Seagull 203-1

[Roberto]

I just realized that I own the number 00074, does that means that is was the 74th camera to leave the production line? Or is there a more subtle meaning in Seagull's serial numbers?

Thanks,
Rob.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I have always wanted to try one of those cameras, but the Chinese guys who sell them on Ebay tend to want WAY more than they're worth. I have an old Seagull Df-1 35mm SLR that is fun to play with but its so poorly made that i fear breaking it if I use it often, and I had a Seagull TLR that broke after 6 rolls of film.

 

[Roberto]

I have always wanted to try one of those cameras, but the Chinese guys who sell them on Ebay tend to want WAY more than they're worth. I have an old Seagull Df-1 35mm SLR that is fun to play with but its so poorly made that i fear breaking it if I use it often, and I had a Seagull TLR that broke after 6 rolls of film.

This one seems to be fairly good.. does not look (and feel) cheap..
RF is accurate and the shutter fires with no hesitation and seems OK.
I don't use it a lot..

look at this one: it's selling for nothing..

http://cgi.ebay.it/Seagull-203-I-Rangefinder-Camera-for-120-film_W0QQitemZ200208685557QQihZ010QQcategoryZ710QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Rob

 

[sweathog]

Hey guys,
I've been doing a bit of reading on these recently, and I have to say I quite fancy one. I can't seem to find any at an even slightly inflated price.
I'm kicking myself, because I missed one on the bay recently for about £10, which really annoyed me.
Any thoughts as to where I can get one?

 

[Mauro]

I own a Seagull 203-1 and I am really happy with it.
I must confess that I do not use it so much, mainly because few labs process the 120 colour films with high costs. But I also tried it with a Fuji slide film. and the results were astonishing!
A good camera indeed, I paid 20 EUR for it.

 

[rich815]

Unless their shutters are somehow better than the ones used in the TLRs I'd avoid them unless you can get it for peanuts. I lived in China from 1996 to 2001 and bought about 3-4 Seagfull TLRs. Paid between $20-50 USD for them. 2 of them were sharp and took wonderful photos. The other 2 were soft. The ones that were sharp both eventually died a cruel death when their shutters simply stopped working. One froze up. The other the front popped off and the shutter and springs flew every where. Decent cameras, for the few months they last anyway...

Personally I've moved on to user Rolleicords and Rolleiflexes and for the folder type the Certo Super Dolly Sport or Zeiss Ikons...