Folding camera: what do you suggest?

[Dante_Stella]

Fujica Super-6.

Dante

 

[barnwulf]

I love my Zeiss Super Ikonta III & IV cameras. They have a coupled rangefinder/viewfinder. They have a sterdy build quality automatic shutter cocking with frame stops and double exposure prevention. Many come with the excellent 75mm 3.5 Tessar lens. Some III's have 3.5 Novar Anastigmat lens that performs very well also. - jim

 

[johnnyrod]

I think the pertinent question asked above is what is she going to shoot? A folder is handy for portability, but a combined RF and VF speeds things up a great deal (for me anyway) - I guess a TLR is the same as you compose and focus in one. If you're shooting buildings etc. then that doesn't matter. If you're happy to work out exposure and range before framing then there are tons of cheap folders which take perfectly good pictures, could be a way into it.

 

[BW400CN]

Just a maybe mad idea.

A Graflex 4x5" Speed or Crown Graphic
With a 120 back you can shot 6x6 up to 6x12 depends on which back you buy, but you have the possibility to use the ground glass or upgrade to larger film or even Polaroid.
It´s a very universal cam - surely not very small but not as big as you might think.

 

[johannielscom]

Only just yesterday traded my Zeiss-Ikon Super Ikonta B (type 532/16) for a load of Fujichrome films.

It was in the Classifieds for USD 150 for two weeks but no takers...

I still have one left but I'm not going to part with it, it's that good!

 

[Fixcinater]

I've mainly got experience with the Super Ikonta 532/16 (Tessar or later coated Opton Tessar 80/2.8), very nice results with that.

Some say the front cell focusing Tessar design won't keep up with the unit focus Tessar like on the Rolleicords but I don't see it, even wide open and close up. Maybe I need to shoot slower film...

 

[Larry Cloetta]

Just a maybe mad idea.

A Graflex 4x5" Speed or Crown Graphic......
- surely not very small but not as big as you might think.

I'm still laughing. I've got a Speed Graphic...I don't know how big people think it is......but it's pretty big!
Especially for this crowd where so many think that a Leica SL is "too big"! 🙂

 

[FrankS]

Perkeo ll has a very good colour skopar lens and is a small package. Scale focus though.

Probably the ultimate RF folder is the Plaubel Makina, in both normal and wide Nikkor versions.

I also have a Zeiss Nettar which I've read is the budget line below the Ikon series. My Nettar is an f6.3 75mm Novar, which is surprisingly good at f11.

also scale focusing.

 

[zozur]

There is also Nettar version with f4.5 Novar lens.

 

[BW400CN]

I'm still laughing. I've got a Speed Graphic...I don't know how big people think it is......but it's pretty big!
Especially for this crowd where so many think that a Leica SL is "too big"! 🙂

I have a 4x5 Speed and it is not really a big camera and my Canon 5D with battery grip and big Zoom is heavier.

 

[graywolf]

Actually, back in its day a 4x5 Press Camera was considered a medium format camera. It was only after 35mm became the norm that Press Camera started to be considered Large Format. Remember, 35mm was really Miniature Format, making 120 Small Format and 4x5 Medium Format.

Really, a Crown Graphic with a 12x film pack and a dozen flash bulbs was pretty light. News photos back in those days were only a couple of shots, and 12 exposures was considered enough for most weddings (ceremony only in B&W, about $100).

 

[ww2photog]

Super Ikonta, 3 different choices of format, sturdy little folders.
I just got a 4.5 x6, loving it

 

[charjohncarter]

Folders are great for their small dimensions (for format).

btgc, said in this and his previous post. Folders are portable (for 6x6) and their lenses are mostly going to be fine, but with restrictions because they are on folders.

I love my Balda Hapo 66e, which is a department store camera with shutter limitations:

Untitled by John Carter, on Flickr

Balda Hapo66e Tmax 400 HC-110h Rodinal by John Carter, on Flickr

 

[wakarimasen]

The Mamiya Six folder is very nice - the RF patch in mine is very clear, and coupled rangefinder focussing is very convenient:

Black & White Summer by wakarimasen1, on Flickr

However, don't discount the non-coupled Nettar 518/16. With a clean lens and the large negative, it can provide some very nice images

Rooms With a View by wakarimasen1, on Flickr

Fire by wakarimasen1, on Flickr

Under Smeatons' Pier by wakarimasen1, on Flickr

 

[Dante_Stella]

You are smarter than me. To me this occured after several tens of 35mm cameras. Just to try, triplet of decent make will not disappoint.

Actually, an f/6.8 single element meniscus lens is almost as good as anything in bright light. Those are in a lot of old folders, and plastic versions are in much more recent fun savers.

D

 

[IlyaB]

Ronen and his Texan ultralight by Ilya, on Flickr

Another folder with a non-coupled rangefinder: Agfa Isolette III with Solinar 75mm/f:3.5 lens

 

[f16sunshine]

Another folder with a non-coupled rangefinder: Agfa Isolette III with Solinar 75mm/f:3.5 lens

That Agfa is a great little camera.
I've owned a few uncoupled folders. The Isolette iii was the only one I really got on with.
By Comparison, the Zeiss 6x9 524/2 had the nicest option Tessar lens you could imagine but the Rangefinder measurement markings were so few and lousy,... one could not reliably transfer the distance to the lens.

The Agfa on the other hand was a piece of cake and very accurate. Nice sharp lens too. Not as good as the Opton at larger apertures but still very good.

In the end I still prefer the Bessa ii with it's coupled RF and integrated VF.... 6x9 baby!

Here you can see the isolate RF dial (to the right of the shoe) and DOF/Aperture scale on the left.

For Comparison the Ikon 524/2 with it's RF dial on the right .....5',6',9',15' and then 45' and then infinity...not very precise.

 

[p.giannakis]

I used to have a Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/16. IT had the Novar 75/4.5 and it was and excellent performer

I "upgraded" later on to a Zeiss Ikoflex Ib with the Tessar, I didn't see a great difference, ony wide open the Tessar did not have the swirling bokeh, other than that not much. If anything, i kinda liked the way the Nettar rendered the pictures more that the Tessar on the Ikoflex, it gave a vintage feeling to the pictures: Here are some samples:

Wide open at f/4.5:

These ones are at around f/5.6

An this at f/11

I would definitely recommend this camera with an external rangefinder.

 

[milosdevino]

Mamiya 6 automatic for me.
I find it very hard to go past; coupled rangefinder, automatic film counter, automatic shutter cocking on wind on, unit focusing coated lens & great build quality. I can't think of any other 6x6 folder that combines all these features, is relatively plentiful (therefore relatively inexpensive) and most importantly, works (or is easily repairable).