Oh Man! Plaubel Makina III!

[mshchem]

This one looks pretty good....

Plaubel Makina III

This site is dedicated to folding cameras for 120 film. It's run by Reinhard Blanck

www.120folder.com

Makinas are darn quirky but very lovable once you get to know them.

Beautiful camera.

 

[Nokton48]

They are beautiful, in a Steampunk kind of way. "The Rolls Royce of Photography" according to Plaubel literature of the day. That's about right.

 

[Nokton48]

Maki Orwo 22 6x9 sheet Microphen by Nokton48, on Flickr

Orwo NP22 6.5x9cm Sheet Film Bulk purchase Bulgaria, Microphen used by suggestion. Plaubel 6.5x9cm Film Holder, I have about 50 of these, extremely precise holsers made for the Peco Junior 6.5x9cm Camera Back. I've acquired about 50 Plaubel Holders from bundle deals back in the day, so now I am cleaning and dusting and loading with NP20 and NP22. I'll process in Microphen in a Combiplan Tank. The finished sheets fit into 120 film holders. A very precise and frugal way to shoot medium format view camera.

Once loaded these holders also fit into my Makina II and IIIR. So very versatile. This Plaubel Holder was fitted to a Plaubel Makiflex.

 

[Nokton48]

A trio of Plaubel Makiflexes by Nokton48, on Flickr

The final Swan Song of the Plaubel Camera Company, (in the early 1960's) was the reflex-SLR version Plaubel Makiflex. Here is my collection of Makiflexes, the two on the left, are the Automatic "Makiflex". Very similar to a European Auto Graflex, with automatic diaphragm mechanism. You cock the lens, and it stops down the lens right before exposure (hence "Automatic"). The Plaubel original lenses are the 180mm Schneider Xenar, and the 210mm F4.5 Schneider Xenar. On the right, is the "Makiflex Standard" with 150mm F2.8 Schneider Xenotar. This model has a more restricted range of shutter speeds, and no auto-iris provision.

These cameras are from what I call "The Golden Age of Photography".