carbo73
Well-known
Both the alpha & omega of the folding Kodak Retinas, 30 years of 35mm evolution. It was quite a touch of luck to have both in a few days, and both quite cheap, considering that from among the Retinas, the 117 and the IIIC come generally at an extra price.
The Retina (117) was made in 1934-35 and it's the World's first camera designed for the 135 format daylight cassette. Still not tried with film, but appears to work perfectly well.
And the Retina IIIC (028) was made decades later, in 1958-1960, and it's the most advanced Retina model, at least among the folding ones. Works well, with only the problem of a wildly inacurate film advance indicator, so you end without knowing were you will reach the end of the cassette. With the added problem that when approaching the 1 you have to "jump" the indicator again to 36 to avoid the blocking of the advance.
As I said, alpha & omega, beginning and end of this beautiful and compact family, made in Stuttgart.
The Retina (117) was made in 1934-35 and it's the World's first camera designed for the 135 format daylight cassette. Still not tried with film, but appears to work perfectly well.

And the Retina IIIC (028) was made decades later, in 1958-1960, and it's the most advanced Retina model, at least among the folding ones. Works well, with only the problem of a wildly inacurate film advance indicator, so you end without knowing were you will reach the end of the cassette. With the added problem that when approaching the 1 you have to "jump" the indicator again to 36 to avoid the blocking of the advance.

As I said, alpha & omega, beginning and end of this beautiful and compact family, made in Stuttgart.

CharlesDAMorgan
Veteran
Camera and motor drive, all working, for the grand total of £35.
I have to say, the 40mm Ultron looks the bees on the camera.
I have to say, the 40mm Ultron looks the bees on the camera.

helen.HH
To Light & Love ...
well as one knows in the classifieds here, I bought a IIIF with a collapsible 50 summicron...
YAY , Thank You Jan !
comes tomorrow ~ Thursday
my only concern: Will My Eyes be able to do well , with that little Barnack VF , hope so.
I do wear glasses when shooting
YAY , Thank You Jan !
comes tomorrow ~ Thursday
my only concern: Will My Eyes be able to do well , with that little Barnack VF , hope so.
I do wear glasses when shooting
Ko.Fe.
Lenses 35/21 Gears 46/20
well as one knows in the classifieds here, I bought a IIIF with a collapsible 50 summicron...
YAY , Thank You Jan !
comes tomorrow ~ Thursday
my only concern: Will My Eyes be able to do well , with that little Barnack VF, hope so.
I do wear glasses when shooting
Cool!
IIIF should have plastic frame for RF, VF.
helen.HH
To Light & Love ...
Thanks Kostya,
tomorrow the big day out and about with Miss IIIf
testing my Eye Power & old school of loading film , lol
tomorrow the big day out and about with Miss IIIf
testing my Eye Power & old school of loading film , lol
jbhthescots
Well-known
Thanks Kostya,
tomorrow the big day out and about with Miss IIIf
testing my Eye Power & old school of loading film , lol
Have you found the slot for the SD card HH?
CharlesDAMorgan
Veteran
Thanks Kostya,
tomorrow the big day out and about with Miss IIIf
testing my Eye Power & old school of loading film , lol
I find swearing in German vital. It doesn't make it easier to load the film, but it does make the process somehow more authentic...
helen.HH
To Light & Love ...
Have you found the slot for the SD card HH?
Yes John
Going to have Don/ Dag install one
Just for me ,
will be the first !
Then I can curse film, digital, leica, and say ‘Crap’ ,
helen.HH
To Light & Love ...
I find swearing in German vital. It doesn't make it easier to load the film, but it does make the process somehow more authentic...![]()
Haha, had me hysterical, well done Charles
Must google some German now... the curse words of course !
jbhthescots
Well-known
Yes John
Going to have Don/ Dag install one
Just for me ,
will be the first !
Then I can curse film, digital, leica, and say ‘Crap’ ,![]()
These are the worst Leica cameras, HH - the 'sensors' have to be replaced every 36 shots or so!
CharlesDAMorgan
Veteran
Haha, had me hysterical, well done Charles
Must google some German now... the curse words of course !
Naturlich...
As a teenager I was sent to Germany on an exchange with the son of a German Colonel. The Oberst was intensely keen to try out his English so I learned little German apart from the verboten stuff from his son and friends, which later stood me in very good stead when I took over a team of German bankers in Frankfurt, and loading my III.
TobiasL
Member
Bought a X100V two days ago, it takes some to get used to. When I first put in the SD card I tried to wind the "film" thinking it was a film camera.
kuvvy
Well-known
D
Deleted member 65559
Guest
well as one knows in the classifieds here, I bought a IIIF with a collapsible 50 summicron...
YAY , Thank You Jan !
comes tomorrow ~ Thursday
my only concern: Will My Eyes be able to do well , with that little Barnack VF , hope so.
I do wear glasses when shooting
Yours looks like a beauty Helen. You might find the SBOOI indispensible. I know i did.

unnamed by
raid
Dad Photographer
You guys seem to have a blast here! Maybe I should buy something just to join your chats!
carbo73
Well-known
A Zeiss Ikon Contaflex II, made c. 1954. It has a sticker inside telling that the original retailer was a shop in Osnabruck, Germany.
And a Graflex Century Graphic, complete with Synchro Compur shutter & Schneider Kreutznach Xenar f3.5 / 105mm lens. It also has a very useful flash & remote release handle and 120 format back. The flash is mine.

And a Graflex Century Graphic, complete with Synchro Compur shutter & Schneider Kreutznach Xenar f3.5 / 105mm lens. It also has a very useful flash & remote release handle and 120 format back. The flash is mine.

Rayt
Nonplayer Character
I just bought a very nice condition IIIf RDST from KEH and am finishing a roll to make sure the shutter is ok.
webOSUser
Well-known
Canon 135mm f/3.5 LTM
Canon 135mm f/3.5 LTM
A Canon 135mm f/3.5 LTM telephoto lens from a local camera shop. The lens looks nice and clean and the focus and aperture ring are very smooth.
The first time I took it out, I made a stupid mistake. :bang:.
I mounted it on my FED2. It went on easy, was a pain to take off. The Canon LTM lenses use a 'tongue' to couple to the rangefinder, rather than the ring that the FSU lenses that I have use. The FED2 has a feeler that works fine with a ring, but catches on the tongue.
I hope that I didn't damage the FED2 rangefinder. :bang:

Steve W
Canon 135mm f/3.5 LTM
A Canon 135mm f/3.5 LTM telephoto lens from a local camera shop. The lens looks nice and clean and the focus and aperture ring are very smooth.
The first time I took it out, I made a stupid mistake. :bang:.
I hope that I didn't damage the FED2 rangefinder. :bang:
Steve W
webOSUser
Well-known
That Graflex Century Graphic looks great. It looks like it will b e a lovely little camera.
Steve W
Steve W
A Zeiss Ikon Contaflex II, made c. 1954. It has a sticker inside telling that the original retailer was a shop in Osnabruck, Germany.
![]()
And a Graflex Century Graphic, complete with Synchro Compur shutter & Schneider Kreutznach Xenar f3.5 / 105mm lens. It also has a very useful flash & remote release handle and 120 format back. The flash is mine.
![]()
Vince Lupo
Whatever
Giving it another try....

One More Try by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
This is the sixth Hasselblad that I've owned. For some unexplained reason, I seem to fall in and out of love with them, be it a 500C, C/M, EL/M, SWC, you name it. Well I thought I'd give it one more try.
The 500C body was one of those KEH-bought, sight-unseen 'as-is' specials. Turns out that it's a lovely, working body, and it's a first-year (1957) model, which I really wanted. The waist-level finder is another 'early' example (small magnifier, which I also like) and is in nice shape. The lens, lens hood and film back came from another source and are all in super condition. Speaking of the back, the fellow from whom I bought it thought it was a '12' back -- turns out it's a 16S back, which is also known as the 'super slide' size (2"x2"). I was going to send it back, but I thought what the heck, let's give it a try while I wait on the 12 back. I made a mask for the ground glass out of some black-core matboard, took it out this morning and shot a roll of FP4 Plus. I just developed the roll -- I actually quite like that size! Now, I don't think it's going to replace a 12 back anytime soon, but it does add some versatility to the camera, and it was cheap enough.

One More Try by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
This is the sixth Hasselblad that I've owned. For some unexplained reason, I seem to fall in and out of love with them, be it a 500C, C/M, EL/M, SWC, you name it. Well I thought I'd give it one more try.
The 500C body was one of those KEH-bought, sight-unseen 'as-is' specials. Turns out that it's a lovely, working body, and it's a first-year (1957) model, which I really wanted. The waist-level finder is another 'early' example (small magnifier, which I also like) and is in nice shape. The lens, lens hood and film back came from another source and are all in super condition. Speaking of the back, the fellow from whom I bought it thought it was a '12' back -- turns out it's a 16S back, which is also known as the 'super slide' size (2"x2"). I was going to send it back, but I thought what the heck, let's give it a try while I wait on the 12 back. I made a mask for the ground glass out of some black-core matboard, took it out this morning and shot a roll of FP4 Plus. I just developed the roll -- I actually quite like that size! Now, I don't think it's going to replace a 12 back anytime soon, but it does add some versatility to the camera, and it was cheap enough.
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