"New" camera - Christmas present

So, my hubby did well. He got me a Hongmei 5 - a MF TLR. It just arrived today from China. I don't have any snaps of it to show, but there's a lever on the lens - opposite the shutter cocking lever - that's colored red. Pushing it down and then releasing the shutter only results in clicking, though it seems like it could maybe be a timer? If the shutter is cocked and then the red lever is pushed, it doesn't seem to make a difference except that the shutter then hangs up and takes some fiddling to get it all working right. Overall, it looks like it's in good shape and I can't wait to try it out.

I was able to find images of your camera on eBay where one is being sold, and the red lever looks like it might be a timer. Most timers on mechanical cameras are ten-second, so after cocking the shutter and pressing the red lever, after about ten seconds elapses the shutter should fire. Keep us posted about it! I love TLRs and the Hongmei 5 looks like an interesting one.

I thought timer, too, but it doesn't. If I cock the shutter and press the red lever, when I release the shutter it opens immediately and doesn't close until the red lever gets all the way back to its resting spot (which it doesn't do without help). If it is supposed to be a timer, it doesn't work that way or it's broken.

The way it opens to load film is kinda cool - a piece rotates to the side and the catch releases as it moves. OK, so I can be easily amused at times.

I didn't know they made a TLR. I was looking at a Hongmei folder in Xi'an last fall and it seemed pretty well made. The guy in the shop tried to tell me it was 140 years old---I expect yours is never than that.

-NT