Classic folding rollfilm cameras

by Ross Alford

Click towards the left edge of the thumbnails to see a normal B&W photo, or click towards the right edge to see a stereo B&W photo. To view the stereo images, look through a red filter with your left eye and a green or blue filter with your right eye.

AGIfold thumbAGIfold 6 X 6 with uncoupled rangefinder. Made in England by Agilux, Ltd. in the 1950s. Agilux Anastigmat 75/4.5 lens. This one is in near-mint condition.

 

Ensign Commando

Ensign Commando. 6 X 6 on 120 with coupled rangefinder made by Houghton in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Originally produced during WWII for military use to replace the unavailable Zeiss Super Ikonta Bs, which it has an obvious resemblance to. It's different in many details, including the fact that, like the Mamiya 6, it focuses by moving the film plane.

 

Kodak Duo 620 SII

Kodak Duo 620 Series II. Made by Kodak Germany (Nagel) in the 1930s. A very nicely made camera resembling the 35mm Retinas. Too bad it takes the almost unavailable 620 film.

 

Kodak Regent

Kodak Regent. A relatively uncommon 6 X 9 on 620 camera with coupled rangefinder, unit focusing, and Xenar lens. Made by Kodak Germany in the 1930s. Folds into a very smooth art-deco-ish package.

 

Korelle 6 X 6 thumbKorelle 6 X 6 folder by Kochmann, Dresden. Late 1930s. Takes 120 roll film, has interesting frame counter visible on back, strut-folding front and fold-up square viewfinder. An unusual design and quite well made.

 

Karoron

Kuribayashi (later Petri) Karoron. Early 1950s, 4.5 X 6 cm on 120 roll film. Scale focusing camera, one of many in this size that was very popular in the 1930s-50s.

 

Petri Semi

Kuribayashi Petri Semi. Made in 1948, 4.5 X 6 on 120. Has some odd features, such as the very small "brilliant" style finder at the far left of the top plate, the pop-up optical finder (shown popped-up), and uncoupled rangefinder.

 

Mamiya 6 thumbMamiya 6. Postwar 6 X 6 folder with flash synch and coated Olympus Zuiko lens. Coupled rangefinder, focuses by moving film plane in and out.

 

Minolta Semi IIIa

Minolta Semi IIIa. Made in the late 1940s or early 1950s by Minolta for 4.5 X 6 on 120. Has coated Rokkor lens in Konan shutter.

 

Chrome 6 thumb Olympus Chrome Six IIIa. Early 1950s folder by Olympus. Very solidly built, with Zuiko f 3.5 lens.

 

Taisei Welmy Sixc

Taisei Koki Welmy Six. Early 1950s 6 X 6 on 120. Interesting feature of this camera is dual viewfinders; a normal optical finder with a 90 degree finder next to it, which you look through by looking down into the top plate. This is often described as a "waist-level" finder, but unlike the usual "brilliant" finder, the image is upside down. I suspect it's actually a finder for sneaky right angle shots, as when you look through it with the camera turned on its side, the image is right side up, though reversed.

 

Bessa RF

Voigtlander Bessa RF. Made in the 1930s, with Skopar 105/3.5 normal lens and coupled rangefinder. 6 X 9 cm images on 120 roll film. The predecessor of the Bessa II shown below, but quite different in many respects. The object below the lens is a built-in orange filter that swings into and out of position over the lens.

 

Bessa II thumb Voigtlander Bessa II. 1950s coupled rangefinder, coated Color-Skopar 105/3.5 lens in Synchro-Compur shutter. 6 X 9 cm images on 120 rollfilm.

 

Perkeo E thumbVoigtlander Perkeo E. Made in the 1950s. Color-Skopar lens, uncoupled rangefinder. For some reason, this near-top-of range 6 X 6 on 120 folder has a Prontor shutter, and of course on this camera it sticks at low speeds, as Prontor shutters almost always do when they get old.

 

Weltur

Welta Weltur. This one is for 6 X 6 on 120; they also came in convertible 6 X 6/4.5 X 6 and 6 X 9 models. Made in the 1930s in Germany by Welta. Coupled rangefinder, unit-focusing Zeiss Tessar 80/2.8 lens. A high-quality camera capable of excellent results.

 

Ikonta 520

Zeiss Ikon Ikonta A, catalog number 520. Early 1930s, with Tessar 75/4.5 lens. 4.5 X 6 on 120. Extremely compact but hard to use with modern film as it has 2 red windows and one tends to allow light to strike the edges of the film.

 

Ikonta B 520/16 thumbZeiss Ikon Ikonta B, catalog number 520/16. takes 6 X 6 exposures on 120 rollfilm. Prewar model with Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar in Compur. This one has a small brass plate on the backj that says "made for China" in Chinese characters.

 

Ikonta 521-16 thumb Zeiss Ikon Ikonta B, catalog number 521/16. 6 X 6 on 120 film, with 75/3.5 uncoated Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar in Compur shutter. Double exposure prevention is a big advance over model 520. Probably made in 1937, the first year of production for this model.

 

mess-ikonta B thumb Zeiss Ikon Ikonta B 524/16 (Mess-Ikonta). Uncoupled rangefinder, coated Zeiss-Opton Tessar 75/3.5 in Synchro-Compur shutter. Made in the early to mid 1950s by Zeiss Ikon, Stuttgart.

 

nettax thumb Zeiss Ikon Nettax 6 X 6 folder. Made in the mid to late 1950s by Zeiss Ikon, Stuttgart. Coated 75/3.5 Novar lens in Pronto shutter. Built-in uncoupled selenium light meter. There seems to be some confusion about the Zeiss catalog number for these; apparently it was officially 513/16, but mine, and at least one other I know of, say 534/16 on the back, which is the catalog number of the Super Ikonta IV.

 

Super Ikonta III thumb Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta III, 531/16. Late 1950s, from Zeiss Ikon, Stuttgart. 6 X 6 on 120, with coupled rangefinder and 75/3.5 coated Zeiss-Opton tessar in Synchro-Compur shutter. Still a very nice picture taker.

 

supik IV thumb Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta IV, 534/16. Late 1950s to very early 1960s. Coupled rangefinder, built-in uncoupled selenium light meter, 75/3.5 Zeiss Tessar lens in Synchro-Compur shutter. A beautiful, light, portable picture taker.

 

SIA 530 thumbnail Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta A, catalog number 530. Early to mid 1930s. Coupled rotating-prism rangefinder, uncoated Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 75/3.5 in Compur shutter. fold-up optical, non-Albada, finder. Location of one red window makes using it with pan film difficult.

 

prewar super Ik A thumb Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta A, catalog number 531. Prewar, with uncoated 75/3.5 Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar. Coupoled rangefinder, Albada finder. Note the Zeiss-Ikon nameplate, some have this, some have the more usual impression in the leather. Note also the polished aluminum edges; this was done after the camera left the factory, probably because the black enamel became chipped (very common problem). In this case, and a few others I have seen, the removal of enamel and polishing were done so nicely that it looks almost like it was meant to be that way.

supika postwar Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta A, 531. Early-1950s postwar camera with 75/3.5 coated Zeiss Opton Tessar in X-synced Compur Rapid shutter. Coupled rangefinder, Albada finder. This one works but is not in very pretty cosmetic condition.

 

Super Ikonta C thumb Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta C, 531/2. Early-1950s camera with coated Zeiss-Opton Tessar 105/3.5 in X-synced Compur Rapid. Coupled rotating-prism rangefinder. this is one of my favorite picture takers, folds up small, takes sharp 6 X 9 negatives.

 

Classic camera main page

Photographic homepage

Online gallery

email me

All images and text on this site are copyrighted by Ross A. Alford and may not be reproduced without permission

 

AGIfold 3d AGIfold BW korelle 66 3d Korelle 66 BW mamiya 6 zuiko 3d Mamiya 6 zuiko BW chrome 6 3d Chrome 6 BW Bessa II 3d Bessa II BW Perkeo E 3d perkeo E BW Ikonta 520-16 3d Ikonta 520-16 BW Ikonta 521-16 3d Ikonta 521-16 BW mess-ikonta b 3d mess-ikonta B BW nettax 3d nettax BW supikIII 3d Super Ikonta III BW Super Ikonta IV 3d Super Ikonta IV BW super Ikonta 531 prewar Super Ikonta A prewar Super Ikonta A postwar 3d Super Ikonta A postwar BW super Ikonta C 3d super Ikonta C BW Super Ikonta A 530 3d Super Ikonta A 530 BW Ensign Commando 3d Ensign Commando BW Kodak Duo 620 Series II 3d Kodak Duo 620 Series III BW Kodak Regent 3d Kodak Regent BW Karoron 3d karoron BW Petri Semi 3d Petri Semi BW Minolta Semi IIIa 3d Minolta Semi IIIa BW Welmy 6 3d Welmy Six BW Bessa RF 3d Bessa RF BW Weltur 3d Weltur BW Ikonta 520 3d Ikonta 520 BW