The best film camera money can buy?

[elcabezagrande]

Zeiss Ikon had a couple of 126 cameras. One was a very simple point and click model with a Frontar lens, while another is the more complex "Contaflex 126" -- an SLR with a cloth focal-plane shutter and interchangeable lenses. You can argue easily that the Carl Zeiss-branded lenses were much better than the body.

Rollei had the Rollei A26, which was a push-pull affair similar to the A110/E110 cameras. The A26 has a scale-focus Sonnar lens and a bolt-on flash unit with a sealed rechargeable battery.

The Rolleiflex SL26 is a compact SLR with interchangeable Pro-Tessar front elements (akin to the Zeis Ikon Contaflex 35mm SLRs). It has a Synchro-Compur leaf shutter with match-needle manual exposure.

The camera packs a frightening large number of gears and components into a small body, all just begging for some kind of breakdown.

I think that the Rolleiflex SL26 is the best of the four that I mention here, and the A26 isn't too far behind. I'd really like to test the Contaflex 126, but I've given up on trying to find a working body.

This is the Ikomatic, the "simpler" camera that you refer to:


Zeiss Ikon Ikomatic F by Greyscale3, on Flickr

It uses a 15 volt (!!!) battery for the flash.

 

[Weasel_Loader]

Looks like the buyer just purchased at a yard sale and did a quick search to find a price.

The problem with those old Bullseyes seem to be finding one in working condition. I think they were one of the most complex cameras ever built. Way overbuilt and expensive to produce, they couldn't compete with the Japanese SLRs hitting the market. I would love to own one some day, but for now, I'll stick with my Nikon Fs.

 

[StoneNYC]

Maybe THIS is the best camera money can buy... At $5... It's the cheapest piece of crap Kodak probably ever made, it has T and I and nothing else, it has "5-10 feet" and "past 10 feet" as a focus option... It DOES have both a vertical and horizontal viewfinder... AND it has me as a user... However not sure even shooting it at EI 2 (32ASA -40 years [1 stop per 10 years] = EI 2) that I'll get anything... Verichrome (non-safety film?) expired 1947.. Hehe loaded up and ready to go!

It does have one giant dust speck in the lens I can't get at, unlike my other folders with options and the lens elements that unscrew, this one is bolted in...but it's the only one with bellows that don't leak... Wish me luck! And comment if you have suggestions for shooting/development.


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk