FallisPhoto
Veteran
Thanks, I'll have to check that out. I have a few sources for 6x9 and 9x12 sheet film, but they are all expensive. What I really miss is Efke ISO 25 in 9x12. I haven't seen that since J&C went out of business.
oftheherd
Veteran
Yeah! I have tried Adox 25 in 35mm and 120, and like it very much. I looked and really thought I had see Adox 9x12 in at least 50, if not 25. Maybe I was looking at the 4x5.
Here is some ASA 100 EFKE, which I think is pretty much the same. http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?cat_id=404&pid=1000002044
chippy
foo was here
hey oftherherd, sometimes the numbers are very helpfull because they fall within a section of the series that the records can narrow down to within a year and with others the numbers indicate in the records to be somewhere within a few years so a little bit of interprolation is needed, unfortunately both the lens and shutter numbers in this instance are in the more vauge area.
on the Balda (be just my luck after all these posts that it turned out to be something different but i am sure it is a Balda at this point) the Trinar would appear to be old stock that Balda (or Rodenstock) may of held onto for a year or most likely two before placing on a camera. with the shutter number it would suggest that its possibly a 1936 camera but not before 1935. i'm not sure what the symbol means---interesting, i have a shutter that has an 'A' in front of the number that i am not sure what it represents either.
the second plate camera doesnt do the right thing for us either in as much as the lens and shutter are from different years, however this was quite a common occurance for lenses to held over for stock until needed. the lens (a tessar?) seems to be manufactured in 1931 and the shutter in 1934 so obviously it most likely a 1934 camera.
yeah perhaps the formal scope of the forum should be widend; these really are great, easy and enjoyable cameras to use .in todays world of digital they take you back to basics but with the size of the neg, give an image with Megapixel count thats awsome
JTK
Established
I'm about to list a Century with 80, 150, 240 and various roll backs, as well as sheet film hangers and tanks...you'll see it in Classifieds as soon as I get around to photographing it. It's not a pocket camera, but it's not nearly as bulky as RB67 or Pentax 6X7.
chippy
foo was here
sure... thats one of the caveats of using ebay or unscrupulous sellers. as i am not doing that i am not couterfeiting. i am simply talking to restore something, not make something it isnt-certainly not changing it (the old Welta) to something else
its not couterfeiting by me though--it would be the other person that is fraudulant and dishonest
of course we dont have any control over what other people do. if i want to be meticulous with a restoration thats a good thing. i cant make the restoration poor on the basis that some criminal will get his hands on it and pass it off as mint or original...again, if you buy from a reputable source then they evaluate the item (or in this case a camera) and disclose that it has been restored and what has been done. for example i often buy cameras (and other antiques), sometimes very antique cameras from a few diferent stores or auction houses (not meaning ebay) and they have a reputation to uphold and say whether and to what level a camera (or other item) has been restored. in many instances a restoration increases the value from what the item was valued before, of course there are instances when the reverse is true, it must be taken on a case by case basis. in other instances if an item is worn with age or damaged, there are exspert restorers in whatever feild of item you like..e.g. say replacing the leather and wording on book covers or reglueing the pages in. they dont do it to conterfeit or decreae the value or they would not do it, they dont if it will. replacing the leather and imprinting the title and auther of the book into the new covering in this case is restoration.
oftheherd
Veteran
Chippy - thanks for the information. I have no idea how I would come across that otherwise. Now I just need to get out and use these two camers. Regardless of when they were made or by who, they are great, usable cameras that deserve to be put to the use they were intended for. Also the Welta as soon as I remember which place I put it. 
Leigh Youdale
Well-known
There's a Bessa II RF with Color Skopar lens on EBay now at $200 USD and just over one day to go.
Leigh Youdale
Well-known
FallisPhoto
Veteran
Andrew, you've seen my work, and what I do is by no means poor. False modesty aside, I am very good at it. On the other hand, it is not original. For example, instead of leatherette, I usually use real leather, and usually it will be very thin garment grade Italian kidskin. If I use leatherette, it is much higher quality than the original stuff, and while it is often similar in appearance, it is not identical. However, if I don't like the appearance of the original leatherette, I'll probably use something I do like. The leatherette they had to work with back then was pretty crappy and I don't have the same constraints. I only do black though. I don't make "clown cameras," as some do.
Andrew, it would be very easy for me to fix up some cameras to look very close to mint and to do it in such a way that they absolutely could not tell it had been restored, at least not beyond cleaning. I know where I can get big pieces of identical 50+ year old cellulose leatherette, I can dissolve the original shellac and reuse it, I can make dies that I can use to stamp the original-style lettering into the leatherette, I can use rottenstone and a block to remove minor scratches without going through the chrome and I know how to do that without marring its appearance, and so on. I know how to do these things, but I choose not to do most of them, because I feel it would be somehow dishonest.
With rare books, replacing the cover is almost never restoration and is absolutely never done unless the book is falling apart and is so reduced in value that you have little to lose. With a new cover, all you'd be doing is preserving the contents (the knowlege in the book). It would have entirely lost its collector value. A book can be rehinged and patched to the point it looks like it was quilted and will still be worth more than it would be with a new cover. Even if the leather is actually rotting it is not replaced, but is treated with a consolidant and a preservative. The only exception to this is if you can use genuine period materials (For example, a much less worn, but otherwise identical piece of 100-year-old leather used to replace the cover on a 100-year-old book). BTW, I collect rare books too (Lovecraftian fiction). Also, whenever possible, book restorations are done these days so that they are reversible.
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chippy
foo was here
Overall Charles i think we are on the same page and just going around in circles...with perhaps the exception that i dont think there's anything wrong with embossing the the original lines or lettering into the leather or leatherette and perhaps you do. i simply like them to look as they did and can only be bothered or interested if the camera is to a point where its passed looking like it has character or a worn aged look and simply looks a wreck or ugly.
i reckon we have mentioned it before but i have a number of old folders that (like the old perle for instance you fixed up) are meant to be chrome but now they are rust! i could just paint them black like you did, which i dont have a problem with you doing it...its just that i prefer it if they were chrome. they just anoy me whenever i look at them and i often think i might strip them down completly and either have them rechromed (as so far home chrome electro plating seems out of the question) or i sometimes consider buying a home nickle plating kit that will at least look very close to chrome...but one things leads to another so it seems to do that i will have to make my own rivets as well and nickle plate them...
i reckon we have mentioned it before but i have a number of old folders that (like the old perle for instance you fixed up) are meant to be chrome but now they are rust! i could just paint them black like you did, which i dont have a problem with you doing it...its just that i prefer it if they were chrome. they just anoy me whenever i look at them and i often think i might strip them down completly and either have them rechromed (as so far home chrome electro plating seems out of the question) or i sometimes consider buying a home nickle plating kit that will at least look very close to chrome...but one things leads to another so it seems to do that i will have to make my own rivets as well and nickle plate them...
FallisPhoto
Veteran
I've thought about that too. Unfortunately, the only places around here that do chrome plating would make them look as shiny as a car's bumper. I'd rather have them black than that. I have the same problem with the home nickel plating kits. Until they come up with one that can give a satin finish, I'll just keep painting them black. It at least isn't annoying to look at and it stops further damage. Rust doesn't just sit there, you know -- it grows. You can buy nickel plated rivets, you know. They are quite common.
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chippy
foo was here
Ah thats ok... like Walt Disney, so they dont rust further i arranged for them to be placed in a cryonic chamber, in suspended animation only to be taken out when a cure is found
actually the chrome on the perle (one thats in decent shape) does look as shiny as a chrome bumper.
where are the rivets avaiable...i've pretty much only found brass ones and even then not always the size i need (some are large head, some not ect)...i've pretty settled that i have to make/turn my own
actually the chrome on the perle (one thats in decent shape) does look as shiny as a chrome bumper.
where are the rivets avaiable...i've pretty much only found brass ones and even then not always the size i need (some are large head, some not ect)...i've pretty settled that i have to make/turn my own
FallisPhoto
Veteran
That's no good. The extreme cold will crystallize many metals and makes them as brittle as glass.
Well, there are a few...
Pretty much all the hardware stores here sell them. I've found them in brass, aluminum, copper, steel and nickel-plated brass. I've found them with countersunk heads, dome heads and flat heads. I am assuming you want small solid rivets, for fastening metal parts, like this: http://www.scalehardware.com/miniature%20rivets.htm If you mean leather rivets, for fastening carrying straps and neck straps, pretty much any hobby shop catering to leather workers will have them. There are also nickel-plated pop rivets, nickel-plated screw rivets and nickel-plated tubular rivets. I can give you links for those too if that is what you want. You may even be able to find this stuff on ebay.
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chippy
foo was here
cheers charles
that place is not bad for the small rivets, the nickle seem to be a new addition to their list too
that place is not bad for the small rivets, the nickle seem to be a new addition to their list too
FallisPhoto
Veteran
There is a hobby and craft store here that sells them, and my local Lowes hardware store sells them too. I never thought anyone would have a problem finding them. After all, a simple Google search for nickel rivets turned up over 761,000 hits, most of which seem to be stores selling them. I'm assuming that this company added the nickel to their inventory in order to keep up with everyone else.
chippy
foo was here
if they were easy to get here i wouldnt of mentioned it
mostly on my searches i find pop rivets which arnt any help and the few places i have found sell to distributors or sell in large quantities. for a camera of course there are numorous sizes needed and i dont need thousands each of the different sizes which is why i mention making them. if they can be purchased in reasonably small numbers then its fine
mostly on my searches i find pop rivets which arnt any help and the few places i have found sell to distributors or sell in large quantities. for a camera of course there are numorous sizes needed and i dont need thousands each of the different sizes which is why i mention making them. if they can be purchased in reasonably small numbers then its fine
D.O'K.
Darren O'Keeffe.
I'd offer a guarded recommendation on an Ensign Selfix 820 (or similar Ensign) with Ross Xpres 105mm lens--provided you can find one with a reliable shutter, and despite its being a rather bulky camera.
But it's solidly built, offers dual format (6x9 or 6x6), a full range of shutter speeds, and the glass is usually excellent.
The prices on e-bay seem to vary widely, perhaps mostly from around £40 to around £90.Mine cost £11 from a junk shop! However an Ensign Autorange (essentially the same as the 820, but with a rangefinder) recently sold for the entirely insane price of £1,216:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ROSS-ENSIGN-A...39:1|66:2|65:13|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
D.
But it's solidly built, offers dual format (6x9 or 6x6), a full range of shutter speeds, and the glass is usually excellent.
The prices on e-bay seem to vary widely, perhaps mostly from around £40 to around £90.Mine cost £11 from a junk shop! However an Ensign Autorange (essentially the same as the 820, but with a rangefinder) recently sold for the entirely insane price of £1,216:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ROSS-ENSIGN-A...39:1|66:2|65:13|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
D.
chippy
foo was here
yeah i saw that one myself ..CRAZY.. it was a bit ruff looking too, when it got to $1000 (500GBP) i thought that would be about it...i've seen them go for that before (in better condition), but next time i looked over $2000 bucks whahoo, nice big veiwfinder tho
Muggins
Junk magnet
You have to bear in mind that the Ensign Autorange 820 is Super Ikonta quality, but one of only about 500 ever made. Given the rate of attrition over fifty years or so, there'll be less than that left nowadays - say half? Then there's the ones still usable in that number... You begin to see why they're so expensive!
There was also the 820 Special, with an uncoupled rangefinder, which go for much less but don't come up on E**y much more often than the Autorange. But for any Ensign, you seem to be able to add a huge chunk on the price if it says "Autorange" on it. I found one once on a market, one of the early pre-war ones, but some bar steward had taken all the rangefinder parts off...
Adrian
There was also the 820 Special, with an uncoupled rangefinder, which go for much less but don't come up on E**y much more often than the Autorange. But for any Ensign, you seem to be able to add a huge chunk on the price if it says "Autorange" on it. I found one once on a market, one of the early pre-war ones, but some bar steward had taken all the rangefinder parts off...
Adrian
chippy
foo was here
Sure Adrian, i dont think i have seen one for maybe 10 or so months, it only takes two or three people bidding that want it at almost any cost for the bidding to get out of control. i wouldnt mind having a nice english made folding camera such as that autorange either. that in its self is a good reason to want one, but i'd prefer it for a $1000 if i did have a case of GAS tho LOL