Commercial Photographer, Portraits a Specialty!

Kirks518 · Jul 17, 2014

So this has actually bugged me for years. It's trivial, and silly, but...

Does anyone know what kind of camera Felix Unger (in the TV series The Odd Couple) used? It's one of the few pieces of Odd Couple Trivia I don't know, and can't find an answer to.

Mike Evangelist · Jul 17, 2014

Interesting question!

Looking at the Wikipedia episode guide, I find three episodes which have stories related to Felix's work as a photographer:

Episode 50 "The Princess"
Episode 92 "One for the Bunny"
Episode 97 "The Dog Story"

If you've got access to any of these, perhaps they would reveal the answer.

Mike

Kirks518 · Jul 17, 2014

I've seen all of them countless times, but other than it being a TLR, I don't know TLR's well enough to figure out what it is. Can't even tell if it's a Hasselblad, Yashica, or what....

Mike Evangelist · Jul 17, 2014

If you could post a screen grab from one or more of those scenes, I'm sure someone here could figure it out.

removed account4 · Jul 17, 2014

he used a holga

Mike Evangelist · Jul 17, 2014

I found a copy of 'One for the Bunny' and was able to find a very brief glimpse of two cameras laying on a table. One looks like it could be a Contarex - but it's hard to tell.

AgX · Jul 17, 2014

I watched this series in Germany as a child, still in b&W. I loved that couple. Loved that music too!

But can't remember seeing any camera...

By the way: two guys sharing a flat. Unheared of in Germany in that time. Nevertheless the series seemed to have been a success.

Kirks518 · Jul 17, 2014

In this one, starting at 0:50, you can see one of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGI9vFheRCE

And this one at 5:17 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aSN8Z_lSJ8

The first link was a hysterical episode, btw.

Mike Evangelist · Jul 17, 2014

Kirks518 said:
And this one at 5:17 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aSN8Z_lSJ8

This one looks like a Rolleiflex. Can't make out the one in the other clip.

snapguy · Jul 17, 2014

Hollywood had a habit of going to the prop room and grabbing something that seemed about right for a scene. They would have various cameras stored on shelves and would use them without a lot of thought about if it was right or not, in real life. I remember the show featured light stands and big reflectors with bulbs, not electronic flash, in them. I thought that this is not what a "real" big time, big town photographer would use. They were just props from the prop room.

TheFlyingCamera · Jul 17, 2014

Well, it wouldn't have been a Hasselblad if it were a TLR, because Hasselblad never made TLRs.

jeff.blackwell · Jul 17, 2014

Its a different show, and a pretty lousy one at that, but on "Too Close for Comfort," which was pretty much a vehicle for Ted Knight and Jim J. Bullock, Nancy Dussault also played a photographer. The opening credits showed her reading a photography magazine, and I believe they showed her shooting Nikon SLR's, but don't quote me.

Kirks518 · Jul 17, 2014

TheFlyingCamera said:
Well, it wouldn't have been a Hasselblad if it were a TLR, because Hasselblad never made TLRs.

I don't know why I always say Hasselblad when I'm thinking Rollei. Maybe because I've never had either, and wanted both.

benjiboy · Jul 17, 2014

snapguy said:
Hollywood had a habit of going to the prop room and grabbing something that seemed about right for a scene. They would have various cameras stored on shelves and would use them without a lot of thought about if it was right or not, in real life. I remember the show featured light stands and big reflectors with bulbs, not electronic flash, in them. I thought that this is not what a "real" big time, big town photographer would use. They were just props from the prop room.

Unfortunately I'm old enough to remember that even in top line pro studios in the 1950's highlights were much more common,electronic flash was in it's infancy in that period.

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk

benjiboy · Jul 21, 2014

benjiboy said:
Unfortunately I'm old enough to remember that even in top line pro studios in the 1950's highlights were much more common,electronic flash was in it's infancy in that period.

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk

Sorry the predictive text on my tablet, for "highlights" read "hotlights".

Larry H-L · Jul 21, 2014

I agree that second clip shows what looks like a Rolleiflex, but the camera in the first video clip looks more like a Ciroflex.

Different cameras for sure, as the camera in the first clip has a knob, rather than a lever wind, on the right side

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