medium format coupled rangefinder

[André E.C.]

Try this John, Zeiss Ercona II with a Tessar, you will get a blast of a camera very cheap, they are superb.


Cheers

 

[olleorama]

Seagull 203 or 203-I can be found quite cheaply. Nice cameras actually. Love the film advance lever, instead of a wheel and looking thru a window. I sold mine when I got my super 23, but miss it sometimes.

 

[Paul Howell]

I have a Mamyia Univeral, lens are very sharp and with a 6x9 back it is my first choice for MF landscapes. But is a heavy camera, my Crown Graphic is lighter. I also have the orignal Mamyia 6 folder, the one from the 50s, also very sharp 80mm others had a 75mm, great camera for travel. I have also used the Konica Omega, what I liked about the KO over the Mamyia Press system is that you need to cock the shutter on the MP, the KO is a much faster camera which is why it was marketed as the rapid.

 

[dachs]

Me too thinking this direction; but I want quality at least comparable to a £eica 35mm kit.

I am searching the forums for someone who has used the Voigtlander (Cosina) badged Fuji folder, the Bessa III. It does 6x6 and 6x7, the viewfinder is allegedly one of the best (rangefinder type) and the shutter is almost inaudible. So far so good, and being a folder it goes in a pocket (which a Ro££ei TLR will not), and has a three year guarantee (not bad for a bellows folder)

The equivalent would be a late Zei$$ Ikonta style but would probably need immediate care. On the other hand they'll hold their price which the Bessa will not (£2000 currently)

Lastly the Bessa has a 3,5 Cosina built Fujinon lens, again allegedly very good but I doubt Fuji used exotic glass - maybe there is no need in an 80mm 3,5, but somehow I do not think their design and alignment construction is in £eica/Zei$$ league.

Over to the knowledgeable public?

 

[R gould]

John,
If you can find one a good coupled rangefinder camera is a Ensign Commando, I have one and the uncoated Ensar lens produces great negatives, plus you have the choice of either 6x6 or 645, another camera I use regulerly without problems is a Balda Super Baldax, great pictures and neither would break the bank, I think I paid around GBP £50 for the Baldax and a bit more for the commando.
Richard

 

[L Gebhardt]

I've got a Zeiss Super Ikonta with an uncoated lens. It takes very nice pictures, and I picked it up for $100. My issue with it is it's heavy, and a bit bulky. I also have an Ansco Super Speedex (Agfa Super Issolette) with a coated lens. The results from this are really fantastic. This is actually the second one of these I've owned. I regretted selling the first one so much I set out to find another. I finally found one on ebay in my price range with a stuck focus. I was able to get that freed up with some ronsonal and the camera is working well. An Agfa/Ansco Super would be my recommendation for a quality folder. It just may take some time to find a good one if you skip certo66.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

My girl friend gave me her dad's old Zeiss Super Ikonta IV. I spent $100 for a CLA and it works great. The images are scary sharp. It has a coated lens, but never shot any color film with it. It's a great folder and compact. I saw one on Ebay recently sold for $320.

 

[Brett_Jurgens]

I picked up a Welta Weltur at a camera show recently, It is a 6x6 folder with a schneider lens, coupled rangefinder, and rack and pinion focusing. And it is a very solid, well built camera. I have not developed film from it yet but have seen other examples on the web.

 

[P C Headland]

Me too thinking this direction; but I want quality at least comparable to a £eica 35mm kit.

I am searching the forums for someone who has used the Voigtlander (Cosina) badged Fuji folder, the Bessa III. It does 6x6 and 6x7, the viewfinder is allegedly one of the best (rangefinder type) and the shutter is almost inaudible. So far so good, and being a folder it goes in a pocket (which a Ro££ei TLR will not), and has a three year guarantee (not bad for a bellows folder)

....

Lastly the Bessa has a 3,5 Cosina built Fujinon lens, again allegedly very good but I doubt Fuji used exotic glass - maybe there is no need in an 80mm 3,5, but somehow I do not think their design and alignment construction is in £eica/Zei$$ league.

Over to the knowledgeable public?

Don't worry about the bellows, decent quality bellows should last a lifetime.

The Fuji/Voigtlaendar folder, along with the Fuji 645 folder, being modern, have decent viewfinders and very good lenses. These are all larger than the older 6x6 couple RF folders.

If you don't mind putting up with the smaller, dimmer viewfinders on older folders, you could take a look around for a Certo Six. These are beautifully built, with parallax correction (on the lens, not in the viewfinder) and a very good 80mm f2.8 Zeiss lens. Their main area of concern is the RF - many will need the half-silvered RF mirror to be changed. The lever focus is not to everyone's liking.

Other folders with very good lenses are the Agfa Super Isolette with Solinar or its FSU cousin, the Iskra - both of these have better viewfinders than the Certo. The weakpoint on these is the film winding mechanism. The lenses are excellent, though I'd give the nod to the Certo.

 

[jp80874]

In reading through the thread I missed mention of budget amount or what you would consider a reasonable price. If it was there and I missed it, sorry. That information might help others direct you.

There is a thread on the RFF which you may have seen
"Show your photos from a vintage folder"
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73622

At this writing it has 464 posts. I think the quality is truly amazing, obtained from these old cameras and lenses. Most posts indicate the camera used.

My own is a 1939 Welta Weltur with case 6x9 Carl Zeiss Tessar uncoated 105mm f4.5 in a Compur Rapid shutter, filters in case and lens hood in case. All this and advice selecting the various options for $400. It was one of those very good transactions with Certo6. He certainly has had mixed reviews. Mine was good. Sorry yours was not. I’ll leave it at that.

John Powers

 

[theoria]

I second the Iskra recommendation. It a very well made camera, with excellent optics and large and bright viewinder. Last, but not least, you can buy it cheaply.

 

[olleorama]

i can put film through that won't be finicky

Go modern instead. RFF usually has good offers in the classifieds. There's a fuji 690II for 500 usd or a GW670III for 600. If you want a good medium format rangefinder, invest in it, it's worth it. No need to worry about light leaks, no need for clas, and very very good optics. Life's too short for redfiltered windows and unfolding bellows.

 

[jnoir]

I have replaced a lot of bellows from modern Fuji folders, their quality are way poorer that that of most manufacturers of classic folding cameras (with the exception of Agfa and a couple of others). My only modern camera is actually a coupled rangefinder, a Mamiya 7II. I tend to avoid modern cameras, but that may be because I manufacture my own bellows and do my own CLAs. I don't do my own electric engineering Or maybe because of things like those expressed here: http://www.hevanet.com/cperez//test/fourcameras.html ;-)

My coupled rangefinder medium format cameras are:

- Mamiya Six
- Agfa Super Isolette
- Ensign Auto-Range 220
- Ensign Selfix 16-20 Auto-Range
- Welta Weltur
- Minolta Auto-Semi
- Bessa RF
- Balda Super Pontura
- Super Ikonta A & B (there is a C for 6x9 but I don't own one)
- Seagull 203

I think that's all. I also have a Foth Derby RF, but it uses 127 film.

 

[ic-racer]

As John posted above, your price range will dictate the recommendations. If you are asking about the 'Sub-$50 USD' range then here is a $8 accessory rangefinder (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ide...ers_Eyecups&hash=item415cc4d2e2#ht_500wt_1156) and a Kodak 6x9 Tourist camera with the better Anaston lens and Kodamatic shutter for $44 ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kodak-Touri...ilm_Cameras&hash=item20bc0ce79c#ht_5329wt_907 )

 

[agfarapid]

"Lastly the Bessa has a 3,5 Cosina built Fujinon lens, again allegedly very good but I doubt Fuji used exotic glass - maybe there is no need in an 80mm 3,5, but somehow I do not think their design and alignment construction is in £eica/Zei$$ league."

Don't have the Bessa/Fuji but have the older Fuji rangefinder. Optics are superb.. on par or better than 2.8 Planar on my 500C. I think it's due to the multi-coating. Fuji makes some outstanding glass, easily on par with Leica or Zeiss.

 

[philruss]

Look for a Ziess Super Ikonta for about $100, thy have very durable bellows.

 

[nosmok]

I'll chime in about the Welturs. Either the 6x9 or the 6x6/6x4.5 have great focussing mechanisms and pretty good finders. Not as good as an Ensign Autorange, but not the same crazy money. Built like tanks, great bellows, both my 6x9 and 6x6 worked like new, even the 1 sec shutter speed, and no light leaks.

For a cheap date, get a Franka Solida 6x6 or its Tower -branded, Sears-sold version. Uncoupled rangefinder, fast and sharp 2.9 Schneider Radionar coated lens, great bokeh (if that's not too annoying to say). Should not be much over 100 bucks even now.

If you're buying non-system cameras, you can buy from just about anybody if you budget in CLA. I have a passel of folders and none from certo6. Not that I have anything for or agin him, he's just never had anything I wanted when I've had the big dosh.

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

My girl friend gave me her dad's old Zeiss Super Ikonta IV. I spent $100 for a CLA and it works great. The images are scary sharp. It has a coated lens, but never shot any color film with it. It's a great folder and compact. I saw one on Ebay recently sold for $320.

I got one of these too! Though there's a bit of fungus on the lens. Even the light cell works!! Waiting for next paycheck to cla.