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Thowe Camera... need advice


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Hey everyone,

Found this beauty recently and would love to use it but I need some advice/help. I cleaned it up and it seems to be working fine. I’ve read that Thowe was only around from the 19 teens to the early 30s but I’m not sure which model this is and would love more information if anyone knows. It has a plate holder and multiple sheet film holders... but I have never used either technique before. I was wondering if this would accept a 120 type back and what brand I should look for. The sheet holder is about 3x5 inches (including the dark slide). Also there is a chip on the rear element, should I remove it or use it as is and see what I get?

 

Thanks!

 

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It'll take quarter-plate size sheet film and have a twin-rail type fitting to accept the plate/film holder.

 

AFAIK there's no rollfilm holder that fits into that type of obsolete fitting. It could probably be adapted, but that would ruin what appears to be a camera in nice, original condition.

 

The Meyer Trioplan is a good-quality triplet lens, but, like most triplets, nothing special. A small chip shouldn't affect it too much. Depends on the size and where the chip is though. Best treatment if the chip causes flare is to paint it with black ink, or dab it with a permanent felt-tip marker.

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Thanks for the response [uSER=2403817]@rodeo_joe|1[/uSER] I certainly have no intention to modify this camera in any way as I love its original condition! Since I posted last I have found a few types of roll backs that might fit this without modification. The most promising looking one is made by "Rollex" and looks like it may slide into place without modification. I will have to carefully measure my backs and see if it will work.

 

As for sticking with sheet film, do you have any advice? I have not tried to use sheet film before but I do have a changing bag I could use. As for the development I'll have to check around with my local labs and see if any can do this for me. I will leave the lens as is until I can do some test shots and hopefully won't have to resort to using a marker.

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  • 4 months later...
For anyone that may find this thread I did find a Rada Roll-film back that will accept 120 film and slide into the back of the Thowe with NO Modifications! It took some patience but I finally got one for well under $50 so if you are looking for one just be patient. They seem to come up fairly often but usually have a high price tag
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