Folding Rangefinders

So, the good news is that everything seems to look like it works correctly. I quite literally just hung the first roll up to dry about 10 minutes ago, so I can't say a whole lot about the rangefinder accuracy, but exposure at least looks decent.

 

I was just walking around with Delta 100 loaded in it and more or less following sunny 16 and opening up a bit in the shade-I mostly shot it at 1/200 and f/11 or f/8, but for some "tricky" shots used multiple meter readings from the F2sb I had slung over my shoulder that I was shooting also(and did try a couple of other shutter speeds just to make sure they were more or less okay, plus I shot it some at f/2.8 to check focus accuracy).

 

Unfortunately, though, the frame spacing is REALLY wide and it looks to me like this one may be an honest 11 frame camera.

 

One last thing-I suspect that I may need a new changing bag. I developed another roll of Delta 100 that I shot last week in a new-to-me Hassy A12 back, and it had the same sporadic edge fogging as these show. I don't know what else they have in common other than that.

 

[ATTACH=full]1309596[/ATTACH]

 

Looks promising!

 

I received my Fujica GS645 yesterday. I had pressed the seller a little bit more on his light tightness claims of the bellows and he said he couldn't guarantee it. I almost passed on it but he came down on the price a bit, so I went for it.

 

As I unfolded it for the first time, it made a sound very much like bare skin pealing off a hot vinyl seat. My hopes for a light tight bellows sank. I got a flashlight and headed for a closet. At first it looked good, but further inspection showed several bad corners, - so I'll be putting in a new bellows. Disappointing, but not completely unexpected.

 

Otherwise the camera seems to work just fine and is in good shape. It's somewhat bigger and heavier than I expected. Many reviews I read gushed over its compactness and how it can easily fit in a coat pocket. While it is compact for a medium format camera, it's not compact in any other context. ;)

 

It needs a roomy pocket. It will fit in the inside pocket of my ski jacket so that's good. It remains to be seen whether I keep this camera long term.

So, looking at the film-it looks like I may have started it a bit late(I thought I missed the first "1"-it's always seemed really faint on Ilford paper to me) but there again the frame spacing is quite a bit wider. A roll from a new-to-me Hasselblad A12 back is on the right(this is the most consistent spacing Hasselblad back I've used) for a comparison as to how long a 3-frame strip is compared to one from a Hassy.

 

I will probably continue ATTEMPTING a 12th frame, but also know that I shouldn't shoot anything important on it.

 

I haven't scanned it yet(the 4th strip-not shown-from the Hassy was beckoning me, and I can only scan so much in one session) but I gave the negatives a good look with a loupe. There were a couple of close f/2.8 photos on this roll, and although they don't have as much detail in the edges as the same scene at f/8, I could at least see the rangefinder is more or less correct. At least I know I can use it right up to the close limit at f/2.8 and not worry about it as long as I don't have to worry about the edges. Not being able to do it would defeat the purpose of carrying around that much flare-prone glass.

 

Ben--one further thought on the edges of your film. How clean are your reels? The build up of chemistry on the spiral can sometimes cause this after a lot of use.

These were both SS.

 

One of them I'd not actually used before, but as is my custom with any used SS reel I get, I checked it for bends by loading a test roll, and then used a toothbrush and soapy water to scrub it clean.

 

The other was my main SS 120 reel that I've been using for years, and even though I haven't given it a thorough cleaning in a while, I do rinse it with tap water and rub my fingers over the spirals before allowing it to air dry.

One last thing-I suspect that I may need a new changing bag.

That edge fog looks like standard 'sloppy-spooled 120' fogging to me Ben. Fogged between unloading and developing by light-creep past the takeup spool cheeks and backing paper. Common enough if you load/unload the film in bright conditions.

 

A leaky changing bag wouldn't selectively fog the edges of the film. However, you might want to check the tensioning springs/rollers in the camera to ensure the film is being tightly wound on its take-up spool.

 

FWIW, I used to carry some folded aluminium kitchen foil in the gadget bag to quickly wrap around my unloaded 120 until it was ready for processing. Backing paper and spool cheeks just aren't to be trusted.

 

Some thick guage wire SS reels can also tend to give patches of underdeveloped and underfixed streaks on the edge of rollfilm. It's harmless, and never encroaches on the image area.

Edited September 12, 2019 by rodeo_joe|1

Thanks Joe.

 

I'm afraid you're right. I developed two rolls of Tri-X last night, one of which I shot in December(couldn't remember when, but it had photos from the Christmas party at work) and one that was loaded for a couple of months and then finished a week or so back. Both were shot in a Hasselblad, and probably the same back(I'd have to look at the "V"s to tell for sure). The one from December had pretty severe edge fogging at the end of the roll, and almost none at the start. The more recently finished one had a bit at the end, but that was it.

 

I don't recall ever having this issue before, but I think I'm going to start saving the mylar pouches and slipping my exposed film back in them-that is for the ones that don't immediately go back in a dark pocket of one of my camera bags.

 

I bought my first MF camera in 2007, and couldn't tell you how many rolls I've shot since then. It's certainly in the hundreds if not thousands. I don't know why I'm only now having this problem.

I think I'm going to start saving the mylar pouches and slipping my exposed film back in them

I tried that, and the original foil wrapping is near useless once opened. I still recommend kitchen foil.

 

Alternatively, I came across a purpose-made film pouch from Lowepro. It has a clever iris-like closure at the top that allows film to be just pushed inside while remaining light tight - see picture.

Unfortunately, I only came across it after I'd finished regularly using film. It now serves duty as a less-than-ideal lens pouch.

Alternatively, I came across a purpose-made film pouch from Lowepro. It has a clever iris-like closure at the top that allows film to be just pushed inside while remaining light tight - see picture.

 

I recall seeing those advertised years ago.

 

Do you have a Lowepro name/PN for it? I'm always glad to add new Lowe-Pro doo-dads to my kit, especially when they're functional, but can't seem to find one on Ebay at the moment.

These are my two cents.

How hard do you pull the narrow end of the backing paper into receiving spool? If you are doing it too tight you can slitely angle the paper/film related to axis of spool.

 

Watch the both sides of the backing paper when you spinning the receiving spool and make sure that left and right disks of spool do not bend adges of the back paper.

I hope you eliminated thise two possible errors.

Cheers.

These are my two cents.

How hard do you pull the narrow end of the backing paper into receiving spool? If you are doing it too tight you can slitely angle the paper/film related to axis of spool.

 

Watch the both sides of the backing paper when you spinning the receiving spool and make sure that left and right disks of spool do not bend adges of the back paper.

I hope you eliminated thise two possible errors.

Cheers.

 

Thanks-I generally only JUST tuck the paper in enough for it to go, and then hold it while I make the first rotation or so. I make sure it's properly centered and winding on smoothly, and if I see that it's not, I stop, pull it all off, and restart. I often give myself a couple of inches of paper "loose" to make sure it's starting correctly.

 

Of course, that all goes out the window if I'm using Fuji film on a Fuji take-up spool, since I know I just have to hook it and it will load correctly. I don't have an Fuji B&W currently, though, so that's not really under consideration for the film I'm discussing here.

This has to be the most exotic, nifty variation of "folder" form factor I've ever seen or heard of. For some odd reason, I just got an email notice from eBay "suggesting" I look at it: normally I delete these notices unopened but today I took the bait. Unfortunately this Alsaphot Cyclope MkII is rarer than rare with only 200 ever made, so not a realistic choice, but it could have been a contender if it had caught on.

 

The idea behind it was rather brilliant: a rugged 6x9 travel camera without the unwieldy fragile folding bellows. Instead, the Cyclope is completely solid, employing two internal mirrors to fold the light path and eliminate the bellows. It was marketed as "always ready" because you didn't need to fold it open. Front cell scale focusing (an accessory rangefinder was apparently offered). I imagine it failed because it was hideous, the mirrors were problematic, and no one was buying expensive French cameras in 1952 over German alternatives.

 

Cyclope - Camera-wiki.org - The free camera encyclopedia

 

RARE Alsaphot Cyclope 3.5 with Boyer Paris Saphir 3.5/105mm and case | eBay

 

For those interested in keeping their exposed 120 film "safe", do a Google search for "case storage box for 120 film". You should have a number of options. I purchased 5 of this type years ago and one lives in each 120 folder kit. Film with the sealed foil wrapper will fit into each tube, so it is also an organizer.

Several of the Agfa or Rollei 120 films are sold with single tubes. A number of these are scattered about my cases.

^^ I've seen these sold by JCH (Japan Camera Hunter ) , correct me if my memory is off . Peter

While appreciating some of the better 6x6 folders, I still have quite a fondness for the simpler Zeiss folding cameras. Perhaps because that is what my photographer father gave me when I went off to college in 1957. It was a Zeiss Ikonta 523/16 with an f/3.5 Tessar and of the better Prontor shutters. No range finder so I had to master zone focusing as well as sunny 16. It did have double exposure prevention, but you still had to cock the shutter after you advanced the film, and check the little red window to get the frame properly centered. It did get me through college and is currently with my son. And still taking fine pictures. And I have in my collection 3 518/16 Nettars similar to the one I started out with 62 years ago. And after this time I still now and then go back to the folders that provided me with my first real education in photography - the Nettar and a little cardboard Kodak exposure dial, and teaching myself to estimate how far away things were. I have expanded my folder range to include a couple of Voigtlander Perkeo cameras which I find to be every bit as nice as the Ikonta and Nettar. You have to look around a bit to find one with a light-tight bellows and a clear lens. The older shutters often seem to be slow on the slow speeds, but when hand-holding I find that I rarely use speeds slower than 1/50. And cheat a bit in determining exposure by using one of the exposure meter apps on my phone. Using one of the good folders from the 50's gives me a chance to slow down and think about what I am doing. And now my grand daughter has become interested in using MF folders. She started with a Yashica D, but seems to have now realized the value of a camera that you can slip into your pocket. There is everything to recommend these cameras for getting back to fundamentals and doing some very enjoyable photography. Cheers

Took a close look at the one I bought, and it does indeed have a PC connector next to the lens. I guess I had(wrongly) assumed that one needed a Synchro-Compur to get any kind of flash synchronization. I have had Rolleiflex Automats with Compur-Rapids that lacked flash sync, so I guess I was basing it on that. Since there doesn't look to be an M-X selector, I guess the question would be how it is set up.

 

Thanks for cluing me in on that!

 

No problem. I was like you -- I figured all Compur Rapids had the early connector until I noticed one with the PC connector (I have seen a lot of Super Ikontas with Compur Rapids and the early connector). I don't have one so I'm just guessing here, but my guess is that, if it has the PC connector and no switch, it's most likely X-sync. I reckon the only way to know for sure, though, is to take some test shots.

Do you have a Lowepro name/PN for it? I'm always glad to add new Lowe-Pro doo-dads to my kit, especially when they're functional, but can't seem to find one on Ebay at the moment.

No. Sorry Ben.

I ransacked the thing for a model number or name label. Apart from the Lowepro label it remains anonymous. However, in the search I discovered that it has a waterproof rain cover tucked away in a hidden base flap. All these years and I never knew it was there!

No. Sorry Ben.

I ransacked the thing for a model number or name label. Apart from the Lowepro label it remains anonymous. However, in the search I discovered that it has a waterproof rain cover tucked away in a hidden base flap. All these years and I never knew it was there!

 

Thanks for checking!

 

I'll ask my local camera shop since that sounds like the sort of thing that he might have tucked in a back corner or at the bottom of the box.

(snip)

 

Some thick guage wire SS reels can also tend to give patches of underdeveloped and underfixed streaks on the edge of rollfilm. It's harmless, and never encroaches on the image area.

 

Yes, I believe I have seen unfixed or underfixed edges on film, where it touched the reel.

 

I was recently wondering about this in the case of 110 film (in a plastic reel) where the reel gets much closer to the image than others.

 

For 120 film, my Brownie 2-F image goes close enough to the edge to cover the numbers and film type.

I was recently wondering about this in the case of 110 film (in a plastic reel) where the reel gets much closer to the image than others.

Why would anyone worry about what happened to toy 110 film? Especially on a medium format forum. I don't think any of my plastic spirals will click down to that size anyway.

 

110 was never intended for home processing. Hence its packaging in a single use cartridge that has to be broken apart, and the fact that it was mainly marketed in C-41 process emulsions.

The first tank I ever had, a Yankee II, goes down to 16mm.

That was years before 110 film, but I suspect in the Minox days.

 

I now have a different Yankee II,

 

Sorry about being in the medium format forum, but I also have 120 film where the image goes

very close to the edge of them film.

110 was never intended for home processing. Hence its packaging in a single use cartridge that has to be broken apart

 

It can be home processed though, and without breaking the cartridge. It's only a matter of winding the film further on by turning the cartridge gear wheel until you can see the end of the backing paper, pull it out slightly, then pull the rest out in the darkness of the change bag. The film comes out with the backing paper, then the film can be wound onto the plastic spiral. I use a Nebro tank for odd size films up to the max of 70mm, very useful tank. Extra grooves can be filed in the spiral's spindle for some films that the tank wasn't made to accept. ASP is one film I filed a groove for. The groove for 110 (16mm) was already there.

 

I don't think I've ever had a problem with film not fixing on their edges. I find it hard to understand why it could happen. If the film is not jammed hard against the spiral's retaining edges, and there's the right quantity of liquid with adequate agitation, and fixed for the right time, how could the whole film not get fixed ?

If the film is not jammed hard against the spiral's retaining edges, and there's the right quantity of liquid with adequate agitation, and fixed for the right time, how could the whole film not get fixed ?

By sticking to the spiral.

It's really not an issue unless you insist on printing/scanning the edges of your film for whatever reason.

 

Having said that; I don't imagine that the partial shading of a plastic spiral groove over a fair proportion of 16mm wide film is a good thing. But then if you're not a secret agent, why the heck would you ever want to use film too tiny to ever give a quality result?

Try KEH Camera on-line. They have a ZEISS SUPER IKONTA B (532/16) which they grade as excellent for $139. KEH is reliable and I've found their grading to be conservative.

I have a bit of an itch that comes and goes for some type of folder as a smaller/more portable MF camera. I know these are all over the place in quality, but am mostly looking for the following:

 

1. Coupled rangefinder

 

2. Good quality coated lens-by "good quality" I basically mean a Tessar or equivalent, or better(preferably no 3 elements). I'm not super caught up on speed, especially since I've shot with a lot of Tessar and Tessar-type lenses and know that they really need to be at f/8 or so.

 

3. Automated film counting

 

4. 120 film(I don't want to deal with hacking a 620 camera to work, although if it's something simple like using a 620 spool on take-up, I can deal with it)

 

5. 6x6 is my preference, although I see some in 6x9 and I see some merit to that size(I've never shot it, but the film area advantage is appealing).

 

I've mostly looked at the Super Ikonta line, and it looks like the either the III or IV would suit me. The 532/16 would seem perfect aside from the fact that I don't like only getting 11 frames on a roll.

 

Aside from those models, are there any others I should consider? Are there any particular merits or disadvantages to the ones I've mentioned?

Have you looked at Camera Archive – Certo6 ?