Analog photography revisited in the digital age
Great things have small beginnings, but in this case an even big start. Let’s dive back to 1916, the year of the No. 3A Autographic Kodak Special. The ‘Special’ was an understatement, since it changed photography significantly. The huge medium format took 8×14 cm pictures. On a roll! We found and happily can review it, this masterpiece of 105 years old.
Continue reading “The first coupled Rangefinder: Kodak No. 3A”
Zeis Ikon’s most iconic camera series: the 10 models of the Super Ikonta, made between 1934 and 1959. Superior medium format rangefinders that still deliver fantastic results and at least one should belong in every vintage collection. I was able to get my hands on the rare 530/15 or the Super Ikomat D, a very special Super Ikonta that produces 6,5×11 cm negatives on an old 116 film roll that was ended in 1984. But there is hope.
Continue reading “When size does (not) matter: Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta D”
It is not the most famous Voigtlander although it is part of the most popular medium 6×9 Voigtlander Bessa series. We refer to the les known original Bessa RF, far more sophisticated than its siblings because of the coupled Rangefinder. Made in 1936 and as black and dark as the rising evil in Germany.
Continue reading “Bessa RF: the forgotten classic Rangefinder”
A number that resembles a plane, B35. But in this case for a camera so small that it even fits the pockets of your pant. It is one of the smallest 135 cameras ever made, by Rollei that became more famous with the famous Rolleiflex twin reflex series. But the little Rollei was a very popular, nifty quality camera. The one you take on holidays, to a birthday party or leave in the car just in case.
Continue reading “Right out of the pocket: Rollei B35”
A German watchmaker designing a camera. Is that even possible? Agfa and Kodak did not believe in Heinz Kilfitt’s groundbreaking design, a camera with a heavy spring that could be like a watch wound up and automatically operate both the film and the shutter. Only the Otto Berning optic company saw something in the strange-looking, futuristic camera in 1934 and took the patent and called it the Robot. The beginning of a success series.
Continue reading “Nothing like a Robot”
Mysterious, magical and the example of modernization from the 1930s: the Voigtländer Virtus, the signature industrial design of a series of model names such as Prominent, Inos and Perkeo. All deep black with striking gearstyle knobs. A camera way ahead of its time and at the same time fitting the worrying changes in Germany. Virtus carries connotations of valor, manliness, excellence, courage, character, and worth, perceived as masculine strengths.
Continue reading “The valor of Voigtländer Virtus”
Zeiss Ikon does not have the most popular name in the TLR segment. This is unjustified, as the range of models has been great since 1935 with the introduction of the Contaflex TLR. More famous are the 14 successors, all of which appeared under the name Ikoflex. Solid cameras up to the final model, the Ikoflex Favorit in the late 1950s. Before that there was the famous Ikoflex 1c which was the first to have an advanced LVS exposure meter. A complete working model is however hard to find. Something seems always broken.
Continue reading “Two eyes see more than one: Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex 1c”
There is always much debate as to what makes a camera the best in its class. In the case of the Agfa Super Isolette, made in Berlin, the unanimous opinion is that it is the best medium format folder ever made. A camera that has aroused much envy from Leica and Zeiss Ikon. Yet the success of the camera came decades after its first production in 1954. The rapid decline in sales of 120 film in favor of the many times more popular 135 film and growing market for 35mm cameras was to blame. Not many Super Isolettes have come on the market, which complicates the search for this top Agfa model.
Continue reading “The imaginative Agfa Super Isolette”
The Werra cameras from the second half of the 1950s show the level of ambition of the engineers at the Carl Zeiss factories in Jena. A camera so minimalist that a shutter button and a lens rotary mechanism should be enough to take pictures. A top design that was supposed to disguise the poor economic situation in the GDR.
Continue reading “The twisted Werra”
There is no German camera brand as undervalued as the East German Praktica. Now, strictly speaking, it is not a brand, but a long-running model name of KW (Kamera-Werkstaetten) and later Pentacon. Once started as Praktiflex in 1939 and ended as Praktica BX20S in 2001. More than 40 models and versions have never brought the brand what it actually deserves: recognition for high quality at affordable prices.
Continue reading “Praktica FX2: the underdog from Dresden”