Perkeo I

[JonR]

I just got myself a PERKEO I 120-camera -- not intentionally but I was bidding on a small lighltmeeter (Kinox) that looked interesting and then got both the camera and the lightmeeter.

Dispite having been a keen photographer for many years I have never used 120 film and never seen this camera before.

Anyone who can share a manual with me and/or tips on how to use it. It is for sure a basic camera but the shutter seems to be special and how do you advance the film properly !??

Jon

 

[VictorM.]

Butkus to the rescue again: http://www.cameramanuals.org/voigtlander_pdf/voigtlander_perkeo_i.pdf

Check out his other Voigtlander manuals.

 

[JonR]

Thanks - great site for Voigtländer cameras - I will bookmark that one.

 

[VictorM.]

Here's some pictures from a Perkeo: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=perkeo&w=30505166@N00

 

[charjohncarter]

JonR, whitecat who posts on this forum has some images from his Perkeo in the RFF gallery. Check them out, I think you will be surprised. They are really good.

 

[Vics]

Jon, You are REALLY going to hate yourself for buying a medium format camera! Your 35s will all pale by comparison when it comes to image quality. I feel a fairly constant tug back to my Rollei TLRs in spite of my beloved Contax and Leica cameras & lenses. 120 film is just a delight to work with in the darkroom! Wait til you see a contact sheet!
Best, Vic

 

[kuzano]

Perkeo.. I was told French for Pygmy

Perkeo.. I was told French for Pygmy

What lens and shutter on your new Perko. I have had a few of these. The Perkeo I is the simpler, more reliable model and came with a couple of lens choices. The Perkeo II has frame counting and stop, double exposure prevention and shutter cocking, but the mechanism is fragile and somewhat unreliable. Don't be seduced up on this one. The Perkeo Rangefinder has accurate rangefinder focus, shutter cocking and frame count w/stop. It is hard to find and very pricey when you do. I've seen the rangefinder sell for $400 and up a bunch.

Your little Perkeo I will stand by you and shoot the same pictures, but focus is manual. Voigtlander made a great little uncoupled rangefinder that fits in the accessory shoe on top of the camera. It is a very accurate rangefinder and classes up the Perkeo I. The only flaw is sometimes the rangefinder is in meters and the lens is in feet, so conversion is necessary. I just pick a small aperture and everything over 30 feet out is in focus at just shy of infinity.

Lucky find. imminently pocketable medium format.

 

[JonR]

Thanks for all the comments... Mine came with a VASCAR f/4,5, 80.
Found the manual, found some good shoots at Flickr and even a PERKEO Flickr group so the next step will be to find some 120-film and test it. Looking forward to that and will report back here!
Jon

 

[JonR]

Just wanted to report back!

Tested the camera with some film last weekend and just got the processed film and scanned files back. Overall very good result on the "landscape" type of pictures whereas the indoor, close-up portraits does not really show the sharpness you would like to see. Need to do some more testing but given the basic functionality, age etc I am impressed.

First 120 mm film for me also after houndreds of houndres of 135 mm film!



Jon

 

[VictorM.]

Simple (3 element) lenses mostly need f/8 for acceptable sharpness. Close focusing is often a challenge for folders unless the focusing has been adjusted very carefully.

 

[VictorM.]

Whoa!! Wait a minute there...is that Sweden? Where's the snow?

 

[peterm1]

Does this have the Colour Skopar lens? If so I have found that this lens is usually pretty decent. (A similar design to the Tessar.)

 

[JonR]

VictorM - snow, well unfortunately not here in the Stockholm area.... it is winter and we should have snow but right now we have nothing - only pretty boring, grey winter wheather with short days right now. I hope we will get some and if you go further north you will of course find it.

Peterm1 - the lens is a VASCAR 80/4,5 which from what I have read on the web is a lens used on some of those cameras with slightly lower optical quality than the SKOPAR.

/jon