Purma Special Camera

As I was cleaning out a box of cameras, looking for the next camera to shoot with and use for my next camera blog, I grabbed a brown case that I had put in the box a long time ago. As I turned the case around, I saw the name Purma on the front of the case and thought to myself, This will be my next camera to discuss or talk about in my blog.

My Purma Special Camera

 The Purma Special is a camera I purchased well over 20 years ago. I remember it was early in my collecting and when I was buying and selling on eBay. I started on eBay as a seller and buyer back in early 1997. When you engaged with eBay then, you didn't have your name as an ID, but they assigned you a number you'd use to log in and for sales purposes. I remember my number was 1032 before changing it to my current name, "Clix."

 At that time on eBay, there were no photos on the site, and it was similar to a message board where people would describe what they had for sale, what you were asking for, etc., Very similar to what Craigslist was before photos. Having McKeown's guide for cameras and thumbing through it daily, I was intrigued by cameras from other countries, and the Purma Special was one that I desired at the time due to its odd diamond shape and the fact that it was made in England.

Because the Purma Special camera is, in my opinion, a camera oddity due to the design of the camera, the shutter used, and the somewhat popularity of the camera, it's been reviewed and discussed by several of my camera blog friends like Peggy of Go Camera Go and Mike Eckman. Still, I wanted to make sure people were aware of my odd and unusual take on cameras from yesteryear, so this is more like Peggy's post about my thoughts on using the camera and the overall take on what a camera gem this is.

My Purma Special with Case

The Company:

Purma Cameras Ltd. was founded in 1935 in London. The name Purma is a combination of the two owners of the company: Tom Purvis, a well-known artist and lithographer who worked for LNER (London and North East Railway) from 1923 to 43, producing beautiful and popular advertising posters. 

Diagram on how the shutter system works on Purma Camera

 The other partner in the company was inventor Alfred Croger Mayo, who, along with Joseph Terrett, invented the unusual and very simple gravity-controlled focal plane shutter used in the Purma cameras. I believe this is Purma's real claim to fame and set them apart from other camera companies of the time. They also had financial backing from David Brock of Brock Fireworks, a company that started in 1698 and is the oldest British fireworks manufacturer.

Purma introduced its first camera in 1936, the Purma Speed. It was an enameled metal and chrome camera with a pop-up viewfinder. The Purma Speed camera had six shutter speeds and looked like a more traditional rounded-corner, rectangular camera.

Ad for the Purma Special

 With the introduction of the Purma Special camera in 1937, the company turned to an all Bakelite camera, along with a flatted diamond shape design with an art deco appeal to the camera due to the thin ridges built into the camera, which extend all around the camera. The Purma Special only had three shutter speeds but has a classic sleek design, and one that was the camera that set them apart design-wise from other cameras. The unique diamond shape and the use of Bakelite, a revolutionary material at the time, gave the Purma Special a distinct look and feel, setting it apart from its contemporaries. 

 The Purma Special was imported to many different countries, including the United States. According to an ad I found from 1939, the camera sold in the US for $14.95. It's my understanding that this was their most popular camera, although I cannot find sales records to prove these claims, as it's just from what I see for sale and the quantity of Purma Special cameras available today. The Purma Special was a popular choice among amateur photographers and was widely available in the market, contributing to its popularity and the large number of units still in circulation today.

There are a couple of unique features of the Purma camera. One is the 'pop out' lens, which is concealed by a thread in the lens cap, a clever design that protects the lens when not in use. When you screw the lens cap back onto the camera, it also locks the shutter. Unfortunately, these lens caps get lost, and many of the used Purma cameras are sold without the lens cap. The second is the use of plastics in the viewfinder. Purma was the first to do this, a pioneering move that made the camera lighter and more durable. These innovative features were ahead of their time and contributed to the Purma Special's appeal among photographers.

Purma also introduced the Purma Plus in 1951, which had an aluminum body and sold for £12.00 at the time. Production for the Purma Plus lasted until 1959. I cannot find why the company stopped producing its camera, so I assume it closed around 1960.

 

The Camera:

My Purma Special camera measures 6 3/4" wide by 2 3/4" tall by 2 1/4" deep with the lens cap on the camera, and the camera weighs 12 oz without the fitted leather case.  The camera has a Beck 2 1/4"  F6.3  lens with a fixed focus from 12' to infinity. Purma did sell a series of close-up and portrait attachment lenses that allowed for focus from 3.5 to 5' but were sold separately. These are items I do not have.

The Purma cameras use 127-size roll film and produce 16-1 1/4" square images on the negative. The Purma special doesn't have a locking mechanism to keep the back attached to the front of the camera. They are held together just by friction, but the back of the camera fits tightly to the front. The friction held back doesn't prevent it from accidentally opening if something were to happen. To open the back of the camera, there is a tiny thumb notch where you put your fingernail in and pull the back from the front.

The camera utilizes two red windows on the back of the camera, so you get 16 frames on the film; the photographer winds the film to the #1 exposure on the left window, then after taking the photo, winds the film so the #1 exposure shows up on the right side window utilizing the same frame number for both the left and right red window on the back of the camera. Once you shoot frame #1 on the right red window, the photographer winds to frame #2 on the left side window, and so on.

The Purma Special has a curved film track that holds the film flat against the shutter with a two-sided pressure plate attached to the camera's back door. The shutter system only has three shutter speeds. The shutter uses a series of different size slits in the metal curtain along with a brass weight within the camera to determine what shutter speed is used. The camera also depends on how you hold it, which would set the shutter speeds used. Remember, the negative is square, so having the camera in either vertical position doesn't change the image in the frame. It will only change the orientation of how the image is captured on the negative.

When you hold the camera in the usual horizontal position, the shutter would shoot, and the medium shutter speed would be 1/150th second. Turning the camera so the advance lever was at the bottom, or the "slow" speed, the shutter, the camera shutter is set to 1/25th sec. When you turn the camera in the other direction, with the film advance lever at the top, which puts the shutter in the "fast" position, the shutter speed is set to 1/450 sec.

Top view of Purma Special camera with circular wheel to cock the shutter, and shutter release

To take a photo, the photographer needs to cock the shutter. To do this, you turn the circular wheel on the top of the camera in the direction of the arrow. There is a small piece of bakelite sticking out to turn the wheel fairly easily. Once you turn the wheel in the counterclockwise position, the wheel will stop, and you'll hear a click which means the shutter is cocked and ready to make the exposure. You can do this with the lens cap on, but the shutter won't release until the lens cap is off. 

 The shutter release is on the top and left side of the camera. Simply press the shutter release to trip the shutter. BUT REMEMBER. Turn the camera as needed to change the shutter speed, especially since the camera has a fixed aperture lens. Wind the film to the next frame, then repeat until. It was odd for me to use this camera as I'm not used to having the shutter release on the camera's left side.

For those interested, here’s the original instruction manual for the Purma Special Camera

My Results:

I did have some outdated Film for Classics 127 film in my drawer, so I loaded up the camera and went to a local waterfall to take photos on an overcast Sunday afternoon. Go figure a cloudy day when living near Portland, Oregon. That will be my life for the next four months or so. The results were OK, but I was mildly disappointed when I looked at what Peggy and Mike did with the camera.

 It may also have been the fact that the film I processed was processed in a different tank than I'm used to using for 127 film, and I messed up putting it on the developing reel, so that was my fault. I have noticed whenever I use the Film From Classics film, the imprint from the paper backing seems to bleed onto the negatives, and I'm unsure if that's due to the film's age and being out of date by a year or two or something else.

 Here's what I salvaged from the messed-up developing roll I put through the Purma Special camera. It's nowhere near as lovely as Peggy or Mike's photos, but overall, it yielded decent results.

My Conclusion:

It was a fun camera to shoot with. Turn the camera to set the speed, point at your subject, and shoot the camera (with your left hand). Wash, rinse, and repeat. I hoped for better results but tried a different reel to process the film.

 Thank you for reading the blog post on the Purma Special camera. I'll definitely use it in the future due to its simplicity and unique shutter system.

 Until next week, please be safe.

 

Bussox-Sport Luxe Camera

he Bussox-Sport Luxe camera is another beautiful camera purchased at the Paris flea market when my wife and I traveled there this past summer. While visiting one of the hundreds of stalls within many buildings comprising the Paris flea market, I found a wonderful gentleman with a case of cameras and other photographic items for sale. 

My Bussox-Sport Luxe Camera

As I mentioned in many of my previous blog posts, I love cameras that are colorful or unusual. Maybe they are toy cameras shaped like a soccer ball or a cartoon character. I own many colored box and folding cameras that are different from ordinary black box or folding cameras. That's what drew me to this wonderful, small, and odd camera.

 Within the stall, there was a case containing a group of glass negatives, the Zeiss Super Nettel that I previously wrote about, and this lovely exotic brown camera, which looked very familiar but had a name that I wasn't familiar with. I purchased all the items and went on my way to find other treasures.

 When I returned to the hotel, I took the brown bakelite camera from its case and did some more research. I found out the camera is called Bussox-Sport Luxe, made by Ruberg & Renner and explicitly exported to France from their factory in Germany. Also, looking at the back of the camera, it appeared to have a roll of film still in the camera, and the number on the frame was four, so with any luck, I could process the film and find other photos that might interest me.

The Company:

A few years ago, I wrote a blog post on a different Ruberg & Renner camera, and at that time, there needed to be more information regarding the company. In that post, I wrote: The Ruberg cameras were manufactured by the Ruberg & Renner company, located in the Delstern district of Hagen, Germany, during the 1930s.  The company was started in 1918 by Josef Ruberg, who originally started producing drive trains for bicycles, motorcycles, and automobiles. After 1930, the company began making simple cameras. In 1931, Josef obtained a patent for constructing a simple camera in Germany. He also received a patent in the United States in February 1932.

 The patent application states that the simple and very inexpensive production of all the camera parts from synthetic resin, which was done from a single pressing process, "makes it possible to place a cheap camera on the market that is affordable to all. " In the 1930s, Ruberg & Renner manufactured four models with 25 designs for export to the USA, Great Britain, and France. The cameras' construction ended in the mid-1930s when the company started producing products to help the German war effort.

 After doing some digging, I came up with the following: Along with cameras, chains remained the company's main business. From 1935 onwards, the series production of ammunition belts marked the end of camera production in Hagen, which shortly afterward followed. 

 Josef Ruberg had designed new metal cartridge belts for machine guns in 1917. The Treaty of Versailles banned the production of automatic weapons and accessories from 1919 to 1935. In February 1936, Ruberg & Renner applied for a patent for a metal cartridge belt for the MG 17 (caliber 7.92x57 mm). These specialized units are equipped with ammunition for machine guns and military equipment in the military air force. The sons also worked in the company. Felix (1909-1994) was born in 1937 in Delstern. It manufactured on-board gun carriages until the beginning of 1945. In 1941, his son Werner (1912-2005) took over the management of the Ruberg & Renner chain works.

 Ruberg & Renner continued producing drive and transport chains in 1947. The Felix Ruberg metal goods factory manufactured household appliances. From the early 1950s, Ruberg & Renner promoted cycling and motorcycle sports. Roller chains were used in particular here. Until 1967, the company, like the Schweinfurt Torpedo Works and Fichtel & Sachs, had its racing teams in the Federal Republic. In the following years, the firm of the US-American company Rexnord was taken over. Rexnord Kette GmbH relocated its production from Delstern to its current location in the Lennetal near Fley in 1982. Much of the historical information comes from the Westfalen Museum.

My Camera:

My Bussox-Sport Luxe camera is 3" tall, including the winding knobs, by 3 5/8" wide, by 1 5/8" deep with the lens retracted and 2.5" deep with the lens away from the body and focused to the closest focus distance, which is 1 meter. The camera weighs 6.1 oz, which is very small and compact, and takes 127 rolls of film, producing 1.25" by 1 5/8" sized negatives. On my camera, it's etched by the previous owner 4x6 1/2 in many different places.

To open the camera to load the film, a chrome button is on the left side of the camera if you're holding it to take a photo. Press the chrome button, moving a brass grip from holding the door closed on the camera. There are a couple of "thumb grips" on both the back door's top and bottom, which you hold onto to open the back. The back door doesn't come off the camera as it's hinged, and the door swings to the right to open.

On many cameras, to load the film into the camera, you pull up the tabs that hold the spool into place, which I tried, but the knobs didn't move. You need to turn the knobs which make you think you're unthreading them. By doing so, the knobs move away from the body of the camera, and you can load a roll of film or move the empty spool into the take-up position. The fresh roll of film goes into the camera's right side and you pull the leader to the left side where the take up spool is. This is backward to many cameras, or the many that I use, as the take-up spool is generally on the camera's right side.

Now that the film is loaded into the camera, it's time to take photos. The camera has a straightforward meniscus lens. There is a knurled collar around the lens that you need to turn in a clockwise motion to extend before taking a photo. The lens barrel is on a helicoid, which extends the lens when the knurled ring turns, much like on a bolt.

 For the shutter, two settings are located in the upper right of the lens and include settings "I" for instant or turn the wheel to "T" for time. Below the lens are the aperture settings. On this camera, since it's for the French market, there is Grand for the widest setting and Petit for a smaller aperture setting. One of the settings is Ferme, which means firm. When the aperture is set at Ferme, it does not open over the lens or block all light from reaching the film. 

Focus control on Bussox-Sport camera

Since there is no lock for the shutter, the shutter release in the 7 o'clock position on the lens can fire at any time when pressed. Whether the lens is out or in, the shutter will fire. This setting is similar to a lens cap, and by putting it in position, if the shutter fires, no frame will be exposed to light or wasting film. The photographer would need to consciously set the camera into and out of this setting every time they put it into the case or pocket, then change it when taking a photo.

To retract the lens to put it back into the camera case, you turn the knurled ring counterclockwise, and the lens retracts into the camera body. I can now understand the "Ferme" setting, as many of the negatives on the roll in the camera when purchased were exposed with the lens in the retracted position, as you can see in the results area on the post.

The results:

As mentioned, the camera had a roll of 127 Agfa film, so I walked in front of my house and took photos of a planter box and some trees in our neighborhood. There were only about four photos left. After taking the photos, I went home and processed the film. It didn't surprise me, but the images within the camera didn't turn out, and the ones I did around our hose turned out barely and were extremely thin in the exposure on the negatives.

 Here are the results from the film in the camera. As I mentioned earlier, I did note that it's easy to take a photo when the lens is retracted, making the image size smaller on the negative, which you can see on the negatives.

My Conclusion:

The shutter on my camera doesn't always work, so while I'd like to put a fresh roll in it and try it again, I don't think the shutter can take it as it's barely opening and closing as it is. I'll get brave and see if I can take the front off and fix it, but it's resting along with many other cameras in my collection. I love the color and the helicoid lens system.

Thank you for taking a few minutes to look over this week's blog post. I'd love to hear from you, so let me know your thoughts and if you have any of the Ruberg & Renner cameras in your collection.

Until next week, please be safe.

 

PIC Camera

The PIC camera was on my list of cameras to review just before I returned to work after the two years lost years of COVID-19. Recently, when I looked up from my desk and saw the odd and unusual camera, I wanted to put a film into the camera, run it through its paces, and do a blog post on it. The main thing that caught my eye was the shape and size of the camera. You don't come across many round cameras with a straightforward design.

 I am trying to remember where the PIC camera came from, as I've owned it for five to six years. Like many of the other cameras I write about, the PIC camera was included in a group or "lot" of cameras purchased. I do remember when I received it; my first thought was that it was a "toy" camera, which I own many of. 

The more I examined the camera, the more I realized it was not a serious camera. It does not have the ability to set shutter speeds, aperture settings, or even focus at a specific distance. It's just a simple point-and-shoot camera made for quick snapshots, a camera you can keep in your pocket for when you travel on holidays or visit friends and family. 

The Company:

From what I can see online, the PIC camera is another camera with very little information regarding the manufacturer. There's conflicting information about the camera and who and when it was made. Some of the information I found states the camera was made in England sometime in the early 1950s by a company named Pressure Sealed Plastics Ltd. and distributed by Pic Distributors Limited.

 When I looked up information about Pressure Sealed Plastics Ltd., it was initially a London-based company. It states that the company existed from 1955 to 1966 when it was purchased. It was transferred from Peckham to Chesterfield in May 1970. Some online information also states that the company was not in London but in Southend on Sea. I'll leave it someplace in England.

In 1986, the organization was divided into two trading operations: Consumer Products and Industrial Products. The former was responsible for waterbeds. The latter took over the remaining operations and manufactured Rompa products, waterbeds, etc.

 From the information I found and posted above, I have no idea where the idea or manufacturing of the PIC camera came from. If you have other information on the camera, who designed it, or the company that made it, please let me know, and I'll change the information in the post.

The Camera:

The PIC camera is a round camera that measures 3 3/4" in diameter, is 1 7/8" deep, and weighs 3.7 oz. with a fixed focus meniscus lens. The camera has a slight convex shape on the back along with the front, but halfway into the convex shape on the front, there are two tiers of flat surface where the shutter and lens are placed. The side view of the camera resembles a spaceship or UFO.

To open the camera to load the film, there is no latch or hinge to open the back of the camera, but you slide the front of the camera from the back of the camera and pull it off. My guess is this is where the "Pressure Sealed Plastic" comes from, as it's held together by a tightly fitting front that fits onto the rear of the camera.

 The rear of the camera has nothing other than two red windows that tell you the frame number you're on when advancing the film. On the outside of the back of the camera is written, Pats. Pend. Reg Dsgn No. 870468, Made in England. On the bottom right of the back of the camera is a slot where the film advance wheel fits.

In front of the camera, you load the film via an insert that fits into that area. The insert is a place to put the take-up spoon on the right and a new roll of film on the left. There's an opening for the negative, which measures 1 3/8" wide by 1 7/16", the exposed image size on the negative. A hinged wire acts as a pressure plate to keep the film flat when loaded into the camera. The insert is removable to make loading and unloading the film more accessible.

Underneath the film insert is a metal disc that covers the shutter assembly. When I received the camera, the shutter wasn't working, and I didn't notice that the metal disc covering the shutter assembly wasn't in its correct place. When I decided to write a post on this camera, I wanted to see if I could get the shutter working. This assembly is elementary and something even the non-mechanical person I am could get working again. I popped off the disc, and the shutter has two different levers corresponding to the levers on the front of the camera. My guess is that there is a shutter lever for "T" or timed exposures and another lever, "S," for snap. Generally the second shutter setting is "I" for instant, but this one is different.

 In the middle, there is a disc on the end of a piece of thin aluminum with a hinged rivet on the bottom that has the shape of an open safety pin, but the pin part is short, so it doesn't fit into the safety part. A spring holds the lens cover assembly in the closed position. Above the lens cover are your shutter levers, which also have hinged rivets, with a more extended metal arm that is bowed in the middle to fit over the lens covering disc, and on the bottom of the arm is a slight bend that allows the arm to interact with the shutter cover assembly. On the left of the shutter cover is a lever for the "T" shutter release for timed, and on the right is "S" for snap. A spring is between these two shutter assemblies to hold the arms away from the lens cover assembly.

Here's how the different shutter levers work. When you pull down the "T" lever, the shutter assembly arm slides over and pushes the lens cover away from the lens. Holding the shutter lever down keeps the lens open for the length of time you hold the lever down. When you pull the "S" lever down, it slides the shutter arm over the  "short pin" arm and grabs the shutter cover assembly. When you release the "S" arm, the shutter arm pulls the lens cover away from the lens, and due to the short pin arm, it slides off, and the lens cover closes, making a short exposure somewhere in the 1/50 sec timeframe.

The viewfinder on the PIC camera

There is a round viewfinder on the top of the camera, which doesn't correspond to the shape or the distance you get within your photos. 

 

The Results:

I had some expired 127 film from Film for Classics, which I purchased just for these cameras to test out. I fixed the very basic shutter, replaced the metal disc covering the shutter assembly, loaded a roll of film into the camera, walked around my house, and took photos, and here are the results.

My Conclusion:

You can tell from the photos that the lens isn't very sharp. It has a very "Lomo" look to it. I didn't get to photograph something close because I felt the plastic fixed focus lens wouldn't produce tack-sharp images, but it did take pictures. It was easy to use, but I'd take nothing on holiday unless the photos I wanted to create were similar to a Diana or Holga-style camera. Overall, the camera worked, and I discovered it's relatively rare due to the plastic construction and short camera run. People ask for around $500.00 on eBay when you can find them. I'll put it back in my collection and move on to a different camera next week.

 Please comment on your thoughts on this or other cameras I've discussed. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this camera.

 Please be safe until next week's camera post.

Super Flex Baby II Camera

When I first got this camera, I initially thought it was from somewhere in Europe, possibly Germany or Eastern Europe, due to its design and feel placement and shutter release, which resembles the Karma-Flex camera from Germany. 

 After doing some research on the camera, I found out that it was made in Japan. It was the first medium-format single-lens reflex (SLR) camera with a leaf shutter.

 The Super Flex II camera is odd and relatively small, too. When I took the camera out of the case, my hands are average size, but the camera seemed lost, and it was only a minute before I held it. It's not a miniature camera, but everything seems much smaller than I'm used to. The light tube or waist level finder, the lens and focus control, and even the winding knob appear to be smaller than what I'm used to. In the back of my mind, this will be a fun camera to test and write a blog post on.

History:

Umemoto Seisakusho manufactured the Super Flex camera between 1938 and 1942. It was started by Umemoto Kinzaburō, who started a small manufacturing plant in Yokokawa in 1931. In 1932, he was asked to open a new camera manufacturing plant in Toyko, which was completed in 1935. Their first cameras were the Super Makinet Six in 1936 and Neure Six in 1937, both 6x6 strut-folding cameras.

 As mentioned above, they took inspiration from the Karma-Flex camera in 1938. They developed the first Japanese medium-format, single-reflex camera, the Super Flex camera, built around the popular 127 film 4x4cm format camera.

In 1939, they modified the camera's design to what's known as the Super Flex Baby II. The modifications included a fully chrome shutter speed dial as opposed to the chrome and black of the original design. They also came out with a new lens with a full chrome barrel and a focal length of 70mm instead of 7cm on the original lens. They also lost the black and chrome on the viewfinder logo and went all chrome, like the shutter speed dial and lens.

Advertisement of the Super Flex Baby camera from 1942.

 During the tumultuous years of WWII, the company shifted its focus from camera manufacturing to supporting the war effort. Despite the challenges, they produced the Semi-Makinet camera, a 6x4.5 folding camera, between 1941 and 1943. The factory was tragically destroyed during the Allied bombing of Tokyo in 1945. However, the company's spirit remained unbroken. They relocated the plant to Yamagata in 1945 and rebuilt the plant in Tokyo in 1948, which was a remarkable display of resilience.

 After the war, the company briefly took the name Umemoto Kōki Seisakusho and produced the Rocky Semi in 1953. This camera didn't do well, and in 1962, it became Y.K. Umemoto Seisakusho, which still produces photo-related parts for Kenko today.

 Here is a wonderful Japanese website with a lot of insight on the company Umemoto . I used Google Translate so I hope it comes through properly.

My Camera:

My camera, with its serial number 3401, is a fascinating blend of the original Super Flex Baby and the model II version. It features the original chrome and black viewfinder, a Model II shutter speed dial and lens, both in chrome, and a lens measured in 'mm' rather than 'cm.' This unique combination, a result of the transition period, added an element of surprise and excitement to my discovery of the camera.

 The serial number on my camera is 3401, which you can find on the inside of the latch that holds the back of the camera. My camera measures 4" from the back to the front of the lens and 2.75" from the back to the lens mount on the camera. It measures 4.25" wide and 3.25" tall if the viewfinder is closed and 4.75" tall with the light hood opened. My camera weighs 1 lb. 3.2oz without the case.

Using the camera is pretty straightforward. There is a latch on the camera's right side, and you slide up to open the back door. You take the empty spool from the right of the camera and put it on the left side where the winding knob is. To take out the spool and put in the roll of film, you'll need to pull out the knob that holds the film into place. Once you have loaded the empty spool and film, pull the leader to the empty reel and thread the leader into the spool and wind. Once it's securely on the take-up reel, close the back.

 Here's where it gets exciting, something I learned and did when I looked at the company's website. I have the link to the above in the "history" section. Here's an excerpt from the company history explaining the film numbering sequence and the camera's winding instructions.

 "There are three red windows on the back cover for taking 12 4x4 cm shots. ( It seems that 4x6 cm numbers were used because 127 film did not have numbers for 4x4 cm. ) The left and right windows only accept odd numbers, and the center window only accepts even numbers and is read as follows (ignore the ○ parts). 1st photo) 1○○ 2nd photo) ○○1 3rd photo) ○ 2○ 4th photo) 3○○ 5th photo) ○○3 6th photo) ○4○ ... 11th photo) ○○7 12th photo) ○8○ I think this operation was quite difficult."

 

Looking at the numbers by the window openings, the text above now makes sense.

I didn't use this method and only got eight photos on my roll.

 The mirror in my camera was so bad that I couldn't use it and didn't notice before putting in the roll of film, so I was forced to use the sports finder to frame the photos I took. It worked out OK, so I wasn't too upset.

 I used my trusty light meter to get the needed exposures. I also needed to find a roll of 100 ISO film, as anything faster would have run into issues since the fastest shutter speed on the camera is 1/100, and the lens stopped down to f22. Luckily, I noticed that the lens focusing was in meters instead of feet, which I'm used to with most cameras I use. I needed to keep that in mind when composing my photos.

 

The camera case I have is in moderately good condition. The strap is intact, and it covers the camera well. The only thing missing is the snap that holds the front and back together but stays closed and protects the camera well.

 The film was used up quickly; now it was time to process it. 

 

Results:

The film I had was some pretty old and out-of-date 127 film, so I had yet to learn what I would get. It was not as good as I anticipated after I pulled the film from the processing tank. While I'll call the "art" prints, the negatives were very mottled, and I'm unsure what caused it, but the images are somewhat sharp.

 Here are some of the results from the camera.

Conclusion:

The camera was interesting, but the mirror and the focusing, or lack thereof, could have sat better with me. I decided to remove the finder and clean up the mirror to bring the camera back to life and make it more usable.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes to look over this camera blog. I'll have another exciting camera for next week's post, so please be safe until then.

Camera Update:

There were only four screws to hold the light hood on, so I proceeded to take them out. The hood came off quickly enough. Under the hood was a mask on top of the focus screen. I turned the camera upside down slowly, and the focus screen came right out, exposing the dingy mirror.

 They always say to test a small part when cleaning first to see if it's OK to proceed. I didn't hear that little voice say that this time, so I cleaned the mirror, thinking the silver paint was on the backside of the glass, which is normal. I took two swipes with my Q-Tip, and the finish came right off. YIKES!!!!

 

So, I ordered some silver markers to see if that would suffice to bring back the mirror effect to my new piece of glass. The mirror, or glass, now was easy enough to get out as it was held in the bracket with corner clips, which I slowly bent back to take out the mirror.

I received the silver or what’s called Chrome markers late last night. Early the next morning, I applied a generous amount to the glass I removed and let it dry. The markers produced more of a ripple effect as opposed to a clean glass mirror. It was certainly shiny enough, so I reassembled the focus screen and light hood back onto the camera, and the camera actually did a good job of focusing on a subject when viewing through the camera. It’s considerably better than before I disassembled it and when I took photos so I’m happy with how it turned out.

Here are the results.

Thank you again for reading about this interesting camera. Until next time, please be well and safe.

Lark & Kandor "Sardine Can" Cameras

When I was younger and starting to collect cameras, I can remember looking at the Lark Camera in McKeown's camera book, the bible I use regularly, and seeing this odd and unusual-looking camera that appears to have been made out of a sardine can. The funny thing is, that's what they called this style of camera coming from the Irwin Company of New York.

 Another fascinating item about this camera is that few of them come up for sale on eBay, and when they do, they sell in the $100.00 range. My guess is because of their unusual design and looks, along with the popularity of Lomography that's taken place in the past twenty years and the rise of film photography again.

Recently, I had the opportunity to pick up not only the Lark camera in three different versions but also its twin brothers, the Kandor Camera, which came in different versions, too. The price was right for all five cameras and a few other camera gems. I snatched all five cameras and decided to write a blog post since you don't see much about them online.

HISTORY

Before I dive into the cameras I purchased and some of the refinements, Let me tell you what I know about the Irwin Corp. of NY, Irwin Corporate History which made these interesting cameras. The folklore of how the camera company started is that an American sailor was in France in the early 1930s and made a camera from a sardine can. After his release from the service, the sailor moved to Chicago and teamed up with some mobsters who helped him import sardine cans to manufacture these cameras.

This is a charming and far-fetched story, especially since the Irwin Corporation was located at 27 W. 20th Street in New York. After doing a bit of digging, I found where someone admits he made up that story. You can find it here: French Site

 In my opinion, there must have been some link between Irwin Corp. and some of the Chicago camera companies during this timeframe, as the faces of the cameras on the Lark and Kandor cameras are very similar to those of companies like Falcon Camera Co. and Herold Mfgr. My guess Utility Mfg Co, which had ties in NY and Chicago, was somewhat involved.

 Irwin Corp also made a few fundamental TLR cameras, as seen from the website above.

THE CAMERAS

When the cameras arrived, and I started taking them out of their bubble wrap, the first thing I noticed was how hefty they were. I was expecting a very tinny and flimsy camera, but these cameras have a bit of heft. Maybe sardine cans were heftier in the 1930s and 40s, but it surprised me.

Simple screws holding the lens barrel in place.

The camera measures 5" wide by 2.75" tall body, then another 1/2" for the viewfinder, which brings the total height to 3.25", and from the back of the camera to the front of the lens is 2.5". The Lark and Kandor cameras are a very oddly built camera with the lens barrel screwed onto the body by two screws placed on the top and bottom of the lens flange. As mentioned above, the face of the camera has a very similar look to the cameras from Utility Mgf. Co. 

Lark Camera showing viewfinder and Art Deco Design

 Another wonderful design of both the Lark and Kandor cameras is the beautiful Art Deco look to their faceplates and each model's unique design and look. Some of the cameras are somewhat plain, while others have chrome stripes on the body and elaborate faceplates, which just exude the look of the Art Deco period.

The front of the camera does not list a maximum aperture, but it does state that it has a 50mm Eyvar lens with shutter settings of either time for "bulb" or long exposures or Inst for normal snapshots. My best guess is that the "inst" shutter shoots at around 1/50 shutter speed.

More robust viewfinder on one of the Kandor cameras

The camera has a simple viewfinder strapped onto the top and held into place by two small chrome rivets. On the front, there is a chrome fitting with a rectangular mask, and on the rear, there is a chrome fitting with a round mask. The Kandor Classic has a more elaborate chrome-fitted viewfinder, so this must have either been a later model or just a more robust version.

To open the back of the camera to load the film, you unscrew a thumb screw on the back of the camera. The Kandor camera doesn’t have the screw on the back, but a more simple “press on” method. The back of the camera wraps around the body and has some foam where the body meets the back plate. The camera produces 1.25" x 1.75" size negatives on 127-size roll film. Two red windows on the back of the camera show the numbers printed on the film's paper backing, so you know what frame you're on when taking photos. On the top left of the camera, as you're holding the camera to take a pictures, is the winding knob to advance the film to the next frame.

I wish I had some 127 film to take photos with these cameras, but if/when I get some, I'll add to this blog post. For now, I don't have images I can share.

CONCLUSION

While these cameras aren't elaborate, as they are just the opposite, they are essential and just a step up from pinhole cameras. They are very well-constructed cameras, but their shining point is the look of the cameras. They are a real bright point to put into your collection, and while I've been looking for these for a while, to get five of them at one time and for a reasonable price, I plan on keeping them for a bit to spruce up the collection.

 I plan to do more writing and blogging in the future. I took a few years off to run a few photo companies, but I plan on retiring soon and getting back into writing about my camera collection again. 

 Thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to read my blog. I appreciate it. Until my next post, please be safe and well.

VP Exakta Model B

Knowing me, the more odd and unusual the item is, the more I enjoy it. The VP Exakta, also known as the "standard" Exakta, is just one of these cameras. The VP Exakta camera has such a classic design. They are sleek, angular, somewhat small but fits well into your hands when holding them. The VP stands for Vest Pocket, which refers to the 127 size film used in this camera and was introduced to fit into the folding Vest Pocket cameras from Kodak started in 1912. This camera isn't small by any stretch of the imagination, but interesting. They call this the VP model due to the size of the film used.

My VP Exakta Model B camera

My VP Exakta Model B camera

The VP Exakta started being produced in 1933 and is an SLR or Single Lens Reflex camera utilizing the 127 size film made by Ihagee in Dresden, Germany. The Ihagee company has a very long history and well known in the photographic community for its cameras and accessories. Here is one of the best websites about the company and cameras. Let me tell you a little about the company before I get more into the camera.

The Company

The company started as Industrie- und Handelsgesellschaft in Dresden, Germany. Johan Steenbergen, a Dutchman, started it in 1912. The name changed to Ihagee due to the German pronunciation of IHG or "ee-hah-get." In the early years, the company was making wooden plate style cameras. You can see their 1914 German language catalog here. In 1918 they changed their name to Ihagee Kamerawerk Steenbergen & Co and six woodworking employees producing products.

After WWI, they had some horrible financial problems, much as other German companies did. After the war, the company dissolves but reappears in the early 1920s, whereby in 1925, they are producing 1000 roll film cameras a day. In 1933 they introduced the first in this line of cameras known as the Exakta A. The camera has a cloth focal-plane shutter that had shutter speeds up to 1/1000 sec, which was extremely fast for its time. Even the Leica's of the same era only had shutter speeds to 1/500 sec.

During WWII, production ceased, and Steenbergen, a Dutch national, transferred ownership of the company to an excellent friend and the company employees due to the tensions between the Netherlands and Nazi Germany. After WWII, Dresden was part of the Soviet-occupied part of Germany. Because Ihagee was Dutch-owned, the East Germans didn't want to damage international relationships, so they produced their popular 35mm Kine Exakta. These were the first 35mm SLR cameras made, and the VP Exaktas paved the way for this prevalent model. It's the camera most people are familiar with or associate what Exakas are today.

 In 1950, Pentacon took over Ihagee and was producing cameras under their name. In 1959, Steenbergen returned to Frankfurt, Germany, and started Ihagee West, making some unsuccessful camera. Steenbergen died in 1967, and the company dissolved in 1976.

The Camera.

The VP Exakta or Standard Exakta took eight 6x4.5cm exposures on 127 size film. They have shutter speeds from 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/200, 1/300, 1/600, and 1/1000 plus "B." The newer "B" model came out later the same year. They started calling the original model "A." The more recent "B" model incorporated extended shutter speeds and a self-timer. The extended shutter speeds were 1/10, 1/2, and seconds of exposure up to 12 seconds, giving the "B" model a shutter speed range from 12 sec. to 1/1000. There are also settings for B and Z. The Z setting is for "time" exposures on the shutter speed dial. I own this model of Exaktas. The later model "C" incorporated interchangeable backs for ground glass focus and film plates. It also had a film advance lever, and they also made the camera with a chrome finish.

The camera's size is 6" wide by 2" tall by 2.5" deep, including the lens, and it weighs 28 oz. I enjoy the camera's trapezoid shape, which, to me, is one of the finer points. The cameras came with several different lenses. The camera I have has the more expensive Tessar f2,8 lens, similar in price to the Zeiss Xenar 2.9 lens. You can look through the 1933 German catalog here. The aperture range on my camera goes from f2.8-22 and is set by the knurled ring outside the lens. I also enjoy seeing the exposed helicoid when you focus the lens. It gives the camera a more industrial look. The helicoid on my camera freezes up and is next to impossible to move unless I put some lighter fluid on the helicoid to loosen it up, but that only lasts a few hours, then it freezes up again.

The focal plane shutter on my camera sometimes works, but it is mainly in the closed position. I can get it to fire at times, but winding the camera to advance the shutters is exceptionally challenging, so I mostly use the camera for display purposes. The film fits into a holder, which then fits into the camera body. To put the film spool on the holders, you unscrew the film holder's bottom and slide the film reel over the holder's center and screw the base back onto the holder before putting it back into the camera.

Conclusion:

I enjoy this camera and am looking into getting the camera repaired to shoot film through it. If any of you out there have had one repaired or know of a reputable repair facility in the US that can handle the repair, please let me know. I'd enjoy running through some 127 films through it to see how it operates, especially if I can get it to shoot for 12 seconds.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your schedule to read my post. If you have questions or concerns regarding this post or any of the others I've written, please email me. I'd love to hear from you.

 Until next week, please be safe and hope you have a joyous holiday.