Uncle Goose

Flexaret camera's are very capable camera's, I've been using the IV, the V and the VI and while they may not be as advanced as other Medium Format camera's I really like the lightweight and foolproof handling of these camera's. They are often overlooked and looked down on because they come from a former East Bloc country but Meopta was really a high quality company.

<p>Price guides are useless because it all comes down to location, things that are easy to find in the US for instance are a pain to find here in Europe and vice versa. And even then it all comes down on popularity, you can quote a certain piece at 1000$ but if nobody is interested in it then there you are with your 1000$ pricetag.</p>

<p>The Isola is really simple to repair, you just need to get the front off and you can see all the mechanics inside.</p>

<p>Flexarets are great machines, the Flexaret VI was the first TLR I ever owned and it still works like a charm. They have very good lenses. Flexarets are often seen as a kind of underdog and many think they are crap because many people just bought one that had been sitting in a cupboard for 3 decades and because of that it had been frozen. If you buy a Flexaret you have to buy one that has been recently serviced. Camera's are pretty much like a car, you wouldn't drive a care straight away when it has been sitting in a barn for over 30 years, you first give it a good service and make sure everything works like it should. Many seem to forget this and are frustrated when they get the camera and see it won't work. The Flexaret II's are quite simple in design and indeed lack the automated transport which is a plus sometimes because it can't go wrong there. The lenses however are only a Triplet in most cases (although there exist Flexaret II's with Tessar (Belar) lenses) but that is of course a matter of taste. The Tessar lenses preform even better than this, these machines are nifty and cheap little buggers that never have let me down on a trip.</p>

<p>Loading a Flexaret should be a pretty straightforward thing to do, just put the film in, with the back open wind till the arrows on the backing paper match the "dot", close the back and wind till number 1 appears on the counter. Either your Flexaret is set on 6x4.5 or it's in need for an overhaul which needs to be done by a professional who knows how to work on a Flexaret. I would suggest Cupog (search him on Ebay), he is reliable and fixes old Czech camera's. He is located in Slovakia however and it might be just cheaper to buy a refurbished camera from him rather than send the old one in.</p>

<p>Anybody knows how to remove the nameplate of the KIEV 60? I have an Arax nameplate now but I can get hold of an KNEB-60 nameplate and it would look more funny with the original nameplate.</p>

<p>Yes, and all that at the price of a BMW or Mercedes I guess.</p>

<p>If it was not too expensive I would certainly buy one, especially because it's in P6 mount, it would fit great on my Arax camera.</p>

<p>Thanx a lot Rick, now I need one too. I really like those camera's were you pull out the lens tubus.</p>

<p>Just don't wind through, the Clack and Click don't have double exposure prevention so you can easily trip the shutter again for a double exposure.</p>

<p>If you ever go for a Kiev then go for the Arax route, these guys build them from new parts with much better quality control and give a 2 year warranty in case anything goes wrong. You can look them up on the web (Arax photo). I have my Kiev60 from them for a little over a year now and it's a great machine, never had any issue with it and you can get some nifty lenses for it (like the great CZJ 50mm wideangle).</p>

<p>That doesn't sound right, when you load the film you should see a few dots first and then number 1. You should only do 1 stroke for each frame. I think your Kiev needs service.<br>

I own a Arax 60 (rebuild Kiev 60) for 2 and a half years or so now and I hadn't had a single misfire or problem with it. They are good machines when treated well and have had a decent service. They say some camera's are a dog but the Kiev 60 is a cat, you have to treat is like a cat, gentle and considerate goes a long way with these beasts.</p>

<p>Fungus can be removed with Hydrogen Peroxide, if it's not reachable (like because it's between 2 cemented pieces) it can be killed by blasting it with UV light (sun or lamps) but it will still be visible and may or may not affect the quality of the pictures you take with it. The question is how far the fungus has spread, in the more extreme cases it can have etched the glass leaving irremovable traces. Lenses with fungus are kind of a gamble, with a little luck you can get a good lens but it can blow back and leave you with an unusable lens. Can't comment on disassembly, never done that.</p>

<p>I'm 35, started to use classic camera's at age 25. So not that old.</p>

<p>I'm very displeased with not seeing the Arax camera's in you list of newly produced camera's. While the parts are old stock the camera's themselves are brand new and thus they deserve to be in the list of newly made camera's.</p>

<p>Same topic popped up on the APUG forum and there was a response there from the admin of the site, seems that they have a lot of problems with spam lately and thus require you to register with your full name rather than a screen name. I got the same answer as you but I re-registered some time ago but I'm still waiting to be accepted. Do mind that this seems to be a 1 man operation and it might take a while to be accepted.</p>

<p>Wow, that last photograph could have come right out of any propaganda magazine of that time. Really impressive lens to say the least.</p>

<p>These are great little and cheap camera's. When I first tried mine I didn't expect much of it but the lens is actually pretty good. It might be a simple triplet but I have seen modern digital point and shoot camera do worse than this little critter. It's easy to fix too and you have some control with shutterspeed and f-stop. Overall not to bad, your photo's show it quite clearly.</p>

<p>You have to push the rod out off the hinge to remove the back. This might require some force though.</p>

<p>The Agnar is actually a simple triplet, it's capable of nice results if you can avoid flare.</p>

<p>I had my Isola II close-by so I checked it, if you turn the lens to focus is only moves very little, it doesn't really come out of it's fitting. I know mine I good because I already used it. Open the back and use a groundglass to check if it focuses alright. The Isola II is pretty simple so not much can go wrong with it.</p>

<p>If you like a tightly fit camera with high end finish and a name to brag with then step away. But if you like a decent picture maker with the opportunity to use some of the greatest lenses made and that sounds like triggering a Kalashnikov when you advance to the next frame then Comrade, this is the camera for you. Sure, it isn't a Hasselblad but the Arax 60 is a reliable camera for an extremely low price. What else does one need? The people of Arax are really good and responsive, payment is a bliss and I got the gear pretty fast too.</p>

<p>Grobet won't carry that size, the largest they carry is 4x5 and even that is limited. I'm afraid there isn't any place in Antwerp (or even Belgium as a matter of fact) you can get that size. Online order is your only option at this point.</p>

<p>I got my Arax 60 in November 2011 and I have put a few rolls trough it and to be honest I had no problems so far, the only thing I had was a 13th frame but that was rather me not paying to much attention to the loading procedure. As for the rest I have had good contact with Arax. It's certainly no Hasselblad concerning finish and handling, the ergonomics aren't the best but that reflects Soviet doctrine, "it doesn't have to look pretty Comrade, it has to work". If you want a camera with tight tolerance and no wobbly parts than I'm afraid the Arax/Kiev isn't for you, if you don't care about that than Arax is the way to go, and it's cheap, very cheap. </p>

<p>I've seen price that were all over the place but I would say between 100 and 200$.</p>