MF on the cheap (not Holga)

I have said before on this forum and I'll say it again, the Ricohflex Super is the best camera for the least money in the medium format world. I paid $20 for mine from ebay, had it shipped to Mark Hansen who specializes in TLR and older cameras. He did an amazing job for less than $60 and now I have one of the best pieces of photo equipment I've ever owned. (at least my favorite at this point)

From Dead Link Removed

"Most of these lenses resolve somewhere in the 120 line pairs per millimeter range. That is as good as a Tessar/Xenar!"

You could buy the camera on Ebay, have is shipped directly to Mark, have him ship it to you and still be way ahead on money.

I will never be able to say enough good about my Ricohflex super, it's a fun, CHEAP, quirky little camera that takes amazing photos.

good luck

I've just looked up the Ricohflex on camerapedia. I was slightly suprised to see that I have one!
Well... a clone. Mine is called a "Hailina AI" - but if isn't the same camera I'll eat my socks! I bought it at a junk shop many years ago for very little. I put a film through it before but I believe there was a problem with it (not the cameras fault - I have a box of out of date film to test junk cameras that I buy... I think this film was a bit too far gone. It proved the camera was working, but the images didn't allow me to judge how good the optics were). I stored it away after that, until just last week, as it happens.

The Halina is very simple, rock solid, nearly indestructable and quite heavy. My only gripe with it is that the focussing screen is very dim - it is quite difficult to focus. You need bright light, but then reflection in the lend hood is a problem and I'm cupping a hand over the top.

The reason for this might be that the mirror is past it? - I haven't opened it up to look, yet. I seem to recall that is why I shelved it, come to think of it.

I put a film through it only last week; I have yet to process it, but may do so tonight. I'm quite intigued now, 120 line pairs per millimetre?

Have fun with it, but I doubt you'll get 120 line pairs/ mm resolution from it.

steven_e007 said:

... My only gripe with it is that the focussing screen is very dim - it is quite difficult to focus. You need bright light, but then reflection in the lend hood is a problem and I'm cupping a hand over the top.

The reason for this might be that the mirror is past it? - I haven't opened it up to look, yet. ...

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Yes, that's very common with older TLR's. Fortunately, a cheap and simple solution is to buy an old Polaroid ("one step" or one like it where the film comes out the front), take it apart, and use the nice little front surface mirror inside to replace your old dim mirror. Very simple, but you may need to cut off a little on the sides to make it fit properly. A glass cutter and a pair of pliers (I use needle nose pliers) takes care of that quickly.

It's an old Ed Romney trick, I did learn a few good tips from his books

Nathan

Pentax 645 goes for a song. Very, very sharp lenses. Reliable. Built like a brick with a few quirks. The viewfinder I used to love but now find it squinty compared to a hasselblad with 45deg finder (kiev). It's actually taxing on my aging eyes but I haven't used it in a long while.
It's inexpensive used. The meter is on point and accurate.
The 75mm lens rivals my 80mm C planar on hasselblad.

That's my suggestion. I can say that before the hassy and having used the p645 for a few years, I never had a problem with the viewfinder.

The Ed Romney Speed/Crown Graphic guide is a goldmine... That man had some helpful stuff.

A Pentax 645, built like a outdoor dunny, and 6x4.5. Also takes 220 film. But very loud winding. Beaut lenses. I love using mine, one very serious piece of camera with 6 AA batteries in the handle. Really beaut ergonomics, and as used by police forces around the world, in their time.

Next cheapest a cheap folder eg Bessa by Voitlander; fun to use, and something old world nice 6x9 negs. But top of the range with Heliar lens can cost well over US$1,000. Try the cheaper vaskar lens, no light meter, all manual, focus by distance scale. Say US$50-120. Took mine down to the Antarctica, and froze it in the fridge freezer for three hours to make sure it worked in the cold. Even the 1 sec was working at freezer temperatures...amazing.

Then the Yashica twin lens is a fantastic camera. The system has telephotos, macrolenses filters, hoods, and mine has 35mm adapter kit as well. 'Course these are Rollieflex copies. The advantage of the Yashica is looking down into waist level composing screen. This upsets fewer people than a camera at eyelevel poked in their faces.

There's plenty of choice, but all said and done, and with 20/20 hindsight, I'd be finding a little more dough and investing in a superb old folder with rangefinder. But the trouble with the old folders is their tiny little peepholes...very difficult for good composition.

How about a Bronica ETR? Those can be had for a downright song on ye olde auction site. Or put in another vote for the Pentax 645. Sure, the viewfinder will cause several eye aches, but you won't mind with the quality of lenses, not to mention the compact size

Nathan Smith said:

Yes, that's very common with older TLR's. Fortunately, a cheap and simple solution is to buy an old Polaroid ("one step" or one like it where the film comes out the front), take it apart, and use the nice little front surface mirror inside to replace your old dim mirror. Very simple, but you may need to cut off a little on the sides to make it fit properly. A glass cutter and a pair of pliers (I use needle nose pliers) takes care of that quickly.

It's an old Ed Romney trick, I did learn a few good tips from his books

Nathan

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. Consequently I have two polaroid cameras, won on eBay just yesterday, on their way to me right now

My Halina rollfilm came out of the development ok and looks promissing. I haven't printed it yet so can't confirm the Hassleblad beating lens resolution, but the old Halina AI certainly still takes pictures!