Newbie question

[markldn]

Hello,

I got for a bargain price a heavy 5x7 studio camera. Now I never used large format camera's before, so everything is very new to me.

It has a bellow-shutter inside. Besides the filmholders it has also a wide sleeve on the top what you can take out (a shiny slider)

What's the purpose of this slider?

It also looks like someone did put tape over it (to prevent light-leaks?)

[Nikola Dulgiarov]

This looks like a Mentor Studio camera. They are very common in Eastern bloc countries, having been manufactured in DDR. The film holders are specific and will only fit this camera. The built-in shutter is a great plus and can go up to 1/125th of a second. I used such a camera once and it was a pleasure to work with - very stable and easy to operate.

[Nikola Dulgiarov]

or, just seeing the logo up front this may be a Globica studio camera

[markldn]

The bellows shutter is interesting, I never saw such thing.

But what is this slider on top for?