Beauty of the Franka Solida IIIL

[Gabriel M.A.]

I know many of you out there have the old folding Medium Format rangefinders, but I think they often get overlooked because many have issues like punctured bellows, scratched lenses, etc.

I am rediscovering my own Franka camera; it has a Schneider-Kreuznach f/2.9 lens; wide open it seems to be a little bit soft; focusing is a bit challenging, for it is all pretty much by guessing (I've bought a Telex distance rangefinder that now stays on the flash shoe), and the shutter speeds below 1/15 s are sticky. But still, it is quite a joy to use...

(btw, the film is AGFA Portrait 160)

 

[Solinar]

My first folder had been a $15 Ansco Speedex "Special" I was impressed, but this one had leaky bellows which I amateurishly patched with textile paint.


Then I lucked out in 2001, when I picked up an old ANSCO Super Speedex for under a hundred bucks, a.k.a an Agfa Super Isolette. It needed some work, but I perserved and gave it a CLA. It's not the easiest folder to work on but not the worst.

Truthfully, it took me about a year and a half to find my shooting style with the Super Isolette. I really had no real idea of what the camera was capable of. In the mean time, I bought and restored many folders, to include the last Super Ikonta B from 1953, a Super Ikonta IV and couple of Voigtlanders. All were nice, but for me the Super Isolette was the better mix of features. It took me a while to realize this.

During this period my photography took both a dive and a great leap forward. The great leap forward was medium format pushed me to set up a darkroom. The dive was that I got stuck in folder mania. Man, I was buying and fixing all kinds of neglected folders. In short, I became a repairman instead of photographer and my photography centered around testing CLA'd cameras.

The epiphany came last summer. Over the Fall I sold twelve cameras and kept four. I still use the Super Isolette and Record III, which is a 6x9, but hardly ever use my pristine Isolette III that is in perfect working order with a f/3.5 Solinar mounted to Synchro-Compur MXV. Plus, there is a fully functional Billy Record II which looks really cool on one of my shelves.

The folders did one thing, it got me accustomed to old manual exposure cameras. Since last summer, I've been shooting more 35mm, but now I'm addicted to 35mm rangefinders as well. :bang:

This tale of woe is brought to by the owner of a FED2, a Zorki 3, a Zorki 3m having its curtains replaced, a Bessa R, my three Olympus rangefinders and two Leica IIIf 's. Add to this an assortment of lenses and boy do I have lenses.

In short, be cautious in the land of medium format folderdom.

 

[Todd.Hanz]

beautiful color in those two examples Gabriel, good contrast too.

Todd

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Todd- thanks; that lens is pretty nice stopped down. I'm still a bit disappointed that it's soft wide open, given that it's a Sch-Kr.

Solinar- in your experience, which of your MF foldable rangefinders was the best?

 

[Solinar]

Solinar- in your experience, which of your MF foldable rangefinders was the best?

Sorry about the rant, folks.

Gabriel, if I'm shooting for sharpness I use my Super Speedex, which is an Agfa Super Isolette rebranded for the US market. As many Iskra, (the Russian version) owners will confirm, the unit focusing on these cameras and Tessar-type lens yield images that look to have been shot with a Rolleicord.

The other thing about the Super Speedex, it's quick to set up and use. Film winding is like a 35mm, as it stops automatically at the next frame and the RF is coupled to the focus ring. I use the camera mostly in a couple of lecture halls that are light challenged. The the quietness of the camera is a plus. It is nearly silent.

For style, I shoot with my 6x9 Record III. The front cell focusing and the old ruby window type film advance slows you down a bit, but I love the old fashioned look that the 105mm Solinar delivers. It's not quite, but close to that large format look. Plus, the tonality of the prints is awesome.

To continue my previous rant, it also took me about a year to get comfortable using the Record III and since I've bought a 5cm Lietz bright-line finder for my Leica IIIf which I use with the Record III, I like it even more.

So I have two folders that I use regularly, but use them differently. The Super Speedex is for when I need speed. The Record III get's used when I want that older large format look and I have plenty of time to set up the shot.

I keep a Rolleicord V in reserve for folks who want me to use a serious medium format camera, which is amusing because both my Agfa yield very good results.