Medium Format Folder Recommendations?

[Darryl Roberts]

I have $250 and would like a 6x9 folder. Can you recommend one?

Thank you

 

[nosmok]

One of the later Franka 'Rolfix' Cameras should fit the bill. Here's one, for instance, with the better Rodenstock Trinar lens, Compur Rapid shutter, accessories, and a seller with 100% feedback (albeit 10% too costly. Make an offer.). I have one of these that I don't shoot enough. No rangefinder, no meter-- a point-and-guess, like God intended cameras to be . (ETA: the linked camera is a Rolfix II, which had an uncoupled rangefinder. I regret the error.)

 

[retina_restoration]

I have $250 and would like a 6x9 folder. Can you recommend one?

Thank you

If you can stretch your budget a bit further, the Zeiss Super Ikonta 531/2 is a brilliant camera.

If you can't, then my next favorite 6x9 folder is my Vollenda 620. Yes, it has fewer features (no rangefinder) and require respooling film onto 620 reels, but it has an excellent Schneider f4.5 Xenar lens in a Compur-Rapid shutter. The bellows are leather, so chances are they will be intact.

Many people enjoy using the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/2 also, which has fewer features but is also capable of making excellent images. I have an early Voigtlander Bessa with the f4.5 Skopar lens, but mine is one of the cheaper designs and its lens's performance is quite poor until stopped way down. There are excellent Bessas to choose from, but the best models are quite expensive. (almost certainly not in the $250 range)

The Agfa Record III with f4.5 Solinar lens might also be a decent option for your price range.

Does it have to be a folding camera? If I had to choose just one camera for 6x9 work, it would be the Kodak Medalist II, without a doubt. It also requires respooling film onto 620 reels, but that Ektar lens (a Heliar design) is one of the best lenses ever made for the 6x9 format. It's heavy and a quirky thing to work with, but if image quality is the primary goal, you couldn't do better than the Medalist II.

 

[hgernhardt]

My (I think it's a) 517/16 does wonderfully at 6x6—it's simple, guess-focus, very limited in shutter speed range, but has a wonderful lens and even today can be had for under $100. It's my go-to 6x6 snapshooter

 

[Steve Goldstein]

I have and use a very nice scale-focusing Zeiss Ercona II that cost way less than $250. These have dual red windows and originally came with an insert, now usually missing, for 6x6.

My Mess-Ikonta was just over your budget but I find I prefer the Ercona as it's a bit thinner and weighs less. It has a uncoupled rangefinder so you'd have to transfer the distance to the scale-focused lens.

You may not be able to stay within budget if you want a coupled rangefinder.

There's a lot of info on https://www.120folder.com/

 

[Jesper]

Perhaps a Moskva? Not too expensive and not too bad. It is a copy of Zeiss Super Ikonta and the last version was Moskva V

 

[runswithsizzers]

some previous discussion here: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/medium-format-folder-suggestions.209902/

 

[JPD]

Like Steve Goldstein above I have a Zeiss Ercona II, with the excellent coated Carl Zeiss Jena 3,5/105 Tessar lens. It's not easy to find one with the focusing scale in Feet, though. I use mine with a Voigtländer accessory rangefinder.

 

[Steve Goldstein]

JPD’s post made me check. My Ercona II also has the Tessar and is marked in meters. I’ve never found it that hard to multiply by 3 to get feet, and that’s plenty close enough.

 

[JPD]

JPD’s post made me check. My Ercona II also has the Tessar and is marked in meters. I’ve never found it that hard to multiply by 3 to get feet, and that’s plenty close enough.

Or if you are used to thinking in yards, 1 yard = 0.9144 meter, 10 yards = 9.144 meters. A yard as 0.9 meter should be easy to remember, and you can let the depth of field take care of the decimals.

The Ercona II uses 37mm slip-on filters and hood, and it's a common size and easy to find.

 

[DWThomas]

[ ...]

The Ercona II uses 37mm slip-on filters and hood, and it's a common size and easy to find.

I have an Ercona II and back when I was looking, the hoods by Voigtländer were priced as if they were made of gold. I theorize it's related to the collector attraction of the Bessa cameras. I worked out a push-on adapter by thinning the tabs on a Kodak 1 15/32" to Series VI adapter, as shown here (3rd row). While that works, it is not as secure as I would like; had it fall off with shade and filter at least once (fortunately onto a flat grassy area at the time).

In an earlier discussion it was pointed out that what appears to be just the usual knurling on the outside of the focusing ring has a 40.5mm x 0.75 thread! Just recently, a previous thread on the topic picked up a handy addition -- a 40.5mm threaded female-to-female coupling that allows using conventional 40.5mm attachments. In the above page in my gallery, the 4th and 5th rows show using that fitting. I had hoped to just leave the coupling on the lens, but alas, the carefully engineered design of the camera is so tight the cover can't close. Oh well ... It's also a bit tedious to install said coupler -- and also to read the focus scale -- but it's doable and an obviously more reliable attachment.

It's not my most used camera, but besides the samples on that gallery page, there are links in the blather at the top to some other work in the field. (The 2:3 format was an obvious aspect ratio for the UP "Challenger" steam locomotive!)

 

[MattKing]

Courtesy of my Zeiss Ikon 521-2:

Choose Your Bench - MSA October 2024

• MattKing
• Oct 30, 2024
• 3

Another place to rest in the midst of a walk. This is on the north side of "Deas Island", which...

Scale focusing is good mental exercise
And that particular camera is in wonderfully good shape!
It is the camera on the right. the Kodak Tourist on the left is also good, but re-spooling on to 620 spools isn't my favorite activity, so I no longer have the Tourist.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I was very happy with my circa 1933 Certo SuperDolly II. It had a really sharp Zeiss lens.

 

[Melvin J Bramley]

The problem with old folders is that good ones are difficult to find and
even the good ones will require service at some time.
Finding a reliable service person in my neck of the woods is all but impossible.
I spent a small fortune trying to get my Mamiya 6 Automat folder repaired only to have it come back to me in a worse state than ever!
Still , the urge to purchase a usable 6x6 folder is still with me.
You can't fix stupid.

 

[retina_restoration]

The problem with old folders is that good ones are difficult to find

That depends heavily on what camera you choose. The Super Ikontas are often in excellent shape unless they've been abused. But if you opt for a Kodak Tourist, don't be surprised if you get one that has bad bellows and a dysfunctional shutter. Choose wisely.

and
even the good ones will require service at some time.

That applies to any camera more than thirty or forty years old.

Finding a reliable service person in my neck of the woods is all but impossible.

Finding a capable repair technician isn't a "local" issue: you find the right person for the job, and mail the camera to them. All you need to do is ask this forum for recommendations and they will come pouring in. (If there are shops to be avoided, that will also come out in the conversation)

I spent a small fortune trying to get my Mamiya 6 Automat folder repaired only to have it come back to me in a worse state than ever!

That can happen if you settle for someone who may not be the best choice, rather than finding an excellent technician qualified to work on the specific camera. As I say, send the camera to the best technician you can find, and choose a technician who is known for doing good work on your specific camera. There are plenty of excellent camera technicians in this country.

 

[Chuck1]

I've been kind of obsessed with kodak folders with angenieux lenses, but have yet to get one.
Are they worth it?

 

[Sirius Glass]

The problem with old folders is that good ones are difficult to find and
even the good ones will require service at some time.
Finding a reliable service person in my neck of the woods is all but impossible.
I spent a small fortune trying to get my Mamiya 6 Automat folder repaired only to have it come back to me in a worse state than ever!
Still , the urge to purchase a usable 6x6 folder is still with me.
You can't fix stupid.

Almost any old camera will have probably been sitting around for a while and may need a CLA. In fact when I am shopping for an old used camera, I either factor in the cost of a CLA or buy it from KEH.com since if a camera they sold needs a CLA, they will promptly do one for the buyer. Just ask.

 

[Paul Howell]

For little money the higher end Kodak Tourist, with the supermatic shutter top shutter speed of 1/400 of second and full aperture scale. Actually pretty well built, aluminum body, the lens is a 4 element tessar style design and is sharp stopped down to F8 or 11. There was a model with a top shutter speed of 1/800 of a second, same lens. There are 2 issues, one is that all Tourists 620, so you have to respool your film or buy which is expensive. Second is that is scale focus. I use mine for landscapes at infinity. I have cheated and used a SLR as a rangefinder. The lower end models had 3 shutters speeds, a 3 element lens, might be good if you want a softer image.

 

[John Wiegerink]

One of the best picture taking folders I have is an old Kodak Monitor 620 with the "special" lens where "special" is written in red letters. Yes, I have to respool 120 film to 620 spools , but that's not a big deal. I also had to put a new bellows on the camera since Kodak decided to go cheap on bellows material at that time. I have a beautiful Zeiss Super Ikonta C with a coated Zeiss Opton Tessar and I'll take the Kodak for image quality. Also, the older Zeiss Nettar cameras can be very good when it comes to image quality. I have one that has the 105mm f6.3 Novar lens that amazes me when stopped down to f8-11-16. It's better than my Zeiss Ikomat with the 105mm f4.5 Novar for sure.
I do have to agree with retina_restoration above saying the Kodak Medalist II is my all-time favorite 6X9 camera by far.

 

[F4U]

I really like my Mockba 4, or Moskva as it's called in the US.

 

[Chuck1]

I've been eying a boyer altessa, nice looking camera

 

[retina_restoration]

One of the best picture taking folders I have is an old Kodak Monitor 620 with the "special" lens where "special" is written in red letters. Yes, I have to respool 120 film to 620 spools , but that's not a big deal. I also had to put a new bellows on the camera since Kodak decided to go cheap on bellows material at that time. I have a beautiful Zeiss Super Ikonta C with a coated Zeiss Opton Tessar and I'll take the Kodak for image quality. Also, the older Zeiss Nettar cameras can be very good when it comes to image quality. I have one that has the 105mm f6.3 Novar lens that amazes me when stopped down to f8-11-16. It's better than my Zeiss Ikomat with the 105mm f4.5 Novar for sure.
I do have to agree with retina_restoration above saying the Kodak Medalist II is my all-time favorite 6X9 camera by far.

What John says is correct: the Kodak folders equipped with an "Anastigmat Special" lens will deliver excellent photographs. (Sample images here and here) The biggest weakness of many of the Kodak folders is the bellows - cameras like the Tourist and the Monitor have plastic bellows that are notorious for failing at the crease points. Odds are extremely high that you'll have to deal with pinholes in the bellows of any of these models.

I don't have either of those two models, but I do have a Kodak Special Six-20 with the Anastigmat Special lens (see sample images above), and it had at least a dozen holes in the bellows that had to be plugged before I could use it. I'm not sure what the bellows material is - it isn't the cheap plastic like what's on the Tourist/Monitor, but it's definitely cheaper than what was made for the Vollenda 620, also an excellent 6x9 if you can find one. Mine has an f4.5 Schneider Xenar lens, and it's very capable. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find a Vollenda 620 with anything but the Kodak Anastigmat lens on it. It's worth waiting to find one with a Xenar lens. There were Vollendas fitted with a CZJ Tessar lens, but good luck finding one of those!

 

[John Wiegerink]

What John says is correct: the Kodak folders equipped with an "Anastigmat Special" lens will deliver excellent photographs. (Sample images here and here) The biggest weakness of many of the Kodak folders is the bellows - cameras like the Tourist and the Monitor have plastic bellows that are notorious for failing at the crease points. Odds are extremely high that you'll have to deal with pinholes in the bellows of any of these models.

I don't have either of those two models, but I do have a Kodak Special Six-20 with the Anastigmat Special lens (see sample images above), and it had at least a dozen holes in the bellows that had to be plugged before I could use it. I'm not sure what the bellows material is - it isn't the cheap plastic like what's on the Tourist/Monitor, but it's definitely cheaper than what was made for the Vollenda 620, also an excellent 6x9 if you can find one. Mine has an f4.5 Schneider Xenar lens, and it's very capable. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find a Vollenda 620 with anything but the Kodak Anastigmat lens on it. It's worth waiting to find one with a Xenar lens. There were Vollendas fitted with a CZJ Tessar lens, but good luck finding one of those!

Yes, and you sure can't complain about your copy of the Anastigmat Special being of poor quality. As for the bellows on the later Kodak folders goes.........they suck! I did find some original Kodak replacement bellows for the Monitor Six-20 and the Monitor Six-16, but the supply is hit and miss at best. It's probably better to buy a newly made replacement bellows from a bellows maker. Or just buy a good Zeiss Super Ikonta since most of those still have good bellows. Of course the OP has $250.00 to spend and there are a lot of good folders in that range, but finding one in perfect working order is becoming more of a chore these days. I recently bought a late Zeiss Super Ikonta B (II) in really nice shape with a coated Opton Tessar for $20 more than the OP's $250.00 limit. There are still some good deals out there, but certainly not as good as there used to be.

 

[Chuck1]

I've been eying a boyer altessa, nice looking camera

My bad, royer...

 

[John Wiegerink]

My bad, royer...

At least you wouldn't have to worry about a bad bellows.