Certo Dolly Vest Pocket

[Muggins]

Guess what I've just been given - oh, gave it away in the title, oops! I'd love to hear from other owners.

Apologies for the photo, best I could grab.



I can see a money pit looming as the roll of exposed film in it was C22, and the shutter binds, but it's so incredibly cute (folded, it's just about the size of a Canon G-series) and in such good cosmetic nick that I can't not get it fixed.

The shutter release is possibly the most awkward I've ever encountered (taking the prize from my Welta Perle), the focus is on a lever designed to take lumps out of my fingers, and it has a strange lever under the shutter marke "P" and "F" that moves the entire bellows in and out that I can't figure out, but nonetheless I think I love it enough already to spend lots of money on it *gibber gibber*

Adrian

 

[hanskerensky]

Just guessing :

P might stand for Porträt, German for Portrait

F might stand for Fern, German for Distant (maybe Infinity)

Remember, just guessing 🙂

btw Nice camera !

 

[ronnies]

The P/F lever is for "Plate" or "Film". The back can be removed to use plates but when you do the focal plane is further back so this lever is used to adjust it.

http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Dolly_Vest_Pocket

Ronnie

 

[citizen99]

Very nice ! I don't see them come up for sale very often.

 

[Muggins]

Thanks, Ronnie, I'll have to remember Camera Wiki, as it's not an easy camera to google for. That's very interesting. Never seen an interchangeable back Vest pocket camera before - I was thinking maybe for full or half-frame, not for plates!

I'm hoping it's fixable because with a (nice and clean) Tessar it should be a pretty decent performer for a pre-war camera, and 16 to a roll will eke out small stocks of 127!

And to Hans and Citizen99... yes, it's seriously cute, isn't it? I do not want it to end up a shelf queen... It's certainly the most serious Vest Pocket camera I've ever seen.

Adrian

 

[02Pilot]

I have its larger cousin, a Super Sport Dolly (takes 120 vs. 127). The build quality is very high, but the design is, erm, quirky...yes, that's it, quirky. It has some nice features (unit focusing), but some of the details seem like afterthoughts (shutter release). At least you don't have to worry about adjusting a rangefinder, a process which might have taken me several steps closer to complete mental collapse.

The good thing is that the shutter, helicoid, and lens are easy to take apart and clean. The bellows on mine seem to indicate very high quality, but check yours nonetheless; I did have a small light leak by the latch for the back. You're quite right that there's very little information about them out there, but thankfully they are not terribly complicated.

 

[Muggins]

Is that knob behind your shutter cocking lever for the focus? If so, I wonder whether mine has lost a bit, because it's like trying to adjust a piece of barbed wire.

I can't actually see your shutter release, but it sounds like another afterthought by an engineer remembering just in time...

Adrian

 

[02Pilot]

Is that knob behind your shutter cocking lever for the focus? If so, I wonder whether mine has lost a bit, because it's like trying to adjust a piece of barbed wire.

I can't actually see your shutter release, but it sounds like another afterthought by an engineer remembering just in time...

Adrian

Yes, the focus is directly behind the cocking knob. It's possible yours is missing a piece, but it's hard to know - there seem to have been lots of little variations from what I've been able to discover.

As for the shutter release on mine, it is definitely missing a piece. By design, the lower button on the top deck (right side of photo) pushes down on a Rube Goldberg arrangement of arms and levers that eventually rotates another lever (missing on mine) that trips the shutter via the small arm protruding at around 8 o'clock on the shutter body. Frankly, I don't miss it - the travel would be horribly long, and the movement uneven; I just use the arm itself or a short cable release.

 

[hanskerensky]

The P/F lever is for "Plate" or "Film". The back can be removed to use plates but when you do the focal plane is further back so this lever is used to adjust it.

http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Dolly_Vest_Pocket

Ronnie

Ah, that makes much more sense. Thanks for sharing !

 

[Muggins]

Well, it goes in the post today... I'm hoping that it's a simple fix, I'd try myself but it is in such lovely condition that I'd rather not damage the finish. Previous Compurs I've done have been on rough cameras, but this is in amazing nick for it's age. There's a little rust and wear on the back, and some Zeiss bumps, but it's by far and away the best unrestored camera of its age I've seen outside of a collection.

Adrian