SHOW US YOUR CAMERAS!!

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 4088 Location: Switzerland

Two Praktisix 6x6 SLRs - well, one Praktisix actually and one Praktisix II, to be accurate!

#1

Praktisix with Biometar 2.8/80mm normal lens and waist level finder

#2

Praktisix with Sonnar 2.8/180mm portrait lens and waist level finder

#3

Praktisix with Sonnar 2.8/180mm portrait lens and prism finder

#4

Praktisix II with "Zebra" Biometar 2.8/80mm normal lens and the Pentacon TTL metering prism

I got these cameras and lenses years ago from an old German/Swiss entrepreneur who was getting rid of lots and lots of cameras he had acquired and the kept during his days as a well known businessman in the Photo / HiFi realm. Both cameras are in non-working order and would need a thorough overhaul. The lenses have their issues, too - stiff focusing, haze and some fungus. I have disassembled and cleaned the 2.8/180mm Sonnar today (albeit with difficulties); cleaning the Biometars was only partly successful sind the front group (three lenses in two groups) seems to be a sealed block - at öeast I wasn't able to dismantle it ...

It would be fun to re-store at least one of theses two cameras, but sadly the renowned Photoservice Olbricht in Gölitz/Germany told me that it wouldn't be worth the pain since those early Praktisix models were notoriously unreliable and diufficult to repair ...

S

Vintage_Photographer · Joined: 10 Jun 2024 Posts: 79

One of my favourites.

Zeiss Ikoflex 850/16 with lever focusing from circa 1936.

Currently undergoing a CLA and will be tested with film on return!

Vintage_Photographer · Joined: 10 Jun 2024 Posts: 79

Another favourite.
This has sentimental value being the second camera in my long line of cameras.
It was a 16th birthday present from my uncle (sadly passed away).

This one also has sentimental value being my first camera given to me by my father when I started a photography course at school aged 15. It had been his before he upgraded to a Pentax AP of some kind (no idea which but I do remember the zebra striped light meter on top of the pentaprism).

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 4088 Location: Switzerland

Vintage_Photographer · Joined: 10 Jun 2024 Posts: 79

It's a Zeiss Ikon Contina II. Sadly only a viewfinder not a rangefinder.

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 4088 Location: Switzerland

Along with some pretty nice lenses today I got a few cameras from the local photo store as well. It's a beautifully weird mix of ancient and "new" stuff, from 6x6 TLRs to digital mirrorless ILCs from tean years ago.

That's some (some!) of the "waste" that has accumulated in the store over the past 2-3 weeks. As usual I got it fro free ...

So let's start with the oldest - the Zeiss Ikon IKOFLEX. While the Rolleiflexes and -cords of course are more famous, the Ikoflex features often the same Zeiss Tessar 3.5/75mm that can be found in most Rollei TLRs too. The lens SN found on this camera suggests it was built around 1953 in Western Germany*. While the "new" IKOFLEX looks cleaner and less sophisticated than a conteporary Rolleiflex, it is is heavier (1050 g vs 950g) and therefore feels more rugged.

*EDIT: In the mean time I found that this model is an Ikoflex Ib 856/16, produced in 1956 in the former Goerz facilities in Western Berlin

I already had an "Ikoflex" (not "IKOFLEX" as this new one) before; and its lens indicates Eastern German origin, probably around 1947. Both cameas are pretty well preserved, and the shutter seems to be OK. Sadly the Ikoflexes often are overlooked and - even today - simply thrown away.

OK, next one:

The Minolta SR-T 100 shown above looks and feels like new, and so does the attached MC 2/50mm lens. While the latter at least wide open isn't as sharp as the famous MD-III 2/50mm, it operates quite a bit smoother than its younger cousin: Focusing is "butterweich" ("smooth as butter", as the Germans say), and even the aperture ring is made from metal. While the SR-T 100 is simplified version of the SR-T101 (just 1s ... 1/500s, no self-timer and no mirror lock up MLU), it still has both X and FP flash contacts as well as a stop-down button. And, of course, the patented CLC contrast correcting metering system with two CdS cells: One for the foreground, another one fo the sky.

Then there was this eqally nice (and working) Olympus OM-1. While I already had several OM-2 / OM-2N / OM-2 SpotProgram, the fully manual OM-1 was new to me. Nice addition, espcially since it came paired with the OM Zuiko 4/200mm - another lens new to me.

An interesting SLR that came out about one year before the OM-1 (1971 vs 1972), and while the OM-1 was the then smalles SLR, the Pentax ES was the first ever with an automatic shutter (aperture priority AE). Konica had introduced the very first AE SLR in 1965, but that one was shutter priority AE, and its implementation was a rather crude mchanical mechanism. Now Pentax was offering automatic exposure (AE) with virtually any lens, and the shutter time for AE was 8s .... 1/1000s.

Now finally two digital cameras - one an SLR, the other a mrrorless. Both aren't that well known, and the Konica Minolta Dynax 5D sadly was the last ever (Konica) Minolta SLR. It was much cheaper built than the earlier Dynax 7D, and here it features the first "digital" normal zoom from Minolta, the MinAF 18-70mm. This lens was OK on 6 MP APS-C, buzt definitely underperforming on the later 24 MP APS-C cameras from Sony. Once Sony took over it pertty soon was replaced by a much better 18-55mm lens.

Finally a Samsung mirrorless, also APS-C.

Samsing digital mirrorless cameras were seen as pretty good cameras - or even gamechangers, if we look the NX-1 - but pretty soon Samsung decided that mobile phones would be future, and left the camera business. Nevertheless, quite early on they had lenses (such as an 1.4/85mm) that other mirrorless competitors would have only half a dozen years later, if at all. Nuff said, for time being (I heard some - unrelated - stories from the Samsung European Headquarter that made me feel ... well ... pretty uncomfortable, but I'll leave that for another time).

So much fro today ....

S

visualopsins · Expire: 2025-04-11

what a day it was!!!

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 4088 Location: Switzerland

Intrigued by the newly arrived Ikoflex and its perceived quality, I looked for some information about these cameras.
In addition I had another look at the second example in my collection (actually the first one which I got years ago ...
I don't even remember when and where from ...!).

On the left my first example, an Ikoflex I 850/16 which first came out in 1939 and was made - in slightly different versions - until 1951.
As I wrote earler on, its Carl Zeiss Jena 3.5/7.5cm Tessar was made around 1947, so it's definitely a post-WWII camera.

The "new" sample, on the right, is an Ikoflex Ib 856/16 which was manufactured 1956-1958. It has a few refinemets such as flash sync (V, X, and M).
Its Tessar 3.5/75mm - a simple "Carl Zeiss" without "Jena" and therefore a Western Germany lens - seems to have been manufactured around 1953.

Interestingly, there are claims that these later pros-WWII Ikoflexes are "above" the contemporary Rolleicord and nearly as good as the Rolleiflexes.
I don't know whether these claims are meaningful, bt the camera certainly feels nice, heavy, rigged and well machined.

Be aware, however, that not all Ikoflexes are equipped with a 3.5/7.5cm (or 75mm) Tessar. Some of them have Novar, a triplet with a less calm bokeh and less overall performance.

In addition one should know that the f3.5 Tessars - including the 7.5cm / 75mm - were re-calculated several times.

1) Its first version, published in 1907, wasn't an universal lens yet, due to its 30° angle (more of a portrait / ciné lens).
2) Second version, patented 1926, was about 50°, using new glass variants such as SK7, SK10, and LF7
3) Third version, June 1934, using "high refractive" (for its time!) BaF10 glass (nD=1.67, v=47). Used in the early Rolleiflex as well as in the early Ikoflex
4) Fourth version: the CZJ Tessar 3.5/75 was re-calculated in 1947 again
5) In Western Germany, Zeiss Oberkochen re-calculated the f3.5 Tessar in 1950

The Ikoflex on the left probably has No 3) or 4), the Ikoflex on the right probably No 5) ... but I'm not completely sure about that ...!

S

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 4088 Location: Switzerland

The newly arrived manual Olympus OM-1 (left) along with its automatic sister OM-2N (middle), and the later OM-2 Spot/Program (right, with motor drive).

These cameras are small, and even the OM 1.4/50mm (a pretty small 1.4/50mm in itself) looks quite fat on the OM-1! On the OM-2 we have the tiny 3.5/21mm Zuiko, and the OM-2 Spot/Program is equipped with the 3.5/28mm Zuiko.

S

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 4088 Location: Switzerland

Just a few day after I got the beautiful Minolta SR-T100 shown above, another SR-T in an equally nice condition was given to me yesterday, this time the newer and more sophisticated SR-T101b:

Unlike the SR-T100, the SR-T101b has

* 1/1000s (vs 1/500)
* a self-timer
* a hot shoe
* a memory holder for the film used on the back side
* no FP flash sync and more (just X sync)
* and finally the SR-T101b shows the shutter speed used directly in the viewfinder (nothing like that in the SR-T100)

Looking at these differenes it is evident that the SR-T100 could be made significantly cheaper!

Vintage_Photographer · Joined: 10 Jun 2024 Posts: 79

Vintage_Photographer · Joined: 10 Jun 2024 Posts: 79

Another from the collection.

This was bought on a trip to NZ. I bought it on Trademe (NZ version of eBay) whilst still in the UK but was going to NZ and saw it there for just NZ$400 (about £140 at the time). Bought it, arranged to collect in person 2 weeks later (I was going to NZ anyway). Trademe banned me after that as it's only for NZ residents!

Been in my collection since 2006 and is a joy to use (aside from the fact it's a behemoth to lug around). I don't really use it enough but I do love the images it produces. So sharp and clear and so much detail. I've tried using the lenses on my mirrorless Fuji but they're very large by the time you get the adapter fitted.

Mamiya 645 TL Pro. I also have the Mamiya Sekor C 110 f/2.8 lens for it - a well regarded portrait lens with a reputation for great bokeh and sharpness.

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 4088 Location: Switzerland

The Mamiya 645, albeit in its original incarnation, was my first medium format SLR. It came from a cousin of my father who had bought it in early 1980s, together with the 2.8/45mm, the 1.9/80mm and the 4/210mm Sekor C lenses. I was in my teens back then, and he often visited our family (unless he was travelling, mostly in southern France and Spain). Being a very kind hearted person - though certainly not politically correct - he occasionally was complaining about the (missing) sharpness of the 645 slides, but on closer investigaion I found they were simply blurred by camera shake - which in turn he didn't believe. So we set up a trial - in Bern, our capital - using the Kodak Technical Pan 6415 high res b/w film, a solid tripod, mirror lock up and a cable release. And voilà, the images wre stunningly sharp! So from the age of 15 on, I knew what 645 could do, compared to my own Mamiya ZM.

Later on, when he sadly passed away, I got his equipment, and started using it, usually with TP 2615 and red filter for landscapes plus the occasional assignmets for product photogrpahy at the local historical museum. A 3.5/35mm superwide and the 4/80mm Macro were added for this purpose, too.

As soon as I got the 24 MP Sony A900 though (2008), the 645 didn't get much use any more - even though later on I bought quite a few additional lenses such as the 5.6/300, the 8/500 mirror, the 55-110mm as well as the 105-210mm zooms and the 145mm Soft Focus. And the 2.8/80, and the 4/120mm Macro ... and ... Wink

Later on a "new old stock" 645 Super body (without viewfinder and without roll film holder) for CHF 145.-- came along, and not much later the Prism finder as well as a film back were added. And then there's an original Mamiya 645 too, with the waist level finder only, and the trusty 2.8/80mm. So yeah a nice collection (missing the 2.8/110mm though ...), sadly not used any more ...

S

Alun Thomas · Joined: 20 Aug 2018 Posts: 664 Location: New Zealand

This is a variant of the EXA camera made in a different factory due to the high demand for Exakta camera products in the 1950s.

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

That is why swedish and finnish people call them"system" or "järjestelmä" -cameras?

https://www.cyberphoto.se/foto-video/kameror/systemkameror