Triple Play

[Laurence]

Well, it's Sunday afternoon and a gorgeous day in the Pacific Northwest. I'm stuck inside at work "babysitting" dogs and cats at an Animal Hospital.

So, with a little time on my hands, I thought I would post a few images of my trio of rangefinders (hit F11 on your browser to show these at full screen if you need to).

These cameras are all in great shape (the Bessa L is almost brand new). I just acquired the Agfa Isolette after a CLA and bellows from Jurgen Kreckel...it's beautiful, and the images are tack sharp with the Solinar lens. The Zorki is nearly mint, and serves me very well with the Jupiter 8. The Jupiter works very well even on the Bessa L for my landscapes, with care to make sure the zone focus is within the parameters.

An off-topic question: I am going to sell my Bessa L with 21/4 and finder. I've run three rolls through it, and it is in pristine shape, not a mark to be found. I decided to stick with medium format for most of my imagery. Does anyone have a suggestion as to a fair price to ask? I don't want to gouge any buyer, and will take suggestions faithfully, and then put it up on the Classifieds.

 

[Goodyear]

Nice shots.

No idea on price, but the 21 seems to be constantly in demand round here - with good reason, it's a cracker.

 

[Solinar]

That Isolette III that you have is a splendid performer.

 

[Laurence]

That Isolette III that you have is a splendid performer.

Solinar (nice nickname, by the way!):

You know, I've run three rolls of Velvia through the Isolette in the past two weeks. I was sort of well..."ho hum, the viewfinder isn't showing me a whole lot, probably the transparencies are okay, though." I was shooting a Pentax 645 as well, with the very nice 55mm Pentax lens.

I figured maybe the Isolette slides would be (hopefully) fairly close to the beauties I've been getting off the Pentax.

Holy Mother of Agfa! The slides are TO DIE FOR! Edge-to-edge sharp, the focus is spot-on, and the overall sharpness is BETTER under the loupe than the modern Pentax...I would NOT have believed it, but the difference is obvious. Not a WORLD of difference, but it's still there, and it's already converting me off my Pentax. I mean...why shoot with a lens that seems to be not as sharp? Sure, I'll use the Pentax for its panoply of lens variety, but for a LOT of my work, I'm taking the folder!

I am so completely gratifed with this camera, and it's pocketable for me! I was sort of figuring that it was a fairly nice little "consumer" camera for its day, but I simply wasn't expecting these results.

I am ecstatic that I can now consider this my backcountry camera. Would you BELIEVE it? A medium format camera that doesn't take up any room and weighs about 1/4 the weight of the Pentax. Realy and truly, the slides are magnificent.

What a SLEEPER.

Solinar, here's some quick scans. Mind you, these were test shots, so I wasn't looking for beautiful scenes.

The groundcover with the logging cable was to test the "close in" focus at about 1 meter, looking straight down to the ground from the tripod.

The tulips were shot wide open (cropped from scanner) to see how the falloff from the depth of field and "bokeh" looked. I think it looks swell. This is one clean machine. Who'd have thought it?

 

[Solinar]

Yep, the out of focus background is as smooth as butta. That's a great shot, too - Agfa or no Agfa.

I've yet to replicate the look of B/W portraits shot using 35mm that I get with either my Isolette III or my Super Speedex, which is the Ansco variant of the Super Speedex.

 

[Laurence]

Yep, the out of focus background is as smooth as butta. That's a great shot, too - Agfa or no Agfa.

I've yet to replicate the look of B/W portraits shot using 35mm that I get with either my Isolette III or my Super Speedex, which is the Ansco variant of the Super Speedex.

I see that your Super Speedex is quite the cut above the previous versions of the Isolette series. Very nice indeed, a lot of nice features, particularly the helicoid focus.

 

[Solinar]

But I do like the Isolette III for back packing and hiking. the short throw helicoid focus is fast. The Isolette III is also much lighter than the Super Isolette and a bit smaller..

The separate RF and focus control has one advantage. It forces one to slow down and think about the composition.

The Super Isolette, in my case Super Speedex, is better suited for people, as they move and the short throw helicoid focus is fast by even today's standards.

I don't want to encourage any future GAS, but TLR's are a next step from folders. They aren't fun to carry, but hmmm they are splendid shooters in their own right.

 

[Laurence]

Solinar, no need to feel you are causing GAS for me...Im already ensconced in my Yashica Mat 124...another FINE performer in my opinion. I've been know to carry that one several days into the Olympic Mountains, but have lately been trying to cut my weight. Gone are the days when I can comfortably carry 50 pounds, so every ounce counts.

However, the Yashica Mat is a superb "wilderness beach" camera for out on the Olympic National Park beach areas. I personally think the Yashinon lens is quite good. Maybe not a Rolleiflex of course, but pretty good.

Here is a shot this past year from the Yashica Mat down at the beach. The color rendition and smooth gradients of tonality are a forte' of the Yashinon lens.

Yeah, I know it's sort of hard to tell what the original looked like after scanning and then further degrading to post to the web. But let me just say that the transparency cuts like a knife! "Grain" is non-existent on the tranny.

 

[Solinar]

Sharp and vibrant - but the above photo has to be one of the nicest composition I've ever seen in the square format. It is so well balanced. The surf in the foreground, the tall rocks enveloped by a fog layer in the background to include a distant land mass are enchanting.

 

[Laurence]

Sharp and vibrant - but the above photo has to be one of the nicest composition I've ever seen in the square format. It is so well balanced. The surf in the foreground, the tall rocks enveloped by a fog layer in the background to include a distant land mass are enchanting.

Andrew, thank you so much! It's nice to receive a compliment. The seastacks were MADE for photography, so it was a no-brainer.

Here's another one, upriver in the coastal temperate rain forest. I cropped it down, because the sky was washed out. Yashica Mat again. Hoping to get my Isolette up there real soon.

This was a place called "Pony Bridge" across the Quinault River box canyon. I like the tendrils of moss hanging down.

 

[Solinar]

It's gorgeous undeneath the pony bridge. Long live the Yashicamat and the photographer.

 

[wlewisiii]

That beach shot is glorius. Thank you so very much for sharing it, Laurence.

I am reminded of why, of all the cameras I've gone through in the past couple of years, the 124G is the only one I really regret selling.

William

 

[Laurence]

It's gorgeous undeneath the pony bridge. Long live the Yashicamat and the photographer.

Wow, thank you Solinar! I HOPE to put in twenty more years. Getting VERY close to the big 60...yikes, life is FAST...

 

[back alley]

I am reminded of why, of all the cameras I've gone through in the past couple of years, the 124G is the only one I really regret selling.

not me...🙂

 

[Laurence]

That beach shot is glorius. Thank you so very much for sharing it, Laurence.

I am reminded of why, of all the cameras I've gone through in the past couple of years, the 124G is the only one I really regret selling.

William

It's interesting, William...I sold a Yashica Mat years ago...regretted it for a long, long time. Finally, finally...I couldn't resist and picked up another one, had it CLAd and have never regretted it. Sure, it's a little funky to look through the viewfinder...a bit dark...image reversed...tippy and easy to be tilted too much. But man, that LENS!

You should re-visit your passion for the 124G William. With a cheap 2450 scanner, I can have a "digital image" equal to or exceeding the clarity of the best DSLR. Or...you can have a drum scan made and find yourself owning the crispest images around. Prints from the drum scan are, of course, to die for...

Well, you know where I'm going with this.... 😛

 

[RJBender]

Solinar (nice nickname, by the way!):

You know, I've run three rolls of Velvia through the Isolette in the past two weeks. I was sort of well..."ho hum, the viewfinder isn't showing me a whole lot, probably the transparencies are okay, though." I was shooting a Pentax 645 as well, with the very nice 55mm Pentax lens.

I figured maybe the Isolette slides would be (hopefully) fairly close to the beauties I've been getting off the Pentax.

Holy Mother of Agfa! The slides are TO DIE FOR! Edge-to-edge sharp, the focus is spot-on, and the overall sharpness is BETTER under the loupe than the modern Pentax...I would NOT have believed it, but the difference is obvious. Not a WORLD of difference, but it's still there, and it's already converting me off my Pentax. I mean...why shoot with a lens that seems to be not as sharp? Sure, I'll use the Pentax for its panoply of lens variety, but for a LOT of my work, I'm taking the folder!

I am so completely gratifed with this camera, and it's pocketable for me! I was sort of figuring that it was a fairly nice little "consumer" camera for its day, but I simply wasn't expecting these results.

I am ecstatic that I can now consider this my backcountry camera. Would you BELIEVE it? A medium format camera that doesn't take up any room and weighs about 1/4 the weight of the Pentax. Realy and truly, the slides are magnificent.

What a SLEEPER.

Solinar, here's some quick scans. Mind you, these were test shots, so I wasn't looking for beautiful scenes.

The groundcover with the logging cable was to test the "close in" focus at about 1 meter, looking straight down to the ground from the tripod.

The tulips were shot wide open (cropped from scanner) to see how the falloff from the depth of field and "bokeh" looked. I think it looks swell. This is one clean machine. Who'd have thought it?

Gorgeous images, Laurence!

 

[RJBender]

Solinar, no need to feel you are causing GAS for me...Im already ensconced in my Yashica Mat 124...another FINE performer in my opinion. I've been know to carry that one several days into the Olympic Mountains, but have lately been trying to cut my weight. Gone are the days when I can comfortably carry 50 pounds, so every ounce counts.

However, the Yashica Mat is a superb "wilderness beach" camera for out on the Olympic National Park beach areas. I personally think the Yashinon lens is quite good. Maybe not a Rolleiflex of course, but pretty good.

Here is a shot this past year from the Yashica Mat down at the beach. The color rendition and smooth gradients of tonality are a forte' of the Yashinon lens.

Yeah, I know it's sort of hard to tell what the original looked like after scanning and then further degrading to post to the web. But let me just say that the transparency cuts like a knife! "Grain" is non-existent on the tranny.

Awesome!

R.J.

 

[amateriat]

Twin-lens...twin-lens...

Just gave me a little thought. I'll be right back, want to check out something somewhere...hey, stop following me!!


- Barrett ("An Autocord...an Autocord for my master...")

 

[Laurence]

Okay, Barrett -- cough it up! I tried to follow you to that hiding place for a "twin-lens...twin-lens"...but you lost me in that right turn out of the family room.

How about at LEAST a friggin' CLUE!

 

[Buze]

I have a Super Isolette and I also get fantastic results, the sharpness is amazing (equals my Bronica Nikkor lenses) and in a tiny package!

One amazing thing is that it is sharp, even wide open ! Contrary to all I know and experienced about Tessars...