This is a pleasant, medium format camera from Voigtlander. it's an immediate challenger to Zeiss Ikon's Nettar 518/16 - that's, at the lower finish of the enthusiasts' one hundred twenty cameras. this is often a folding camera which inserts nicely during a (large-ish) pocket. It measures 125mm wide x 85mm high x 40mm deep (closed) or x 95mm deep (open). It weighs 483g. In 1952, Wallace Heaton were advertising this camera at £22/11/6 for the model I actually have here (that is in silver spoon and equates to £22.57 in new cash. that's love regarding £1,400 in 2013 values).Voigtlander Perkeo I
lens: Vaskar
focal length: 75mm
apertures: f4.5 to f16
focus range: three.5 feet to eternity
lens fitting: fastened
shutter: readily
speeds: 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/200
flash: F synch solely
film size: one hundred twenty
The lens could be a Voigtlander Vaskar - 75mm focal distance and most aperture of f4.5. The Vaskar is Voigtlander's cheaper lens (a dearer Perkeo I came with a Color-Skopar lens) and incorporates a triplet construction (again, resembling Zeiss Ikon's Nettar on the 518/16). I actually have nonetheless to check the results of victimization this camera, however it's a name for having soft focus within the corners. this is often not a fatal flaw on behalf of me as I actually have no want for sharp focus within the corners though i'm aware that others notice this unacceptable.
The shutter could be a Gauthier readily - four speeds being accessible of that solely 1/100 and 1/200 square measure of any interest. This shutter incorporates a delayed timer (Vorlaufwerk) that, remarkably for a camera of this age, works well. Flash synch is provided for quick flashbulbs - I will do that camera with electronic flash to check if this works also.
The shutter unharness is commonplace for the first Nineteen Fifties - primary unharness on the shutter housing and a secondary unharness button on the camera's high plate, connected to the first unharness by a lever. there's conjointly a cable unharness socket that is between the 2 - on the hinged door. The secondary unharness incorporates a double exposure interference mechanism fitted requiring the film to be would on before the shutter are often discharged a second time. On my camera, this doesn't work okay at the instant. after I had the same drawback on my Franka Solida II, it sorted itself out once a number of shots.
Being a folding camera, there has to be a mechanism to bring the shutter/lens forward, ending with the lens precisely parallel to the film. On my camera this is often defective - atiny low strut has snapped [*fr1] manner on its length. after I received the camera, this folding mechanism barely worked so terribly badly - the lens over up at quite angle to the film plane. This required attention with hydrocarbon to flush out mud and dirt, lubricating with clock oil and recurrent folding/unfolding to unlock the various joints within the struts.
Perkeo I - sunray
It currently unfolds simply and appears to place the lens parallel to the film plane, deciding entirely by eye. The check film can tell Pine Tree State however parallel things truly square measure. The broken strut doesn't appear to matter here. What doesn't work too well is closing the camera. to shut properly, the lens should stay parallel to the camera body otherwise it'll not work into the accessible area. i believe that the broken strut is there's reach this. while not this strut, my thumb has got to do its duty.
As associate degree aside, I actually have tried a replacement technique with this camera. once lubricating tiny elements, it's quite exhausting to use atiny low enough quantity of oil to precisely the correct place. obtaining that tiny quantity of oil into the linkage could be a matter of operating the linkage and hoping. now I actually have diluted the clock oil 2 elements of oil to 1 a part of hydrocarbon to supply a really liquid oil. as a result of the oil is diluted, once the hydrocarbon has gaseous i'm left with 2/3 of the number of oil I applied. Also, as a result of the oil is currently terribly liquid i'm hoping that the oil can run between the surfaces of the linkages a lot of simply before the hydrocarbon evaporates to go away a really touch of oil in situ. So far, the sole draw back I actually have seen is that the hydrocarbon is incredibly smart at wetting surfaces and has carried atiny low quantity of oil over all the surfaces round the linkages. i'm not convinced that this is often a foul factor.
Perkeo I - showing high plate
Before loading the check film, there square measure 2 things i would like to try to to. the primary is to use compressed gas to blow mud out of the within. Moving film through a camera generates atiny low quantity of electricity and this may pull any mud onto the film. After that, i would like to examine the bellows for lightweight leaks. To do this, I wait till dark (about 5 PM at the moment) and shine a torch onto the bellows at shut quarters. Viewing within the camera, any lightweight leaks can clearly show. I actually have found one terribly massive one. That broken strut i discussed earlier has scored the bellows material and created a line on pin-pricks. These can want sorting before I attempt the camera. Otherwise, the camera is sweet to travel