most compact 120-camera

rphenning · Feb 13, 2011

2F/2F said:
Get bigger pockets...then a Hasselblad.

true on so many levels.

maarten m · Feb 13, 2011

Get bigger pockets...then a Hasselblad.

true on so many levels.

ha ha, love it...

i already ruined a few coats on my 500CM
clack might be light, but as you say: bulcky.

i think i'll just go for a 35mm instead of looking for a non-folder.

thanks for your thoughts,
mm

Sirius Glass · Feb 13, 2011

The absolute winner of the "most compact 120 camera" is the camera that got left on the driveway and was driven over!

maarten m · Feb 13, 2011

Sirius Glass said:
The absolute winner of the "most compact 120 camera" is the camera that got left on the driveway and was driven over!

lol

Alastair_I · Feb 13, 2011

Dan Fromm said:
Alastair, you're mad. Completely mad.

420 fits in a jacket pocket no bother.. certainly far more pocketable than my RB67

There's smaller folders will give you a 6x6.. but why compromise on the acreage of a 6x9 negative?

Sirius Glass · Feb 13, 2011

I have found that while a 120 film camera may fit in a pocket, the weight of the camera can pull the clothes in an uncomfortable way.

Steve

Heinz · Feb 13, 2011

The Makina 67 is quite compact for 6x7, but the reply of Steve fits also concerning its weight. Nevertheless it is a beautiful camera!

Troy Hamon · Feb 13, 2011

Sirius Glass said:
The absolute winner of the "most compact 120 camera" is the camera that got left on the driveway and was driven over!

Unless it is a Mamiya RB...in which case it doesn't look any different than before and it's still huge...and it probably still works...

dlin · Feb 13, 2011

I love my Super Ikonta IV- it's my universal travel camera. Nice lens and very compact.

DWThomas · Feb 13, 2011

I have a Perkeo II with Color Skopar which I find quite respectable. Especially at the corners, it's not as sharp as the 80 mm Zenzanon PS on my Bronica, but the Bronica piece has at least two additional elements in the design, as I recall. I also believe my particular Perkeo is somewhat sharper than the 105 mm Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar on my Ercona II, although both seem quite adequate for travel photos and the like. Closed, the Perkeo is quite compact, although after the plastic goodies of today, it's weight is a bit of a surprise, almost 1 1/4 pounds -- real metal and glass!

ntenny · Feb 13, 2011

Sirius Glass said:
I have found that while a 120 film camera may fit in a pocket, the weight of the camera can pull the clothes in an uncomfortable way.

If you put another one in the opposite pocket it balances out!

-NT

Sirius Glass · Feb 13, 2011

ntenny said:
If you put another one in the opposite pocket it balances out!

-NT

I would but the Hasselblad 503 with any lens weighs more than the Hasselblad 903 with its lens. That makes me list towards port; iffen I switch them around I list towards starboard!

Steve

nosmok · Feb 14, 2011

I've got a 6 x 4.5 Super Ikonta that's smaller than my Agfa Karat 35mm folder. That would be my choice. You still need a meter unless youi're one of those exposure Yoda's.

paul ewins · Feb 14, 2011

You mentioned Dianas, well I think the 120 version of the Ensign Ful-Vue is just as compact but in a different form factor. Unfortunately it is just as simple. It seems your choices are: Compact, rigid, light and crap; Compact, folding, lightish and good; Not as compact, rigid, heavy and good. By the time you put enough elements in a lens for it to do a decent job it is no longer compact (or cheap).

Your best bet (if you don't mind the smaller neg) is the Fuji GA645 series, but they aren't cheap. The only time cheap and quality cross paths is with the Soviet clones of the Zeiss folders and even then it is a lottery whether you get a good one or a bad one. I have a Moskva 5 which had been rebuilt by a camera technician before I bought it and it is quite good. The 6x9 neg size means you aren't enlarging as much so ultimate lens quality is not necessary. Generally speaking the good 120 rangefinder cameras are still in demand so cheap won't be an option.

Wade D · Feb 19, 2011

I bought an Agfa Isolette for my birthday last November and couldn't be happier with it. Fits in my coat pocket or hip pocket easily and folds out ready to shoot in seconds. I always preset it for the ambient light so its ready to go when opened. Great little camera and a good companion to my much boxier Yashica D.

Henry Carter · Feb 19, 2011

As far as new current production 120 6x7 folders are concerned, there is the Voigtlander Bessa III:

http://www.cameraquest.com/voigtl_bessa_iii.htm

elekm · Feb 19, 2011

The Voigtlander Perkeo and the Zeiss Ikon 6x4.5 Ikonta and Super Ikonta are compact cameras with the Perkeo being a well built lightweight camera.

The regular 6x6 Ikonta and some of the Nettars fold reasonably flat. Same goes for the Isolette models up to the Isolette III.

Kodak's U.K. unit made a nice little 6x6 120 folder, the Kodak 66.

most compact 120-camera

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