KODAK - CANON - NIKON - MINOLTA - PENTAX - ZENIT - YASHICA - FUJICA - OLYMPUS - PRAKTICA - RICOH - POLAROID - LEICA - ROLLEI - LUMIX - ARGUS - AGFA - ADOX - PHOTAX - PETRI - MIRANDA - PETRI - KONICA - MAMIYA - LUMIREX - FED - KOWA - BENCINI - BELL & HOWELL - BEIRETTE - DELTA - SEARS - CHINON - DAKOTA - ZORKI - KIEV - GODSTAR - EXA - RECESKY
RECESKY TLR
The Recesky uses 35mm film, producing full-frame 35mm portrait exposures.
The Recesky Twin Lens Reflex camera is a “do-it-yourself” DIY or build it yourself camera. Not only that, it is a Twin Lens Camera – meaning that there is two lenses of the same focal length. One lens acts as the photographic lens (it takes the picture), whilst the other lens acts as the viewfinder lens.
Building the Recesky TLR is not as hard as it first appears – but it sure is great fun!
AGFA PD 16 CLIPPER 1926
The Agfa PD16 Clipper was a 616 film camera made by Agfa / Ansco in Binghampton, USA c.1926. Built-identical with the Ansco Clipper.
AGFA ISOLA I / 1957
Isola I is a medium format viewfinder camera made by Agfa and produced between 1957-59.
It exist also Made in France, marked on the bottom plate. Other cameras in the Isola series are original Isola produced in 1955 and Isola II 1956-59. All models use 120 roll film for 6x6cm frames.
Lens: meniscus lens, 72.5mm f11.
Aperture: two settings: cloudy (f11) and sunny (f16)
Focus range: 1.5-5m + inf, with three settings 1.5-2.5m, 2.5-5m, 5m-inf.
Focusing: manual front element focusing, guess the distance.
Shutter: Agfa simple spring rotary shutter (not named on the camera), one speed about 1/35 + B.
PHOTAX BOYER / 1937-1960
The Photax (often classified as Photax I) was a viewfinder camera made of Bakelite. It took 6×9cm exposures on roll film. The first version was introduced in 1937 by M.I.O.M., a maker of isolation material and cast plastic parts. It was the Photax, also sold as Camera 77 or Loisirs. Six different models were introduced between 1937 and 1960. Since the Photax II model, the cameras were also available as a blindé variant. "Blindé" stood for a Bakelite lens cover which protected the lens and shutter release.
Specifications:
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Year of launch: 1937
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Type: viewfinder camera
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Film: Type 620 film rolls (except Photax I: type 120)
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Manufacturer: M.I.O.M (**)
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Viewfinder: Galilei type optical finder (except model VI: frame finder)
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Exposure format: 6×9, except model VI with format 6×6, and models I and V, both with both formats
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Lens: Boyer Serie VII meniscus lens
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Shutter: Guillotine shutter with two speeds
(**) MIOM (Manufacture d'Isolants et d'Objets Moulés) was a plastics company located in Vitry-sur-Seine, France, way back in the day. Apparently a growing opportunity for paid holidays for the working class in France around 1937 caused MIOM to diversify and begin making cameras in addition to electrical insulators and other objets moulés. One of their first was the the curvaceous, organic Photax Blindé ('armored Photax') which became their flagship camera.
Links: Matt's Classic Cameras
BALDA BALDINI c.1938-1948
Les Baldinis, ces petits 35mm, furent produits de 1938 à 1948 par la firme Balda à Dresde en Allemagne, ces appareils ont précédé les Baldinettes qui eux étaient doté d'un parement métallique qui recouvrait le dessus de l'appareil.
Cet appareil est muni d'un objectif Schneider-Kreuznack Radionar 50mm f/3.5 et d'un obturateur Prontor-S de 1s à 1/300e. Le nom Baldini est embossé dans le revêment de surface.
Balda Baldini - A Little German Folding Camera - is simple and basic, easy to use and they are very compact.
Specifications:
. Film type 35mm
. Picture size 24x36mm
. Lens: Schneider Kreuznach Radionar f3,5 /50mm, coated.
. Shutter: Prontor-S.
. Shutter speed: B, 1-1/300sec
. Viewfinder Galilei, no parallax markings.
. Weight 450g
It is quite compact and easy to handle. The camera is built over a sturdy die cast body and has a clear resemblance to some Kodak Retina cameras and especially to Zeiss Nettar 515.
ARGUS C3 1939-1966
The Argus C3 was a low-priced rangefinder camera mass-produced from 1939 to 1966 by Argus in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. The camera was the best-selling 35mm camera in the world for nearly three decades, and helped popularize the 35mm format. Due to its shape, size, and weight, it is commonly referred to as "The Brick" by photographers (in Japan its nickname translates as "The Lunchbox").
The most famous 20th century photographer who used it was Tony Vaccaro, who employed this model during World War II.
ARGUS MATCHMATIC 1958-1966
The Matchmatic model has recently become popular amongst Harry Potter collectors: the character Colin Creevey used it in the film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
In Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Polly Perkins aka Gwyneth Paltrow is a reporter, packing an Argus C3 around through all sorts of mayhem.
Before that, it was known as the camera used by Spy Magazine photographer Elizabeth Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) in the 1940 comedy The Philadelphia Story.
LUMIREX LUMIERE 1940
The Lumirex is a French camera made by Lumière, both before and after WWII. It is a simple folding roll-film camera made in 6×9cm and 6.5×11cm sizes. It was somewhat better specified than the Lumix which has the same body.
The lens of the Lumirex is either a Fidor f/6.3 or Spector f/4.5. The shutter gives speeds 1/10 - 1/125 second, plus 'B' and 'T' (considerably more range than that on the Lumix).
Focusing is by turning the front lens element. The 1940 model has a shutter release on the body.
Bencini Comet S
Bencini Comet S
Bencini Comet S
Bencini Comet S
BENCINI COMET S 1948-1950
The Bencini Comet cameras were 127 film made in Italy by CMF Bencini from 1948 into the 1950s. They were smaller versions of the Bencini Koroll range. Controls were limited to 1/50 instantaneous or B shutter and a focusing lens. The Comet III was an unusual vertical format camera.
BENCINI KOROLL 1951
The Koroll cameras were 120 film and 35mm viewfinder cameras made by Bencini in Milan, Italy in the 1950s. The body was based on a single aluminium alloy casting, which included the lens barrel. Each model seems to have gone through a number of facelifts, with minor cosmetic changes.
Bencini Koroll
Bencini Koroll
Bencini Koroll
Bencini Koroll
ADOX POLOMAT 1 / 1959-1964
History: Adox, one of the world's oldest brands for photochemical products.Founded as the world's first photochemical factory in 1860 ADOX Dr.C. Schleussner GmbH soon became one of the leading producers in Europe.
Founded 1860 , but camera manufacturing didn't start before 1939, when Adox took over Wirgin, Frankfurt. Mfd. cameras in own plant in Wiesbaden from 1945 until 1965. Adox was sold to "Du Pont Company, Delaware, USA" in 1962.
Specifications:
. Type: 35mm viewfinder camera with coupled light meter.
. Manufactured between 1960.
. Lens: Schneider Radionar L 45mm f2.8
. Shutter: Prontor LK 500
DELTA IMPERIAL 127 - 1964
Imperial Delta is a medium format film plastic box camera made by Imperial and introduced in c. 1964.
The Imperial Delta is a small plastic camera. It reminds me of the Diana cameras that are so popular, but this one is designed to take 4cm x 4cm exposures on 127 film. It has only one shutter speed (instant) and the lens is fixed at or near the hyperfocal distance. It has no aperture selection. It has two flash posts at the top which work with a dedicated flash unit. There is a small window viewfinder at the above the lens to help compose the photo.
FED 5V - 1975
The FED-5V is compatible with the 39 mm Leica TM lenses, so it is classified as a Leica mount camera. The body and the back cover are cast, the camera is rigid and stable. All FED-5V cameras are equipped with the lever advance mechanism, a removable back cover, a dioptric adjustment of the VF, a self-timer, and a hot shoe.
Shutter speeds: B, 1 - 1/500
Lens: Industar-61L/D, 55/2.8, coated, black finish, aperture with stop-clicks (this is one of the sharpest Soviet-made lenses)
The FED-5V is a classic rangefinder camera - it has all the features you need, and you can use any Leica Thread Mount Lens with it.
Voigtländer VITO CLR - 1965
Vito CLR is a 35mm film rangefinder camera, manufactured by Voigtländer and produced between 1963-68. It is in the Vito C series with coupled light meter and a rangefinder.
The name, Vito CLR, tells us it is the C range with a Light meter and Rangefinder. Both the light meter and the rangefinder are coupled to the shutter. This camera cost, in 1965, £56-19-5 (in old British money), this equates to £1,840 in 2020 values which is a very expensive camera.
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Lens: Voigtländer Color Skopar 50mm f/ 2.8, coated
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Aperture: f/2.8 - f/22, setting: ring and scale on the lens-shutter barrel
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Focus range: 1-20m +inf
ZORKI 1, type 7A - 1953
Зоркий = Zorki, means Sharp Sight, is the name of a series of 35mm rangefinder cameras derived from the Leica design, and manufactured in the Soviet Union between 1948 and 1978. The Zorki was a product of the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Factory (KMZ), which also produced the Zenit single lens reflex camera (SLR). The first Zorki cameras were inexpensive Leica II copies just like the FED, but later models were considerably different from the Leica.
WERLISA COLOR - 1966
Specifications (version C)
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Type: viewfinder camera
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Manufacturer: Certex S.A - Vic (Barcelona)
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Year of launch: 1966
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Film: 35mm
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Lens: Laotor 1:2.8/45mm
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Shutter: speeds 1/30, 1/60, 1/125 sec.
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Aperture: 1:3.5 to 1:16
KIEV 60 / 1984-1999
Kiev 60 is a medium format SLR film system camera manufactured by Arsenal Factory, in Kiev, Ukraine, former USSR. It was produced between 1984-99. Kiev, the English Romanization of Киев is the capital of Ukraine.
The Kiev 60, like many Soviet cameras has a mixed reputation, largely due to perceived and real quality control issues in Soviet factories. However, the cost of the Kiev 60 and its Pentacon Six lens compatibility make it a value-oriented camera for amateur photographers interested in medium format photography.
Specifications:
Film: 120 roll, picture size 6x6 cm
Lens: Arsenal Volna-3 MC (ВОЛНА), 80mm f/2.8, automatic diaphragm, interchangeable.
Mount: Kiev Type C, breach-lock, (same with Pentacon Six)
Filter thread 62mm
Aperture: f/2.8 - f/22
Focus range: 0.6-10m +inf
Lens release: Via turning the ring on front of the lens mount.
Focusing: Fresnel matte screen w/ central microprism collar around the split image rangefinder, ring on the lens.
Focusing is possible only when shutter cocked, thus mirror goes down and diaphragm sets to full aperture.
Engravings on the back of the top plate:
* Arsenal logo and serial no. the first two digits show the manufacturing year.
* Body: Metal; Weight: 1.95 kg w/ 80mm lens.
EXA 1c / 1985-1987
The Exa 1c is a 35mm film SLR camera, manufactured by VEB Pentacon, former East Germany, and produced between 1985-87 with quantity 103.900 units. It is the last model of the long lasting Ihagee Exa series.
It is same as Exa 1b version 4.4, with a different name engraved.
VEB Pentacon licensed the production of screw-mount Exas to Certo Camera Werk, Dresden-Großzsachwitz, a part of VEB Pentacon. Cameras built by Certo have serial numbers preceded with a letter "C". Some late Exa 1b version 4.4 and all 1c version 4.5 made by Certo. The "c" expresses that this EXA was produced by Certo.
PETRI 7s / 1962
The Petri 7s is a 35mm fixed-lens rangefinder camera made by Petri in 1962 as an improved replacement for the Petri 7 of 1961.
Production ended in 1973, and the 7s was superseded by the Petri 7s II in 1974.
PETRI 35AF-F / 1979
The Cosina AF-35 is a compact camera for 35 mm film, introduced by Cosina in 1979. It belongs to the first generation of autofocus compact cameras and uses the Visitronic autofocus system by Honeywell. The camera was also sold by Petri, labeled as Petri 35AF-F.