The Moskva 5 is a big Soviet made camera, which follows forms and performance of the most renowned folding Zeiss Super Ikonta. Snap 6×9 cm frames and 6×6 through a special removable mask. For the technical specifications of the camera back to the previous test readers: here and here. This time, taking advantage of a typical winter day, I wanted to use it in its native format, for large negatives (if any) to print.
I promised you, my dear readers: this would be the last Retina test. Actually it had been there for a bit of time and waited for his chance to be used. The Retina IIa is one of the most sought after on the market and in fact, I struggled just to find a copy in good condition at a reasonable price. The reasons are soon said: small, handy, but at the same time, equipped with a rangefinder and especially, the prestigious and fast Schneider Kreuznach lens Xenon 50mm f/2.
As you may have read in my previous post, here came recently a noble representative of the British pride: the Agilux Agifold III. A 6×6 medium format camera. Unfortunately, its extinction meter is no longer working (or at least, I have not been able to figure out how to use it) and then, I decided not to leave her alone in this test and I accompanied with an equally british Weston Master III.
Sometimes, when you receive a vintage camera, it happens to find inside an old negative, forgotten there for who knows how many decades. It happened to me twice in the past, into a folding 6×6 Rheinmetall Weltax and a few days ago, in another folding MF, the Agilux Agifold. In the first case, the roll was totally blocked and I could not avoid exposing it to light to pull it out. I only remember that it had a red bordeaux paper. This time, however, having noticed through the rear window the presence of a film (at N° 10), I rewound with the intention of developing it. It was an old Tri X Pan Professional, which I developed semi-stand on Adonal (Rodinal) 1: 100 for an hour. Results? Totally disappointing but ….
Another Kodak Retina …? Yes, yes…. I know guys, but I warned you that I still had a couple of them in the queue to be tested. Now only the IIa remains (still not loaded yet), and then I’ll stop….. maybe… 😉 This IB, however, has long been around in the house (and in the repairman office), because while being in superb cosmetic condition , the shutter was frozen. Once repaired, however had to wait its turn patiently, until it reached its moment.
Okay, do not say I did not warn you! Most of my purchases in recent months has focused on Kodak Retina and Retinette cameras. As a result, even my shots and post on this blog … reflect this trend. This time, however, let’s consider one of the “Top” models of the range: the Retina IIIc (Typ 021 Ausf I). Laboriously, and after a long search, I managed to win one at an affordable price. In fact, many collectors and enthusiasts, eagerly, are grabbing these jewels of photography, conyinuosly raising the prices. Indeed, the aesthetics, the level of construction and the photographic performance, give their holder the feeling of holding in your hands something really valuable.
Once again, on this blog, it is the turn of a Kodak Retinette. This time, it is the IIA model (Typ 036), produced in the 1959/60 biennium. It differs from the (virtually) contemporary IA model especially for the presence of the coupled exposure meter and the ingenious method indicating the depth of field similar, if not practically equal, to the one present on the IIB model. To tell the truth, the numbering of the various Retinette models is rather convoluted and I myself still constantly confused between a model and another. So I recommend you consult this Camerapedia page to get a better idea. However, whatever the denomination, each Retinette model I used has always lived up to the hype, back home photographs very well exposed and sharp, thanks to the excellent Reomar, both in the Schneider Kreuznach (IIB versions and IIA), or Rodenstock (IB) versions.
Things do not always go your way. But this case was (almost) expected. Too bad, because the Fuji GS 645 Professional is a very good camera, built with a mix of old criteria (folding structure and rangefinder) and more modern ones, especially the good and sharp lens and the meter. A good friend of mine lent me a copy in perfect condition, were it not for the presence of numerous pinholes in the bellows. I tried a repair with the “liquid electrical tape” but unfortunately it was not enough.
This time I want to talk a little about the Kodak Retina II (Typ 011). A camera (for the era in which it was built) high performance. Indeed, it was equipped with a coupled rangefinder and a Schneider Kreuznach Xenon 50 mm f/2 lens. What makes a bit special the copy in my possession is a small white triangle (which means not coated) between marks that identify the lens and which is present only in a small number of copies, produced in Germany during 1948 for the domestic market. Of course this is only a little curiosity that adds nothing to the value of the camera itself, if not from the historical point of view.
This is the fiftieth post of this blog! It is now two years since I started shooting again with film. And to do that, I have from time to time, let fascinate by many “vintage” cameras which, in during the late 70’s/ early ’80,s when I was a young photography enthusiast I would have considered old and obsolete, not up to fulfill my alleged. ..talent. Obviously, the inexperience led me to consider the modern (at the time) Nikon F2, Pentax Lx, Olympus OM1 etc. as the only ones capable of producing high-end images. Of course I was wrong and I understand it … thirty or more years later, during my second analog life. One of the cameras that gave me the most satisfaction was an humble medium format folding made in the ’50s: the Agfa Isolette III.
thefilmrenaissance 