Trona 212 camera value

[Arnold]

Hello all......I have a Trona 212 camera in fine shape.I wonder if anyone knows the going price for them as I want to try to sell it....Thanks in advance...........Arnold

[Donald Qualls]

Assuming (by the model number) that's an Ica rather than Zeiss branded version of the Trona, if you have the ground glass back and plate holders with it, leather in good condition, bellows leak free, and shutter ticks over with decent glass (for that age, "decent" would be a triplet faster than f/8 or any symmetrical 4-element), it's probably worth between $50 and $150, depending on exact lens, shutter, and fine detail condition. Without holders, with an inferior lens or shutter that needs service, or a bellows that's visibly deteriorated, less (maybe much less). Without ground glass, much less.

The Trona is a pretty common model, though I've seen more of them with the Zeiss brand (the model was continued into the late 1930s, and was as close to a standard press camera as Germany ever had; there are a lot of them around); to get above $100 with the Zeiss log it would need to be a user in tip-top condition -- film sheaths in the plate holders, a Tessar of f/6.3 or faster in a Compur or other shutter with slow speeds as well as 1/200 top, and everything pretty much ready to go expose film.

FWIW, if you have all the bits with it and everything works, you could start using it in a week by just ordering a box of film; J&C Photo has film in at least one emulsion for all the old plate camera sizes except 10x15 cm (and a 212 should be 9x12 cm). That huge negative will let you produce some really excellent images even with a very modest lens. I started large format with a Kawee Kamera, aka Patent Etui; I've now got two fully working 9x12 cm plate cameras and recently got a 4x5 monorail...