Certo Dolly Super-Sport

[ralf_j.]

Hello -

 

I acquired a Certo Dolly Super-Sport and it seems to be in superb condition

some 70 years later. Mine is I guess the "lower" end as the pictures indicate

below it comes with no rangefinder and the formidable 3 element trioplan lens.

My question is this: This unit came complete with the 6X4.5 mask, however when

I pulled off the mask the film rollers seem to be attached to it; if I wanted

to use this unit for 6X6 with no rollers, is the film going to be scratched?

Or was there a special insert for 6X6 which I am missing?

 

I know that Mr. Mike Connealy has a pretty neat page on this unit, but there

is no mention of the mask situation anywhere. Your help is appreciated. Here

are a couple of pics of it:<div></div>

[ralf_j.]

...and a close up of shutter/lens combination:<div></div>

[rich815]

I won one of these on eBay not too long ago. Almost identical to yours but with a Tessar lens. And yes, the entire insert comes with rollers and all and you'll need to find a 6x6 to do 6x6 images. You have the 6x4.5 only and I have the 6x6 only. Between us we have the set I guess!<div></div>

[Dustin McAmera]

I've bought four of these, all through Ebay, of which two were unusable. The other two are nice, with minimal work on my part. I have one with the Trioplan and front-element focusing, but with a removable panel in the back to fit plateholders as well as roll film. The other has the Tessar with a rangefinder and helical focusing, and is only for roll film. From my four purchases I got three masks, one of each size in good condition, and one with rather pitted rollers.<br><br>

 

I used the body of one of the cameras in bad condition to make a cutter to make 127 film out of 120. I took the mask out for that, and I can confirm that it makes great, scratched 127 film. I am getting round to reworking it <i>with</i> rollers, but that will mean using my grotty set, which might scratch the film anyway.<br><br>

 

Some models came with the lens removable. You could fit a 21 cm Plaubel Tele-Makinar, on a short extension tube, on the front instead. Of course, since the shutter goes with the lens, you couldn't change the lens with a roll of film in the camera, so I suppose this was to be used mostly with plates. You couldn't fold the camera either, with the long lens on.<br><br>

 

I put scans of the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/54337958@N00/sets/72157594408212146/">manual for the camera</a> on Flickr. There's another set there with pictures of my film cutter, but that project still needs some work.

[kim_bradford]

I have one of these with a Carl Zeiss lens. Is it worth anything?

[rich815]

>>>>I have one of these with a Carl Zeiss lens. Is it worth anything?

 

Sure. You can see some on eBay. Someone has one listed for $250 but it won't sell (as he tried at $285). But generally it depends on condition. If it has issues likely not much more than $20-30 USD. If it's working but not checked or CLA'd recently, maybe $60 or so. If it's been CLA'd and proof can be provided perhaps $100 or so, maybe more if pristine. I got mine for $75 USD.