Recommendations for a good box camera

[maiku]

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I am interested in buying a box camera. I prefer a quality one. Is that possible? Can anyone recommend one?</p>

<p>I would prefer one with couple of shutter speeds 1/15, 1/30, 1/60... Are there anyone with outstanding lenses? I also prefer 120 film. Sanding down 120 film reels to fit 620 film holders is tedious. I prefer to buy an inexpensive model. I have to ship it Japan. Box cameras can be found here, but the ones I come across are ratty looking and do not inspire confidence. ;-)</p>

<p>Any recommendations would be greatly appreicated.</p>

<p>Mike</p>

[Julio Fernandez]

<p>Box cameras are not usually adjustable. Especially their shutter speeds.Typical box has about 1/50 and fixed aperture, about f/11. If you want to adjust you'd look for something else.<br>

Good boxes with some degree of adjustment would be Agfa Clack or Zeiss Tengor (of those I know or have used). The Kodak Brownie Hawkeye is also everybody's favorite and it is rumored to allow a 120 roll in the feed spool.</p>

 

[maiku]

<p>Thanks Julio.</p>

[gene m]

<p>Nobody in their right mind sands down 120 spools when it's so easy to respool. Anyway, check my website for many photos done with box cameras.</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>Kodak No. 1 Autographic Special with the f/4.5 Tessar lens is a charmer, but it's a folder. Most have the somewhat cantankerous Wollensak Optimo shutter (air piston timing), some have the better-behaved Ilex Universal (gear train timing). Old enough to use 120 film, and expensive enough (when new) to have real leather bellows that are probably still fine.<br>

As all have noted, box cameras are generally low on adjustments of all types, and most have the cheapest meniscus lenses.</p>

 

[frank.schifano]

<p>Is there such a thing? My definition of a box camera is a box with a lens and a shutter on one end, and a rudimentary film transport mechanism on the other. A good one may allow time exposures. A really good one may have an adjustable iris. If it has a two element lens (never seen one yet) it's a deluxe model.</p>

[rogerwb]

<p>I'll second the Brownie Hawkeye Flash. Check out the flickr group by that name for what the BHF can do. </p>

[richard_]

<p>One box camera you might check out Michael is the Kodak Brownie "Cresta". While i wouldn't say its a top-notch quality camera with an "outstanding" lens, it does use 120 film, producing 6x6 size negs. If i remember correctly, they made 3 models, the original Cresta and Cresta ll were essentially the same (except for the flash contacts). Both, Btw had a built-in slider for either a yellow-filter or close-up (4ft). Fixed focused, single shutter speed, 1/40 and about F/11. The last model, Cresta 3 (circa 1960), similar shutter speed, but had 2 apertures, f11 and f16. Good luck...</p>

[sasvata__shash__chatterjee]

<p>Coincidentally happened to <a href="http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost-classifieds/showproduct.php/product/20957/cat/4/limit/recent/date/1252356080">see this</a> earlier this evening. I haven't used anything like it personally, but a search on photo.net, and this forum in particular, seems to indicate it is a good one.</p>

[alex macphee]

<p>A good box camera with a range of shutter speeds and outstanding lenses is the Hasselblad 503CW. For something simpler, the Zeiss Box Tengor is good, with a fixed shutter speed of 1/{anybody's_guess}, and an infinite range of shutter speeds from about 1s to a fortnight.</p>

<p>The Box Tengor is my favourite, with apertures f/11, f/16, f/22 and three focussing zones, but I also like the Kodak No.2 F Portrait Brownie, which has three apertures and a swing out supplementary lens for portraits. The No.2 Brownie also takes 120, not 620, so no respooling required. Various values have been cited for the aperture values on the Brownie, but I measured the aperture holes directly, and with a focal length of 105mm figure they are around f/16, f/22, and f/32.</p>

[Rick_van_Nooij]

<p>If you go for a ZI Box Tengor, get a later model one, the early ones are not quite so flexible.</p>

<p> </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Many traditional box (literally) cameras and even many of the older molded plastic ones have only 1/25th or 1/30 sec plus B.<br /> Gene M must have the steadiest hand in the East (or leans on fence posts a lot) to get the results he does.</p>

[peter_naylor1]

<p>Hi, Mike AFAIK, there were no box cameras with the range of shutter speeds you mention. All you normally got was 'T' and 'I', with the 'I' being something around 1/25th sec. That's why JDM has commented so favourably on the results that Gene M. gets with his box cam shots - keeping a typically unergonomic box cam shutter steady at 1/25 sec is no easy feat, which is why so many family album shots of mum and dad on the beach in the 50s are so damn indistinct. Using a tripod or a convenient solid wall or branch is highly recommended!</p>

<p>Regarding which model of box cam to buy that meets your criteria of being cheap and using 120 film, depends on where you are. I f you're in the UK then the Ensign Fulvue is a good one, because it has about the largest VF you'll find on any box camera, period. Downside is that it takes square 6 cm pics - but then again, so does a Rolleiflex .... I f you want larger 6 X 9 cm format, I'd recommend the AGFA Synchro-Box. Both the Fulvue and Synchro-Box are about as 'modern' as any box cam going, ie 'only' 50-odd years old, so they should be in better nick than a 120 format Kodak Brownie which is getting a bit long in the tooth since they went over to 620 in the mid-30s. The Zeiss Box Tengor is rightly regarded as the 'Rolls Royce' of box cams, but you'll have to pay a lot more for a late model example in nice condition because these are sought after by collectors - like me! (Pete In Perth) </p>

[j.p._dahl_n]

<p>Did anyone mention the Zeiss Ikon "Box Tengor"? ;-) They have the Goerz Frontar lens, which is a two element achromat. The last model have a chrome "frame" around the front, and the lens is coated. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/49/151431785_7f47c33911.jpg I'm not a box camera guy, but if I would want one, this is the one I would look for.</p>

[joe_anderson8]

<p>Hi Mike, Pseudo TLR's are worth considering because they are a box camera disguised as a TLR. A Bolseyflex takes 120 film and has some limited controls. Check out Gene's site for a good review of this camera.</p>