Vintage camera

[lafinfil]

You're welcome - they are fun cameras indeed

I used to have a thing for the later Rollieflex 2.8's (Zeiss) and they were fun to use
but they had to go when I moved onto other toys (Leica M4)

I would defiantly keep that one if it were mine - it is a beauty
(you might want to have it appraised for insurance purposes - who knows $300 up
depending on market and condition

Does the shutter work ? Is the glass clear ?
Mirror in good condition (no de-lamination of silver)

Even though that Zeiss Triostar was considered a "cheap consumer lens" if there is
no fungus and it's clear I'll bet it's fairly good for portraits (not too Zeiss sharp)

Zeiss actually had to create the Softar filters because their pro lenses are too sharp for portraits
I normally use a Softar #1 for any portrait work (razor sharp pores - not so flattering)

[DaviDC.]

I've got a Rolleiflex that I used quite often back in the days when I worked in a photo lab processing & printing B&W photos. It's on the far right & the picture under it was taken with the Rollei. (It's a hand tinted black & white printed on Illford paper.) My boss at the time had a top of the line Rollei that I used to borrow often. I guess he got tired of that because he found this camera at an estate sale in Palm Beach, FL & got it for me. The lens is nice & sharp, but not very bright so I could only use the camera outdoors. I'd use the light meter in my Pentax to set the exposures.

The one you have is beautiful! Hang onto it!

[Go To Top]

My daughter is using my YashicaMAT in photo classes in college. I found it at the Long Beach Grand Prix in the early eighties. Great lens.

[lafinfil]

Which one do you have David ?

I really wish I had kept a 2.8 just for fun but I wanted a different toy to play with

The finders are a bit dim even with the 2.8 - worse with the 3.5 so thats when you apply
the art of zone focusing (which I tend to do a lot of anyway) - DOF indicators are your friend
and I never met an auto focus camera that I liked : - )

If it is not a super rare one in prime condition ( i.e. very collectable) I know people will
have the screens retrofitted with a Beattie type bright screen for $100 or so.



This is my current fooling around camera - a Fuji GS645 (original folder model)
I've had it for about 15 years and don't use it enough - but the lens on it is one of the
sharpest that I have ever used and I still get that nice bright finder and a rangefinder

[vision63]

lafinfil, that's a beautiful Fuji.

[lafinfil]

Thanks vision - I think they quit making them in the late 80's (the folders) but then they
made the WA (wide angle versions) that had a fixed lens until recently.

I have been thinking about selling this one because it doesn't get much use but it is a joy to use.
Like I said - the 75mm Fujica lens is tack sharp and the meter is dead accurate and easy to use.

I have 645 negs I have enlarged to 20x24 and they are dead on

They are a great camera if you want 120/220 in a small light package that is tough as hell (polycarb body)
I think you can still pick them up for about $350-$450 used but make sure the bellows are good.
(If they leak you can have them replaced for $100)

I've also seen them as high as $1000 which is crazy - think I paid $350 in Like new condition
at Levines in Boston when they were about $550 new. (late 80's just before they quit making them -
guess I've had it closer to 20 years now )

[NOGoddess]

[quote lafinfil][quote NOGoddess] ... Kodak periodically remakes old films - one of these days I'll get some film for my grandfather's first camera - one of Kodak's original point and shoots from 1915. Grandpa was smart enough to write down the type of film inside the camera case...
Well Kodak used to but I'm sure they don't do it any longer
Didn't realize they'd stopped doing that. Oh well... would have been fun. But yes, I am aware that we can reroll 120 film - we've decided to forgo a fullblown darkroom as digital is more practical for our purposes now, but will still have a room where we can safely handle film as we still process our own black and white (and then scan it in).

Here's about 1/2 of our camera collection:



On edit: Drat, can't figure out why my picture posting isn't working and can't find any guidelines here!

[Psurfer]

It still amazes me to see how little money good MF film cameras go for these days. If the Fuji 645 folders still bring 350-450, it shows that at least Some people still appreciate its portability. I almost got one of those once...

I did have a 6x9 Voigtlander Bessa folder - I loved that big neg (pos). Slim like the camera seen in DavidDC's collection photo above, 2nd pile to the left of his Rollei, the 2nd from the bottom in the stack... Bought for peanuts, and fortunately sold for good money before digi-mania changed the game.

Unfortunately, I didn't sell off all my Pentax 6x7 stuff while the getting rid of was good, and now don't have the heart to let it go for the fraction it would bring.

[cbelt3]

NO god- to post pictures do this. True HTML doesn't work in the phorum (be glad it doesn't, or we'd be up to our eyeballs in spam and NSFW PR0n)

Note: Imagine that ( and ) are the SQUARE brackets

(img)http://compulsivecreations.com/cameras.jpg(/img)

Like this:

[pRON aHOLIC]

I have been thinking about getting some old style cameras just for kicks. Maybe even an 8x10 camera.