farlymac
PF McFarland
With a Color-Skopar 3.5/80, double exposure prevention, and auto frame stop on winding, this is a very nice camera to slip into ones pocket for a day. The auto stop does skip every once in a while, there is some fungus in the lens which didn’t affect the photos any, and it has a slight bellows leak in one corner. I used the hood (first four photos) and yellow filter (last six photos) from my Vito B outfit, and attached a Rowi rangefinder for critical focus situations. Exposures were good, and where there were corrections needed, it was due to my exposing for the sky so I could brighten up the shadows in post. Also some cropping to compensate for the parallax I forgot to factor in.
Voigtlander Perkeo II Outfit by P F McFarland, on Flickr
First frame
Big Lots by P F McFarland, on Flickr
The rangefinder came in handy here
Willys Pick-up by P F McFarland, on Flickr
DoF check
DoF: Depth of Fence by P F McFarland, on Flickr
Parallax cut-off on the right
Former Salem Depot by P F McFarland, on Flickr
See more photos at https://flic.kr/s/aHskBYz2J8
PF
Voigtlander Perkeo II Outfit by P F McFarland, on Flickr
First frame
Big Lots by P F McFarland, on Flickr
The rangefinder came in handy here
Willys Pick-up by P F McFarland, on Flickr
DoF check
DoF: Depth of Fence by P F McFarland, on Flickr
Parallax cut-off on the right
Former Salem Depot by P F McFarland, on Flickr
See more photos at https://flic.kr/s/aHskBYz2J8
PF
hanskerensky
Well-known
Great set-up and images Phil !
markus_h_photography
Established
Very Nice. Have been thinking about dusting off my Perkeo for a while now. Could be a little project for the weekend.
jamin-b
Well-known
I bought a fully CLA'd Perkeo I with Skopar lens from certo6.com a couple of years ago, together with a matching Voigtlander rangefinder for the cold shoe. This is one of theose cameras i really want to love... it feels so compact, even the film loading mechanisms are clever, but somehow the image quality always lacks the wow factor for me, and when factoring in the rangefinder, hood, light meter, it suddenly seems more cumbersome than a quality 35mm rangefinder or SLR without a significant upgrade in picture quality to compensate for the hassle (unlike, say my experience with the Rolleiflex MX or T, from more or less the same period, which seems to lend a magic qualiy to images). Maybe it's just my copy of the Perkeo...the OP's photos look great...
farlymac
PF McFarland
Thanks, Hans and Kymar.
Jamin-b, you have to take into consideration the kind of film you use makes a big difference in picture quality. Low speed stuff will look better than higher speed, and my use of a yellow filter with the last six photos upped the contrast. I also believe that these old lenses are not well matched to using color film. And who knows, Jurgen could have swapped out an element or two on your lens, which could make a difference in image quality.
For the record, I usually don't carry a meter with me, or use an auxiliary rangefinder. But the Rowi came in a recent lot, and it just looked so good on the camera. I'll admit, it bulks it up too much to put in the pocket, but at those times I just slipped it off until I was ready to use it again.
I'm always practicing the Sunny-16 exposure calculation method, and have learned to read a scene to get the effect I want, whether it is sky or shadow detail that needs to be emphasized. Since I'm not in a hurry when using my folders, it doesn't bother me when I need to remove filters or hoods to be able to close the camera up, but then I usually just leave it opened out so it will be ready for the next shot.
Opening and closing a folder will cause the film to sometimes pull away from the pressure plate a bit due to the bellows vacuum effect. One thing to do is never wind the film before closing the camera, only after opening it. This assures proper tension across the pressure plate, and thus flatness. But if you have a camera without the double exposure prevention, and you want to make sure you don't shoot a frame twice, then only wind it half-way before you close the camera. This will act as a reminder that when you open it back up, you need to wind on until the next frame number appears in the window, and in so doing tension the film again.
PF
Jamin-b, you have to take into consideration the kind of film you use makes a big difference in picture quality. Low speed stuff will look better than higher speed, and my use of a yellow filter with the last six photos upped the contrast. I also believe that these old lenses are not well matched to using color film. And who knows, Jurgen could have swapped out an element or two on your lens, which could make a difference in image quality.
For the record, I usually don't carry a meter with me, or use an auxiliary rangefinder. But the Rowi came in a recent lot, and it just looked so good on the camera. I'll admit, it bulks it up too much to put in the pocket, but at those times I just slipped it off until I was ready to use it again.
I'm always practicing the Sunny-16 exposure calculation method, and have learned to read a scene to get the effect I want, whether it is sky or shadow detail that needs to be emphasized. Since I'm not in a hurry when using my folders, it doesn't bother me when I need to remove filters or hoods to be able to close the camera up, but then I usually just leave it opened out so it will be ready for the next shot.
Opening and closing a folder will cause the film to sometimes pull away from the pressure plate a bit due to the bellows vacuum effect. One thing to do is never wind the film before closing the camera, only after opening it. This assures proper tension across the pressure plate, and thus flatness. But if you have a camera without the double exposure prevention, and you want to make sure you don't shoot a frame twice, then only wind it half-way before you close the camera. This will act as a reminder that when you open it back up, you need to wind on until the next frame number appears in the window, and in so doing tension the film again.
PF
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Lovely camera! My favorite 6x6 folder.
I had mine fully overhauled a year or so ago. Works beautifully, worth the expense.
G
I had mine fully overhauled a year or so ago. Works beautifully, worth the expense.
G
02Pilot
Malcontent
I love my Perkeo II. It's my go-to travel MF camera.
The flip side to the film speed issue is that faster film allows smaller apertures, which in turn makes for greater DOF and more flexibility for estimating focus without a separate RF.
I don't agree that older lenses in general and the Perkeo's Color Skopar in particular are not suited to color; they do not produce the same color rendering as modern lenses to be sure, but I love it (obviously a subjective judgement). I've taken some of my favorite color photos with the Perkeo and Ektar - I can post samples if you like.
ossainraggi
Newbie
Is an exceloent set-up to travel with. I have the same, jut Prazisa not Rowi rangefinder.
jamin-b
Well-known
Maybe, but when I use the same film, metering and developing technique with my Iskra or Rolleiflex the pictures just seem to pop more. Not to mention with the GF670, which sometimes achieves results that are too close to digital for my taste....