Tiny Camera Porn

[Bernice Loui]

That entire Alpa outfit is long gone. Then came Leica, Nikon, Minolta, Contax, settled into Canon FD which has burned un-told thousands upon thousands rolls of 35mm film.

These Canon FD lenses are now used with Canon mirrorless digital. Should make a view camera image of the Canon FD and EOS system at some point.

BTW, best lens in the Alpa system: 100mm & 150mm Kinoptik and the four Angenieux offerings, 24mm & 28mm Retrofocus, 90mm & 180mm Alfitar. These lenses have remarkable personality.


Bernice

Bernice, that's quite a bevy of quirky cameras!

[xandr]

Here are some nice cameras from my collection.

French design.
Pontiac in red:


Poniac uses a cast metal body:


open:

[xandr]

Another French brand is Royer.
A beautiful design. But Royer could not succeed in the market because it came too late.

Front:


open:

[xandr]

Royer even developed a 6x9 camera with interchangeable lenses, Altessa (not Altissa !):


What makes it special is that the body is the same as the folding camera, only the front is different.
I had a defective folding camera model, so it made sense to build the front plate for other interchangeable lenses: Mamiya Professional


So I built the "Royer-Mamiya". A very practical camera for traveling:

[xandr]

German design

One of the most beautiful folding cameras from German production is the Voigtländer Bessa II with Heliar lens.


open:


American design

There are many beautiful cameras from Kodak. Here are two examples:

Fascinating "skin" of an old Kodak folding camera:


The very well built Kodak Medalist:

[Tin Can]

I had my hands on many Medalists with all accessories, like the stacking backs

8 out of 10 had a bad shutter

Very heavy, too heavy, needs a handle

Wrong film size KODAK.....again

German design

One of the most beautiful folding cameras from German production is the Voigtländer Bessa II with Heliar lens.


open:


American design

There are many beautiful cameras from Kodak. Here are two examples:

Fascinating "skin" of an old Kodak folding camera:


The very well built Kodak Medalist:

[xandr]

I can only agree with that.
But I live in Switzerland and the Kodak Medalist is an exotic for me. Because I'm tired of the "digital click and everything is done", I enjoy the individuality of old analog cameras. You have to make an effort, think everything over. After all, there are also gnarly characters among people who are nevertheless likeable :-)
I find the story of this camera, the posters as well as advertising for it funny and special.
I make up the 220 film myself by first rewinding a 120 film in a Hasselblad ELM and then manually winding it onto a 220 spool in the darkroom.

[islomane]

This example of a Kennedy Instruments Monobar Type U 35mm view camera was designed to accommodate Nikon F-mount cameras. Most were supplied with interchangeable 35mm film magazines. I've modified a Fuji GX680 bag bellows to fit.

[maltfalc]

mine's tinier than yours.

[John Layton]

Would like to cobble together something like that Monobar, but for a Pentax 6x7 - maybe rig up with a 120mm Macro LF lens.