Zeiss Kolibri-The Hummingbird

My Zeiss Kolibri Camera

The Zeiss Kolibri, which means "Hummingbird" in German, has always been a camera I wanted for my collection. I liked it mainly because it's very sleek and petite and resembles a 35mm camera, but its main attraction was its use of a larger 127 film size. The camera was built only for a few years, from 1930 through 1932, but I've seen ads for it through 1935.

 I had the opportunity to purchase one when I visited an antique store while on a trip to Minneapolis a couple of years ago. Still, I didn't pull the trigger to buy it, and ever since that trip, I've regretted it, so when I noticed an online auction for a few of the Zeiss Kolibri cameras come up for auction, I jumped on the opportunity and bid on two. At first, I thought these were different years of production, one being older than the other. One is more worn and used than the other. Both have the "cane," which keeps the camera upright, and both are in working condition.

 I won the cameras in the auction for a fair price, including the auction house commission and shipping fees. When the cameras arrived, I was pleased to see both in good working condition. One of the cameras seemed well used, and the other needed the aperture scale indicator, something I didn't notice when I bid on the items. Still, overall, I was pleased with the purchase and wanted to take one of the cameras out to see how it would perform.

History:

The story of Zeiss cameras is deeply intertwined with the evolution of optical technology and the art of photography. Founded in 1846 by Carl Zeiss in Jena, Germany, the company began as a precision mechanics and optics workshop. While its early focus was microscopes, the company's commitment to innovation soon extended to camera lenses and photographic equipment, establishing Zeiss as a pioneer in the optical and photographic industries.

The two Kolibri cameras purchased

 In the late 19th century, Zeiss gained prominence for its advancements in lens manufacturing. In collaboration with physicist Ernst Abbe, the company introduced revolutionary optical theories that improved lens quality and design. This partnership led to the creation of the Zeiss Anastigmat lens in 1889, which minimized distortions and chromatic aberrations, setting new standards for photographic lenses.

First Zeiss Logo

As photography gained popularity in the early 20th century, Zeiss partnered with other manufacturers to produce complete cameras. In 1926, Zeiss joined forces with several German camera companies to form Zeiss Ikon, consolidating its leadership in the industry. Zeiss Ikon cameras, like the Contessa-Nettel and the Ikonta, became renowned for their precision engineering and exceptional optics.

 One of Zeiss's most iconic contributions to photography was the Contax series, introduced in 1932 to compete with Leica. The Contax cameras were known for their innovative designs, including using a rangefinder system and superior Zeiss lenses like the Sonnar and Biotar. These cameras quickly became favorites among professionals and enthusiasts for their sharpness and reliability.

Ad for Zeiss Kolibri camera

During this period, Zeiss also developed a range of lenses that became benchmarks in the industry. The Tessar lens, introduced in 1902, remains one of the most widely used lens designs in photographic history, praised for its sharpness and compact size.

World War II disrupted Zeiss's operations, splitting the company into East and West divisions. The East German division, headquartered in Jena, retained the Zeiss Ikon name, while the West German division, based in Oberkochen, became Carl Zeiss AG. Despite the division, both branches continued producing high-quality photographic equipment.

In the 1950s, Zeiss partnered with Japanese camera manufacturers, most notably Yashica, to produce the Contax series. This collaboration introduced groundbreaking features like TTL metering, which became an industry standard.

 By the late 20th century, Zeiss shifted its focus from producing cameras to developing advanced lenses for various manufacturers. The company collaborated with brands like Sony, Hasselblad, and Nokia, bringing Zeiss optics to a broader audience. In 1996, the Contax G2, a rangefinder camera with autofocus and electronic control, became a cult favorite, blending modern technology with classic Zeiss craftsmanship.

In the digital era, Zeiss continues to push the boundaries of optical technology. Its lenses are widely used in professional photography, cinematography, and even smartphones. The company's commitment to precision, innovation, and excellence defines its legacy.

 From its beginnings in 19th-century Jena to its status as a global leader in optical technology, Zeiss has profoundly shaped the world of photography. Its cameras and lenses have captured countless iconic moments, leaving an indelible mark on history. Today, Zeiss is synonymous with unparalleled optical quality, a testament to over 175 years of innovation and craftsmanship.

My Camera:

My Kolibri camera is 4.5" tall without the viewfinder erected and 5.5" with it erected, by 3" wide and 2" deep without the lens in the taking position and 2.75" with the lens popped out and in the taking position. My camera weighs just over 1 lbs at 1 lbs .6oz. With the viewfinder down and the lens retracted, it's a very compact and sturdy camera that takes 16, 3x4cm images on 127-size film. The Zeiss Kolibri (523/18) has a couple of different lens and shutter combinations. The one I used to take the photos has a Novar Anastigmat 5cm F4.5 lens in a TELMA shutter. The other camera I received has a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 5cm F3.5 lens in a Compur shutter. A third model has a Zeiss Biotar 5cm F2 lens. All of the different lens/shutter combinations are in a chrome polished tube that pulls out to take the photos and to retract, grab the "wings" on either side of the lens, turn the lens slightly counter-clockwise, and press the lens back into the camera body. You also grab the "wings" to pull the lens out to take photos.

The Telma shutter has only three shutter speeds, 1/100, 1/50, and 1/25, along with "B" and "T" for timed exposures. The Compur shutter is more extensive, with shutter speeds starting at 1/300, 1/100, 1/50, etc., to 1 sec along with "B" & "T." The shutter release is on the left-hand side with the Telma shutter, and you do not need to cock the shutter; just press the shutter release and the shutter fires. On the Compur shutter, the cocking mechanism is on top of the shutter, and the shutter release is below, so there is a little difference between the two cameras in the shutter and shutter release function.

Telma shutter

On both cameras, the aperture settings are under the lens with a little slide that points to the aperture setting. Focus on both cameras is done by a slider knob on top of the camera, with the closest focus at 1 meter. On the bottom of the ring that has the "wings" on it is a hole that the "cane" or strut fits into to keep the camera upright, with either the lens out or retracted. Using the "cane" is excellent for timed exposures, connecting a cable release to take a timed exposure. There is a cable release socket on both cameras incorporated into the shutter.

The aperture ring is under the lens. The shutter release is on the left, and the self-timer is on the right with a red dot.

To load the film, you slide the knurled knob on the top of the camera in the direction of the arrow to open the back to load and unload the film. Once you open the back, you take the empty spool and put it on the left end, which has the winding knob, then put the fresh roll of film into the film chamber, pull the leader to the empty spool, put the leader into the slot on the reel and turn the winding knob until you see "start" on the film's paper backing. At this point, close the back of the camera and wind until you see the number 1 in the lower of the two windows. Now that you're ready to take your first photo, lift up the front and rear viewfinders so you can frame the image and take your photo.

 Since the camera has two red windows on the camera's back, the spacing between the top and bottom windows is the same as the negative size. You would take the photo once you wind the film so the number 1 appears on the bottom window. Once the photo is taken, wind until you see the number 1 in the top window, then take the picture. After you take the photo with the number 1 on the top window, roll until you see the number 2 on the bottom window and do this through the number 8.

Here's where I had some issues, and it's something I kept in mind when I was done taking the photos. In my small and simple mind, as I was holding the camera in a vertical position, it was in my mind that the camera would take a vertical photo. Unfortunately, that's not the case. If you're holding the camera in the vertical position, the camera is taking a horizontal image due to the orientation of the frame area in the camera. So, the photos I took that should have been horizontal were taken vertically and vice versa. I felt like an amateur when I finished taking the photos, only to realize I did it wrong.

 The viewfinder is tiny, and since I wear glasses, it's challenging to use. Its size also made it difficult to frame the photo accurately. Toward the end of the roll, I would just point the camera at the subject and "guess" on the framing, which seemed pretty good, with the exception of the vertical/horizontal format mishap.

Small viewfinder and glasses do not mix well.

 Once the photos were taken, I unloaded the film and processed them, and they turned out nicely.

 The serial numbers for my two Kolibri cameras are only 40 pieces off. The more well-used version is S.98995, and the Kolibri with the Compur shutter is S.98955, so they were built relatively close to each other. 

 My initial belief was that the camera with the Telma shutter was an older version. I believed that it was an older model because one camera was more used than the other. Now, I realize that the shutter and lens combination would be for a more or less expensive model that the consumer would purchase. If someone wanted the less expensive Telma shutter with a slower lens or the more expensive faster lens and Compur shutter, that made more sense to me.

My Results:

Here are some of the images taken with my more well-used Kolibri camera. I used it because the other camera didn't have the aperture settings, and I would have had to guess at the aperture. That would have been okay, and I'm a pretty good judge of that, as I could have marked on the camera what I thought the aperture setting should be.

Conclusion:

Except for my confusion about the vertical/horizontal format and the camera orientation, it's a fun camera. It is very well made, the photos are nice and sharp, and the camera fits nicely in my pocket when the lens is retracted and the viewfinder is down. As it is compact and sturdy, I can use it more often.

I look forward to shooting more photos with this in the future, but I must remember that when the camera is vertical, it's taking a horizontal photo.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this gem of a camera. I hope to see you next week when I review another camera from my collection.

 Until next week, please be safe.

 

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.

 

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.

Dan 35 I Camera

My Dan 35 Model I camera

I need to start this post back in time. I first started collecting cameras and other photo items in the late 1970s or early 1980s. I can remember purchasing one of McKeown's Camera Price Guides and spending hours combing through each camera manufacturer, looking at the cameras they had made in the past. There were so many odd and unusual like very rare original Leica; the very first bullet-shaped brass Voigtlander camera, the Compass camera or Photosphere that I could only dream of owning, and many were so far from the price budget that I knew there were only a pipedream.

 Many large companies, like Eastman Kodak, Polaroid, and Zeiss, made hundreds of different model cameras, which were abundant. Then, there were the smaller camera companies that produced unique cameras, like Univex, which was the first camera I owned. It was a Uniflex that was given to me by my uncle Bud, who, to this day, along with my brother Tim, I owe my love of photography.

 Then, I can remember thumbing through the price guide and finding a tiny company that produced a camera near and dear to me, the Dan camera. I immediately thought I needed to find one of these to put into my collection. My initial search was hopeless, as many of the local flea markets and antique stores I'd frequent only had the very common Kodak, Polaroid, Zeiss, and other companies like Herbert George and other American brands.

Online Auctions:

It would help to remember that this was before eBay, which didn't exist before the mid-1990s. I was an early adopter of buying and selling on eBay in 1997. At that time, there were no photos, and it was mainly just a buy/sell board with an auction element so you could post a camera or item for sale, but you only had the description from the seller to go by. When I first joined eBay, there was no name to have but a number. My original number was 1034; you had to do everything through DOS.

 EBay made a massive difference as it gained popularity. It changed how people bought and sold items. Adding photos gave the buyer more confidence in their purchase, and rarer items could hit higher pricing due to the inability to find them.

 For many years, the Dan Camera was very elusive, and since the camera was from a smaller company, the scarcity and pricing made the purchase of it next to impossible up until a couple of years ago when I was looking through a different online auction website, and I found a grouping of cameras which piqued my interest. As I zoomed in to look at this lot, there was a portion of a lens I could see.   I could barely read "Dan" on the ring around the lens as I looked closer. Here was my chance to finally own the elusive Dan 35 camera.

Name embossed on the back of the camera.

 The auction happened, and there was minimal interest in this group of cameras as many of them were very common items. However, these are the groups that I really enjoy because tucked away in the corner "could" have a gem hidden, and in this case, there was. I won the camera lot, got the items shipped to me, and there it was as I unwrapped it: the Dan 35 camera. To my amazement, it was the first model.

History:

The Dan 35 is a simple Bolta film camera made in Japan after WWII. Bolta film was invented by Johann Bolten, who founded Bolta-Werks in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1936. The film was to go into his smaller, more compact cameras named the Boltavit. Bolta Werk later produced the Photovit line of cameras from 1936 to the 1950s. Bolta film was incorporated into many different cameras during this period and was a nonperforated 35mm film with a paper backing loaded into special cassettes. Later models of film were spooled similar to films like 828 and 127.

Stetch of Dan 35 Camera by Hagimoto Danji.

 The Dan 35 camera was made by Hagimoto Danji. He built a small plant in Suwa to manufacture the Dan 35 camera, which he sold in his camera shop in Ginza after WWII in 1945. After the moderate success of the Dan 35, there were three different distributors for the camera between 1945 and 1950, when the camera company went bankrupt. The logo on the camera coincides with the company's name, which is H for Hagimoto above Dan for Danji on the far right of the camera.

 Here's where it gets a bit fuzzy. Yamato Koki Seisakusho was a camera company that started in Tokyo in 1943. It made shutters for Japanese camera companies like Gelto and Leotax. The first cameras produced by Yamato were the Minon 35, Minon Six, and Pax 35.

 Yamato, known to produce the Minon 35, a copy of the Dan 35 III and later the Pax 35, is a camera that is a copy of the Super Dan 35. Some sources say Yamato made the Dan 35 and Dan 35 II, but others say they took over producing the Dan 35 after Hagimoto went bankrupt in 1950. Yamato produced the Pax line in the 1960s.

My Camera:

The Dan 35 is a very simple camera with a torpedo-shaped viewfinder on top. It measures 3.25" wide by 2.25" tall from the base to the top of the finder and is 2" deep from the front of the lens to the back of the camera. The camera weighs a whopping 5.2oz and is considered a miniature camera. The Dan 35 has a Dan Anastigmat 40mm f4.5 lens with a Silver-B shutter.

Around the lens is the focus ring, a helicoid focus measuring from 1 meter to infinity. Just behind the aperture numbers on the lens is a knurled ring that sets the aperture. In front of the aperture numbers is another knurled ring that sets the shutter speeds on the camera. There are only shutter speeds, 1/25, 1/50, and 1/100 sec, along with B. On the left of the knurled ring is a cocking lever to cock the shutter, and the shutter release is on the right side to expose the film.

Logo and Torpedo viewfinder

 To load the film, on the top of the camera is a locking lever with "L" for lock and "O" for open. Switch the lever to "O," and the top comes off to load the film. The base comes off to load in later models like the Dan 35 Model II. My camera has no spools to load the film, and the shutter doesn't work. On the back of the camera is a red window with an open/close lever to see the numbers on the paper backing of the film so you know where to stop for your next exposure. Also, Dan 35 is embossed on the back of the camera.

Conclusion:

Unfortunately, I don't have film, and the camera's shutter doesn't work, so I couldn't take photos with this camera to share.

 I mainly have this camera for a couple of reasons. One is its rarity; the more important reason is that it has the same name as me, so I get a kick out of that. I have another miniature camera set aside for next week's blog post, which I also find fascinating.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes to review my blog post about the cameras in my collection. Please be safe until next week.

 

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.

Robot Royal 36 Camera

Being a big fan of The Robot cameras and having done an earlier blog post on the Robot Luftwaffen Eigentum camera, I wanted to get a camera I could use when we went on vacation or just out for the weekend. Years ago, I came across an excellent and working condition Robot Royal 36 camera. It was from an online auction, so I made a relatively low offer and won it.

 When I received it, I was surprised by the weight and heft of this particular camera. I put it through routine tests to see if the shutter was indeed opening and closing, which it was. The lens was clean, another positive, and the transport was active and in good working condition.

 When COVID hit, I was laid off from one of my favorite jobs. I started writing my camera blog. After being off work for ten months, I got hired for a better position and loved the job, company, and boss, but I put the camera on my shelf for the next four years until I recently retired and started writing my camera blog again.

History:

Otto Berning & Co. started in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1933. Otto Berning and Co. began to manufacture amateur cameras in 1934 when a young watchmaker in his 30s, Heinz Kilfitt, designed the first compact camera for what Robot would be so well known for. The design had a spring-loaded motor winder, a unique item brought to the camera industry due to his watchmaking skills. Heinz Kilfitt also designed the camera to have a 24x24mm film format. He offered the format size to both Kodak and Agfa, who rejected it, so he sold the design to a young Hans Berning, who was only 23 and worked for his father's company. 

 Robot cameras provide a film format of 24x24mm on most of their cameras. An advantage of the 24x24mm frame size was that the photographer could get 50 images on a roll of film instead of the standard 36 in the traditional 24x36mm format. Another advantage was that there was no need to turn the camera for vertical shots.

Some unique features of the Robot cameras are that they use a rotary shutter and sprocket film drive system, which are more common in the cine cameras of the time. Robot cameras also have a 90-degree switchable viewfinder, allowing the photographer to point the camera in a different direction while looking through the viewfinder and taking photos. All the cameras have a winding motor of film advance system that allows the photographer to wind the motor and shoot rapidly up to 5-6 frames on a single wind, depending on the camera.

 Robot also provided either Carl Zeiss or Schneider-designed lenses on their cameras, which gave the photographer unparalleled sharpness in their images. The cameras were die-cast zinc and stamped stainless steel bodies chalked full of clockwork inside, and they are very sturdy and extremely well made, a testament to the high-quality materials used in their construction. 

During WWII, Robot produced cameras for the German Luftwaffe to put on their Stuka dive bombers. After the war, Robot continued producing high-end cameras like the Robot Star and Junior cameras. Robot produced the Robot Royal in three formats, with a few feature and film format variations. 

My Camera:

My model is the Robot Royal 36, model III, and it has the film format of 24x36, the most common film format for 35mm cameras. My camera has a Schneider Xenar 45 mm f2.8 lens. My camera has a Schneider Xenar 45mm f2.8 lens. It measures 5.5" wide x 3" tall x 2.75" deep from the front of the lens to the back of the camera and weighs a whopping 2 lbs. 0.4 oz. That's the first thing I noticed when I unwrapped the camera. This is a very solid and well-built camera with unique features that set it apart from other cameras. 

To open the camera, as you hold the camera there is a chrome tab with etching on it on the left side. With your thumb, you lift that and the latch and open the back of the camera. Unlike most 35mm cameras, this camera has a take-up spool you need to load the leader into as opposed to just putting the film leader into the take-up slot, and the camera takes up the film. You need to take the take-up spool apart and thread the film leader into the spool, then put the cassette back together and load the film and take-up cassette into the camera. Then fire two frames, and you're ready to go.

My camera has shutter speeds from 1/2 sec to 1/500 sec, along with B for timed exposures. The bottom of the camera has a winding mechanism that allows me to fire 12 photos at full wind, which takes me about ten and a half cranks to wind fully.

Yellow, Green and Blue dots on lens and Aperture number for Zone Focus.

 The rangefinder on my camera is very bright and easy to focus. The other significant item about the Robot camera and lens system is they allow the photographer to shoot with zone focusing, which is fantastic for street photography. The lenses have yellow, green, and blue dots, which correspond to the colored apertures on the lens. The lens's apertures 2.8 and 5.6 are in yellow, F8 is in green, and f16 is blue. All you need to do is match up the color dot on the focus dial and the aperture used, and the lens shows you your depth of field. This procedure is similar to all other lenses, but the color coding makes the system more "user-friendly."

Removing and reattaching the lens of the Robot Royal 36 is simple. A tabbed collar at the bottom of the lens, when moved to the left, allows the lens to be detached. To reattach the lens, align the two red dots and slide the collar counterclockwise. This careful procedure ensures the lens is securely in place.

Switch for “Green Dot” normal film advance, “Red Dot” Close viewfinder and “R” Rewind film back into canister.

Once I shot the film, One the back of the camera and to the right of the viewfinder is a switch with a green dot for regular forward film transport, there is a red dot which closed the viewfinder half way and "R" for film rewind. I put the camera in the "R" position and reminded the film as a regular 35mm camera procedure. On the bottom front of the camera are the flash sync ports for "X" (electric flash) or "M" (bulb flash) settings.

Results:

 I took a roll of film, put it through my camera, and walked around my backyard to see how the camera performed. This is the first time I got to shoot with the camera since I bought it 4-5 years ago, and there were a few anomalies in the camera. There seems to be a slight light leak, but to be 100% transparent, the film I used was old, and one I had shot just a few frames with and rewound the film with the leader exposed more than ten years ago, so I can't 100% blame it on this camera.

Conclusion:

While Leica has the prestige, Robot and Alpa are probably the best-built cameras in terms of craftsmanship and overall quality. The camera is excellent, the lenses are fantastic, and it offers things built into the system, like motor advancement and an excellent feel. I had a great time shooting with it, and I need to run a fresh roll of film through this beauty more often.

Thank you for taking time from your busy day to review this blog.

Until next time, please be safe.

Exakta 66 Vertical Camera

I've been holding onto this camera for a few years now and wanted to do a blog post on it a few years ago when I was asked to come back to work and run a couple of photo companies for a former boss. At the time, the opportunity was too good to pass up, so I put my camera blog on the back burner and dove into my work promoting and selling some top-of-the-line photo equipment.

My Exakta 66 Vertical camera and lens.

Now that I'm formally retiring after spending 52 years in the photo industry, I pulled the Exakta 66 vertical off the shelf, which I had serviced a couple of years ago, shortly after returning to work. I put 120 black-and-white films into it and gave it a whirl to see what a medium-format camera from the early 1950s would feel like.

History:

I previously wrote about the company's history when I posted on the Exakta Vest Pocket Model B camera in December 2020. If you're interested in what I wrote about Ihagee History, click the link.

Early horizontal Exakta 66 model.

 In this area, I'd like to talk about the history of the Exakta 66. Exakta made an earlier version of the 66, a horizontal version developed just before WWII. Since this model is known as the "Vertical" version, it concerns the film transport on the camera. In this version, the film transports vertically, unlike the previous model, which went horizontally.

The original Exakta 66 was designed in 1938. Ihagee, the manufacturer of Exakta, had even set aside a series of serial numbers for the Exakta 66, which was a first for Ihagee. Until now, the camera model would have consecutive serial numbers when the cameras left the factory, but  552,000 to 556,999 had been reserved for the 6x6.

Due to technical issues with the film transport, Ihagee only produced about 2,000 cameras in the first year. The issues were somewhat common for other Exakta cameras from this time period. Production for the Exakta 66 was stopped after one year. It could have been due to technical issues or the outbreak of WWII. 

In 1951, Ihagee decided to start production on the camera again. They reserved the serial numbers 600,000 to 607,999 for the new Exakta 66. Unfortunately, production was halted due to lackluster interest and low sales numbers. Many of the cameras produced were from old stock produced before WWII, and the cameras again had very poor film transport issues. 

 Introduced in the fall of 1952 with production was the new Vertical Exakta 66 with vertical film transport, which was to compete with Hasselblad for medium format camera. With the Vertical Exakta 66, Ihagee introduced interchangeable light shafts, focusing screens, film cassettes, and a prism finder, which were planned but never introduced. It also had flash synchronization and shutter speeds similar to their 35mm cameras from 12 sec. to 1/1000

Again, the vertical Exakta 66 ran into the same film transport and other issues during production. The problem was so bad that Ihagee recalled cameras delivered to stores to destroy the camera. It's estimated that there are only a few hundred cameras due to poor production and lack of sales.

 

In 1985, Ihagee's West German company reintroduced the Exakta 66. The camera was very similar to the Pentacon and even had Pentacon mount lenses. It had a current design with a black body and other accessories like finders, focus screens, lenses, etc. This version lasted into the early 1990s.

My Camera:

 The Exakta 66 is a clunky and somewhat awkward camera, especially without a shoulder strap. While I got the camera serviced a few years ago, I'll discuss some issues with the body and film back. 

 My camera has a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar T 80mm f2.8 lens. It measures 5.5" tall by 4.5" wide by 6" deep, measuring from the back of the film plane to the front of the lens focused at infinity or back into the body. If the light chamber is opened, the camera is just under 8" tall and weighs 3 lbs 7.4 oz without film or a strap.  

The vertical shape made the camera very similar to shooting with a twin-lens reflex camera, just bigger and heavier. As I have fairly large hands, using it wasn't that bad. 

To take the back off, on the camera's left side, as you hold it to take a photo, is a long lever next to the horizontal tripod socket. Slide that lever up to release the lock of the film back, and slide the cack off to the left to load the film. Loading the film is pretty straightforward. Take the empty film spool from behind the hinged door and put it into the top chamber inside where the gears are. Put the new film in the chamber with the hinged door and slide the leader around the wheel and over the pressure plate to the empty spool. Slide the end into the spool and wind it up just a bit so it's not coming loose from the take-up spool.

That's the easy part. I went online to look at the instruction manual on the proper procedure to load the camera, and now I understand the complexity of the camera. Well, the instructions that I read didn't make sense. One of the reasons is that the film back I have isn't 100% functional. The frame counter isn't working on my film back and doesn't go to the "Red F" as stated in the manual (show manual). Here's what I did. I put the back on the camera, advanced the film 5-6 frames, and started to shoot photos. The film advance lever is on the right side of the camera and has a large "wing nut" appearance right in the center of the camera.

The shutter speed dial is in two sections, similar to other cameras. From 1/1000 to 1/25 sec, it is on the top dial along with "T" and "B," closest to the light chamber. A second shutter speed wheel on the bottom of the camera has a dual function. It's the low end of the shutter speeds, from 1/10 sec to 12-second exposure; yep, 12-second exposure is built into the camera. It also serves as the camera's self-timer. The cameras' self-timer numbers are red, and the long exposure numbers are black.

The right side of the Exakta 66 vertical camera shows the shutter speed control dials on top and bottom.

To make a more prolonged exposure with the built-in shutter speeds, you set the SS dial to either T or B, then turn the bottom dial to the desired length of exposure in black. Press the shutter, and the shutter stays open until the end of the exposure, and the focal shutter closes. To use it as a self timer, set the shutter speed at anywhere on the top dial from 1/1000-1/25, then on the bottom dial set the length of self timer to the desired RED number and press the shutter button. This will delay the shutter from open/close function for the desired seconds picked from the red number picked.

You open the light hood, press down on the rear tab on the back of the hood. Mine pops up and is ready for action. Like many other medium format cameras, there is also a magnifying glass that allows for fine focusing. When you press the front of the chamber, the glass pops up. You can also remove the hood to get to the focus screen by pressing the lever between the two 6s on the front of the camera and just below the Exakta nameplate. When the light hood is removed, you can remove the focusing screen by sliding the bar on the right side but not back where the film advance and shutter speed dial is. It's the rod right next to "Ihagee". Slide that lever up, and the focus screen can be removed. To close the light hood, the four pieces that make up the light hood are numbered, 1,2, and 3, so you know which order to close them. If not in that order, the cover doesn't close.

There is a second rod on the right side of the camera between the two shutter buttons and the lock for the shutter button just above the shutter release. In the down position, it'll let you trip the shutter. When the bar is up, the shutter release is locked, and you cannot release the shutter.

 On the left side of the camera is the back release rod. Slide it up to release the lock to take the film back off and down to lock the film back onto the camera. There is a horizontal tripod socket. Also, there is a flash delay wheel that delays the flash sync depending on the flash and bulb used and the lens release button. Sliding the button back will release the bayonet mount lens.

The camera body, film back, light hood, Focus screen, and lens are separated.

The lens has a manual aperture, which doesn't stop the aperture down automatically when you press the shutter button. Focus wide open for the brightest viewing, then stop down the desired aperture. By doing this it also allows the photographer to see the depth of field in the finder before releasing the shutter. There is a red dot that you can move to the desired aperture. This allows the photographer to open and close the aperture quicker, and you cannot go further than the ring with the red dot will allow.

My results:

 Once I loaded the film, put the back onto the camera, and shot photos, here's the result. As you can see from some of the first images, I, too, had issues with the film transport. The technician told me he did his best to fine-tune the back, but the first few images had spacing issues, as seen in these images. After that, the images had spacing between them that grew to more and more spacing between the images.

Thing get better for the rest of the roll.

From the front yard.

Looking down our street.

Conclusion:

 After I played with the camera and finally got past the mumbo jumbo of the loading procedure, the camera was fun to shoot. I really didn't mind the manual aperture, and while I didn't use the self-timer or longer exposures as I was shooting ISO 400 on a somewhat sunny day, setting the shutter speeds and aperture was straightforward.

 Having the large indent on the film back provided extra area to hold the camera, especially when I was carrying the camera without a strap. I think the images turned out pretty good, and I'm looking forward to shooting it again—maybe at dusk with longer exposures this time.

 Thank you for taking the time to read through this post and until my next post, please be well and stay safe.

Bolsey-Flex Trio Camera

As I was sitting at my desk a few weeks back as I was figuring out what camera to write about next, I looked down at a box of cameras I have in my office, and on top was the Bolsey Flex Trio, which is in the box and complete with the instructions. As I started putting together my thoughts about the camera, I had to pull out the camera, and many different ideas came into my mind.

My Bolsey-Flex Camera & Instructions

My Bolsey-Flex Camera & Instructions

The camera for its age isn't in great shape but does work. The camera uses 120 size film, which is a HUGE benefit to me since the film is so readily available. I decided to load a roll of Black and White film in it to shoot as I walked through my neighborhood. I processed the film and was somewhat impressed by the Bolsey-Flex. It's a Pseudo Twin Lens Reflex camera, which means it looks and feels like a TLR camera but works more like a Box Camera due to its simplicity.

Camera Research

I was researching the camera, only to find that a friend of mine, a brilliant writer and camera collecting blogger, Mike Eckman did a blog post on the same camera just a few months ago, which you can read here. With that said, Mike has quite a bit of information on the designer, Jacques Bogopolsky, and camera companies he worked for. The famous movie camera, Bolex, was named after Jacques Bogopolsky, and he also designed cameras for Pignons S.A., the original company that made Alpa Cameras.

For my blog post, I want to concentrate on the experience of using the camera, the image quality, and my overall thoughts on how such a beautifully designed camera handles out in a natural shooting environment. I want to offer a few facts on the camera in general. The camera is an all-aluminum cast body with beautiful light green coverings. In the box comes all you need to take the camera out into the world to take photos.

The Camera

The camera measures 4.75" tall without the viewfinder in the closed position and 6" with the finder in the "up" position. The camera is 3.75" wide, which includes the width of the knobs. It is 3.75" deep, including the lens in the focused to the closest focused position, and 3.5 with the lens focused to infinity. The Bolsey-Flex incorporates an elementary zone focusing lens which can focus from 5 feet to infinity. The focus on the camera is strictly a "guess focus" style. While this is a Psuedo TLR camera, the top lens does nothing more than frame the photo in the camera. There is no focusing capability when looking through the viewfinder.

On the Bolsey-Flex shutter, you have the capability of "I" for an instant, which shoots the shutter at 1/50th of a second shutter speed, and "T" for a time exposure. The camera does have a synchronized shutter which couples with the flash attachment. The camera also has an 80mm lens with three aperture settings, F7.7, f11, and f16. 

The flashgun takes 2-"AA" batteries to power the Type No.5 flashbulbs that fit the top. You unscrew the bottom of the flashgun to put the batteries into it. It would be best if you took the camera case off the camera to use the flash. The flashgun fits into the camera synchro port, which is below the lens and held by the screw that holds the case into place. When you trip the shutter, the camera sends a signal to the flashgun, which fires the flashbulb. 

My unit seems to be in good working condition. Unfortunately, I didn't have bulbs when I loaded the camera with film and did all my shots outdoors. It would have been fun to shoot with bulbs. I'll need to test another camera that uses a flashbulb in a future post, not that I have some bulbs to try.

To load film into the camera, there is a knob on the left side of the camera with "Open," Close" on it. Turn the knob to "open," and the top of the back swings down open to load the film into the camera. Nothing special here as the. Put the empty spool on the top and film onto the bottom area. The shutter won't fire until the winding lever is turned to advance the film. On the back of the camera is the red window with a sliding cover to see when the film is advanced to the following frame number.

 Images

Here are some of the images I took with the Bolsey-Flex camera.

Rocks

Rocks

Backyard Aspen

Backyard Aspen

Evergreen Tree

Evergreen Tree

Dogwood

Dogwood

Conclusion

I thought the camera did a very excellent job for a pseudo-TLR camera. It's not much more than a glorified box camera. The camera was easy to hold, the exposures were good, thanks to my sunny 16 rule when exposing to sunlight. The lens vignettes a bit, but I enjoy that. The ease of operation and see the frames in the red window when advancing were spot on. I'd recommend this very well-built camera to anyone.

 Thank you for taking some time to look over this post. Until next time, please be safe.

Rare Univex Model AF Cameras

I started writing my blog posts to let the world know about the cameras in my collection, the fondness I have for cameras, and anything photographic. I had a LOT of time on my hands since losing my position a year ago due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The company I worked for restructured the sales position, and I was the odd man out.

My collection of Univex AF Cameras

My collection of Univex AF Cameras

 I love the companies that hired me. It's been gratifying to get back to work, and it feels lovely to contribute to the workforce and the photo community I feel so passionately about. I've been lax in my camera blog posts lately because I took a new job that has consumed most of my time and energy for the past few weeks.

Blogging

I'm hoping to get back to writing this post every other week now instead of weekly as I was doing. Time willing, I'll do it every other week, or maybe weekly should time allow.

 I wanted to take a few hours to photograph the cameras I'm presenting this week. It's not a single camera like the past blog postings, but a whole collection of cameras that I've built over many years of collecting.

 

The Company

The Universal Camera Corporation started in 1932 at 521 Fifth Ave., then moved the following year to 32-46 West 23rd St. New York, NY. They stayed in that location until they ran out of office and manufacturing space in 1938. Starting in the depression era, they made reasonably inexpensive cameras made that also used their film, the successful Universal six exposure #OO film for their cameras.

Until 1938, The Universal Camera Corp. was making primarily smaller cameras like the Original Univex Model A camera, which sold for $0.39 and was wildly successful. In 1938, to revise the sales of #00 film, Universal Camera Corp came out with a line of Candid Cameras, which became increasingly popular during this time.

The Story

This story is about the small "A" model cameras and their specialized models in the AF line. As mentioned in many of my previous posts, my love for colored cameras and the odd, unusual models camera manufacturers made. I started collecting the Univex AF line well over 20 years ago when I came across their colored cameras.

 I believe the first camera purchased the standard and graphic-faced AF-2 model with the black face and graphic red lines running from top to bottom of the camera. Then I started buying the colored models, green, blue, brown, grey, and found their Girl Scout model when I searched out "Scout" cameras. At this time is when I came across the elusive Hollywood, GE Topper, and very rare Aristocrat model.

 I found the Hollywood camera (brown model) first on eBay and was excited to have it in my collection. I've been looking for the GE Topper and even more elusive Aristocrat camera for years. I did see GE Topper models on eBay, but they were always more expensive than I could afford.

My collection of Univex AF cameras

My collection of Univex AF cameras

The Elusive Camera(s)

In my camera searches, I received an email about someone back east selling a "lot" of cameras, and looking at the photos, I saw it…..The elusive Aristocrat camera. It was an online auction, and I just HAD to have it. On the day of the sale, I went online, and when the camera lot came up for sale, I was ready. The pricing started slow and started to build. It got close to my limit, and low and behold. I had won the auction along with a box of items I wasn't sure I wanted.

 When I talked to the shipper about the items in the box, I told them I only wanted this one item, but they already had the items packed and ready to ship. I bit the bullet and had the whole lot shipped to me. From the time I paid for the shipping to get to me to the day it arrived, I knew the one camera to complete my collection was the GE Topper. For days, all I could think about was finding the GE Topper camera.

 When the box arrived, I was giddy with excitement to open it and put the Aristocrat model on my shelf and the other models in the collection. All the cameras were bubble-wrapped. Pulling items out, I kept looking for the Aristocrat. I pulled this one bubble-wrapped item and, turning it over, I faintly saw….could it be what I believe it is, the GE Topper camera? I gently unwrapped the camera, and as I was peeling off the wrap, the front face became more visible. It was the GE Topper model. My heart was pounding, and my eyes teared up a bit. Not only did I get the Aristocrat camera BUT the GE Topper too in the same sale.

Later, I added the odd difficult to find, green Hollywood camera, so along with the AF-3, AF-5, and AF-5 models, I can call this collection complete unless something else pops up that I'm not aware of.

 Thank you for taking some time from your schedule to read my blog on cameras in my collection. Until my next posting, please be safe.

 

No. 0 Folding Pocket Kodak

Due to the holiday season, I thought I'd do something a bit different for the blog this week. I did pick out a camera to write about, but as you can imagine, I didn't have a lot of time to do the research, but I did have an opportunity to take the camera out and use it. The camera I picked for this week's post is a camera that's well over 110 years old, and I received some pretty peculiar looks when I took it out to shoot.

No. 0 Folding Pocket Kodak

No. 0 Folding Pocket Kodak

The Camera

This week's camera is the No.0 Folding Pocket Kodak camera built between 1902 and 1906. It's a very compact folding camera that takes  121 size film that produced 1 5/8" x 2 1/2 size film negatives. The No.0 folding pocket Kodak is one of the earliest Kodak folding cameras and measures 5 5/8" long by 3 1/4" wide by 1 1/4" deep when closed, and 3 1/2" deep with the lens extended and weighs in at 11.5 oz.

The No.0 folding pocket Kodak is a fundamental camera that was marketed for horizontal shooting. When you pull the lens away from the body, it has a scissor-style hinge system to keep the lens erect, along with a pull-down leg on the front, right side of the camera so the camera can stand on its own. I'm a big fan of the red bellows style cameras produced during this period, and the bellows on my camera are light tight and a vibrant dark red color. The No.0 folding pocket Kodak has a Meniscus lens along with an Eastman Automatic shutter. To open the back of the camera is just a simple latch on the left side of the camera, and it opens on a hinge to load the film.

When you're holding the No.0 folding pocket Kodak with the lens extended and ready to take a photo, there is only one viewfinder, and it's for horizontal images. Most cameras have two viewfinders, one for horizontal and one for vertical photos. On the other side of the viewfinder is the shutter release button for normal instant style photos, which I'm guessing is approximately 1/60 sec. On the right side of the extended lens area is a protruding shutter release for time exposures. You click once to open the shutter and a second time to close it. On the left side of the extended lens area is the sliding mechanism, which changes the aperture setting. There are three different aperture settings set by moving the slider out to get to the desired aperture.

I am preparing the camera to shoot.

When I played with the camera, I had a roll of 35mm film on my desk. When I opened the back, the camera, it still had the wooden take-up spool in it. I picked up the 35mm film and laid it in the film chamber, and noticed how well it fit there. Pulling the film leader over to the take-up spool, I figured I'd be able to shoot 35mm through this camera.

The 35mm film's width was too small, so I needed to put something across the film area to keep the film flat when shooting. I had some black masking tape in my office, which I use to mask my light table when shooting glass negatives. I measured the width of 35mm film in the camera and cut some masking tape to fit across the film chamber so the film would lay flat.

Now I needed to figure out how many turns of the winding lever would take to advance the film to the next frame without overlapping frames. I did this with a dummy roll I had in my office. It takes two full turns of the winding lever to advance to the next frame. It probably is 1 3/4 turns, but I like to keep it simple. There is a red window on the back of the camera, which I needed to block out the light since 35mm film isn't a paper-backed film like other roll films. I put a couple of black tape layers over the red window to block that light as well.

 I loaded up the film into the camera and took my dogs to the local dog park to try out the No.0 folding pocket Kodak. Once I took the roll of film, I brought it home to unload the film. There is no rewind on the No.0 folding pocket Kodak, so I put the camera into my trusty dark bag for film processing and unloaded the film.

Photos from the camera.

My local dog park, from No. 0 Folding Pocket Kodak camera

My local dog park, from No. 0 Folding Pocket Kodak camera

Lulu from the dog park. She was sitting so nicely, then got too close. Photos from No. 0 Folding Pocket Kodak

Lulu from the dog park. She was sitting so nicely, then got too close. Photos from No. 0 Folding Pocket Kodak

Vertical photo from the No. 0 Folding Pocket Kodak

Vertical photo from the No. 0 Folding Pocket Kodak

Conclusion.

It was enjoyable to put a film through this 110 plus-year-old camera. There were a couple of hiccups as I hit the time exposure shutter button a couple of times to take the photo as I'm used to having the trigger on the side of the camera instead of on top, but other than that, the results are pretty good.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes to read my camera collecting blog. I enjoy hearing from you about this or any of the other posts I've made so far. I hope everyone has a very happy and safe new year and until next week, please be safe.

No. 0 Graphic Camera

In my opinion, the No. 0 Graphic camera is one of the real sexy models made. It's a small yet sophisticated, high-quality design and somewhat technical that it advanced camera manufacturing forward. The camera is a fixed focus camera made by Folmer & Schwing, a division of Eastman Kodak at the time, manufactured between 1909 and 1926.

Graphic No.0 Camera & Case

Graphic No.0 Camera & Case

The Company

Folmer & Schwing, Mfg. Co. first started as a gas lamp manufacturing company. The company was started in 1887 by William F. Folmer and William E. Schwing. When the decline of gas lamp sales occurred in the 1890s, Folmer & Schwing moved into Bicycle and camera manufacturing. Their cameras first appeared in their 1896 catalog and their first Graphic camera in 1898, which you can see here. Mr. Folmer also introduced the photographic world to the very well-known Graflex cameras in 1898, known as the Graflex Reflex camera, a single lens and moving mirror (SLR). Looking at some of their later catalogs, it's interesting that there were so many bicycle-related cases, etc. You can see the No. 0 Graphic advertised here.

In 1905, Eastman Kodak purchased  Folmer & Schwing Mfg. Co., and up until 1926, they were a division of Eastman Kodak. In 1926 the U.S. government forced Kodak to divest its professional division due to the Sherman Anti Trust Act. With no one buying Folmer & Schwing, they became Graflex Inc., which was an independently owned company up until 1958. After 1958, the company had a few other owners and was officially closed in 1973.

Top view of No. 0 Graphic camera

The Camera

Looking at the No. 0 Graphic, I like the intricacy of the top of the camera and the rest of the camera's simplicity. Looking at photos of the camera, I thought the camera would be larger than it is. The camera measures 5 1/4" wide by 3 3/4" tall, including the viewfinder, by 3 1/2" deep, and weighs 1 lb. 10.6 oz. without film. To open the lens, or I guess I should say to open the door to expose the lens as the lens is fixed focus, you press the thumb knob on the camera body's upper left as you face the lens. By pressing the knob back, the door to the lens opens. To close it. Press the button to the left of the lens, and the door closes. The camera has a Zeiss Kodak anastigmat lens, f6.3.

The camera uses a cloth focal-plane shutter system with shutter apertures (distances between shutter curtains) of 1/4, 3/4, and 1 1/2 inches. There is a tension regulator on the top of the camera that regulates the shutter speed and the shutter aperture used. There is a graph on the top of the camera showing what shutter speed the camera will fire at depending on the tension and shutter aperture used. Looking at the chart on the top of the No. 0 Graphic, the shutter speeds range from 1/10 to 1/500. Also on the top of the camera is the aperture setting, which varies from f6.3-f32. You move the pointer wheel to the desired setting.

The No. 0 Graphic takes six 1 5/8 x 2 1/2 inches on No. 0 F.P. Kodak roll film. Later the film was called Kodak 121 film, which you would load just like any roll film camera with the take-up spool on the right-hand side. To open the camera's back is simple, pinch the top and bottom springs and pull the camera back off. This method is similar to many of the Kodak Autographic cameras of this era.

 The camera also incorporates an exciting viewfinder system, which allows for discreet photo taking. There is a mirror in the viewfinder which can be placed in either a 45-degree or 90-degree position. The 45-degree position enables the photographer to view from a 90-degree position from your subject. What they call it deceptive angles camera. You can also open the mirror to 90 degrees making the mirror even with the viewing plane to point it forward towards the subject. In the manual, which you can see here.

The camera I own still has the camera strap on the side and the fitted camera case. While the No.0 Graphic I have is missing the leather on the lens door, it's something I overlook as I generally display it with the door open. My camera is serial number 26602, embossed on the camera's bottom, just behind the tripod socket.

No. 0 Graphic camera in the fitted case.

No. 0 Graphic camera in the fitted case.

Conclusion

The No. 0 Graphic is a prized camera in my collection, especially with how complete the camera is. The shutter is a bit slow, and since 121 film is no longer available, I might want to see if possibly something like 127 size film might work. The camera is small, and I love the quality they put into the design and display on the camera's top.

 Thank you for taking some time from your busy schedules to look over this post, and I always love to hear from you. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about this or any of the other cameras I've written about, please drop me a line.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Mamiya Six II, Early Version

For the past few years, I've enjoyed shooting with older folding medium format cameras. These cameras are generally smaller and something I can fit into my pocket for easy transportation. They also use larger than 35mm film, so the ability to enlarge or crop the image gives more flexibility. Their lenses are somewhat flat in contrast, but I can change that after processing and digitizing the images. The Mamiya Six camera I have is one of the cameras I like to use often. There are some exciting features built into this camera that make the camera fun to use. The Mamiya Six was the first camera manufactured by Mamiya, and the camera I have, I believe, is the second version.

My opened Mamiya Six camera.

The Company

Mamiya was started in May of 1940 by Mamiya Seiichi and Sugawara Tsunejirō in Toyko, Japan. The first and only camera they produced for eight years was the Mamiya Six, which incorporates a coupled rangefinder on a 6x6 camera that moves the film plane for focusing instead of the lens. Even though they only made one camera, Mamiya managed to grow and gain success throughout the wartime. By February 1944, Mamiya had up to 150 employees and had moved their manufacturing to a new facility. In March 1944, they also opened a second manufacturing facility that made and assembled their lenses. In October 1945, just a month after Japan's surrender, Mamiya was the first company to receive a substantial order, bringing them back to full production.

In 1947, Mamiya started to produce Stamina shutters and Neocon lenses. In 1950, the Setagaya plant became the company Setagaya Kōki K.K. making their shutters and lenses. The name Sekor that appears on most Mamiya lenses comes from Setagaya Kōki, with the r most likely for Renzu meaning lens. 

I should mention one item I have a real fondness for Mamiya cameras as I was an employee for Mamiya America for about six years during the early 2000s. Some of my fondest memories are working with the wonderful people at MAC Group (Mamiya America Corp.). Phase One purchased a 45% stake of Mamiya in 2009 that changed its dynamic, but they still make cameras and lenses under the Phase One name.

The Camera

Over the years the Mamiya Six was manufactured there have been many changes and modifications. To see some of the changes, you can look here. This is also not to be confused with the Mamiya 6 which was introduced in 1989. I believe the version I have is the Mamiya Six II because the strap eyelets are no longer on the camera as they were on the original models.  Looking at the camera, the first thing I noticed when I bought it was the camera has both a waist-level finder and an incorporated rangefinder, which you can see from the window on top of the camera. Just to the left of the waist level finder window is a small button to open the camera. Depress the button, and the lens extends downward. To me, it resembles the Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta 530/16 in size and weight. The Mamiya Six I have is 4" tall by 5.5" wide and 2" deep unopened or 4.5" deep opened, and weighs 1lb 12.5 oz without the case or film.

The Mamiya Six I have has a 7.5cm (75mm) f3.5 K.O.L. Sola Special Anastigmat lens in an NKS-TOKIO shutter with speed from 1-200 & "B." The aperture setting range from f3.5-32. To change shutter speeds, you move the knurled ring on the outside of the lens to the desired shutter speed. There is also a knurled ring on the back of the lens are on the right side that allows you to change aperture settings. It's somewhat hidden and took me a minute to find it, but it's easy to change once found. The pin on the top of the shutter cocks the shutter. There is a self-timer on the bottom of the shutter, which has a red dot. On the top of the camera at the far right are the focus distance and a depth of field scale. My scale only goes to F8, which is standard on the early cameras. The Mamiya Six I have also arrived with a Mamiya Six Y-2 filter.

On the back of the Mamiya Six is the viewfinder window. To the right of that is a thumbwheel that focuses the camera. Looking through the viewfinder is the typical rangefinder for focusing the camera. Once the shutter is cocked and you depress the shutter button on top of the camera, a red window appears in the viewfinder letting the photographer they have taken a photo. Under the viewfinder and to the left is a switch with an arrow pointing to the left. Moving that switch to the left allows you to wind the film to the next frame and also takes the red warning out of the viewfinder. The frame counter is at the top of the camera. It's a small round window next to the film advance knob. On the back of the Mamiya Six is also a red window and cover, which you can see the film advance and stop at the next frame, which is automatic. 

 

Close-up of lens & shutter on Mamiya Six camera.

Loading the film is a bit tricky. I always make sure my film counter is at number 1 before loading. Since the film plane moves for focusing, the pressure plate is a removable plate that slides into the film plane. You slide out the pressure plate. Load the film on the right side of the camera. Drag the leader through the slots where the pressure plate goes and wind onto the take-up spool. Slide back the pressure plate into place, and turn the advance knob until you see the starting arrow on the film leader. Close the back and with the rear window open, advance the film to number 1. Now the frame counter and the film frame number coincided with each other. Once you take a photo, slide the switch to remove the red warning label, unlocks the film advance, and wind to the next frame.

Photos

Here are a few quick shots I took walking around my neighborhood.

Conclusion

I enjoy using the Mamiya Six I have. I like the waist level finder, especially when I want to get the camera low to the ground. It's small for a medium format camera, the optics are good, and the aperture goes to F32, which I utilize when in the day time. The Mamiya Six is, in my opinion, a real keeper, especially when I want to put something in my pocket and shoot medium format.

 I appreciate you taking a few minutes to read this week's blog post. I enjoy hearing from you about your experiences with this or any other camera you have in your collection. Feel free to comment if you have a question or concerns regarding this or any other posts I've done.

 Until next week, be safe.