Best 35mm RFDR Camera made in North America?

[phototone]

It would probably be the M4-2 made by Leitz Canada, wouldn't you think?

Some people might say the Kodak Ektra, made in very limited quantities.

What do you think?

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Why.. its the Argus C-44.. Right?😀

 

[2maneekameras]

I'd say a speed graphic with a 35mm roll film back on it.

 

[richard_l]

It would be hard to choose between the Canadian M4, M2, M3, and M4-2.

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

I'd say a speed graphic with a 35mm roll film back on it.

Did they make a 35mm roll film back for Graphics? I know they made 120 roll film backs.

Wayne

 

[kiev4a]

Does the Canadian Leica really count since it was a German design? Used one in the U.S. Army. Wish I could have taken it with me when discharged.
The Ektra was an innovative camera for its time but I think I read it had a flaky shutter.

 

[jlw]

It would probably be the M4-2 made by Leitz Canada, wouldn't you think?

Some people might say the Kodak Ektra, made in very limited quantities.

What do you think?

"Best" in terms of best for using today? That'd have to be the M4-2. (Besides, it's so much fun to listen to people gas about those "fine German cameras" and then look puzzled and say, "I dunno, this is made in Canada, eh?")

Best in terms of design sophistication for its era? Hard to top the Ektra, even though it's a bit cranky in actual use and the shutter didn't hold up very well.

Best in terms of sophistication and performance for its era? I'll take the Bell & Howell Foton, with its built-in 6fps spring motor drive, superb materials, and nearly indestructible build quality -- mediocre viewfinder and rangefinder notwithstanding.

 

[pwnewport]

Kodak made a 35mm roll film back. I saw a Zeiss (9x12?) folder or some sort with one fitted to it. Very funky.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Why.. its the Argus C-44.. Right?😀

You mean this doesn't cut it?: http://www.merrillphoto.com/jscimages/fisherpricea.jpg

I think, all things considered, probably the M4-2 is the best one. Nothing else of this caliber (in photographic gear terms) is made on the American Continent anymore.

 

[pwnewport]

Kodak made a 35mm roll film back. I saw a Zeiss (9x12?) folder or some sort with one fitted to it. Very funky.

... it looked like this.

 

[wierdcollector]

That would be the 35mm accessory back for the Recomar 33. I have one in near mint shape, but not the accessory 35mm back, yet........

 

[furcafe]

Bell & Howell Foton. However, contra jlw's post, IMHO, the RF/VF is below "mediocre." IME, the Foton's RF/VF is worse than other system 35s of the same era that I'm familiar with (e.g., TM Leica, Contax RF), suitable only for bright light conditions.

 

[l.mar]

And the winner is ...

And the winner is ...

the Bolsey B-3. Fourteen ounces (give or take) of cast aluminum attitude. 😀

 

[jlw]

However, contra jlw's post, IMHO, the RF/VF is below "mediocre." IME, the Foton's RF/VF is worse than other system 35s of the same era that I'm familiar with (e.g., TM Leica, Contax RF)...

You need to get around more. The Leica and Contax RF/VFs were among the best of their era; there were a lot of truly horrid ones that made the Foton look at least, well, mediocre.

 

[2maneekameras]

Kodak made a 35mm roll film back. I saw a Zeiss (9x12?) folder or some sort with one fitted to it. Very funky.

The example you show in your post is not a 35mm back it uses 828 format film, one of the sizes kodak discontinued in the late 1970s. Note the red window. Since there is no backing paper on 35mm film the light leak through the window would seriously fog the film. i used one of these adapters on a 9X12 tropical zeiss plate camera. It worked well. The lower module is a little ground glass with tilt up cover. The roll back slid into place after the scene was composed and focused.

 

[Duncan Ross]

Why.. its the Argus C-44.. Right?😀

...which bizarrely appears on the cover of the Summer 2005 Lands' End clothing catalogue, being mishandled by a scary woman in pink with giant hands 😱 . It can be strange how photographers manage to sneak their more unusual cameras into totally unrelated product shots!

 

[furcafe]

No thanks, life's too short. If the Foton's RF was mediocre (I should correct myself, the VF is fine, only the RF sucks IMHO), then I have no desire to see the bad ones. 😉

You need to get around more. The Leica and Contax RF/VFs were among the best of their era; there were a lot of truly horrid ones that made the Foton look at least, well, mediocre.

 

[pwnewport]

The example you show in your post is not a 35mm back it uses 828 format film, one of the sizes kodak discontinued in the late 1970s. Note the red window. Since there is no backing paper on 35mm film the light leak through the window would seriously fog the film. i used one of these adapters on a 9X12 tropical zeiss plate camera. It worked well. The lower module is a little ground glass with tilt up cover. The roll back slid into place after the scene was composed and focused.

The camera in question has passed out of my hands. But now that you mention it, I wondered about the little red window on the roll film back, and I vaguely remember being unfamiliar with 828 format film. Thanks for straightening things out.

 

[kiev4a]

Nobody has mentioned the Kardon which was designed during WWII for the military -- bascially a Leica copy equipped with a Kodak Ektar lens. Didin't really get production going until the end of the war so the military cut back its order. I used one briefly in the 1960s in a National Guard unit. The camera was very well built and took sharp pictures. It had a focusing wheel on the lens that was sort of awkward, however.

 

[kiev4a]

Nobody has mentioned the Kardon which was designed during WWII for the military -- bascially a Leica copy equipped with a Kodak Ektar lens. Didin't really get production going until the end of the war so the military cut back its order. I used one briefly in the 1960s in a National Guard unit. The camera was very well built and took sharp pictures. It had a focusing wheel on the lens that was sort of awkward, however. There's a civilian model on the bay right now with a starting price of $2,400.