Historic rangefinder cameras
by Paul Cowan
Title
Historic rangefinder cameras
Artist
Paul Cowan
Medium
Photograph - Large Format Film
Description
Three rangefinder cameras from the 1940s. On the left is a Super-Ikonta 531, 6x4.5cm German-made rangefinder with a Xenar lens. This was produced only in 1948, when Zeiss Ikon ran out of their Tessar lenses and so is quite rare.
In the centre (with the focus on the lens) is a British-made Ensign Commando, from about 1949. This was an excellent camera but never caught on with the public, apparently partly due to supply difficulties and partly because it was in direct competition with another of Ensign's cameras, so it is also quite rare. It shoots in 6x4.5 and 6x6 configurations, for either 12 or 16 shots from a roll of 120 film. The film gate is switched between configurations using internal flaps.
On the right is a Soviet Moskva 5 camera, a copy of the German Super-Ikonta C. It shoots in 6x9 format for eight frames on 120 size film but also has a mask that can convert it to the more economical 6x6cm format. These were mass produced and are quite common on the second-hand market. They can produce excellent photos but the quality is not quite up to the standard of the German models they were copied from.
All three cameras are still in good working condition.
This photo was taken with a Graphlex Crown Graphic 4x5 Press camera, using Foma Creative black and white film.
Uploaded
December 31st, 2012
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Viewed 337 Times - Last Visitor from Toronto, ON - Canada on 03/09/2024 at 9:21 PM
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Comments (1)
Nadine and Bob Johnston
V, F, You just reminded me of my first camera the Kodak Vest Pocket folding bellows with a variable aperture and focus from 1928. It was My Moms, broken with the bellows off the track, so she gave it to me to play with. Took it apart, and fixed it when I was seven. My aunt, who traveled the National Parks taking photos of Tourists, living in a 10x Tent, developed film at night. Made prints and mailed them to the tourists... She taught me to develop my film, and make prints. Saved my money, bought an enlarger, and by 1942 was freelancing for three Boston Papers. Thanks for the Memories ! Tweeted to 23,000 who follow us on Twitter @grandcanyonpics and @nadine1939
Paul Cowan replied:
Thanks for that. I'm glad it brought back some happy memories. I don't have any Kodak cameras but there are a heap more European folders I plan to shoot portraits of (well, I did shoot them yesterday, actually, but it turned out that the flash synch on my Sekor 105 is out of kilter, so I ended up with a blank roll. I'll use the Pentacon Six today).