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The Seagull 203-i is a Chinese folding rangefinder of indeterminate age. I found mine on a recent trip through my local flea market on a sunny Sunday morning. It features a 75mm/3.5 lens in a 1/300 shutter. It is the most advanced folding camera I own, with a coupled rangefinder, a hot shoe, and a… Continue reading 52 Cameras #88 – Seagull 203-i
It's eight degrees and there is over 2 feet of snow on my flat roof with more expected tonight. I really should be out shoveling. Instead I'm catching up with my blogs. For this week's roll, I chose the Ansco Clipper. I don't remember where or when I got my Clipper. It's a folding box… Continue reading Week 87 – Ansco Clipper
After a pair of false starts, I was very happy with the final results from the Ventura 66. The focus is still very stiff; I may need to disassemble it and clean further. The bellows seems to be light-tight after its Plasti-Dip treatment. The camera is missing its shutter button, but the lens can be… Continue reading Ventura 66 – week 59 results
This one had me scratching my head. I found a $6 last-minute deal for a "Venture 66" on eBay a while back. It looked neat, but a quick search turned up nothing. I bought it anyway. When it arrived, the focus ring was seized. I made an abortive attempt at freeing it, then the camera… Continue reading Week 59 – Ventura 66 Deluxe
I find myself returning to the Tourist on a regular basis. Despite its fixed focus and limited settings, it is a joy to shoot. The shutter release is located on the side of the folding bed. When depressed, the mechanism can be seen through the viewfinder, removing any doubt as to whether the shutter has… Continue reading Kodak Tourist – week 46 results
Introduced in 1951, the Tourist was the last of Kodak's folding models. It uses medium format 620 film to produce 8 big 6x9 cm exposures. Tourists were available with a number of different lens/shutter combinations; mine is a lower end model with a fixed-focus Kodet lens in a single speed shutter. Shutter modes include (I)nstant,… Continue reading Week 46 – Kodak Tourist
Shooting with the SX70 was fairly easy. The camera is held at an odd upward angle in order to keep the lens perpendicular to the ground. The split image focus was easy to work with, although it is located near the bottom of the viewfinder instead of in the center. I soon discovered that even… Continue reading Polaroid SX70 Model 2 – week 38 results
In 1972, Edwin Land and his Polaroid Corporation introduced a revolutionary camera. The SX70 was potentially the iPod of its time, a whole new way of doing things. A press of the button produced a color image with no photo lab, no timing, no cracking and peeling. The picture simply happened automatically. It wasn't cheap,… Continue reading Week 38 – Polaroid SX-70 Model 2
After the original failure, I loaded a roll of FP4 and took the Vigilant to Deerfield Fair. The results were equally poor. This was the only remotely salvageable image on the roll. I don't really know what is going wrong. My best guess is that the bellows may not be light tight. The spaces between… Continue reading Kodak Vigilant Six-20 Junior – week 31 addendum
The Six-20 is a relatively easy camera to shoot. The lens is fixed focus; there is only one effective shutter speed. The only variable is aperture. The tiny waist level finder is all but useless, however. The sport finder is slightly better but is still only vaguely accurate. I find folders simply fun to use.… Continue reading Kodak Vigilant Six-20 Junior – week 31 results
Notes from Mosquito Hill 