Pentacon Globica II camera, should i buy it?

[Francis]

Hi there. I just was offered a never used pentacon Globica II 13 x 18 cm with all accesori es from the manufacturer. It has a Zeiss Tessar 4.5/ 210 lens with a grudner shu tter, several format dividers, spare frosted glas, spare cable and so on, it is in the original box, with its fork type stand and everything. The price is $100 USD. I'm a visual artists, and i'm considering to become a LF photographer. Have a mo derate experience in 35mm and MF photography. This camera seems to be a beauty a nd the price is tempting. I don't have budget for the popular and recognized bra nds anyways. The thing with this camera is that i don't know anything about its performance, i mean, is it really a nice camera? is it a good price for it? and most of all, would it give good results in terms of general quality? Please advice fdkid

[Thomas Vaehrmann]

Hi Francis,

the Globica is a little bit old-fashioned and only for studio or indoor working. The Tessar 210 is the standard-lens for 13x18 and still a good performer, but image-circle is thight so you will not have any room for movements. Look wether film in 13x18cm is available for you. On the other hand $ 100 looks like a bargin, you could make your first steps in LF and play with it. If you want to dig deeper in LF and enjoy all the shifting, tilting aso you should upgrade the lens to a Symmar or Sironar which will offer room for camera movements.