Anybody have / shoot a Kodak "Regent" ?

[Luddite Frank]

Greetings all,


I saw my first Kodak "Regent" recently and was quite taken by it ( sorry about the pun !).


Are they worth having as a shooter ?


I'm guessing that it was a product of the Nagel wing of Kodak...


Thanks...

Luddite Frank

 

[bmattock]

http://www.chicagophotographic.org/expertsofthekodakextra.shtml

Good camera, as far as I know. Many of the folders of that era were and are excellent. Uses 620 film, which requires you to re-roll 120 film onto 620 spools, or trim 120 rolls until they can be force-fit into the camera (can be done with a nail clipper, I'm told).

Older Kodak folders often had shutter problems, but the German-made Nagels should be fine.

Worth it? Depends on your tolerance for minor hassles. Good photos? Sure, why not.

 

[Abbazz]

I have one of these cameras. It's the best looking folder, together with the Voigländer Bessa RF. Unfortunately, this is a rare camera and many samples have been damaged, so a Regent in good operating order is an expensive camera. The one I bought has an inoperative focusing mechanism, so I have never taken any picture with it. I will have it fixed one day.

The main drawback, as with too many Kodak designs, is that it uses a discontinued film format, the 620 "small axle."

Here are two pictures of my sample:

Some additional links:
http://www.prairienet.org/b-wallen/BN_Photo/KodakRegent1.htm
http://kodak.3106.net/index.php?p=213&cam=1563

Cheers!

Abbazz

 

[Luddite Frank]

The few that I've seen in on-line stores are listed as having inoperative range-finders, and "do not close properly"...

Any details on what exactly goes wrong ? Are they usually "fixable" ?

I agree, it's a pretty sleek-looking camera... bummer about the 620 format.


I have a Voigtlander Bessa 6x9, unfortunately it's the pre-War non-RF version... takes some decent pics though; gotta find a hood for that uncoated lens !

Thanks...

Luddite Frank

 

[Abbazz]

The few that I've seen in on-line stores are listed as having inoperative range-finders, and "do not close properly"...

Any details on what exactly goes wrong ? Are they usually "fixable" ?

The Regent is a well made camera, which was built in Germany by Nagel for Kodak. The weak part is the linkage between the rangefinder and the focusing mechanism. As this is the case for many folding cameras equipped with coupled rangefinders, the focus has to be set to infinity before closing the camera. An uninformed user may try to force the camera to close without setting the focus to infinity, causing irreparable damage to the coupling mechanism.

Any camera is fixable, the problem is to know if it does make sense to spend the dollars to have it fixed... As the Regent is a pretty rare camera, I will try to have mine fixed, as soon as I settle in a country with a decent camera repair facility.

Cheers!

Abbazz