chinese tlr

a neighbour of mine has a car boot sale this w/end and among other

stuff he's getting rid of 2 cameras,an old Kodak Retinette 1B(rather

beaten and scruffy)the other one a beautiful Seagull TLR chinese copy

of rolleiflex,i guess...

 

of course it does have the regular dusty lens and viewer,and the

shutter is somehow gooey(from all these inactive years)but all in all

it kinda suits my needs for a better tlr than the one i have now(a

lubitel 166B)...

 

my question is as follows:the owner asks only 3 gbp for it,and he

throws in 3 rolls of 120 BW films(expired 1971) and the case,which is

in ok shape,not needing restitching or rebuttoning...does is worth to

go and pay a visit to my neighbour or sit tight and let him sell it

at the car boot sale?i wouldve thought what the heck...only 3 quid...

 

i forgot to mention that the lens is inscribed HAIOU...

 

any comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

regards

My friend Al paid $40 + $32 shipping for a Seagull 4B. For the image quality from it, search my posts in this forum start with "Seagull/Haiou:...".

I'd say for 3 quid, go for it. If the film advance mechanism is working well and you can get the shutter unstuck, it's not a bad camera. Don't expect Rollie, Mamiya, or any other top end TLR quality from it, but you might be surprised at how well you can do with it. The film advance mechanism on mine, unfortunately, has never worked well and the camera sits on the shelf as a curiosity. The film, of course, is more than likely useless unless you can use it to test the film advance.

Go for it. Just drink one less beer tonight ;-)

 

Paul

If you think that you can afford it, go for it. You're only risking 3 pounds.

The images from the Seagull are more than acceptable, as long as you use the mid-range apertures and don't shoot straight into light sources. The sloppy, loose feel of controls (except those that are too tight) made me kind of nervous. I wouldn't expect anything out of the 1971 film but you can use it to practice loading. At 3 pounds, what's there to lose?

I have a Seagull and it was a useful introduction to the world of medium format and TLR. The pluses and minuses of the Seagull are, as I see it:

 

A. It's cheap...big plus!

 

B. Because it is cheap you don't need to be scared about repairing it yourself. One of the rollers over which the film passes was slightly bent when my camera was new and as a result it was scratching the film. Some judicious bending of the roller and some clean up work with fine steel wool solved that problem. More recently the screws that hold the little lever that adjusts the aperature came loose and the camera repair place said they couldn't fix it. I was able to fix it by drilling through the front to gain access to the area and then fabricating a new lever that I could attach from the front.

 

C. If you need consistent reliable results get another camera. I've taken some nice pictures with my Seagull, but you should not expect the sharpness of a more expensive camera and you should not expect that you will get consistent results at different aperatures and shutter speeds.

 

All in all, if the camera appears to be working I would certainly consider it worth 3 quid if it is something that interests you.

 

Below is a picture I took with my Seagull. I've blown it up to 8x8 and it looks quite good at that size...<div></div>

The title of that image should have been "Rocks, Ice & Snow; Deer Isle, Maine" -- I hit the enter key by mistake as I was entering the title...

Deer Isle, ME? Geez I remember camping there in 1976!

Iulian, I agree with all of the above. go for it. I have mine since early '80 and is still kicking. Even if it has some problems camera is pretty basic to open, clean and fix. I'm in the office now and cannot re-size enclosed image, but I took this in 1986 in Bucharest with my Seagull TLR. Let us see some shots after you get it. Cheers

For 3 quid, how can you go wrong? I paid 60 quid for mine! (all right, I sold it for 75 but it's the *principle* of the thing).

 

They're not bad performers either.....<div></div>

If it does, or you can get it to work the Seagull is probably a good deal. The Retinette 1b should have a Schneider Kreuznach Reomar45mm lens. That's actually a pretty good lens. Value of the Kodak? I've no idea, I've $5.00 into mine and it looks like brand new

Unless the 3 quid is grocery money, and means the kids go to bed without dinner, I'd get it now.

They are decent performers, and easy to work on.

ENJOY!!

goin,goin,gone...the seagull is resting now on my shelves :-)

 

now i have to see how i can get this thing to work ...

 

thank you guys for your extremelly helpful input and advices

 

very nice pics btw...congrats

 

will post some results

 

regards

Glad you got it, Iulian. Get the Retinette too. The 1B has a smacking good lens.

Congratulations!! And welcome to the world of Chinese TLR. I own both Seagull TLR (4A-104) and a folder (203-1), both are wonderful MF cameras. They can't compare to my Rolleiflexes but not far behind! Enjoy!!!