Best 120 Camera for less than $100

[Blacknoise]

I got my Russian Iskra folder for about £60, which is around $100. The lens is a brilliant coated tessar copy, it has an RF and its reletively compact.

 

[Anscojohn]

Well I've definitely got a lot to consider. Thanks for all the input!

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I was told that the biggest bang for the buck is a clean Rolleicord III or later.

I have owned/useda Argoflex, 'Blads, 'Cords, 'Flexes, Mamiya, Minolta, Yashica 6x6s. They are like little children, sorta. "Keep 'em clean and luv em for what they are."

 

[Leighgion]

I have to put in another good word for a Mamiya M645 SLR.

Personally, I went with a more expensive 645 Super, which ran me about $400, but you can get the older models for considerably less as has already been pointed out. These are hard to beat for price/flexibility. There's some excellent Mamiya lenses that go for very reasonable prices.

 

[holmburgers]

Well perhaps I should clarify that the $100 is not FIRM, per se. I mainly just wanted to get the conversation rolling, which it certainly has! I've been contacted by a friendly user & thanks to his suggestion I'm looking mainly at the Mamiya 645s. I just saw one w/ 2 finders and the 80mm f/1.9 go for $168 on eBay! Sounds pretty darn good.

Here is my newest question though... why do the C330s and C220s, etc, go for so much more than the 645s? It seems to me that the SLR would be more desirable, no? Perhaps it's the close focus, leaf shutter, etc.

Thanks again to all who've replied!

 

[alexmacphee]

All the 'flexes that everybody said, or the Yashica-12 that I have, which has the same Yashinon lens as its sister cameras in the Yashica range. But my favourite is the little Agfa Isolette folding camera with the f/3.5 Solinar lens. Mine is a Jurgen Kreckel refurbished model, so the bellows are good, and it matches or exceeds the Yashinon on my Yashica ; no surprise, as they are both Tessar designs. I too have an Ikonta A (645) with a modest Novar lens, which can produce exceptionally good images with just a bit of stopping down. I'd happily use these folders as my 'first' camera, but they're compact enough to function as a backup for the TLR outings.

 

[darinwc]

re: Mamiya C-# cameras.
The 330 and 220's were the latest, and most likely to be in nice condition.
here is a link to complete information: Dead Link Removed

the 33 and 330 will automatically cock the shutter when you advance the film.
The 220 is lightest of them all. None of them are small.

That said, I was perfectly happy with a C3 while I had one. The C3 is simpler than the 33 or 330, and cheaper than the 220. Takes the same lenses.

The 645 cameras will have much better handling characteristics. But the way I see it, if you want really sharp photos, you have to use a tripod. With a tripod, all fancies of 'handling' go out the window. If you want hand-held, stick with 35mm.