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Need help to identify a camera
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PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2017 7:14 am    Post subject: Need help to identify a camera Reply with quote

Hello everyone,

I'd like to buy this camera but I am unfamiliar with large format cameras. I'm having a hard time trying to identify it even if I tried searching by the lens name. I'd appreciate it if anyone could share some info about this camera and if it's worth paying ~40$ for it.

Thanks!




PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2017 8:26 am    Post subject: Re: Need help to identify a camera Reply with quote

cristin wrote:
Hello everyone,

I'd like to buy this camera but I am unfamiliar with large format cameras. I'm having a hard time trying to identify it even if I tried searching by the lens name. I'd appreciate it if anyone could share some info about this camera and if it's worth paying ~40$ for it.

Thanks!




Welcome here! Now your images will show...

A better image of the lens front would certainly help, all I can read is FIDOR ANASTIGMAT LUMIERE 6.3 or 6.8 (meaning f6.3/6.Cool, so it seems to be of French origin.

LUMIERE was an early camera maker from Paris, France





Here is a link to show you images of LUMIERE cameras, maybe you find yours...I haven't

https://www.google.de/search?q=anastigmat+lumiere&client=firefox-b-ab&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjEv_-F6dXTAhWDWxQKHQLxA6EQ_AUICygC&biw=1600&bih=820#q=anastigmat+lumiere+FIDOR+6.3&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:CWl9YrM40pKSIjjbO-J0kV5gWJzjAVY-r91mHeiPIPDnhSaPtRp3H_1EodTP1_1I3aeDUYJFkZzRw8_1ncPD5eda1h2NCoSCds74nSRXmBYEXMX9u8a4653KhIJnOMBVj6v3WYR8YO_1yDQXe6wqEgkd6I8g8OeFJhFWMOJf1n7eFSoSCY-1Gncf8Sh1EUXtWAWBUhSCKhIJM_1X8jdp4NRgRMavPFIIkNzoqEgkkWRnNHDz-dxExvJP9hjNPtyoSCQ8Pl51rWHY0EU1IW8_1LgiAP&imgrc=_


PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2017 8:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you for the quick reply.

The owner suggests that it might be a 1900 Bellieni camera but I haven't found any example that has a Lumiere lens attached.

This is the closest example I could find.

https://auktion.catawiki.de/kavels/10543301-bellieni-grand-prix-paris-1900-extra-plat-camera-9x12-berthiot


PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2017 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I appreciate the appeal of a low purchase price, also of obscurity and, perhaps, rarity, but if you actually want to shoot 4x5 or 9x12 you'd be better off with a more capable newer camera.


PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2017 5:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

danfromm wrote:
I appreciate the appeal of a low purchase price, also of obscurity and, perhaps, rarity, but if you actually want to shoot 4x5 or 9x12 you'd be better off with a more capable newer camera.


Actually, I'm more interested in the lens as I would try to adapt it to my DSLR. However, before doing that I'd like to make sure that I won't ruin an antique camera. This is why I'm trying to asses its real value, rarity, etc.


PostPosted: Thu May 04, 2017 10:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Laudable thought, but if you can get it for $40 then no one values it very highly.

Laudable thought, but if you're careful when you extract the lens you should be able to remount it after you've tried it on your DSLR. And then, if you don't want to keep the lens you can try to sell the camera in "as good as old" condition.


PostPosted: Fri May 05, 2017 11:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

danfromm wrote:
Laudable thought, but if you can get it for $40 then no one values it very highly.



There are other ways to value things, you'd agree. And of course when you look at the monetary values placed on old photographic equipment, it is often based on it as a commodity, and value is skewed by supply and demand. Dealers understand this very well. Does black paint really make a camera better? There are some truly awful cameras and lenses that command high prices, and many good ones that command lower. A discerning enthusiast will not always use price to gauge value. Or I hope they don't.

Hopefully they are flogging their mediocre to poor zeiss's like crazy and buying the cheap good stuff. You never know. It's certainly the sense I get from this forum that they are.


PostPosted: Sat May 06, 2017 7:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

For me it looks, as if this lens came from one of the cheap folders from Lumiere, like sportex or Lumirex from 1930-40. Camera itself looks more antique to me.


PostPosted: Sat May 06, 2017 4:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

exaklaus wrote:
For me it looks, as if this lens came from one of the cheap folders from Lumiere, like sportex or Lumirex from 1930-40. Camera itself looks more antique to me.


I was leaning towards the same conclusion, seeing that searching about the lens returned only images of folding cameras.