Seagull 203 Folder?

[ssloansjca]

While digging through a box in my garage I found a Seagull 203, a folding 120 camera a friend of mine from China gave me about 20 years ago.

Does anybody know much about these?

~Steve Sloan

 

[isaacc7]

I used one in Yemen to great effect. It was a lot of fun to use, and most importantly, it was easy to carry around. If I've done this properly, you can see some of the shots I did with it here:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=seagull&w=18102095@N00

If you have any specific questions, I'll try to answer them the best I can...



Isaac

 

[ChrisC]

I used one in Yemen to great effect.

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=seagull&w=18102095@N00

Wow! Thanks for making me bump Yemen high up on my list of places to go.

 

[isaacc7]

Wow! Thanks for making me bump Yemen high up on my list of places to go.

Yeah, Yemen is really photogenic. It's really cheap too! The old city of Sana'a is beautiful, and there is some dramatic scenery. Recently, a lot of countries have removed their travel warning there... One thing I'll say is that the Yemenis love it when people visit their country!


Isaac

 

[ssloansjca]

I do not know if I will go to Yemen, but the photos I have seen here convince me to give this folder a shot!

~Steve

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

If it's the same one I had, I'd be careful and put some test shots through it before using it regularly. I had a problem with mine - it would provide seemingly random soft-focus shots in an unpredictable manner. I don't know if it was an issue with the rangefinder, if it was me just being an idiot, or if there was something about the lens element alignment. Most shots were fine, but one in every couple rolls would be off, when I was confident that I had in fact focused properly. I was not shooting wide-open nor extremely close-up. Just some food for thought.

 

[isaacc7]

If it's the same one I had, I'd be careful and put some test shots through it before using it regularly. I had a problem with mine - it would provide seemingly random soft-focus shots in an unpredictable manner. I don't know if it was an issue with the rangefinder, if it was me just being an idiot, or if there was something about the lens element alignment. Most shots were fine, but one in every couple rolls would be off, when I was confident that I had in fact focused properly. I was not shooting wide-open nor extremely close-up. Just some food for thought.

YeH, Seagull is not famous for its fine craftsmanship.. Mine was fine, but I bought it from a guy that specializes in folders, he checked the shutter, rangefinder, etc. for me. If it's working well, it can be quite nice. I usually shoot it in the 645 setting, I like the vertical format for a lot of things. Give it a shot and see what happens! Watch out for the shutter interlock, you have to cock the shutter and then advance the film. I lost a few shots because of that and had some odd frame spacing issues too..

Isaac