Gakken TLR

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steve kessel

steve kessel
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Apr 24, 2007
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Saw someone carrying one of these at Portobello market yesterday. Anyone got one, used one, know anything about it (comes as self assembly kit, takes 35mm film, all plastic, looks like a mini Rolleiflex, sells for £20 (?) on ebay.
 
steve kessel said:
see here

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Twin-lens-Ref...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item563968f5ed
Click to expand...

I have to admit I love the assembly instructions: that you need a screwdriver and scotch tape. Other than that, I would not personally be much interested. I wonder how good the lenses are? And does it do photos in 35mm format size, or larger like the Rollei or Yashicas?

If I was given on I wouldn't throw it away, but I wouldn't buy one. Of course I can say the same about a Leica (runs for cover, grabbing the anti-flame suit on the way).
 
oftheherd said:
I wonder how good the lenses are? And does it do photos in 35mm format size, or larger like the Rollei or Yashicas?
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A square format 35mm would be great, looks large for what it is though. I just received an old Brillant from an APUG member that's about the same size. I'm not sure I would pay for it myself, but check out some of the other Gakken items on the ebay page: DIY theremins, mechanical crabs and centipedes...very cool and not very expensive.

Edit: Just checked out the flickr. Frame size looks like standard 3:5, but the lens has a pleasant toy cam look; vignetting, shallow DOF, loss of focus toward the edges.
 
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I have one of these, they are pretty neat actually. There is something special about building the camera yourself. It has a single element plastic meniscus lens so the look is obviously of the "toy camera" variety.

However, it offers many things that other toy cameras do not. It allows for somewhat accurate framing, it can focus, it can be close focused to give bokeh, it can be modified to F5.6, and like other TLRs its shot from the chest/waist. It cost me 25$, together with a (rather nice) photo magazine, in a Tokyo bookshop.
 
aha saw it for sell at approx £50 in a "branché" shop in London. Bought the Lounar Hole One X instead, which is a build-it-yourself cardboard pinhole camera.
 
I've got one of these. £50 is ridiculous, it costs about £17 in Japan.

(Photographer's Gallery? They always have Japanese stuff at 3 or 4 times the original price).

It's no Rolleiflex, but great fun nonetheless - and the concept of a assembly kit and a magazine is a great one. They do lots of other great things:

http://otonanokagaku.net/
 
I bought one last weekend and put it together. I was working slowly, so it took about an hour. I have a roll of that Lucky 100 film in it. We'll see how it turns out.

As far as I could tell, the lens elements were glass, not plastic. And it features active focus, not zone :) The magazine that it comes with is quite nice, too.
 
At $99 it is terrible value, but at the original price it makes me wonder how they can get away with charging what they do for the BBF.

But it's more a fun toy to enjoy building than a proper camera, I haven't sold my Rollei yet!

To hijack the thread - on mine the film sprocket holes don't engage with the frame counter properly, they just slip over it (the cogged wheel on the right hand side). Has anyone else had this problem? Is the solution to make up a pressure plate with card?
 
Double Negative said:
$99 for this thing? It almost looks worse than the Blackbird, Fly! TLR.

For that kind of money, or $50 more - I'd buy a Yashica Mat 124G, or at least a late model Seagull.
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From the seller linked to above, I paid $55 and change shipped. A reasonable price for a toy, I think.
Historicist: How were the instructions? Are the diagrams ok?
I once did a quite bit of "kit bashing" with model cars, so I think I'll be good to go.
Rob
 
historicist said:
To hijack the thread - on mine the film sprocket holes don't engage with the frame counter properly, they just slip over it (the cogged wheel on the right hand side). Has anyone else had this problem? Is the solution to make up a pressure plate with card?
Click to expand...

I have no idea, but Rick has a quick and easy DIY pressure plate on his Argus A.
 
OK< I got my Gakkenflex yesterday and it has gone together pretty easily. The shutter springs were a bit fiddly but other wise no sweat!
Now I have two other questions.
The frame "counter" is working but am I correct in thinking that as the mark moves halfway round, that is one frame?
Any idea what the shutter speed is?
Rob
 
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