a friend

[Greg Heath]

A friend lent me her Dad's Camera collection. All the cameras are like brand new in their original cases. Some of them had problems with being light tight, so I cleaned out the old foam/velvet, and reinstalled new foam/velvet, so that she could learn to shoot with them, and remember her dad. She wanted to put them on the "bay",but has since changed her mind. Her dad died a couple of years ago. She let me run film thru them. What a treat. No, they aren't Leica's,but fun nonetheless. Only problem now is that I want them all, but will redeliver them tomorrow. It was fun though.

They were:

Agfa Isolette 1
Zeiss Ikon Contessamat SE
Beseler Topcon Auto 100
Yashica 44A (no 127 film-yet)


Greg

 

[jon koss]

I just checked with Emily Post and she confirms that a true gentleman must always disclose the color scheme when mentioning a Yashica 44A. Is it by chance the rare and precious blue variation?

Happy New Year,

Jon

They were:
Agfa Isolette 1
Zeiss Ikon Contessamat SE
Beseler Topcon Auto 100
Yashica 44A (no 127 film-yet)
Greg

 

[Greg Heath]

yashica 44a/isolette

Happy New Year to You too...

The Yashica 44A is the maroon version...


I have to order some "127" from Freestyle, and see if I can talk her into letting me use it for another couple days.

http://gallery.me.com/kb2qqm#100391




greg

 

[cabbiinc]

I just checked with Emily Post and she confirms that a true gentleman must always disclose the color scheme when mentioning a Yashica 44A.

Jon

That's funny, made me smile.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

I love when someone offers me a box of old cameras to see if they still work, only to ask for them to be returned. Ah well. It is a joy just using older various cameras.

 

[fotch]

Happy New Year to You too...

The Yashica 44A is the maroon version...


I have to order some "127" from Freestyle, and see if I can talk her into letting me use it for another couple days.

http://gallery.me.com/kb2qqm#100391




greg

Hey Greg,
Stress how important it is for a full film test!

 

[Greg Heath]

A box of cameras

Well, the good news is She gave me the AGFA Isolette as a gift. And I purchased from her the Zeiss Ikon Contessamat SE. I like it...alot. I am running a roll through it tonight.

So she wants me to put the Beseler Auto 100 and the Yashica 44A and the Canon T50 with lenses and a 2x converter up for sale here in the classified section. Will take pictures and post sometime on the 1st or second.

Hi Fotch, Happy New Year to you and yours. Many thanks for your homemade sink. I love it.

Greg

 

[Greg Heath]

I love when someone offers me a box of old cameras to see if they still work, only to ask for them to be returned. Ah well. It is a joy just using older various cameras.

she told me to sell them...but then changed her mind. Wanted them back because they reminded her of her Dad. Who can argue with Love for a Dad?
Sentimental value, but figured ALL here who could use the cameras would take better care of them, because we all pretty much love film. Now she wants to sell what is left to honor her dad, and give these cameras a second chance, and let us use and enjoy them instead of them sitting in a box and dying out of disuse. I would have to say that she has a great heart.

Greg

 

[elekm]

Greg, I'll bet that you had a lot of fun with that.

Agfa Isolette 1 - Nice zone focus camera. Works best when stopped down. I hope the bellows were light-tight and the lens focuses smoothly or at all (typical Agfa problems)

Zeiss Ikon Contessamat SE - This was among the last of the series. Build quality wasn't as good as the earlier right-front models but generally the Contessamat is a decent camera.

Beseler Topcon Auto 100 - I'm not familiar with this camera, but in general Topcon was thought of as being very good cameras. The U.S. Navy, I believe, used Topcons quite a bit. Beseler was the U.S. importer in much the same way that Canon and Rollei partnered with Honeywell.

Yashica 44A (no 127 film-yet) - A nice lower-cost alternative to the Baby Rollei. Decent lens. This should be a lot of fun to use.

 

[Greg Heath]

Greg, I'll bet that you had a lot of fun with that.

Agfa Isolette 1 - Nice zone focus camera. Works best when stopped down. I hope the bellows were light-tight and the lens focuses smoothly or at all (typical Agfa problems)

Zeiss Ikon Contessamat SE - This was among the last of the series. Build quality wasn't as good as the earlier right-front models but generally the Contessamat is a decent camera.

Beseler Topcon Auto 100 - I'm not familiar with this camera, but in general Topcon was thought of as being very good cameras. The U.S. Navy, I believe, used Topcons quite a bit. Beseler was the U.S. importer in much the same way that Canon and Rollei partnered with Honeywell.

Yashica 44A (no 127 film-yet) - A nice lower-cost alternative to the Baby Rollei. Decent lens. This should be a lot of fun to use.

Thanks Mike.. for the information.

As soon as I get a "fire" lit under my behind, I will be posting the Beseler and the Yashica 44A up in the classifieds.

The Beseler needs new interior mirror foam. the outside is nice, with leather case. I have not tested it. If you are a camera tech and like to work on it, then it would be a great project. This camera is built like a tank.

The Yashica 44A looks good. Shutter fires and the speeds all appear to be working. In my opinion it's condition is an 8 on a 10 scale. It is missing one section of leather about half the size of a dime on the front of the camera. You could always replace the camera leather at Cameraleather.com

The leather case is in two pieces, but has done it's job. It comes with a folded original camera instruction manual.

I purchased the Zeiss Ikon Contessamat SE and she gave me the Agfa Isolette I as a gift. I ran some Tmax through it last week, and the negatives came out great. I replaced the hinge velvet, so it's light tight.
As soon as I get some cash, I'm going to send it to Certo6.com for a refurbishment and a new bellows. Currently the bellows is light tight with no patches, which is surprising.

I also have a Canon T50 with multiple lenses. It works great.

Will put them on classifieds today with a link to pictures.

Thanks again for the info

 

[elekm]

Some of the older Agfas used leather bellows, rather than plastic-covered ones. So maybe you got one of the earlier ones.

Which lens do you have on the Contessamat. Most of them have the Tessar, and I can't recall if any had the Pantar. I've shot with a Pantar, and it's not a bad lens at all.

I have a Beseler Topcon, and you're right. It's built like a tank. I put in new seals, and it's really a sweet camera.

 

[Greg Heath]

contessamat SE

The Contessamat SE has the Color Pantar 1:2,8/45 lens. Prontor-Matic 500
Meter still works.

Running some film through it now, but will be running some Fuji Velvia 100 through it this week. I can't wait !

I think this might become my newest all time favorite behind the Rolleicord II.

 

[Greg Heath]

Topcon

I tried to take the top of the Beseler Topcon Auto 100 off last night. I don't have a schematic/exploded view for it. From the info I pulled off the net last night via the Camera Repair Forum on another site, the Film winder would normally be loosened Clockwise, but I think the cap is glued on. I want to replace the mirror foam which is flaking off and jamming up the timing gears below the mirror. The 5 bladed shutter is also operating slowly, like gummed up, but I would consider that normal after spending years on a shelf. I wanted to take it out (shutter) and soak it in Naptha, to get the many years of crud out. When I did a complete teardown of my Rolleicord II Compur Shutter and Aperture this past winter. I could not believe that amount of crud/dirt that had been in there. It is truly amazing to see it all in the bottom of the cleaning bowl.
Works like a charm now. Getting the aperture back together was a "mother".
I had exercised some of those long dormant words I had only used in my 20's.
I'm glad I didn't end up in the looney bin. It's hard working on camera's without any documents/schematics. It's like trying to crack a rubik's cube with no color codes.

Greg

 

[Sirius Glass]

A friend lent me her Dad's Camera collection. All the cameras are like brand new in their original cases. Some of them

Gee, this sounds like a friend with benefits to me!

Steve