szabad alert on EBAY ! ( 13x18 ) fits 5x7 film holder perfectly

[removed account4]

well, if it was a 9x12 i wouldn't be posting this note, i have a 5x7 already so i am passing this gem up.
the us version ( 5x7 ) is nothing compared to this camera. it is brown wood, kind of "rustic" by comparison.
the indicators and hardware aren't as refined. this camea for sale is polished black wood.
the maker is a cabinet maker who fled hungary during the war and ended up working for the hasselblad store. he fixed film holders and did other things and eventually created a view camera for hasselblad called
the universal view. a few lots were supplied to hasselblad and szabad then told them, that these cameras weren't hasselblads, but szabads .. and went on his own. they were in the stable of the scandinavian
commerical photographer for decades and only a handful made it to the states. the us / emperial format
( in inches ) stateside is pretty rare, and to be honest this is the first metric size one i have ever seen, in the almost 20 years i search ebay regularly for anything related to szabad.

no relation to the seller other than he wasn't sure what format he had
and borrowed a 5x7 film holder to make sure it was a 13x18. he's one of the good ones !

the item # is
282074300558

good luck !

 

[Jerevan]

I couldn't find anything, but yes - the Szabads are like a Linhof but made out of wood. Extremely sturdy (and a bit on the heavy side for backpacking, more like schlepping ...) and very nicely made.

I have a 5x7 in the closet. If I ever get around to fixing the bellows ...

 

[removed account4]

sorry you can't see it, its beautiful !
i guess because he only ships to the states
it dosn't come up if you are out of the states
and just stick the ## in the search bar ..

yeah you are right, "kinda heavy"

- john

 

[Theo Sulphate]

...
the maker is a cabinet maker who fled hungary during the war ...

Hence the name, as "szabad" means "free" (szabadság = freedom).

My family escaped from Communist Hungary.

 

[StephenT]

After reading about the maker, I couldn't resist it. It will be an honor to care for it and use it.

 

[removed account4]

theo!
huge thanks for the translation, never realized that
and stephen T, congratulations, you have bought a real work of art !

john

 

[TheToadMen]

After reading about the maker, I couldn't resist it. It will be an honor to care for it and use it.

Could you show us the camera? I couldn't find it on Ebay. Never seen one myself.

 

[Jerevan]

After reading about the maker, I couldn't resist it. It will be an honor to care for it and use it.

Congratulations!

Locally, I know of six of these, including a very rare 12x16 (only two made) ... they are really nice cameras.

 

[removed account4]

hi bert:

this listing is here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-VINTAG...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

==
wow jerevan that is pretty cool !
i'd love to see the ULF camera them made
for saab ( or was it volvo ) from the things i have
read it is HUGE ! carl, the son, was on the large format page
years ago, and provided photographs of him in his family workshop
making some of the cameras with his dad.

 

[Ari]

Interesting, I hadn't heard of these cameras before.
There's another Hungarian making view cameras now, but the name escapes me.
Good, solid, unpretentious cameras at decent prices.

 

[Jerevan]

Interesting, I hadn't heard of these cameras before.
There's another Hungarian making view cameras now, but the name escapes me.
Good, solid, unpretentious cameras at decent prices.

Argentum cameras.

 

[removed account4]

also the VDS camera

 

[Ari]

Thanks, gents.