The Vintage Camera Club Thread

[adamjaskie]

I've got a few. A pre-war Kodak Retina and an early '50s Retina IIa (both made in Germany with excellent Schneider lenses). Both are 35mm folders, but the IIa has a coupled rangefinder which makes focusing it a lot easier (the older Retina is scale-focus; guess the distance and set it on the lens). I also have a '40s Zeiss Ikon Nettar, which is a 120 folder with a Zeiss f/4.5 lens.

Other than those, all my other cameras are much newer. I have a Yashica Mat 124G, which is a 120/220 TLR from IIRC the late 70s. I also have a Canon AE-1, which is a 35mm SLR also from the late 70s, and a Nikon D80 digital SLR.

I do develop black and white myself, and would encourage anyone interested in vintage cameras (or really photography in general) to do so. It's easy and you don''t need a dark room. I load my film onto reels in a changing bag (big black two-layer bag with elastic armholes and a double zipper) and put them in light-tight tanks, which allow chemicals in and out but no light. Then I can simply develop them in my basement utility sink with the lights on and hang them to dry in my bathroom.

You can still buy 35mm cartridge film, 120 and 220 roll film, and various sizes of sheet film. 120 can be re-wound onto a 620 spool (it's the same film) in a changing bag, then you can either process it yourself, take it in and ask them to give you the spool back, or re-wind onto a 120 spool before taking it in.

 

[rlk]

Doe anyone know of any good websites that give camera ages by serial #s? I was offered a Kodak 35 recently but turned it down because I wasn't sure if it was pre-1945 or not. I still am not sure. I searched a LOT for anything that talks about ages by serial #s but found nothing...

Probably too late to be helpful, but Kodak's date code is based on C A M E R O S I T Y as the numbers 1-9 and 0.
2 Letters on a lens:

This one(reversed for mirror viewing) begins with E A so dates to 1942.

 

[YesterdayGirl]

Recently acquired this lovely Brownie Cresta II. Don't know much about them, but bought a film a think/hope we loaded it right, it seemed to work ok anyway. Haven't developed it yet...fingers crossed it works!

Anybody got a working one? I'd love to know how your pictures came out?!

 

[Gutshot]

You kids will love this. I snagged this bad boy at a church garage sale this weekend for buck.

 

[rlk]

No new posts for 4 months?! Kodak Retina

Vintage Suit, Hat, Camera and even a horse

I have quite a few medium format folders and large format cameras if anyone is actually interested.

 

[kpreed]

I am glad this is alive again, I use my Brownie Hawkeye non-flash ( circa 1949-50 per last owner ) almost everytime, but I have others too I use often, like my Kodak Duaflex III from 1955.

 

[DapperDuck]

Vintage Suit, Hat, Camera and even a horse

I have quite a few medium format folders and large format cameras if anyone is actually interested.

Post away. I collect folders and I'm sure there are others who are interested.

 

[rlk]

Post away. I collect folders and I'm sure there are others who are interested.

Thanks. I've never actually photographed them so I'll do some documenting. Got rid of some of the collection but still ranges from 1890's to 1950's + more modern Linhof 4x5's and Hasselblad.

Well, I did discover a picture file from 2002 with some of them.

Here's a Zeiss Juwel 9x12 1930-ish.

Zeiss Super Ikonta B

Kodak

 

[rlk]

Some Pre-WW2 Ica Plate Cameras

 

[rlk]

Iloca Stereo Camera

TDC Stereo slide Viewer

Thornton Pickard Stereo Puck

More later...I should be able to keep the Thread going for awhile.

 

[kpreed]

Some wonderful stuff!
I traded my Kodak Duraflex for some coin and this camera :

I do not have many folders that I use because of my Ataxia ( I NEED really a point and shoot type camera ), but I have this model, a Kodak Vigilant Junior Six-20 :

A great thread!

 

[rlk]

Voigtlander Stereflektoskop

no longer have these.

Voigtländer Superb

 

[rlk]

Kodak No. 4 Panoram

Rotational lens for Panoramic Views on wide roll film

An example taken with this type of camera : Prague view by Josef Sudek

 

[rlk]

More Panoramics:Cirkut Cameras

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Lemme add a few more. I'll try to not repeat any:

 

[MrNewportCustom]

A few more:

4X5 film processing tank.

8X10 graphics body:

 

[MrNewportCustom]

My father's slide projector.

Yes, there's a spare bulb in the box.

Changing of the Guard. My last film camera and . . . second digital.

This was my first digital camera.

As I later learned, this particular model Casio was the second itteration of the very first digital camera available on the consumer market. Which means that I started in digital even earlier than I'd thought. That photo of a Lamborghini Diablo, and a few others, are still in the camera.

 

[DapperDuck]

Rotational lens for Panoramic Views on wide roll film

:jaw: Great collection RLK! Your camera collection seems almost as extensive as your hat collection. I would have kept the Voigtländer stereo cameras; I've never seen those before.

Have you taken any pictures with the Kodak panoramic camera? Looks like it was manufactured somewhere between 1900 and 1926.

 

[rlk]

Thanks. I've barely started...I sold a bunch off in 2002 when I was short of money and wanted to attend a photo workshop in Yosemite(100 year anniversary of Ansel Adams birth). Sold mostly the higher value cameras.

I exposed 1 roll with the Panoram, uncertain of effective shutter speed or film winding. Only 2 speeds of swinging the lens around from sprung tension release no aperture adjustment.

I still have about 10 120 roll film folders never photographed(30's-50's). I'll add them soon. More sheet film camera's too. No 35mm vintage anymore.

 

[rlk]

Certo 6