Goerz Anshutz Camera

[nickc1]

Picked this up with two other oldies on eBay - I think it is an

Anshutz camera made between 1905 and 1925. the lens is a Dogmar 150mm

f3.5, however the camera is tatty, and has been butchered, or should

that be adapted? with a new viewfinder and apparently it has had

flash synchro added(!)- but I would like some info if anyone can help

on the shutter.

 

From the top I think the controls are slit width, winder, BIT switch,

release, unknown and then the spring tension - shown in the window,

followed by the small switch which is again an unknown, except that

it is released when the BIT switch moves.

 

The table of shutter speeds does not relate exactly to the camera, so

I think that it was possibly added as well.

 

Many thanks for any help offered.

 

Nick<div></div>

[nickc1]

Shutter controls

[josphy]

I'm sorry I don't konw anthing about this camera, but I love the name of the lens...Dogmar.

[jani_heikkinen]

Well, that is a camera that can be called a presscamera. I noticed it when it was on ebay. Very often when another camera was broken some parts were taken away and put onto another camera. Also very often they were modified when new, either by the owner or special shops that did the modifications. For example, I guess that the rearfinder and the front framefinder are taken from a Nettel Deckrullo camera. Also the struts are painted black, lens is a faster one then usually in these goerzes. Also the lensboard is not original.

What is the conditon of the shutter curtains? Do the curtains have a red text written on them? Are the curtains very wrinkled and are the straps intact?

 

Here is my webpage, there are two of my goerz anschuetz cameras from

my collections on the pages: http://members.lycos.co.uk/presscam/

 

And here is the webpages of my friend Jo Lommen, he also has one goerz on his pages: http://members.lycos.co.uk/jolommencam/

[jani_heikkinen]

I forgot to mention that very rarely the shutter in these cameras is functioning properly. As your camera seems to have some oxidation on metal parts, it is very likely that there is also some oxidation on the rollers that the curtains are attached to. Because of the rust the glue that holds the curtains may have given up a long time ago. But if the mechanism works ok and the curtains are ok, then congratulations :) you have been lucky, as these old presscameras were usually used until they broke completely or the time had gone past the camera. Very often these cameras were used for many tens of years and updated for example for use with a flashgun.

[nickc1]

Thanks for the information Jani:

 

The shutter curtains are reasonable taut, no wrinkles, and a small, well done repair. There is no red writing on them, but looing at your web links this was not always there. the shutter appears to be sticky but working - if T is selected on blind opens and stays open, the second does not open until it is wound down but rewinding the shutter. On a high spring tension and a narrow gap both blinds move together, but with no gap, and when a larger gap is selected both blind move with a gap in between, but they stop towards the end of the travel. From the above it appears to me that everything works as it should, but it needs a good CLA to get it to work right.

 

Thanks again

 

Nick

[john_marriage]

FYI, we just published an article on these shutters in Photographica World, issue 115 of January this year.

[jani_heikkinen]

Where can this publication be bought?