Three old cameras
Mar 26, 2013 12:00:56 #
Here are the three cameras that my son and his fiance' brought me last weekend. The first is a Braun Paxina 35 made in Nuremberg in 1953. Why Braun called it a "35" is a mystery, as it is a 120 roll film camera producing twelve 6x6 images. The lens is a Praxinar 1:3.5/75mm which I presume is a simple triplet of the Tessar type, and which produces amazingly good images, mounted in a Pronto shutter with speeds of 1/25th to 1/200th and B. The shutter and lens assembly is mounted on a collapsible pull-out tube in the fashion of a Leitz 5cm Elmar. Collapsing the lens tube makes the camera very compact for a roll film camera.
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Braun_Paxina#Paxina_35
The second camera is a Kodak Retina 1 type 117 made in Stuttgart, Germany in 1934. It is a bellows camera taking standard 35mm film cassettes. It is fitted with a Schneider Xenar 1:3.5 / 50mm lens mounted in a Compur rim set shutter with speeds from 1 sec to 1/300th sec and B. This is the first of the German made Retina cameras, which were to become a legend in their own time. This one cost £10.0.0 when new, which was 2/3rds the cost of a new Leica.
http://www.earlyphotography.co.uk/site/entry_C202.html
The third camera is a Triumph Model 68 made by the Nagel Werke in Stutgart in 1930. Dr August Nagel formed the Nagel-Werke in 1928 after leaving Zeiss-Ikon. Eastman Kodak purchased the company in 1932 and Nagel cameras became Kodak cameras. This one has a leather bellows and a 1:6.3 / 10.5cm "Dr Aug Nagel" lens mounted in a dial set shutter of the Compur type, although it is not marked so. It produces eight 6x9 cm exposures and cost £3.0.0 when new.
http://www.earlyphotography.co.uk/site/entry_C77.html
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Braun_Paxina#Paxina_35
The second camera is a Kodak Retina 1 type 117 made in Stuttgart, Germany in 1934. It is a bellows camera taking standard 35mm film cassettes. It is fitted with a Schneider Xenar 1:3.5 / 50mm lens mounted in a Compur rim set shutter with speeds from 1 sec to 1/300th sec and B. This is the first of the German made Retina cameras, which were to become a legend in their own time. This one cost £10.0.0 when new, which was 2/3rds the cost of a new Leica.
http://www.earlyphotography.co.uk/site/entry_C202.html
The third camera is a Triumph Model 68 made by the Nagel Werke in Stutgart in 1930. Dr August Nagel formed the Nagel-Werke in 1928 after leaving Zeiss-Ikon. Eastman Kodak purchased the company in 1932 and Nagel cameras became Kodak cameras. This one has a leather bellows and a 1:6.3 / 10.5cm "Dr Aug Nagel" lens mounted in a dial set shutter of the Compur type, although it is not marked so. It produces eight 6x9 cm exposures and cost £3.0.0 when new.
http://www.earlyphotography.co.uk/site/entry_C77.html
Braun Paxina 35
Kodak Retina 1, Type 117
Nagel Triumph Mod 68
Mar 26, 2013 12:38:06 #
Mar 26, 2013 12:49:19 #
Those are pretty nice. Should add atmosphere to a studio waiting area or lobby.
Mar 26, 2013 12:58:06 #
Kodak designed the 35 mm cassette that was already loaded for the Retina. Film for the Leica was bought in 36 exposure lengths and you had to load your own cassettes. This and Argus coming out with their A 1 (used Kodak cassette) witch was 1/3 the price of a Leica had more to do with 35 mm becoming popular than just the great pictures taken with Leica. The price and having to load you own film put the Leica out of the market for most photographers. - Dave
Mar 26, 2013 13:01:38 #
demarlow wrote:
Those are pretty nice. Should add atmosphere to a studio waiting area or lobby.
The problem I see having them on display is the dust they would accumulate and all the nooks and crannies where the dust could settle. I would put them into a sealed glass case.
I heat with wood, so dust is an integral part of my life - dust and dog hair.
Mar 26, 2013 14:38:53 #
jerryc41 wrote:
The problem I see having them on display is the dust they would accumulate and all the nooks and crannies where the dust could settle. I would put them into a sealed glass case.
I heat with wood, so dust is an integral part of my life - dust and dog hair.
I heat with wood, so dust is an integral part of my life - dust and dog hair.
They will join the other 258 cameras that I have, behind glass.
Mar 26, 2013 14:46:12 #
I went to a tag sale and found a 1950's plastic camera bag with 75 cents on it. Inside was this Braun Paxette Super ll BL with a 135 mm and a 35 mm lens with a 50 mm f/2.8 on it plus the cases. I asked if she knew a camera was inside. She said yes that the last sale they had her husband had priced it and it didn't sale and she wanted it out of the house. Makes a great example of an interchangeable lens rangefinder camera for my collection. - Dave
Mar 26, 2013 15:01:17 #
wilsondl2 wrote:
I went to a tag sale and found a 1950's plastic camera bag with 75 cents on it. Inside was this Braun Paxette Super ll BL with a 135 mm and a 35 mm lens with a 50 mm f/2.8 on it plus the cases. I asked if she knew a camera was inside. She said yes that the last sale they had her husband had priced it and it didn't sale and she wanted it out of the house. Makes a great example of an interchangeable lens rangefinder camera for my collection. - Dave
All that leather is definitely yesteryear.
Mar 26, 2013 15:15:36 #
wilsondl2 wrote:
I went to a tag sale and found a 1950's plastic camera bag with 75 cents on it. Inside was this Braun Paxette Super ll BL with a 135 mm and a 35 mm lens with a 50 mm f/2.8 on it plus the cases. I asked if she knew a camera was inside. She said yes that the last sale they had her husband had priced it and it didn't sale and she wanted it out of the house. Makes a great example of an interchangeable lens rangefinder camera for my collection. - Dave
Dave, I used that exact same model Paxette Super II BL with those same lenses when I was in high school. The outfit belonged to my grandad but I used it more than he ever did. Superb lenses.
Mar 26, 2013 15:22:28 #
GrahamS wrote:
Dave, I used that exact same model Paxette Super II BL with those same lenses when I was in high school. The outfit belonged to my grandad but I used it more than he ever did. Superb lenses.
I like that "electric eye" on front. Lots of cameras had them.
Mar 26, 2013 15:45:47 #
I've got a lot of older cameras as well, but not 258 of them !!
GrahamS wrote:
They will join the other 258 cameras that I have, behind glass.
Mar 26, 2013 17:20:17 #
Mar 26, 2013 17:36:28 #
wilsondl2 wrote:
I went to a tag sale and found a 1950's plastic camera bag with 75 cents on it. Inside was this Braun Paxette Super ll BL with a 135 mm and a 35 mm lens with a 50 mm f/2.8 on it plus the cases. I asked if she knew a camera was inside. She said yes that the last sale they had her husband had priced it and it didn't sale and she wanted it out of the house. Makes a great example of an interchangeable lens rangefinder camera for my collection. - Dave
You gave her a chance. Great find!
Is the shutter in the body or in each lens?
I had a Topcon Unirex 35mm SLR that had a leaf shutter in the body (behind the lens mount) with interchangable lens units.
Mar 26, 2013 18:06:07 #
Mar 26, 2013 18:37:58 #
GoofyNewfie wrote:
You gave her a chance. Great find!
Is the shutter in the body or in each lens?
I had a Topcon Unirex 35mm SLR that had a leaf shutter in the body (behind the lens mount) with interchangable lens units.
Is the shutter in the body or in each lens?
I had a Topcon Unirex 35mm SLR that had a leaf shutter in the body (behind the lens mount) with interchangable lens units.
That sounds like the little Pentax 110. I used to have a lot of that equipment.
https://www.google.com/search?q=pentax+110&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=DyNSUcinK4-80QHo2YGYAw&ved=0CEAQsAQ&biw=1680&bih=916
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