MF Folder Database _Need Manufacturer's Names

Frank R · Jun 14, 2007

I am compiling a list of MF folding cameras that would be helpful to the recurring question of "which MF folder should I buy?".

I have successfully worked out most of the bugs on my database. But I need help populating some of the tables before I ask for camera names.

What I need is the name of the camera manufacturer's for the cameras you have or know about.

Please limit this to 120 film size cameras.

So far I have this list:

Agfa
Ansco
Balda
Braun
Certo
Coronet
Dacora
Franka
Fuji
Houghten Ensign
Kodak
Mamiya
Olympus
Plaubel
Russian Companies
Voightlander
Welta
Wirgin
Zeiss

Please let me know if you can think of any more.

Try to avoid really early pre-war models too.

MenacingTourist · Jun 14, 2007

Zenobia.
Not sure if there is a parent company to them or not.

elekm · Jun 14, 2007

It should be Zeiss Ikon, not Zeiss. Those aren't the same.

Also, you should add Kodak A.G. (Nagel)

Agfa and Ansco probably could be Agfa/Ansco

dazedgonebye · Jun 14, 2007

Konica

Mike Kovacs · Jun 14, 2007

Have you seen McKeowns? There are likely hundreds.

PS Zenobia folders were made by Daiichi.

bennoj · Jun 14, 2007

No 'h' in Voigtlander

Adox also comes to mind.

Frank R · Jun 14, 2007

elekm said:
It should be Zeiss Ikon, not Zeiss. Those aren't the same.

Also, you should add Kodak A.G. (Nagel)

Agfa and Ansco probably could be Agfa/Ansco

Thank you.

People understand Zeiss, they probably won't be deterred by Zeiss Ikon.

I will add Kodak (Nagel)

I will keep Agfa and Ansco seperate for now.

Frank R · Jun 14, 2007

bennoj said:
No 'h' in Voigtlander

Adox also comes to mind.

Got 'em.

Frank R · Jun 14, 2007

dazedgonebye said:
Konica

Can you provide me a model name for a Konica MF folder? Was it a 1950's-type?

Frank R · Jun 14, 2007

Mike Kovacs said:
Have you seen McKeowns? There are likely hundreds.

PS Zenobia folders were made by Daiichi.

Thanks, I added Daiichi.

This won't be an exhaustive list. Just a handy reference for the most commonly seen and traded cameras.

elekm · Jun 14, 2007

Konica made the Pearl (120) and Baby Pearl (127) folding cameras. Not certain about the year and if these also were made pre-World War II.

Roger Hicks · Jun 14, 2007

Frank R said:
So far I have this list:

Agfa

Ansco

Balda

Braun

Certo

Coronet

Dacora

Franka

Fuji

Houghten Ensign

Kodak

Mamiya

Olympus

Plaubel

Russian Companies

Voightlander

Welta

Wirgin

Zeiss

Houghton, not Houghten. I'm reasonably certain the company was Houghton Butcher and that Ensign was a different company, at least at first. Soho. Westex. Are 'baby' Linhofs and Graphics excluded?

Frank R · Jun 14, 2007

Roger Hicks said:
Are 'baby' Linhofs and Graphics excluded?

Thank you,

Yes, those are excluded.

Frank R · Jun 14, 2007

elekm said:
Konica made the Pearl (120) and Baby Pearl (127) folding cameras. Not certain about the year and if these also were made pre-World War II.

Yes, now I remember. Thanks.

elekm · Jun 14, 2007

There also was Kinax.

And there are the predecessor companies of Zeiss Ikon. The bigger players included Contessa, Nettel and Contessa-Nettel (three different companies); Ica; Goerz; Ernemann; and Drexler and Nagel.

Then there was Pentacon (from East German or whichever company produced some of the folding cameras, such as the Ercona).

Carl Zeiss AG (not to be confused with Zeiss Ikon) produced a folding plate camera but otherwise did not produce any cameras (and technically still doesn't, as the current Zeiss Ikon is manufactured by Cosina).

As I mentioned, Zeiss Ikon and Carl Zeiss should not be considered as the same company.

HerrBremerhaven · Jun 14, 2007

Polaroid?

Frank R · Jun 14, 2007

elekm said:
There also was Kinax.

And there are the predecessor companies of Zeiss Ikon. The bigger players included Contessa, Nettel and Contessa-Nettel (three different companies); Ica; Goerz; Ernemann; and Drexler and Nagel.

Then there was Pentacon (from East German or whichever company produced some of the folding cameras, such as the Ercona).

Carl Zeiss AG (not to be confused with Zeiss Ikon) produced a folding plate camera but otherwise did not produce any cameras (and technically still doesn't, as the current Zeiss Ikon is manufactured by Cosina).

As I mentioned, Zeiss Ikon and Carl Zeiss should not be considered as the same company.

Thank you. Did all of those make MF (120) folders?

I am limiting this to MF folders, probably 1930s and later. Trying to avoid really early folders. No plate cameras. Really, the more popular user cameras. I am not interested in folders that only use the brilliant finders.

Frank R · Jun 14, 2007

HerrBremerhaven said:
Polaroid?

That does not quite fit my requirements.

elekm · Jun 14, 2007

Many of the early Zeiss Ikon cameras were holdovers from the predecessor companies. The Cocarette (Contessa-Nettel), Picollette (Contessa-Nettel), the Bob (Ernemann), the Tenax (Goerz) and others -- all being introduced in the 1920s.

As well, there are a number of plate-film cameras, which wouldn't fit your criteria. I'd have to search through books, but these that I mention all began their life under the original camera maker, which later were involved in the megamerger that formed Zeiss Ikon.

The Kinax II that I have is a 620 film camera with an uncoated Angineux lens.

Spartus, a U.S. camera maker, might have made a folding 120 camera. They did make a folding 127 camera.

Frank R · Jun 15, 2007

elekm said:
Many of the early Zeiss Ikon cameras were holdovers from the predecessor companies. The Cocarette (Contessa-Nettel), Picollette (Contessa-Nettel), the Bob (Ernemann), the Tenax (Goerz) and others -- all being introduced in the 1920s.

As well, there are a number of plate-film cameras, which wouldn't fit your criteria. I'd have to search through books, but these that I mention all began their life under the original camera maker, which later were involved in the megamerger that formed Zeiss Ikon.

The Kinax II that I have is a 620 film camera with an uncoated Angineux lens.

Spartus, a U.S. camera maker, might have made a folding 120 camera. They did make a folding 127 camera.

Thanks, but most of these early cameras I am trying to avoid. No plate cameras and no 620 cameras either.

mitica100 · Jun 15, 2007

Here I go again:

Beier, Belca-Werke, Boumsell, Butcher, Graflex, Ica, Ihagee, Konishiroku, LIP (Light Industrial Products-China), MOCKBA (Moskva-USSR), Pontiac (the camera, not the car... from France), Rival (Germany), Rodenstock, Seneca, Universal, Vokar, Waltax, Zenith Edelweiss.

elekm · Jun 15, 2007

So if you're trying to avoid early cameras, what's the point? Most folding cameras were prewar.

620 is the same width as 120 and would eliminate nearly ALL Kodak folding cameras except for the Kodak 66 made in the U.K. The only 120 Kodak cameras were made before 620, so that would eliminate the rest of the Kodaks, as Kodak more or less stopped making 120 cameras once it released the 620 format.

I don't see the point in creating a listing that would eliminate some of the major names of photography. But it's your list, so what the heck.

Frank R · Jun 15, 2007

elekm said:
So if you're trying to avoid early cameras, what's the point? Most folding cameras were prewar.

620 is the same width as 120 and would eliminate nearly ALL Kodak folding cameras except for the Kodak 66 made in the U.K. The only 120 Kodak cameras were made before 620, so that would eliminate the rest of the Kodaks, as Kodak more or less stopped making 120 cameras once it released the 620 format.

I don't see the point in creating a listing that would eliminate some of the major names of photography. But it's your list, so what the heck.

Because I am trying to make a list of user cameras. Ones that are still practical. It is not meant to be a list of every folding camera ever made.

I am avoiding very early folders, not all pre-war models. Their are some very nice pre-war folders like the Weltas, Zeiss Ikons and the Voigtlanders.

You are right about the Kodak's though, their might be very few. More Kodak Nagels, if that counts.

salihonba · May 27, 2009

Roamer from U.S.

ntenny · May 27, 2009

There's also Pho-Tak. Their most commonly seen product is the really minimal Foldex 20, but they also made a Foldex 30 that was a fairly normal folder.

Did Kodak AG really make any 120 folders? I know about the plate cameras, the Retinae, and some 620 folders---are the latter 120-compatible also?

-NT

MF Folder Database _Need Manufacturer's Names

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