Something is wrong here
Something is wrong here
Franka Solida III von
eames68 auf Flickr
😀 Yes, that Leitz ITOOY shade on the Franka is "historically incorrect", and no, it won't work anyhow because of vignetting. But the wider 12585 shade seems to be okay (at least by visual inspection from the film gate), so I will give it a try when I put the next roll through the Franka. The Radionar boasts a standard filter thread (not many folders of the period do), but using threaded shades with a folder camera is, well ... kind of painful, so it would be really nice if could use the Leitz shade with it until I find a push on hood that fits. I have only shot one roll with that camera so far (all pictures at medium apertures), and the results don't look bad, quite sharp in the image center, gradually becoming softer, corners are a bit blurred, which is probably standard for a triplet lens. I am curious about the performance wide open and stopped down to f11 or f16. We'll see.
There is actually a bit of a story behind that camera, as it was in a terrible state when I got it and I almost had thrown it away without trying to save it. A couple of weeks ago I purchased a Bessa ii locally from a guy who had inherited it together with some other gear from his father but never used it. While we were negotiating the price he said he would add a Vito BL and a Franka Solida iii to convince me to strike the deal. It wasn't very convincing for me as I wasn't interested in the BL and the Franka was in very bad state. The bellows covered with mold, the lens full of fungus spots, film transport stuck and the shutter stuck. Basically a dead camera, and I told him so. We further negotiated the Bessa deal without considering the Franka or the BL, but when the deal was done he insisted on giving me the Franka and the Vito BL for free and I didn't want to be impolite, so I accepted both cameras, although I must admit that my first thought was to get rid of this fungus thrower at the next public dustbin...
Well, curiosity prevailed and after a couple of weeks with the camera packed tightly in a vinyl bag in the opposite corner of the room, I decided to have a closer look at the camera. First, the mold on the bellows cleaned away nicely. Second, the problem with the film transport was also solved easily. I then disassembled the lens and found that contrary to my expectations the heavy fungus on the inner surfaces hadn't eaten into the glass, it cleaned away without a trace. Finally I even managed to get the shutter running again by simply taking the speed setting dial off and putting it back on. And suddenly, there was a nice, working camera sitting in front of me. So, I guess the conclusio is that sometimes you shouldn't write off these old folders too early
🙂