Is this camera worth it?

bibowj · Jul 17, 2014

Hey all- Im thinking on reaching out about this camera I see on CL: http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/pho/4528405390.html Im looking for something that I can do wet plates on, w/o having to invest in an entire system... anyone know anything about this camera and what are your thoughts on my intended use?

Thanks!

Dan Fromm · Jul 17, 2014

Well, if you want to shoot 2x3 roll film on a cute little camera that might accept other lenses from the Mamiya Press system, perhaps. Perhaps because a Mamiya Press will do the same and more and will accept a roll holder that should hold the film flatter than the one on offer.

But if you want to shoot wet plate, absolutely not.

David A. Goldfarb · Jul 17, 2014

It looks like a neat little camera, worth the asking price (presuming everything works) for its originally intended purpose, but not a collector's item as the headline suggests, unless it happens to be some sort of manufacturer's prototype.

It doesn't look very attractive for wetplate, unless you're approaching wetplate with a very specific idea of what you want to do, requiring exactly this camera. First think about the size plates you want to make and the plateholders you can get. I'm not a wetplate shooter myself, but most of the wetplate photographers I've seen are shooting larger formats.

bibowj · Jul 17, 2014

OK , thought as much... thanks everyone!

jcc · Jul 17, 2014

I kinda like it. It's cute! A working Mamiya press would probably cost a lot more—at least double what the seller is asking.

Not all collodion is shot on large plates. I shoot mainly quarter plates, and every once in a while, full plates. True that the "famous" ones shoot ULF, but there are a lot who shoot on tinier media. Some have even modified 35mm cameras to take plates.

Jeff Kubach · Jul 18, 2014

It does look neat. For $200 go for it.

Jeff

Dan Fromm · Jul 18, 2014

jcc said:
I kinda like it. It's cute! A working Mamiya press would probably cost a lot more—at least double what the seller is asking.

Were you thinking of a Super 23 or a Universal? I was thinking of a Mamiya Press, like this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-MAM...-5-Ground-Glass-back-from-Japan-/121385755946

A humble Century Graphic or very slightly less humble 2x3 Crown Graphic with Graflok back is a much more flexible and capable alternative to the cute little camera the OP asked about. Not as cute, though.

Axle · Jul 18, 2014

It honestly looks like a custom made camera, a mamyia lens slapped onto a graflok back off a Century Graphic.

Personally, I wouldn't pay the 200$ for it. I might spring for 100$ providing that it worked.

Old-N-Feeble · Jul 18, 2014

If the Graflok back is complete, unmodified and undamaged so it can be used on a Graflex camera, and if everything is functioning as it should, then it's probably worth the asking price just in parts. Actually, the body looks like it might be a gutted mini C-G.

jcc · Jul 19, 2014

Dan Fromm said:
Were you thinking of a Super 23 or a Universal? I was thinking of a Mamiya Press, like this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-MAM...-5-Ground-Glass-back-from-Japan-/121385755946

A humble Century Graphic or very slightly less humble 2x3 Crown Graphic with Graflok back is a much more flexible and capable alternative to the cute little camera the OP asked about. Not as cute, though.

I think a nice baby Graflex is also cute. Or an Optika II-A! (That's probably my proverbial white whale.)

Is this camera worth it?

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