the camera is 5.75" wide by 4" tall. The camera weighs just under 1 lbs. at 15.2 oz. with the flash attached. My camera is number 11289 out of 20,000. The camera also features a unique circular viewfinder and a distinctive shutter button, adding to its charm and functionality.

 The Olympus O-Product camera is powered by 2-AAA batteries that fit into the camera's bottom. The 2-AAA batteries also power the detachable flash. The camera is very simple and basic. Once the batteries are in the camera, you can load film, which is autoloading. There is no need to set the film's ISO because the camera has DX coding for the film loaded. Once you put the leader on the take-up spool and close the back of the camera, the camera automatically winds the film to frame number one.

 To turn on the camera, a lever you pull down on the front opens the front door, exposing the 35mm f3.5 Olympus lens. To turn the camera off, close the front door. There are no shutter speeds to set as the camera has a programmed electronic shutter. The camera is also autofocusing. In the center of the viewfinder,  you'll see a white circle when you depress the shutter button halfway on the front of the camera. In that case, a light will light up next to the "AF" in the upper right-hand corner, letting you know the camera has focused on the subject, and you can press the button to take the photo. Once you take the picture, the camera automatically advances to the next frame. Once you've taken all the photos on the roll of film, the camera will automatically rewind the film into the film cassette.

 The flash for the camera is detachable, so if you don't need it, you can take it off. To take the flash off, you need to unscrew the mounting screw, and the flash will come off the camera. You still need to unplug the cord from the flash to the camera, which pulls out, so it's very simple. To attach the flash, you screw it onto the camera and plug in the cord. If the camera needs the flash, a red ready light on top of it lights up when the flash is ready and will fire if it determines it needs the extra light to make a proper exposure.

 There are two buttons on the camera's top next to the flash attachment that allows the photographer to make adjustments when shooting.  One of the buttons is a self-timer. If you want to get into the photo, press the self-timer, giving you 10 seconds to get into it. The other button is a rewind button. Suppose, for some reason, you want to change to a different type of film. In that case, you can depress the rewind button. The camera will automatically rewind the film back, leaving a little bit of the leader exposed so you can re-load it when you want to finish that roll of film.

My Results.

I put batteries in the camera and flash, loaded it with a roll of Ilford Plus 50 black and white film, walked through the house, and strolled around the block taking photos. The camera determined if the flash was needed, which was pretty fun. It was too simple for my taste as sometimes I like to use fill flash, but this camera didn't allow me to do so. I could trick the meter by putting my finger over the meter area, but for this blog post, I wanted to be free and let the camera do all the work.

 Here are a few of the photos taken on my walk.

Conclusion.

Using such a simple but beautifully made camera was a lot of fun. The camera produces very sharp images and is extremely easy to use. When I was working at the camera store, we used the term PHD cameras, which always meant "push here dear," meaning the camera was very simple for either men or women. Put the camera to your eye, point it at your subject and "push here dear".

 As I mentioned earlier, the Olympus O-Product camera is more of a work of art or statement camera that looks terrific in the collection. It's not really made to be used on a daily basis, but using it every once in a while is good. I wouldn't want the camera to get more scuffed than it already is, but taking the camera out was fun, as was running film through it.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this art piece that can also be used as a camera.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Alpa Rotocamera 6070

My Alpa Rotocamera 6070

As I've mentioned in previous blog posts, I am fond of panoramic cameras and the odd and unusual cameras that most people wouldn't guess are cameras, so I always have my eyes open for these oddball items to add to my collection. The Alpa Rotocamera is just one of these items. Not only is it an odd-looking item that resembles a miniature robot-looking item, but it's also a 360-degree panoramic camera that shoots on 120 or 70-mm film.

 I've owned lenses that shoot 360-degree images and have even written posts on them. The first lens I had that shot 360-degree images was a Be Here Portal S1 lens, which fit onto my Nikon DSLR camera, and with software, it produced a tremendous 360-degree photo. That lens got damaged, and to this day, I'm continually searching for another one of these lenses. In my mind, I kept telling myself that there's something different between shooting with a 360-degree lens and having a camera that can produce a 360-degree negative.

 I found an Alpa Rotocamera on an online auction. When I saw it shot 360-degree images on 120 or 70mm film, I was immediately hooked and wanted to get it. Not knowing much about the camera other than a few tidbits I quickly found online, I bid on the camera lot. To my surprise, I won the camera. I was excited to get the camera and load film into it and start to make some tremendous images that were a view that is mind-boggling when you see them.

 This blog will be different from my other posts because I've spent tens of hours on this specific camera because of its condition. I want to give you a brief overview of the camera, then explain how I received it and what I've done to get it back into working condition.

The Camera:

This camera is a Beast!!!! I didn't realize until I received it, but the camera and film back weigh just under 17 lbs. and are 16 lbs. 15.6 oz. That does not include the power source and cables. It’s built from cast metal with a pebble finish and, it’s 12” tall, 9” wide, and 8” deep and was built in the early 1980s.

 As mentioned, the Alpa RotoCamera produces a 360-degree image on either 120/220 or 70mm film. The camera is powered by a 12v rechargeable battery that powers motors in the camera's base, which rotate the head around a cylinder. According to the manual, you can produce either 90, 180, 270 or 360-degree views with the camera. On the front of the camera is a Rodenstock Grandagon-N 75mm f6.8 lens. Just to the right of the front lens is a lever used for vertical adjustment. If you want to shoot higher or lower, you can slide the lever up or down to adjust the vertical height to avoid getting too much foreground in the photos. There is also a viewer on the side that can be used to see the camera's vertical adjustment.

 The camera has two speeds, and the head rotates around the cylinder. The speed is set on the center column by a switch with an "A" for the faster speeds and "B" for the slower speeds. There also are a series of slits in the head that allows for the camera to shoot at different shutter speeds depending on the motor speed and slit width. Switches on the top of the camera head control the slits. One series of switches is for the slit width, and there is another that allows for the slit angle if you're in a situation where you'll want to control excessive brightness in the sky or ground. The camera can shoot anywhere from 1/20 to 1/250 shutter speed depending on the motor speed and slit width. On the rear of the film's back is a chart showing where to put the different switches should you want faster or slower speeds, along with a controlling light on top or bottom.

 The camera also has a removable film back, and 70mm or 120/220 film can be loaded into it. There is a small hard wheel just below the take-up spool on the film back, which is connected to the film advance cog and fits into the film reel. Just below the slits on the head is a rubber band that goes all around the cylinder. As the head rotates around the cylinder, the hard wheel runs along the rubber under the slit advancing the film as the head spins around the cylinder.

There are two settings on the camera remote control. One is a switch for "Auto" or "Manual," and the other setting is "Rotation." The Auto setting works in conjunction with the angle set on the column for 90, 180, 270, or 360 pans. The manual setting allows you to press as long as you want the camera to pan for. The "rotate" button is pressed to open the shutter and start the camera rotation. The remote and power cable are joined; one end fits into the power pack, and the other fits into the bottom of the camera's center column. There is also an on/off switch for the camera close to where the power and remote cable fit into the camera.

 In theory, you load film into the film back, making sure the take-up spool is engaged into the drive gear on the back. Put the back onto the camera. Plug the cables into the power supply and the camera. Turn the camera on, set the aperture on the lens, and check the height adjustment. Meter your scene, then set the appropriate shutter combination by the series of switches on top of the camera and the speed adjustment on the column. Set the rotation distance, and press "Auto" to start the camera rotation. According to the manual, on a roll of 120 film, you'll get 1- 360-degree or 270-degree images, 2-180-degree images or 4-90-degree images.

The Restoration:

The one thing I didn't realize and wasn't shown in the images at the online auction was the mechanical and physical condition of the Alpa Rotocamera internally because when I received the camera, it wasn't in "good working order." On the outside, the camera looked good. Everything seemed to be there, but when I went to take the back off the camera to view the inside of the camera body, the wheels came off the bus. My heart sank as the excitement of having a working camera came to a crashing halt.  

 The film back still had two 70mm film cassettes inside, but it looked like someone had packed the back of the camera with grease. For what reason, I wasn't immediately aware of it, and the rubber wheel that the film rotates on to advance the film had deteriorated into a yellow mass of goop that looked worse than it was. Another item that was missing was the power supply for the camera. I had the cables for the power supply that led to the camera and the remote control on it. I also had the instruction manual along with a car inverter to charge the battery when in your car. Still, there was no power supply, so I couldn't check whether the camera operated.

I let the camera sit for a few hours as I started thinking about how to get the camera into a somewhat presentable condition. My mind wasn't even on getting the camera, but on starting to clean up all the goop that was not only in visible areas but in areas of the camera I wasn't even sure I could get to. I did another more exhausting internet search when I came across someone who had done a restoration on the camera itself. Bayless Projects has a tremendous video on YouTube that is very comprehensive. He lives in London, so I started an email chain with him, letting him know I, too, had a camera I needed to restore. He helped me with the power supply and with many other questions I had about the camera.

 It was time to get the camera back in (hopefully) working condition. I spent the next couple of days cleaning up the goop on the film back, which got into places I needed to disassemble to clean out. With many Q-tips, Isopropyl alcohol, and lightly soapy water, I cleaned the film back up nicely. The film holders moved well, and the film drive gear turned as I rotated the hard wheel, which wasn't moving smoothly previously. 

 Now, to move onto the camera head. I removed some of the stickers that someone placed with film data from the previous owner. Something was rattling in the head, so I needed to take the top off to see what was rattling around. Once I removed the top, I could see a ground glass still intact and not broken that went where the viewer went. This was used to check the vertical adjustment for the images. Once I got the ground glass in place, it was time to tackle the back of the camera, which had the remnants of the previous rubber band that goes around the cylinder. Luckily, this came off very easily, and I didn't need much cleaning.

Now, to move onto the camera head. I removed some of the stickers that someone placed with film data from the previous owner. Something was rattling in the head, so I needed to take the top off to see what was rattling around. Once I removed the top, I could see a ground glass still intact and not broken that went where the viewer went. This was used to check the vertical adjustment for the images. Once I got the ground glass in place, it was time to tackle the back of the camera, which had the remnants of the previous rubber band that goes around the cylinder. Luckily, this came off very easily, and I didn't need much cleaning.

 Thomas (Bayless Projects) helped me with the power supply, which I purchased from him, and he made it for me and sent it over from the UK. I bought a battery to put in the housing. Once I got the battery in the power supply and connected it to see if the camera was working, my heart sank aging…..nothing. With the power on and the battery connected, I turned the head a bit, and luckily, the head on the Rotocamera started to spin. At that point, I was so happy to see the camera spinning. Was that a fluke? I unplugged the battery and let it sit for a few minutes before I tried it again. The camera started to spin without any help from me, so at this point, I knew the camera was functional. You could also hear the shutter open and close as I pressed the rotation button. What a relief. Now, I had a camera that "could" make images (hopefully). The one thing I couldn't figure out was the "Auto" setting. Nothing in the column needs to be pressed to set the camera at different angles for shooting. Thomas said his camera does the same thing, so I can only use the camera in the "manual" position, where I set the angle of view by pressing the rotation button.

 I needed to replace the rubber band around the cylinder to get the film to rotate when the film was back on the camera. I purchased a replacement that had the same specs that Thomas recommended. He also said it's not perfect, but I wanted to try it. When I received the rubber, it was horrible. The glue backing didn't hold at all. It was so bad that the paper they put on the product to protect the glue didn't stick on. It was also rolled in the opposite direction, so the end of the rubber kept popping out. I tried two-sided tape to hold it in, but that didn't work either.

 Then, I had the idea to turn the rubber around so the curve was going around the cylinder instead of against it. The tape on the back side of the rubber would give more friction as the film wheel rotated. I put a roll of film into the camera and gave the camera a try. Unfortunately, the camera rotated about 90-100 degrees, then stopped as one of the ends of the rubber came off and jammed in the camera. In theory, it made sense, but the rubber was too thick, and the end didn't fit together and kept coming apart. 

 The rubber needed to be a little thinner and without the crappy glue. I rubbed the glue off the rubber, and to get it to be a bit thinner, I stretched the rubber when I put the two-sided tape on the curved side to make it thinner. To keep the ends together, I added some two-sided tape to one side of the rubber so that when it went around the cylinder. There was extra tape to hold the second end in place. I put it back into the cylinder, and it worked well. It's time to put another roll of film into the camera for another test.

 I took the camera to the front of my house, set up the tripod, and crossed my fingers to see if it would work. I put a roll of B&W film into the back, set the camera to the settings the light meter said, and pressed the rotate button. The camera worked!!!! I could hear the shutter open, the camera rotated, and the film come off the spool and wrap around the take-up spool. SUCCESS.

Thrid test worked to perfection.

 With such success on the test roll, I decided to take the camera into Portland near the river with bridges and see what I could get there. Knowing the Cherry trees were recently blooming, I even packed some color film to see the river's edge and beautiful cherry blossoms in the photo. Having lugged the camera to the river's edge, setting the camera up, plugging in the power supply, and pressing the rotation button, I could hear the shutter open, but the head didn't start to turn. So I gave it a gentle push, and it began to turn. Unfortunately, I could also see it wasn't moving smoothly, which would cause banding. 

 The one thing I did notice is that when you have the film in the back of the camera, the camera has a little harder time doing the rotation because of the extra tension the film brings to the camera. Pulling the film out of the spool and running it across the shutter, I'm still trying to figure out if it's the rubber around the cylinder or the power to the motor. I'll continually work on how this works together to make the film move correctly.

 The first roll was B&W, which I processed when I got home and has banding. I also picked up the color film and noticed. At the same time, the camera did a somewhat better job at rotating; the drive wheel that moves the film from one spool to the other didn't have as much pull as it did with the test in front of my house. For the 2-3 rolls I did away from home, the camera film transport didn't pull the film off the spool. It left the tail end of the film exposed to light. Something is going on here, whether the rubber band around the cylinder or the drive wheel needs lubrication. I also agree with the film I did on location; portions of the film look like motion blur, so the film is not transporting, causing slight banding and blur.

My Results:

Here is the image taken in front of my house during the test. I didn't change the vertical adjustment, and I had the lens pretty high, so there's no foreground or yards in the houses on my block.

 These next images were taken down by the river in Portland, Or.

Conclusion:

 This camera is still a work in progress. I did order a slightly thinner rubber to try on the cylinder, so I'm crossing my fingers that it will work well on the camera.

Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about an odd and unusual camera that hopefully will be as rewarding in the images it creates as it is frustrating to get it back in good working order.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Minolta-35 Model II

My Minolta-35, Model II

The Minolta-35 Model II camera I have was an unexpected discovery, purchased with several other cameras through an online auction. It wasn't the camera I was originally after in the lot, but the only thing that distinguished it in the photo was the fitted case, with 'Minolta' proudly displayed on the face.

 There were so many different models of camera from Minolta during this timeframe that I wasn't sure what was actually in the fitted case. Still, when I received the "lot" of cameras and uncased the Minolta-35, someone had painted the camera black. And whoever painted it did an abysmal job of it. I only wish I had photos of the camera in that state, but I didn't think of it then. The camera was painted black, and the shutter wasn't working. The good news is that the camera had a good and clean lens.

 Over the years, I have brought the camera to a few different collectible camera shows in hopes of selling it, but no sales have been made. 

 One day, a few months ago, I was browsing the cameras on my shelf, looking for one to write about, when I picked up the Minolta. I felt a personal connection to it, and determined to do a blog post, I sent it off to my trusty camera technician, Allen, at CameraWerks in NY to have it CLA'd. Despite its modest value, the fact that it's from the early 1950s and a very respectable Leica thread mount 'clone' made it worth the investment for me.

My Minolta-35, Model II with case.

 Before I sent the camera to Allen, I wanted to get the black paint off the camera and bring it back to the original chrome camera it was. I had bought some Acetone to see if I could gently get rid of the paint and not ruin any of the other parts of the camera. Unfortunately, the Acetone didn't work well and didn't take much of the paint off. Then, I noticed that if I used my fingernail, the paint would chip off reasonably easily. I also noticed that in our kitchen, we had some bamboo skewers, which seemed to work OK, so to get into some of the tighter spots, I used the bamboo skewer, and to get into the very tight areas, I used the tip of some of the metal tweezers I have for some very minor repairs.

 The camera still has some very minor spotting of black paint, as you'll see in the photos in the article, but 99.8% of the paint is gone. The camera looks considerably better than it did before. It's in great working condition, and even the rangefinder is clean and accurate, so it was time to do my blog on this early Minolta 35mm rangefinder camera.

The Company:

Minolta was a pioneering Japanese camera manufacturer known for its innovative contributions to photography. Founded in 1928 as Nichi-Doku Shashinki Shōten (which translates to "Japanese-German Camera Company"), the company was renamed Minolta in 1933. The name Minolta is derived from "Mechanismus, Instrumente, Optik und Linsen von Tashima," reflecting its German-Japanese technological collaboration.

Ad for Minolta 35 camera.

 Minolta's early cameras were heavily influenced by German designs, particularly Leica and Contax rangefinders. The company released its first camera, the Nifcarette, in 1929, followed by various medium-format folding cameras in the 1930s. After World War II, Minolta resumed camera production, releasing the Minolta-35 in 1947, which became Japan's first 35mm camera with a coupled rangefinder.

 Minolta's breakthrough came in 1958 with the Minolta SR-2, its first single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. Throughout the 1960s, the company expanded its SLR lineup, introducing the Minolta SR-T 101 in 1966, which featured an innovative through-the-lens (TTL) metering system. The 1970s saw Minolta partner with Leica, resulting in co-developed cameras like the Leica R3 and Minolta XE-7.

 One of Minolta's most revolutionary releases was the Minolta XD-7 (XD-11 in North America) in 1977, the world's first camera with aperture-priority and shutter-priority automatic exposure modes. This technological advancement set the stage for further automation in cameras.

 In 1985, Minolta changed the photography world with the Minolta Maxxum 7000 ( Alpha 7000 in Japan and Dynax 7000in Europe). This was the first SLR camera with fully integrated autofocus, making it far easier for photographers to achieve sharp images quickly. The Maxxum series gained popularity, pushing competitors like Canon and Nikon to accelerate their autofocus developments.

During the 1990s, Minolta expanded into digital imaging and compact cameras while maintaining its SLR dominance with the Dynax (Maxxum) series. The Minolta RD-175, released in 1995, was one of the earliest digital SLRs, marking Minolta's transition into the digital era.

 In 2003, Minolta merged with Konica, another Japanese camera giant, to form Konica Minolta. However, due to declining camera sales, Konica Minolta exited the camera business in 2006, selling its assets, including the popular A-mount system, to Sony. This acquisition helped Sony establish itself in the DSLR market, leading to the Alpha series that continues today.

Though Minolta as a brand no longer produces cameras, its legacy lives on through Sony's Alpha series, which traces its roots back to Minolta's innovative technologies.

My Camera:

My Minolta-35, Model II is 5 3/8" wide by 3" tall by 3" deep, which includes the Chiyoko Super Rokkor 5cm (50mm) F2.8 lens. If I take the lens off, the body only is 1.5" deep. The camera weighs 1 lb. 10.9 oz is a very comfortable camera size and weight, and it fits into my hands nicely. The Minolta-35 Model II has shutter speeds ranging from 1/500 down to 1 second, with "T" for timed exposures and "B" for bulb. 

 The Minolta-35 Model II also splits the shutter speeds into two different dials on the camera with the higher speeds on the top dial, which go from 1/500 to 1/25 and "B" and from 1/25 to 1 sec, and "T" on the secondary shutter speed dial on the front of the camera just above the self-timer. To set the shutter speed, you'll need to lift up the dial and turn it to the desired speed for the exposure. Changing the shutter speeds should only be done once you cock the shutter.

To use the secondary or lower shutter speeds, the top dial needs to be set to 1/25, and the lower speed dial needs to be set at whatever of the slower speeds you'll be shooting. This method is prevalent for Leica copy cameras from this era. 

 The Chiyoko Super Rokkor lens on my Minolta-35 is smooth and in excellent condition. To focus, similar to other Leica thread mount lenses, a locking pin is used to lock the lens to the infinity position. To release the lock and focus to a closer range, press the release button and turn the lens to the desired focus distance. Inside the camera is a built-in rangefinder, which will aid the photographer in the distance needed to take a sharp photo. Along the outer rim of the lens is the lens's aperture ring, which goes from F2.8 to F22.

The shutter release is on the top of the camera, just to the right of the shutter speed dial. A small crown-shaped piece surrounds it, which can be removed to use a cable release for the timed or longer exposure times built into the camera.

 Just above the shutter release is the rewind switch, which you slide to the "R" position to release the camera's drive gear so you can rewind the film back into the film canister when you complete the roll of film. Just to the right of the rewind switch is the film winding knob which has an arrow on top to show the user which direction to turn to advance the film to the next frame. At the bottom of the film winding knob is the frame counter which you need to zero out when you load a new roll of film into the camera so you'll know how many photos you've taken on the roll you loaded into the camera.

On the far left of the camera is the film rewind knob. Lift the knob up to make the rewinding of the film back into the film canisters easier. Once the back of the camera is open, you can lift the rewind knob even higher to remove or load the film canister in or out of the camera.

 Right in the middle of the camera, on the top plate, is the Minolta-35 name along with the serial number, which on my camera is 90899, and Chiyoda Kogaku. I enjoy the modernistic font used on the older Minolta camera, which is very elegant.

Top plate with name on the Minolta-35, Model II camera.

 On the back of the camera is the viewfinder window for focus, and on the outside is a dioptric adjustment. This is for people who wear glasses. Turning the dial around the finder window allows you to adjust your glasses prescription to correct vision issues. You can put the camera to your eye without wearing your glasses and still get a sharp photo. In the center of the back of the camera is the flash sync plug, which is just below the accessory shoe used for a flash attachment.

To open the camera to load film, there is a small knob on the bottom of the Minolta-35 that you'll need to turn counterclockwise until the "open" dot is lining up with the arrow. When this happens, the back of the camera springs open, and you load the camera just like you would any standard 35mm camera. 

Lift the rewind knob to load the film cassette into the camera. Pull the leader across the drive gears and put the film leader into the slot on the take-up spool. Take the tension of the film up by turning the rewind knob clockwise to take the slack up on the film. Close the back turn the open/close knob to the "closed" position to lock the camera's back, and wind to your first frame. Watch that the rewind knob is turning when you advance the film so you know the film is transporting in the camera, and set the frame counter to number one.

 

My Results:

I loaded my Minolta-35 camera with a roll of Ilford Pan F Plus 50 ISO black-and-white film. I wanted to use a slow speed to see how the camera would perform in lower-light situations. I also had my trusty Sekonic L-308 meter with me to achieve accurate exposures. I knew I could always count on Sekonic to give precise light readings. 

 Now that I had film loaded into the newly serviced camera, I walked through my yard and neighborhood to take photos with the Minolta-35 camera. Here are a few of the images I took on my walk.

My Conclusion:

The camera was enjoyable to photograph with. The rangefinder was bright and accurate. I tried many slow shutter speeds to see how the camera performed under these low-light circumstances. I had a great time using this camera and want to continue using it. The overhaul made a tremendous difference; without the black paint on the camera, it also looks terrific.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your busy schedule to read about this excellent rangefinder camera from Minolta

 Until next week, please be safe.

Leica I

My Leica I camera

I purchased the Leica I camera and accessories around 6 years ago when I saw a local ad of someone wanting to sell off a recently departed family member's old cameras. I responded to the ad, and for some reason, the person liked my passion for cameras and photography, so when I heard that the camera they had from a grandparent was a Leica, it piqued my interest. They had mentioned that the camera was in good shape and had some accessories in a case; I told them I was interested in seeing what they had.

 I try not to get into situations where you meet someone with some valuable equipment at a random location, so for safety reasons for both parties, we met at a local police station, which was agreeable to both. When they pulled out the case and I saw it was an early Leica, my heart fluttered a bit. 

My Leica I outfit

 Pulling the camera from the case, I found it in excellent condition and working. All the shutter speeds sounded accurate to the ear, and the rangefinder and extra film cassette were in the metal container and within the case, too. The owner wanted to be sure the camera was going to a good home and not just being sold. I reassured the person that I planned on keeping the camera and shooting with it, which they loved.

 Since adding the Leica I to my collection, I've made a point to keep it in top condition. Every now and then, I take it out and give the shutter a few test clicks to ensure it's in good working order. However, due to my busy schedule, I hadn't had the chance to load a roll of film and actually use the camera until recently.

 I wanted to write about the Leica 1 for my blog about a month ago.  I took the camera out and started to put a roll of film into the camera to shoot with it, and the shutter jammed. What bad luck! I called my friend Allen Wade at CameraWerks in NY, who always does a terrific job servicing my cameras and lenses. I sent the Leica 1 along with a few other items to him to get serviced. About a month later, I received the cameras back from him, and they were in fabulous condition. At this point, I put a fresh roll of film into the camera to see how the camera worked so I could write about it.

The Company:

Oskar Barnack was a German optical engineer who revolutionized photography by inventing the first practical 35mm camera, the Leica I. Born in 1879, Barnack initially worked in the optical industry, eventually joining Ernst Leitz Optische Werke, a German company specializing in microscopes and optical instruments. His pioneering work in miniaturizing cameras led to the creation of the Leica, which forever changed the way photographs were taken.

Ad for Leica 1

 Before Barnack's innovation, photography relied on bulky, cumbersome cameras that used large-format glass plates or film sheets. These devices were difficult to transport and required long exposure times, limiting their usability. An enthusiastic amateur photographer, Barnack sought to develop a more compact and convenient camera system that would still produce high-quality images. He turned to 35mm cinema film, which was already used in the motion picture industry, and repurposed it for still photography. He aimed to create a small, lightweight camera that could capture multiple images on a single roll of film.

 Around 1913-1914, Barnack developed a prototype of what would later become the Leica (short for "Leitz Camera"). This early model, known as the "Ur-Leica," used perforated 35mm film and a horizontal transport mechanism. The key innovation was that the film was advanced in small increments, allowing multiple exposures on a roll rather than requiring a single frame per exposure. Barnack also incorporated a focal-plane shutter, providing precise control over exposure times.

 The outbreak of World War I delayed the commercialization of the Leica. Still, in 1924, Ernst Leitz II, head of the Leitz company, decided to move forward with production. The Leica I was officially introduced at the Leipzig Spring Fair in 1925, marking the beginning of the 35mm camera revolution. The camera instantly succeeded due to its portability, superior image quality, and innovative design.

 Leica cameras quickly became popular among professional and amateur photographers, particularly in journalism and street photography. Their ability to take quick, candid shots without cumbersome equipment made Leica the camera of choice for legendary photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa.

 Over the decades, Leica continued to innovate, introducing models such as the Leica II (1932) with interchangeable lenses and the Leica M series (1954), which refined the rangefinder design. The company also played a crucial role in developing optical advancements, such as high-quality lenses like the Summicron and Noctilux.

 Today, Leica remains an iconic brand known for its precision engineering and commitment to craftsmanship. Oskar Barnack's vision laid the foundation for modern photography, and his pioneering work continues to influence camera design and photographic culture worldwide.

My Camera:

The first thing I noticed when I started to use the Leica I was how compact the camera is. When the lens is retracted, the camera is one you can put into your coat pocket to have handy when traveling or just for everyday use. The camera is 5.25" wide by 2.5" tall, including the winding knobs and viewfinder, by 1 5/8" deep when the lens is retracted and 2.5" deep when the lens is extended. My Leica 1 weighs just under 1 lb. and comes in at 15.6 oz without film loaded into the camera. The serial number on my camera is 19569, which, according to the lists online, the camera was made in 1929, along with a bit over 8,000 made that year. The Leica 1 cameras were made between 1926 and 1931 and were popular, producing approximately 70,000 cameras during that time. My camera comes with a Leitz Elmar 50mm f3.5 lens, and I've looked everywhere but do not see a serial number on the lens. This could be because the camera didn't have interchangeable lenses, and the serial number for the camera was enough.

The early Leica is different from the later models as the rangefinder is separate and needs to be attached to the accessory shoe for the photographer to achieve fine focus on the subject. Once the photographer uses the rangefinder, they need to transfer the focus distance shown on the rangefinder to the lens focus before taking the photo, so the process is longer and more tedious. The viewfinder on the top is for composition purposes only.

 Also, the lens needs to be extended from the camera body and "locked" into position by turning the lens clockwise until you feel the lens cannot be turned anymore. Now you're in the "taking" position of the lens. To retract the lens for transportation or to put it away, turn it counterclockwise, press it back into the body, and put the lens cap on so you don't damage the optics. The lens on the Leica 1 isn't interchangeable due to a pin at the 11:00 position on the camera body, which prevents the lens from being unscrewed from the camera body. The pin also limits the lens's ability to focus only from the minimum focus distance of 1.5 feet to infinity. Unscrewing the pin will remove the lens from the body for servicing or cleaning if needed.

Also on top of the camera is the shutter speed dial with speeds of 1/500, 1/200, 1/100, 1/60, 1/40, 1/30, 1/20, and "Z" for timed exposures. You must lift and turn the dial to change the shutter speed. Still, it's always recommended to do so after you cock the shutter, which is done by winding the film advance lever until it stops. The shutter release is next to the film advance lever and just behind the switch for film advance, which is in the "A" position, flipping it to "R" for film rewind.

Loading the film on a Leica is different than what people are now used to when they load a 35mm camera. The back on early Leica's and rangefinder cameras do not swing open. You must remove the base plate by turning a switch on the bottom to the "open" position, then pull the baseplate off the camera. You can take out the film's take-up spool, which you can grab and pull out. The easiest way to load the camera is to put the film leader into the take-up spool, then pull a bit of the film leader out so you can slide the film cassette and take-up spool into the camera body at once. Push the cassette and take the spool into position, ensuring the film is behind the shutter. Put back on the baseplate and turn the switch to "locked." 

Before I wind to the first frame, I always take up the slack by turning the rewind knob a bit, so when I do wind to the first frame, I watch the rewind knob turn so I know the film is transporting across the shutter. Set the frame counter to 1, which is around the film advance knob and can be moved by two pegs on either side of the knob. Double-check to ensure the film advance switch is in the "A" position and wind to your first frame.

 Now that I have the camera loaded with film, I'm going to take a stroll through the neighborhood and see how it performs.

My Results.

After attaching the rangefinder to the camera, I wanted to get the whole experience of what it was like to photograph with the Leica I, as people did almost 100 years ago. I also have my trusty Sekonic L-308X-U around my neck for accurate metering; I went walking through the neighborhood, focusing on the subject, then transferring from what the rangefinder said the focus. Using the meter to get proper meter readings and setting both the shutter and aperture to the meter settings. I really took my time taking photos with this camera.

 Here are a few of the different images I took with the early Leica I camera.

Conclusion:

I can see why people would have liked and wanted to use this camera almost 100 years ago. It's small, compact, and lightweight. The process of taking photos was slower. Still, it was fun compared to what they needed to do 100 years ago. As a photographer, taking your time, metering your subject, focusing on your subject, and composing the photo was fun. It's much different than what we have now with autofocus, automatic metering, and film advance.

I made a short video on the Leica 1 Camera, which shows the controls and loading the camera with film.

 I want to start using the Leica I regularly. It's quiet to shoot with, the lens is sharp, and it's small and compact. Overall, it's a great and fun camera.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this old gem of a camera.

  I'll be taking next week off, as I'll be helping at a photo conference all week. I'll see you in a couple of weeks. Until then, please be safe.

Panon Widelux F7 Camera

My Widelux F7 camera

I enjoy several different types, styles, or kinds of cameras. When I started collecting cameras over 50 years ago, I was drawn to anything out of the ordinary. If the camera had a different faceplate on a box-style camera or was a different color or shape, these were the items I've always searched for when I go out looking for cameras or anything photographic to add to my growing and now hopefully somewhat shrinking collection as I'm "trying" to downsize my collection.

 One of my favorite types and styles of cameras is panoramic cameras, which fit right in with the odd or unusual types made. They take different forms when you start to look at the various styles of panoramic cameras. They can look like a wood and bellows camera on a geared tripod, which would be a circuit camera and one of the first styles of panoramic camera. They can look like a more extended box style camera but have a lens that rotates across a curved film plane similar to the Kodak Panoram or more intricate Multiscope Al-Vista camera, which employed different sizes of "flags" to speed up or slow down the rotation of the lens. Or an elongated camera similar to the Fuji 6x17 or Horseman 6x12 camera.

Image taken from Widelux F7 Manual

 Essentially, panoramic cameras expose a longer piece of film in the camera itself. They generally have a wide-angle lens to expand the area the camera and film see. It is very similar to cropping the top and/or bottoms of any format film to give the appearance of a longer, broader photo. I remember in the 1980s and 90s when the camera had the "panoramic" feature built into the point-and-shoot camera that did nothing more than have a blade within the camera close to the film plane that would crop the top and bottom of the film frame to take what appeared to be a panoramic negative. Heck, they even had disposable cameras that did just that.

 I have several panoramic cameras, and a few years ago, I purchased a very good Widelux F7 camera. Cosmetically, it wasn't the best, and it needed some work, so I researched where and who could repair the camera for me. Ultimately, I sent the camera to Precision Camera Works in Lakeway, Texas. If the lens turret doesn't move smoothly across the film plane, the camera will cause banding due to the inconsistent movement of the lens.

 Upon completion of the overhaul, they did an outstanding job. They even replaced the difficult-to-turn rewind knob with something better, which makes the camera easier to rewind the film. The best part is the new rewind knob doesn't tear into your skin when you rewind the film, which was one of the big pet peeves of the camera before I had it serviced. They did return the old knob, so if I wanted to have it put back, it's quickly done.

The video below shows the camera being re-wound, then I changed the shutter speed to show the lens movement.

The Old and New Company:

The Old Company:

The Widelux camera was made by Panon Camera Shoko, which was started in 1952 by Nakayama Shozo. A small camera manufacturer originally made the Panon camera, which I wrote about back in 2020. It was a swing-lens camera made for 120-size film. The company was small but specialized in the swing-lens panoramic camera style and improved the larger 120-format camera.

 In 1958, the Panon company, known for its swing lens style of panoramic cameras, introduced its first 35mm panoramic camera, the Widelux F1. This camera, incorporating a 26mm f2.8 lens, exposed a film frame 24x59, approximately 65% longer than the standard 35mm frame. This extra area gives photographers a 140-degree diagonal angle of view and 126 degrees horizontally. Over the years, Panon Camera Shoko continued to innovate and improve its models, leading to the production halt of the F8 model in the mid-1990s.

 1963 Panon introduced the Panophic, a 120-film format swing-lens panoramic camera. This is an updated version of the Panon camera with an interesting design, a curved back, and a much larger viewfinder on top. In 1987, Panon introduced the Widelux 1500.

The New Company:

There is someone more famous than myself who also enjoys panoramic cameras and photography, and that's the Big Lebowski himself, Jeff Bridges, and his wife Susan, a tremendous photographer in her own right. They are partnering with Marwan El Mozayen, Editor-in-Chief of Silvergrains Classic, and Charys Schuler. They have formed SilverBridges, planning to re-introduce the new Widelux X camera. Their goal is to have the camera introduced sometime in 2025. My fingers are crossed, and if they need someone to test the camera and give it a review, I'm personally raising my hand now. I and a thousand other people have a much larger audience than I have.

My Camera:

My Widelux F7 camera is not just a piece of equipment; it's a companion on my photographic journey. It's 6.5" wide, 3 5/8" tall, and 2.25" deep from the front of the lens turret to the rear of the camera. The F7 weighs 1 lb. 14 oz. with a roll of film in the camera. Like all Widelux F7 cameras, I have a 26mm f2.8 lens, serial # 466392. The lens rotates on a cylinder across a curved film plane to get a longer negative area. Because of this longer negative, the camera only takes 21 images on a roll of 36 exposures. I generally get 22 when I use my camera. It will take approximately 13 on a roll of 24. Here is the manual for the Widelux F7.

There are only three shutter speeds on the camera: 1/250, 1/125, and 1/15. The aperture on the lens ranges from F2.8 to F11, so the exposure control, while adequate for most shooting, is less than what most people would consider normal. All of the controls are on the top of the camera, along with a bubble level to make sure things are straight, the film advance and rewind knobs, along with a wide viewfinder to give the photographer an approximate view of what they'll get within the photo.

The more tricky thing about the Widelux camera is the film loading. If not done correctly, which is what happened on my first roll, some of the negative areas won't be sharp. To take the back off the Widelux F7 camera, there is a locking knob on the back to lock by turning counterclockwise to the unlock position and clockwise to lock the back onto the camera, which is clearly seen.

 Once the back is off the camera, the typical film chamber is where you put the fresh roll on the right-hand side. Lift up the rewind knob to put the fresh roll in, then to hold it into place, press the rewind knob down to lock the film cassette into the camera. At this point, I crimp the very end of the film upwards to help the loading process.

There are two columns, one on either side of the curved film plane. The film must go under the first column on the left-hand side, then over the film plane, and then back under the column on the right-hand side. This is where I ran into a problem with my first roll of film. There is a slit between the right-hand column and what you see looking down on the camera. Make sure the film goes all the way down under the column before it comes back up by winding the camera and having the film drive gear pull the film leader back up. The first time I loaded the camera, the film went through the slot, and the right side of my negatives wasn't sharp, and I was disappointed.

One of the reasons why I crimp the end of the film leader is to grab onto the film drive gear when going under the second column. It needs something to catch onto to pull the film up and across the drive gear before I place the leader into the take-up spool. It's not that difficult, but you'll understand once you get the camera. Before I put the back onto the camera, I always take up the slack with the rewind knob, so once I put the film back onto the camera and lock it, I can see the rewind knob turn as I wind to the next frame. This way, I know my film is transporting across the shutter, and I'm taking photos. When I worked retail in a camera store, I can't tell you how many times I had people not load their cameras correctly, and watching the rewind knob turn when advancing the film is a surefire way of telling if the film is loaded correctly.

Arrows showing angle of view.

Now that the camera is loaded and you're ready to start taking photos, it's VERY important to understand how to hold the Widelux camera. You don't hold the Widelux like a regular 35mm camera because of how the lens swings and the wide angle lens; your knuckles and/or fingers will be on the sides of each negative. You want to hold the camera with your thumbs on the bottom of the camera and your fingers on the top—nothing on the sides. Take your meter reading, grab the camera on top and bottom, look through the viewfinder, and press the shutter. You'll hear the whirring of the shutter as the lens swings across the film plane. Wind the film to the next frame and repeat. It will initially feel odd, but once you see your fingers in the photos, you'll quickly correct the holding procedure.

 Now that you've finished the roll of film, press the rewind button on the bottom of the camera and rewind the film into the cassette. Open the back door and take the film to get processed. In my case, take it to the dark bag and processing tank to process the film.

My Results:

I took some photos of walking through the neighborhood for the blog post. I have taken the camera to Africa, Europe, and many other places and absolutely LOVE this camera.

My Conclusion:

What else can I say that I haven't already said in the blog? This is one of my, if not my favorite film cameras. I also love shooting with my Panon, but it's a more prominent and heavier camera, although the results are terrific with the Panon.

 I made a short video on the Widelux F7 basic controls & Loading film.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this wonderful and exciting camera. I hope many of you have one; if not, you're missing a superb camera.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Kodak Beau Brownie Camera

My Rose Beau Brownie Camera

To end the unofficial box camera month for my blog post, I was thinking about writing about a few different cameras, but my thoughts kept coming back to one specific model of Eastman Kodak camera, one of the most beautiful cameras made, the Beau Brownie camera.

 The two factors of the Beau Brownie line of cameras that I enjoy are the five different colors they come in: black, tan, blue, green, and the most sought-after rose. The art deco design by one of America's outstanding industrial designers, Walter Dorwin Teague, is also bundled into a very uncomplicated camera marketed more as a fashion statement than the ordinary black box camera. 

 George Eastman and his marketing team realized early on that to broaden the photographic marketplace, they needed to expand the scope of photographers using cameras. Until the early 1900s and into the 1910s, the vast majority of photographers were males due to the time-consuming process of making photographs. While Kodak didn't invent photography, much like Henry Ford, he sold cameras to the masses due to the newer methods of making glass plates easier to obtain and process, making roll films, film processing, and printing available to the masses.

My set of Nos. 2 Beau Brownie cameras

 In the late 1920s, Eastman Kodak started a relationship with Edwin Dorwin Teague, which forged a relationship and changed the design and quality of cameras for thirty to forty years until he died in the early 1960s.

The Relationship:

Walter Dorwin Teague, born Dec. 18, 1883, is often regarded as one of the pioneers of industrial design in America. He had a long and influential relationship with the Eastman Kodak Company. His collaboration with Kodak helped shape the visual and functional identity of the company's products, particularly its cameras, during the mid-20th century.

Portrait of Walter Dorwin Teague

 Teague, known for blending aesthetics with functionality, first worked with Kodak in the late 1920s. He continued influencing the company's product designs for several decades until his death on Dec. 5, 1960. His designs embodied the principles of streamlining, an artistic and engineering approach emphasizing smooth, flowing lines and modern, user-friendly aesthetics. Kodak sought to enhance its product appeal in an increasingly competitive market. Teague's expertise gave the company a fresh, contemporary design language that resonated with consumers.

 One of Teague's most iconic contributions to Kodak was the design of the Kodak Bantam Special, introduced in 1936. The Bantam Special was a masterpiece of Art Deco design, featuring a sleek, black enamel and chrome finish. It was visually striking, compact, and easy to use, aligning with Kodak's mission to make photography accessible to a broader audience. The camera became a symbol of modern design and demonstrated how industrial design could elevate consumer products beyond mere functionality.

Walter Teague designed Kodak Super Six-20 camera

 Teague's impact on Kodak extended beyond individual products; he played a key role in shaping the brand's overall aesthetic identity. His work helped Kodak establish a reputation for producing elegantly designed, high-quality, practical, and stylish cameras. His collaboration with Kodak set a precedent for integrating industrial design into mass-market consumer products, influencing Kodak's future designs and the broader field of product design.

 Beyond the Bantam Special, Teague worked on several other Kodak models, including the Kodak Baby Brownie and the Kodak Medalist. These cameras showcased his ability to balance form and function, making photography equipment more appealing and accessible to everyday users. His designs helped Kodak maintain its position as a camera industry leader, reinforcing its image as both innovative and consumer-friendly.

 Walter Dorwin Teague's relationship with Kodak was a testament to the power of industrial design in shaping consumer products. His work not only enhanced the usability and attractiveness of Kodak cameras but also set new standards for the role of design in consumer technology. Through this partnership, Teague left an enduring mark on both Kodak and the history of industrial design.

The Camera:

Beau Brownie cameras came in two sizes: the smaller Nos. 2, which takes 120 film, and the larger No. 2A, which takes 116 film. They were both introduced in October 1930 and ended production in 1933. However, the two rarer versions, the green and rose colors, were in production for 1 year, which ended in 1931. Luckily, I have all five colors in different sizes in my collection. I've had all five for many years, and this is the second time I've owned all five colors in both sizes. 

 The camera that I used for the blog post is the smaller Nos. 2 camera due to the easily accessible 120 film the camera uses. The Beau Brownie No. 2 camera is 4" tall by 3" wide or 3 3/8" wide if you include the film advance knob by 4 3/8" deep. The camera has a 6x9 negative size and weighs 14.1 oz.

 The larger Beau Brownie, Nos. 2A is 5" tall, by 3 3/8" wide, or 3 3/4" wide if you include the film winding knob, by 5" deep. The No. 2A film format is 2.5" x 4.25" on 116 film, weighing 1 lb.—3.8 oz. 

My Nos. 2A Rose Beau Brownie (L) and Nos. 2 (R). Note the size difference

Looking online, I found a Beau Brownie Camera Manual, which is where I look for manuals for the cameras in my collection. It's a fabulous website and something we all should support.

 The front of the camera has a beautiful, enameled Art Deco geometric design that is two-toned with an accent color to enhance the camera's beauty. The black version has a dark burgundy accent color. In contrast, the other colors have a lighter and darker version of the camera's color. The rest of the camera is made of thin metal material covered in pebbled imitation leather, the same color as the camera. The carrying handle is on the top of the camera, which is the same color as the camera's body.

Also, two round windows are used for the viewfinder on the front of the camera. The top circle is for viewing vertical-format photos from the top of the camera, and the bottom is used when you turn the camera on its side for horizontal-format photos. There is no focus on this meniscus doublet lens, so like many box-style cameras, the minimum focus is around 10 feet, but items around 8 feet may still be in focus.

 The Beau Brownie cameras have two latches securing the back of the camera to the front. One latch is on the top of the camera, and one is on the side of the camera. Before you open the camera, you'll need to pull out the winding knob, which is engaged with the film transport. The winding knob needs to be pulled out; otherwise, the camera's front and back won't slide apart easily.

Once you have the camera apart, you can load the roll of film into the camera. Take the empty film spool from the top of the camera and move it to the bottom. Ensure it's adequately engaged, which will move the film from frame to frame. The fresh, unexposed roll now gets loaded into the camera's top film holder. Break the tape holding the film together and pull the leader over the opening with the paper backing looking outwards. Feed the leader into the empty spool on the bottom and wind a bit so you know the film is transporting properly. Also, check that the film fits within the walls of the spool so it can be transported easily. Wind the film until you see arrows pointing outwards. Ince you see the arrows, put the back onto the camera, press the winding knob, and secure the two latches. Now wind the film until you see the #1 in the red window. That's the indication that you're ready to make the first exposures.

 There are only two controls for the camera, located on the top of the camera. There are two levers just in front of the handle. One is on the left, and the shutter speed controller is the smaller of the two controls. There are only two settings. When the lever is down, the camera is in "instant" mode and has a shutter speed of around 1/100 sec. Pulling that small lever up puts the camera in "B" or timed exposure mode. In this setting, you'll need to set the camera on some camera tripod or bracket to hold the camera still so as not to cause a blurry photo.

The other controller is the larger of the two levers that control the aperture settings. The lever can be in three positions to change the different apertures. When the lever is down, the camera has an approximate aperture of F11, the middle position is approximately F16, and the top position is approximately F22.

 

My Results:

I loaded the camera with Ilford 400 ISO/ASA film and walked through the neighborhood on a very overcast and sometimes rainy afternoon in February. The neighbors are getting used to the old man walking through the streets with an odd-looking camera in his hand, taking photos of houses, objects, or other items I find on my walks.

 Here's what I took.

Conclusion:

Other than the stunning beauty of this camera, it's a fundamental camera with minimal controls and a fixed Meniscus Doublet lens that takes a significant negative. According to the manual, the minimum focus is approximately 8-10 feet. My judgment of distance was off in some photos, as the images are out of focus.

 Overall, it was a fun camera to shoot with, and I'll need to take it out on a sunnier day to get more contrast images. There are a couple of filters available for the Beau Brownie, one of which is a portrait filter that allows for closer focus for portrait photos, so I'll need to dig through the box of old filters to see if I have one of the recommended filters to try on the camera.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes to read about one of the most beautiful cameras ever made. I'm truly honored to have one in my collection.

 Until next week, please be safe.