...And here I am.

I have been quiet of late with the film. Partly because it was somewhat disheartening to go from 80c per scan from 120 to $3.50, which means using medium format is now so prohibitively expensive that I may as well give up on it. Or I could just fork out for a scanner of my own.

Last week, I enrolled in the local university's summer school program, undertaking the decoratively-titled "Dialogues in Black & White". It's a 10 day course in January on B&W film photography. This includes access to the university's wet darkroom. Nice.

In preparation, I am going to order myself a Holga GFN (aka 'Woca') and a bunch of film.

I'm excited.

Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/16

Just arrived today from Solingen, Germany. I am amazed at the condition and quality of this camera. Not only is it in perfect cosmetic condition (VERY minor wear, but you'd have to be looking hard), it works like a dream.

I am so excited about using this camera. I believe they weren't an expensive camera when they were new (Between £9 and £16 in the early 1950s in the UK), but you can feel the quality. From a perfunctory look, you'd guess it was similar in quality to the Agfa Isolette. However, even with the difference in condition between the Zeiss and my (sadly dead) Agfa, you can feel that the Zeiss is the superior camera.

Maybe this weekend, I will give it a burl along with the Moskva.

Aufwiedersehen, Agfa

I'm afraid I've had to declare my beloved Agfa Isolette II dead. The shutter is jammed solid, and I can't for the life of me revive it. There is a part of me that would dearly love to send it away to Certo6 to have the full treatment, but I simply can't afford it just yet.

It's particularly difficult as I spent a lot of time cleaning and doing basic repairs to this camera. It looks awesome, and thanks to it's foldiness is one of the most discretely portable 120 cameras around. I managed one film through it during the course of my ownership, an example of which is above. I was most happy with the results, but I guess it was always going to be a limited time only - the camera had probably been sitting in that dusty 2nd hand shop for quite some time, and it didn't look like it'd been treated particularly carefully.

Perhaps one day I'll be able to afford repairs (probably just a new lens/shutter assembly), so I'll keep is stowed away in a nice, clean place - just in case.

Agfa Isolette - Good news...?

I think I've fixed it. Or, rather, it's fixed itself. Someone on Flickr kindly reminded me that the shutter is supposed to stay cocked until the film is wound on - which my Isolette so far hasn't bothered with. So I wound the winderer, et voila! Shutter quite happily fires once more.

So it now appears that what I thought was "broken" is apparently "mysterious & spontaneous correct function".

Cameras!

This does put me in mind that the Isolette might not be the most reliable of beasts in future - so I might see if I can get someone (perhaps Walchs in Hobarts) to at least give it a once-over. It is, after all, older than my dad - it's probably well overdue for a service of some kind.

Bad News - Agfa Isolette

My beloved Agfa Isolette II is "buggered" - I think. The shutter cocks, but stays cocked even after much coaxing, tapping, shaking, and (inevitably) shouting. It just sits there waiting for something to happen, but refuses to tell me what I should be doing.

I'm not sure if this is a common problem or not. If I'm feeling plucky one day, I might take it apart (plenty of guides online for doing this) and see if I can fluke a fix.

It'll be a damn shame if it's permanently broken. I quite like how compact it is for a 120 camera, the photos I've taken with it came out amazingly well, and it looks awesome. But it is about 55 years old, and considering it was $25AU in a junk shop, it's amazing it even still worked.

Here's hoping it's only a hiccup on an otherwise uninterrupted long-term photographic partnership.

Agfa success

First roll from the Agfa Isolette. I'm pleased. I had to eyeball the exposure, but you can't really go wrong with 800 film, can you?

Kudos to local camera chain store for getting the job done well.

Now, bring on that Kiev...

Agfa Isolette: focus ring reborn

A few weeks ago I picked up an Agfa Isolette II, a wonderful German 120 folder from the early-mid 1950s. It all seemed in relatively good condition until I did a bit of research & found there are a few common problems which plague these cameras: the bellows leak, and the focus ring gets stuck.

Fortunately, the first was solved by a liberal application of liquid electrical tape, and being super gentle when folding/unfolding the bellows (if I fold them up at all, which I try to avoid).

The second wasn't so urgent, as the focus ring still moved with a fair bit of pressure. Bit annoying when you want to take up-close photos as well as landscape shots, though. So last night I thought I'd have a go at fixing it myself. Virtually all I did was use a very fine paint brush (and a bit of folded card) to scrape away some of the Agfa "green gunge" (the grease used to lubricate Agfa cameras tends to turn into a thick, sticky green gunge over time), then used the same brush to apply olive oil to the thread. Mind you, I used the tiniest amount of oil possible, as I have heard that the oil can get into the lens or (much worse) onto the aperture blades, causing major problems. Then I just worked the focus ring a few times between close-up & infinity to get the oil into the right spots.

It seems to work fine now, quite smooth - and no oil on the lens or aperture/shutter.

NB: I take no reponsibility if anyone tries this method to fix the focus & it turns out badly! I was doubtful it would work at all, I'm pleased with the result but still expecting I've fucked up somehow that I just haven't realised yet.

Agfa Isolette II

Latest acquisition - Agfa Isolette II, 6x6 120 folding camera from Germany.

From a small second hand shop in Longford, for the princely sum of $35. I'd never been in the shop before, and it was more of a last minute decision, and we weren't hoping for much. However, this was in a cabinet on the counter, and scattered around the shop were a variety of Brownies (in good nick), some Kodak 127 cameras, and some more (much rougher looking) folders.

I know very little about these cameras, but I've always wanted a folding 120 cameras as they are so easy to carry. I was carrying my Zorki at the time, which just made my coat look ridiculous. This will be much more practical.

I also look forward to having something that takes square images! I might have to invest in a film scanner, because I don't trust the local camera monopoly to scan them properly - last time I had 120 developed & scanned, the images on the CD were distinctly rectangular...

Post: After a bit of searching on teh net yesterday, I've discovered these cameras are notorious for their leaky bellows. Especially seeing as they're now in their mid 50s. I've tried liberal amounts of nail polish, and might try some electrical tape (liquid or real) as well. Not sure I can afford a new set of bellows just yet...