danny_zahner

Of course, it always helps to know what the numbers on the shutter and aperture dials mean.

Hello,

Just curious, but are you sure that you Welta Perle has a 1.8 Tessar? I'm just wondering, since the Perle was actually Welta's lower end camera. In fact, I have a "Wards Camera Catalog" from 1938, and I don't even see a Tessar lens being available for it that time. I'm not trying to say that a Tessar was never available for the Perle (the best lens listed for the Perle was a f2.9 Cassar w/ Compur shutter), but it just seems odd that a Perle would have come from the factory with a Tessar, when even the highest end Welta Weltur and Weltax had only a f2.8 Tessar as the best lens available. Possibly you have the f2.8 Tessar on your Perle, I just wonder if that is the lens it was originally equipped with. Who knows, maybe Welta did offer the 2.8 Tessar on the Perle. Also, the ad in the "Wards Camera Catalog" has the camera listed as 1 5/8X 2 1/4 (which I believe is 6X4.5 format). Any other thoughs on the topic?

Hey Dan Fromm,

I noticed my mistake not long after my previous post. For instance, the Tessar in my Old Standard Rolleiflex is unit focusing, and the B&L Tessar for my Auto Graflex is also unit focusing. So you are absolutely correct, and I am absolutely wrong. However, I wasn't able to delete or correct my previous post. Thank you for correcting my statement though, so as not to spread false information.

"Anyhow, it is amazing - I think no other invention except for motorcars and telephones plays such a major role in movies as cameras."

 

Of course, lets not overlook the fact that it takes cameras to actually make a movie! So yes, I guess you could say that cameras take a "minor" role in movies. If you guys really want to watch a movie full of vintage camera gear, try sitting through "The Aviator". Lots of great old press cameras. "Walk The Line" also had lots of vintage cameras in it. Or you could watch the biography of Jackson Pollock (I think the movie was called "Pollock") which had a long scene with a Rolleiflex, if I recall correctly. Heck, just watch any movie about an era from the 60's, 50's, 40's, etc.

 

"I did not even think of guns - I think firearms are the most stupid invention ever made. OK but don't let us go to much off-topic."

 

Thank you for stating so vividly your disgust for firearms. I'm sure the tranquility of Earth is now more solidly founded due to the blatant expression of your personal opinion.

For the record, the Canonet GIII QL-17 and Pentax K1000 are NOT battery dependent. The battery is used ONLY for the meters in these cameras. Yes, the cameras should work OK in cold weather, depending on their mechanical upkeep. Take whichever cameras have worked most reliably and are in the best operating condition. Cold weather tends to bring out the worst mechanical defects in any camera. For instance, a shutter that runs a bit slow on a warm day might stick or hesitate in cold weather.

Seriously, to find any fun vintage camera, just go find what you can. Any old 35mm camera, or 120 rollfilm camera, would provide decent "vintage" results. Of course, what a decent "vintage" result is can be widely debated. Just find an old camera, a Kodak 35, Kodak Pony, Agfa Clack, Kodak No.2 box camera, Canon Canonet, Konica Auto S or S2, Welta Welti, Argus C3, Argus C4, etc. etc. etc. Anything that still works would work good for what you are wanting. If you are simply wanting photos that show evident blurring, distortion, aberration, etc., stick with the cheaper cameras.

 

Also, I don't see how the Kodak Ektar lens mounted on the Kodak Signet 35 can be a Tessar clone when the Tessar is a front element focusing lens, while the Ektar is a unit focusing lens. Just something to think about when stating that the Ektar is a copy of the Tessar.

Well, you could always mark some improvised framelines, perhaps with a high quality, permanent ink pen (such as a Sharpie brand pen). Or, you could remove the Albada and install the folding frame finder (in the same style as used on the 521/16 or Kodak Monitor). If you want a brightline finder, you could fashion a mount for the camera to mount a standard brightline finder such as the 50mm Leica finder. The latter suggestion is what Gandy recommends for the 6X9 Super Ikonta at cameraquest.com. Unfortunately, all of these involve some sort of alteration to the camera, and may not be what you want if you prefer originality and preserving the value of the camera.

I suggest the following cameras:

 

1. Argus C3: Great durability, simple to repair yourself, interchangeable lenses with up to a 135mm focal length, and lots of vintage accessories. Definitely "vintage".

 

2. Argus C4 Geiss Modified: Great durability, fairly simple to repair, interchangeable Enna Werk lenses (inluding a fast standard lens), lots of vintage accessories. I saw a full kit go on the 'Bay auction site for a little over $50 with 3 lenses, a body, flash, filters, etc.

 

3. Kodak 35: Simple to repair, incredibly cheap, amazingly good performance with the Anastar lens (especially for the price). My $8 Kodak 35 w/ Anastar lens takes beautiful pictures after I gave it a full CLA. Truly a masterpiece of Kodak ingenuity and performance on a budget. However, the camera is fairly ugly. I say skip all the other cameras and get one of these before trying out other "vintage" cameras.

I'll try it again:

Here is a diagram of how it all fits together:

Jack, it seems that back in the day, Tiffen made a bewildering amount of filters and adapters for a an equally bewildering amount of cameras. I have Tiffen adapters for many different cameras, and the company made them for everthing from a Bolex H16 Reflex and its lenses, down to Argus C3's. Here is how it works:

 

1. You find the appropriate adapter ring and filter retaining ring for your camera. In this case you'd need a "Tiffen Series #5 Adapter Ring Contessa F:2.8".

 

2. Screw the adapter ring into the filter threads on your Contessa's Tessar lens.

 

3. Place a Series 5 filter in the adapter ring. A system of "Series" filters were used to standardize filter sizes, such as Series 5, Series 6, and Series 7. The larger the series number, the larger the filter. In this case you'll need the small Series 5, which can be found quite readily, though I don't know about availability of currently produced filters in this size. Older used Series 5 filters are fairly common.

 

3. Find a #5 retaining ring or lens shade for your Series #5 adapter ring. The retaining ring simply screws into the adapter ring, and holds the filter in place. The lens shade does the same thing as the retaining ring (and can be used in place of it), but obviously works as a lens shade as well. I don't know if accessories for the Series 5 adapter rings is the same between all manufacturers, but Tiffen Series 5 accessories should work with any Tiffen Series 5 adapter ring.

 

2. Now, you can use almost ANY Series #5 filter with this adapter ring/retaining ring on your Contessa.

Unless you have a source for stashes of Zeiss Ikon accessories, you might be better off finding an adapter like the Tiffen one I have. The Tiffen adapter allows you to use all of the Series 5 filters ever made, and lets you use any other Tiffen Series 5 accessory you can think of. However, I don't know how hard it is to find these adapters.

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If I can ever find the cable for my digital camera, I'll post some pics of my setup...

I doubt you could find a currently produced shades/filters for this camera. I do have a set of Tiffen accessories (lens shade, filter adapter, filters, and filter-safe) that I bought with an Ikonta 35 a while back. The Ikonta was dead on arrival, but the filters and adapters work great! I guess what I'm trying to say is that you might have to look for some vintage adapters and filters, either made by Zeiss or by an aftermarket supplier like Tiffen, to mount on your Contessa.

Hello. The first thing to answer is whether or not your camera has a flash connection. Look at the back of the camera, to the right of the viewfinder/rangefinder windows. Is there a terminal where you could plug a flash cord into? If so, you most likely have a IIIC that was converted into a later IIIF, most likely at the Leica factory. Updating older cameras to the specifications of a later model (in this case, modifiying a IIIC with IIIF features) was a common practice by Leica. These modifications don't usually add any highly substantial value to the camera (and in some instances, lowers the value), but they do add collector interest and make the camera better for taking pictures. Make sure you check this situation out before concluding that you have a very rare and valuable camera. In my opinion, you have a re-configured IIIc modified at the Leica factory, making your camera fairly common and a great user, and if re-configured an unusual way, can be more valuable than the run of the mill IIIC. Please check out this website:

 

http://www.cameraquest.com/Leica3fBDST.htm

Hey, you should contact Greg Weber of Weber Camera. He specializes in Konica camera repair. Everything you need to know is at this website:

 

www.webercamera.com

 

I currently have my Auto S2 there for repair, and Greg seems to be a great guy. I'd say that the typical price for a general repair is around $75, but it really depends on what is wrong and what is needed to fix it. One thing about the Auto S2: they are heavy!

About the Zeiss Ikon Box Tengor... did they actually use Zeiss lenses, or did they use Goerz lenses? If I remember correctly, the lenses on all of my 4 Box Tengors (including a Baby-Box) are the "Goerz Frontar f9". Just curious as to whether or not they were actually made by Zeiss.

To use the self timer, you MUST have the shutter cocked. After that, simply push the small lever up to the V setting. Now, just release the shutter, and a mechanical delay of about 10 seconds will occur before the shutter fires. If the self timer is working correctly, you will hear a "whir" sound. Often, the gear train which makes up the self timer function will need cleaned/lubed, and won't work well if the camera has sat a while. Why can't you use the "B" on the shutter speed ring? I don't know exactly what you mean by this. "B" is a function of the shutter, which simply opens the shutter for as long as the shutter release is held down. If "B" is the selected shutter speed, and the self timer "V" is used, then the shutter will only stay open a fraction of a second when the self timer fires the shutter. As a result, "B" won't work properly since it will basically make an instantaneous exposure.

Yeah, the long aspect ratio of 116 film allowed it to work well in aviation photography. One book about this subject that I was reading said the author used a 116 film Zeiss Ikon Ikomat for all of his airplane pictures! Now, back to your pictures... they are awesome. I have looked at every found film you have posted, and can only ask that you keep posting them. Myself, I have dozens of rolls of old exposed film that I have found, and can't wait to learn how to develop them.

First of all, here are a few points to make:

 

1. Heavy use of any classic camera greatly destroys the value of that item. If it shows brassing, dings, outright dents, scratching, or any other damage, the decrease in value will reflect this. The reason for this is based on demand for cosmetic excellence and rarity: a perfect camera from 50-75 years ago is incredibly rare compared to a slightly used camera from the same era.

 

2. Furthermore, I have found through my personal experience that few collectors of photographic equipment value the actual history of the camera. For instance, I have a large lot of cameras that came from the estate of John Lyman, a professional photographer for the Kansas City Chiefs NFL football team from the early 1960's to the 1990's. He was even the president of a professional Kansas City photographer's association. Yet, when speaking about the history of these cameras to prospective buyers, I have had many actually state that they "didn't care" about these facts. Basically, collectors value cameras in original condition, that are in as good of condition as possible. Since many of Mr. Lyman's cameras were used in sports photography (and showing heavy signs of use), their value was highly degraded, and benefitted little if at all from Mr.Lymans background. The history associated with the IIIc-K cameras is very interesting, as it was reported that they were made for the German armed forces in WWII. Apparently, the shutters were slightly redesigned with ball bearings added to the mechanism, helping them to operate better in cold weather.

 

3. Since collectors prefer cameras in original condition, "restored" cameras usually don't sell for the same amount as an original, "mint" condition camera with a recent mechanical CLA would. This would be a double negative for your friend: paying more for a restoration, yet recieving less money in the end (at least less than what an original mint camera would bring).

 

4. However, rare cameras don't seem to be affected by these standards to as great of a degree. The extremely high demand for rare Leicas, including the uncommon K-type IIIc Barnacks, boosts up the value. For instance, in Mr. Lymans gear were many very early Nikon cameras and accessories, which sold for considerably more than their more common counterparts in similar condition.

 

5. All in all, original condition and rarity is the name of the game as far as camera collecting is concerned. The goal is to attract as many interested people to your merchandise as possible. A freshly restored camera will turn away those who prefer cameras in "as found" condition. Yet, if you leave the camera as is, the "as found" types will be interested, and the "restore it" types will still be interested in buying the camera for restoration. Also, with a camera that is thought of as being made for the German army in WWII will attract militaria and WWII collectors.

I actually carry my IIIa with me all the time. In fact, it has been with me every day ever since I got it! True, the Barnack Leicas have their drawbacks and limitations, but they can still produce great results when the camera's aspects are fully understood. Personally, I'm not a great photographer, but with time, and a camera, I can become better. It just happens to be that I chose the IIIa as my carry-around camera.

Try looking at this thread on the Classic Cameras board...

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00E2ul

 

I have been using this Summitar lens for the past few months, and have found that it works well when applied correctly to its task. In fact, if one uses it enough, they can use its disadvantages to great effect. For instance, the vast differences in contrast and sharpness as the aperture gets larger can be applied to portrait photography indoors, and the sharp, contrasty nature of the lens at f12.5 can be applied to outdoors photography. The Summitar is a great lens, it just has limitations that one needs to be aware of.

That is definitely an Agfa Standard, and looks to be for larger-than-120 rollfilm format. Likely for 122 rollfilm, maybe 116 film. There was also a plate/sheet film version of the Standard, similar to the Kodak Recomar cameras.