68degrees
Well-known
Do they even exist?
What are some good square format 35mm slrs?
- Thread starter 68degrees
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Takkun
Ian M.
there have been a handful of 24x24mm cameras, but only one SLR:
http://www.shutterbug.com/content/mecaflex-square-format-35mm-slr
http://www.shutterbug.com/content/mecaflex-square-format-35mm-slr
sevo
Fokutorendaburando
As far as I remember, there were no square format 35mm SLRs ever built. But there have been 24x36mm SLRs modified to square size, with a film gate mask, matte mask and different transport gear - done for technical or medical photography applications and correspondingly utilitarian. Many of them are hardly fit for general photography as they have other single-purpose restrictions (e.g. grid powered long magazine, fixed "medical" ring flash lens, single shutter speed) beyond the size modification. And of course they have no size advantage over the 24x36 they are based on.
The closest to a genuine 24x24 SLR (arguably about 28mm square) would be the rare few "Instamatic" 126 SLRs made in the late sixties to mid seventies by Kodak, Rollei and perhaps some more.
The closest to a genuine 24x24 SLR (arguably about 28mm square) would be the rare few "Instamatic" 126 SLRs made in the late sixties to mid seventies by Kodak, Rollei and perhaps some more.
sevo
Fokutorendaburando
Oh dear, yes, the Mecaflex. Never seen one in working condition, though...
Spanik
Well-known
Robot made a few: Recorder 24, Robot IIa, Star, Star II Vollautomat. Then Pentacon made the Taxona. Zeiss has the Tenax I and Tenax II. All rather rare stuff.
Sejanus.Aelianus
Veteran
Thanks for digging that up. I never knew that Killfit had designed a SLR.
ruby.monkey
Veteran
But none of them SLRs.
Coincidentally, MW Classic has a Mecaflex for sale at the moment, with 40mm f/2.8 and 105mm f/4 lenses in all. 't'is said to be working.
sevo
Fokutorendaburando
No SLRs, though. Robots (whose standard format was 24x24) aren't that rare, but they are scale focus (except for Royal rangefinder, but that usually is 24x36).
68degrees
Well-known
Sevo I would like you to modify my Nikon FM with mask and special transport gear and make it do 24x24 square photos. When can you have it done? Thanks.
Spanik
Well-known
Indeed, my fault. But then you have the Alsaphot Alsaflex. Not an SLR in the sense that it doesn't use a pentaprism but you look through the lens.
ronnies
Well-known
sevo
Fokutorendaburando
Screen and film gate modifications are easy, within the range of DIY projects - but if you don't save film and transport the full 36mm width, you may just as well expose the full area and only crop in scanning/printing/projection.
Making another gear set and counter is beyond home capabilities, or indeed profitable one-of-a-kind hacks. I doubt that anybody can do a full modification today, at least unless you are prepared to spend a fortune on it. It might even have been impossible to get a after-market modification back in film days - the cameras I've seen all appeared to be factory modified.
68degrees
Well-known
the idea would be to save film otherwise no mods would be needed, just crop the image later. So in my perfect world, both a mask and a transport mod would be required and put some lines on the viewfiinder. I wonder how many 24 x 24 images could be had from a 24 exp roll?
johannielscom
Snorting silver salts
Since the portion you take off each frame is a third of what remains, expect to get 36 exposures from a 24 exp. roll.
BUT
save film, buy a Zenit-MT-1 Surprise (half frame Zenit-19 variant). 😀
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Zenit_MT-1_Surprise
rbelyell
Well-known
rollei made a very high grade all metal 126 film camera that came with the famous rollei t coated 40/2.8, as well as an excellnt 28/2.8 and 80/4. it had a rangefinder patch and was metered. my understanding is that one cand fairly easily modify 35mm film to fit in 126mm canisters. is that interesting to you?
tony
tony
johannielscom
Snorting silver salts
Be advised, 135mm film indeed can be fit in 126 cassettes but you would very likely need to home develop.
Word has it that C41 color processing isn't much harder than B&W processing, though...
Word has it that C41 color processing isn't much harder than B&W processing, though...
unixrevolution
Well-known
I had a Zenit MT-1 that I bought in a clutch of other stuff from someone on PentaxForums. It was either natively M42 or modified to the M42 mount. Frankly, it was rubbish. IT was huge even for a regular SLR, and the meterless manual camera required batteries to function.
I would suggest, for the less-than-full-35mm-frame enthusiast, that a Konica AutoReflex is a much better value. I have one now, and I love it.
ZeissFan
Veteran
Is the goal here to save film or save money or get more shots per roll?
If it's the latter, you should jump to half frame (72 for a roll o 36). The Olympus Pen F cameras are excellent, as are the lenses.
Shooting square is a bit different than shooting 36x24. I love the square format, but it does force you to take a different approach to your scenes. Not a bad thing, but you should be aware of it.
To convert a 126 Instamatic film camera to 35mm, you'll need to black out the window on the cartridge, as well as the camera back.
The Rolleiflex SL26 uses the famed Zeiss Pro-Tessar lenses, which means you replace the front element with accessory lenses.
Ironically, the Zeiss Ikon Contaflex 126 uses true interchangeable lenses. I say "ironically," because the Contaflex 35mm cameras used only Pro-Tessars. The lenses for the Contaflex 126 are of higher quality than the camera. It can be difficult to find a Contaflex 126 in working order.
I've read of people making some modifications to the Kodak Instamatic 500 to use 35mm film inside the 126 cartridge.
I'm sort of hoping that Lomo will produce some 126 film.
If it's the latter, you should jump to half frame (72 for a roll o 36). The Olympus Pen F cameras are excellent, as are the lenses.
Shooting square is a bit different than shooting 36x24. I love the square format, but it does force you to take a different approach to your scenes. Not a bad thing, but you should be aware of it.
To convert a 126 Instamatic film camera to 35mm, you'll need to black out the window on the cartridge, as well as the camera back.
The Rolleiflex SL26 uses the famed Zeiss Pro-Tessar lenses, which means you replace the front element with accessory lenses.
Ironically, the Zeiss Ikon Contaflex 126 uses true interchangeable lenses. I say "ironically," because the Contaflex 35mm cameras used only Pro-Tessars. The lenses for the Contaflex 126 are of higher quality than the camera. It can be difficult to find a Contaflex 126 in working order.
I've read of people making some modifications to the Kodak Instamatic 500 to use 35mm film inside the 126 cartridge.
I'm sort of hoping that Lomo will produce some 126 film.
Dwig
Well-known
You also need to use unperforated 35mm film and add the one-perf-per-frame perforation required by the 126 cameras.
Roger Hicks
Veteran
In about 1972 I bought one in working condition from Williamson's of Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow. I sold it quick as it was worth FAR more as a collector camera than as one to use.
Cheers,
R.
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