Vintage 120 Folders: Is there still a market for them?

[kingbuzzie]

I recently tried to sell a really nice Jurgen Kreckel refurbished ercona I with a tessar and the 6x6 mask for what I thought was a reasonable $200 with no takers. I'm now thinking of listing my voigtlander perkeo w/ color skopar for the same reason: lack of use. Somewhat related, I'm often impressed with some of the photos I see from tessar folders posted online but mine are always so unimpressive. I stop down to around f8 when I can.

 

[Prest_400]

I see Perkeos appreciated for being very compact. I got myself a Super Ikonta IV with a Tessar a couple years ago as secondary backup camera. It's nice, but I notice the double gauss of my Fuji 6x9 is sharper, of course.
Top of the line folders do go for high prices, specially the Super Isolette. Then it depends where what and condition.

Actually, as online the scans tend to be smaller, they look good whereas own negatives it's easier to peep more either scanned or printed. However, at about 10x10" print size the Tessars are very good! If wider than the f8 sweet spot there is quite some character.

 

[blee1996]

A professional CLA on a medium format folder might be valued by the user but not by the buyers. Especially folders like Ercona which are not top of the line (e.g. no rangefinder coupling) can be bought quite cheaply.

I got my Perkeo II serviced and enjoy using it. But I'm quite certain that I will lose money if I decide to sell it.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Hmm. My Perkeo II is a joy to use but before I retired it I never got a satisfactorily sharp shot with it. Nice pictures, but no sharp; sharpness is overrated.

Charlie Barringer had the same experience with his.

OP, I have no idea what drives demand for these old crocks. That said, 120 film ain't cheap and neither is processing. Also, cell phones are better than good enough for most snapshots.

 

[Dan Daniel]

I recently tried to sell a really nice Jurgen Kreckel refurbished ercona I with a tessar and the 6x6 mask for what I thought was a reasonable $200 with no takers. I'm now thinking of listing my voigtlander perkeo w/ color skopar for the same reason: lack of use. Somewhat related, I'm often impressed with some of the photos I see from tessar folders posted online but mine are always so unimpressive. I stop down to around f8 when I can.

One thing is that cameras and cameras types go through cycles. And rise and fall for a variety of reasons. One post by a popular social media person can make a type explode. I follow a few different cameras at Ebay and other such places and I have seen swings in prices, numbers for sale, etc. in most any. Even, believe or not, Leica and Hasselblad, probably the two most regular and stable selling cameras.

Patience?

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Hmm. My Perkeo II is a joy to use but before I retired it I never got a satisfactorily sharp shot with it. Nice pictures, but no sharp; sharpness is overrated.

Charlie Barringer had the same experience with his.

OP, I have no idea what drives demand for these old crocks. That said, 120 film ain't cheap and neither is processing. Also, cell phones are better than good enough for most snapshots.

Sharpness is a bourgeois concept.
HCB

nothing is worse than a sharp picture of a fuzzy
concept.
AA
cell phones,or better mobile phones, are heresy.
RWL

 

[runswithsizzers]

I just bought a vintage medium format folding camera last month, so I know there is at least a small market for them.

I paid $75 for a Zeiss Icon Nettar 517/2. Mine is a basic model with nothing fancy for a lens or shutter, but it is really clean, so I thought the price was fair.

Personally, I was kind of hoping for a little more "character" from the triplet lens, but results from the first roll look sharper than I was expecting.

Sure, I'd love to have a faster lens, a built-in range finder, and a proper frame counter with double exposure prevention, but the prices on the higher spec models scared me away.

 

[Alan9940]

I've been very satisfied with the results I've gotten from both of my Zeiss Ikon folders with Tessar lens. Sure, they're not as critically sharp as my Hasselblad lenses, but sharp enough for the print sizes I produce.

 

[4season]

My impression is that demand is modest, and centered around a small number of cameras. Which can be great for someone looking for a bargain, because there are so many worthy possibilities out there which are completely off everyone's radar.

I spotted an Ercona folder in decent condition at my local thrift store, think asking price was maybe $25. I could not have resold it for $200 because I am not a known go-to guy for folding cameras like JK is, and I don't recall it having a Tessar lens, or a full range of shutter speeds.

Earlier this year, I took delivery of an autocollimator, and wasted no time going through some of my underperforming cameras, one of which was an Agfa Isolette III, and it needed readjustment for sure. Still need to run a roll of film through it, but I'm pretty confident that I'll finally get to see what it's 3-element lens can really do.

 

[hsandler]

Folders tend to be problematic, mainly bellows and parallelism of the front standard. There was a good article by Dante Stella a few years ago called "Folding up on folders" that can be found archived somewhere. I have had 6x9, 6x6 and 6x4.5 folders. I generally find the 6x4.5 size has the least problems and the compactness is the most impressive. I like my Ikonta 521A with Novar Anastigmat lens. The only thing about those is the lack of an accessory shoe, which would make flash photography and using an external rangefinder much more convenient. I recently got a Zenobia C I which has a 4 element lens and impresses.

Full disclosure: I moderate a flickr group called "Folding Fanatics" and want to encourage more folder photography. https://www.flickr.com/groups/foldingfanatics/

 

[moggi1964]

Love my FS. (She's had a clean since the pictures)

 

[Ian Grant]

One problem is few outside the former Eastern Block will appreciate that the Erconar is, essentially an East German VEB Zeiss Ikon camera. Also the Tempor shutter is relatively unknown by most of us.

In terms of pricing I can easily find an Ensign 820 Selfix. in excellent condition for around $100, very similar specification. While these cameras are very capable they are not desirable of the 120 folders.

I bought a Zeiss Super Ikonta 533/16 a couple of weeks ago (@moggi1964) will guess who from) for £40 (under $54). It looks like it has hardly ever been used. Shutter is accurate at all speeds, has a rangefinder, and light meter, both work perfectly. OK the focus was solid & wouldn't budge, but was a quick fix, optics - the Opton Tessar - is like new.

In this case the 533/16 is a keeper & a camera I will use, for the same reasons they sell easily, the Automated film wind, no reliance on Red windows, and the extra feature like the Rangefinder & Meter

However, having a camera refurbished, restored, serviced, can be almost as much as a possible re-sale value. That's speaking as someone who restores, repairs, and services cameras, but I specialise in Wood & Brass, early roller blind shutters.

I have had cameras I've bought serviced, but then used them for a few years use, before sold them. The reliable use quickly recoups the service costs.

Ian