Scale No. 1
by Walker Pickering
Things I am currently borrowing, but might be purchasing by the end of the month with money from my sales to the Wittliff Collection:
- Rolleiflex Automat Camera
- 6x13cm Stereoflektoskop Stereo Camera
- Leica IIIA 35mm Outfit
- Premo Standard Reversible Back 8×10 View Camera (!!)
- R.B. Auto-Graflex 4×5 Press Style Camera
I probably won’t keep the 4×5. It’s really a neat design and is essentially a 4×5 SLR with built-in focusing hood, but it’s something that can wait. The Rolleiflex is in pretty decent shape. The stereo camera will require me to cut up rolls of 120 film, but that’s fine. The Leica outfit is, well, a Leica. I’m excited about that. And of course, the pièce de résistance is the 8×10 view camera with what seems to be a normal length lens. I could forsake all the other cameras for just this one.
I also might have the opportunity to get a Hasselblad 1600F (the original Hasselblad model) but it appears the shutter is damaged. There are also a number of smaller things I might be acquiring, but that remains to be seen. You’ll probably see some new formats over the next month as I try each camera out.
So how do you like using the R.B.? I’ve been thinking of getting one or a Super D for portraits…
How long does it take for the mirror to flip up etc? I really, really want to try one of these and a Gowlandflex.
Well to be honest, John, I haven’t used it yet. I haven’t even figured out how to work it yet. But as best I can tell, you have to manually flip the mirror up (there are two levers… one flips it up, the other flips it down) before taking the picture. The shutter is really quite interesting though, and a great solution to what I imagine was a huge problem when they were building these things.
And wow… a gowlandflex? That’s sweet. I’d never heard of that until you mentioned it.
Lucky…. sounds like a great collection of ‘toys’, hope you pick ‘em all up.
I am so completely jealous!