Review 5 of 38
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from eBay, used camera st Summary: I've owned three of these over the past 20 years, one purchased locally and nearly new, and two through eBay in the past two years. One has been retired for mechanical reasons, one is in frequent use by another family member, and the original one I still use. I have also had a Rollei TLR for the past 20 years. Looking over the old negatives, it is not possible to tell which came from which camera. The negatives are mostly of family members and friends, taken under daylight lighting conditions.
As other reviewers have commented, these cameras are an excellent way to get into medium format photography, and for the price they are very hard to beat. My advice would be to buy one in near mint condition, or buy a good one and have it re-conditioned. When you can afford it, buy another one. Strengths: The price. You can buy and re-condition three of these for the price of one Rolleiflex 3.5F.
Lens quality is very good. Pictures are everything you expect from medium format.
220 film option is a definite plus.
Built in light meter is also a plus.
Other strengths which are inherent in the TLR design. Weaknesses: They are not as well made as the Rolleiflexes, nor did they ever claim to be.
There are a couple of dirt entry points (self timer lever, flash sync. switch) which are taped over on my cameras.
The film advance mechanisms are fragile (less so on the earlier 124 model). Be gentle when you wind them.
The lenses collect tiny drops of oil from the shutter mechanism. The shutters frequently drag at low speeds. Since these are 25 year old cameras, these things shouldn't be surprising.
Other weaknesses which are inherent in the TLR design. Similar Products Used: Rolleiflex TLR.
Various SLRs.
Various point and shoot 35mm. Customer Service: Athena Camera in Calgary does good CLA work on these cameras for a reasonable price.
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