DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
Yes, another "silly little thread" as a party pooper commented elsewhere on this site. But we live in miserable times (= Covid) and a little fun is surely welcome.
With this in mind, let's go with a thought I've had about old photo gear.
What is the oddest, quirkiest, or most unusual camera you have ever used? Whether you liked it or hated it isn't a concern - the oddity, quirks or 'unusualness' of the beast will be the one and only rule.
For me, it was the Exakta Varex.
In 1974 I traveled to Australia - I now live here, but this was my first visit to the wonderful continent I have called home since 1976 - via a roundabout way, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Honolulu and a long, leisurely hop to Sydney via a half dozen Pacific Ocean islands, notably the two Samoas where I stayed the longest and enjoyed myself most. Also Guam, a long, long detour for me but so well worth the effort.
Anyway, when I flew out of Apia, the Samoan capital, I left behind my Rollei TLR kit and 40 rolls of film, at that time was my entire photo arsenal. (All the gear and film later returned to me in Australia, so it ended well.)
So I was in Sydney, without a camera. A friend took me to the legendary Grace's Pawnshop on Victoria Sreet, Pott's Point where for about A$100 I acquired an Exakta Varex II (or a IIb, memory is a little hazy after 47 years), a '58' (a Jena Tessar?), a few filters and an ancient leather camera bag with a sticker from a long-vanished Russian camera store in Shanghai, China. Les Grace kindly threw in ten rolls of ancient film (I think Ilford FP3) and directed me to a photo shop where I bought 20 rolls. All for not much money. The good old days.
I then acquired a 1950 Rover sedan with the dimensions and handling agility of a Sherman tank, and set off on a long drive to Cairns in what Aussies like to call the 'Top End' - 2500 kilometers one way, so twice that in all. Petrol (=gas) cos about 40 cents a liter then, and good seafood lunches at any pub in Queensland about A$2.
It took me about six weeks to get to Cairns in that awful car. Half a century ago (almost) Queensland was nothing like it is now, unspoiled and with eye-dazzling natural landscapes, mangroves teeming with bird life, palm trees and bamboo groves everywhere, not the soul-shriveling dormitory suburbs, shopping malls and retirement villages one sees now.
I shot all my film and bought more in Brisbane and also from small photo shops in the country towns - yo, those happy past times when buying film meant dropping into the local chemist (= drug store) for an assortment of color or B&W emulsions.
On the minus side, that Exakta drove me almost insane. One needed at least basic engineering skills to make sense of the quixotic (or idiotic) speeds, also at least one extra finger on each hand to comfortably use the beast. A third eye on one's temple would also have helped, with a retina magnifier to make good use of the squinty Varex viewfinder. Mine had the flip-up/flip-down Rollei TLR variant viewfinder and I had to either use the camera at chest level or flip up the direct finder and squint into a sort of mini-telescope.
I ruined my first few films and had to reshoot scenes on the drive back until I worked out to operate this crazy creature of a camera. To its credit, the thing worked best after I preset it and used it as a point-and-shoot. The lens was razor-sharp and made beautiful B&W mid-tones but not so great color negatives. I would have shot slides but even in 1976 E6 emulsions cost serious money in Australia and as for most of my life, I was on a restricted budget.
The 1000+ images I made print well to this day. I did go overboard on lovely landscapes of sugar cane and pineapple plantation and stunning sunsets on beautiful beaches.
Back in Sydney I retrieved my Rollei, sold the Exakta back to Grace's and went off to Southeast Asia via Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. I ditched the Rover and traveled by train across the Nullarbor desert, a journey I enjoyed back then but once was enough for this lifetime.
Being me, I sometimes wish I had kept that Exakta. It was one of few cameras that made me really work for my images. Truly, it was East Germany's revenge on the capitalist world...
With this in mind, let's go with a thought I've had about old photo gear.
What is the oddest, quirkiest, or most unusual camera you have ever used? Whether you liked it or hated it isn't a concern - the oddity, quirks or 'unusualness' of the beast will be the one and only rule.
For me, it was the Exakta Varex.
In 1974 I traveled to Australia - I now live here, but this was my first visit to the wonderful continent I have called home since 1976 - via a roundabout way, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Honolulu and a long, leisurely hop to Sydney via a half dozen Pacific Ocean islands, notably the two Samoas where I stayed the longest and enjoyed myself most. Also Guam, a long, long detour for me but so well worth the effort.
Anyway, when I flew out of Apia, the Samoan capital, I left behind my Rollei TLR kit and 40 rolls of film, at that time was my entire photo arsenal. (All the gear and film later returned to me in Australia, so it ended well.)
So I was in Sydney, without a camera. A friend took me to the legendary Grace's Pawnshop on Victoria Sreet, Pott's Point where for about A$100 I acquired an Exakta Varex II (or a IIb, memory is a little hazy after 47 years), a '58' (a Jena Tessar?), a few filters and an ancient leather camera bag with a sticker from a long-vanished Russian camera store in Shanghai, China. Les Grace kindly threw in ten rolls of ancient film (I think Ilford FP3) and directed me to a photo shop where I bought 20 rolls. All for not much money. The good old days.
I then acquired a 1950 Rover sedan with the dimensions and handling agility of a Sherman tank, and set off on a long drive to Cairns in what Aussies like to call the 'Top End' - 2500 kilometers one way, so twice that in all. Petrol (=gas) cos about 40 cents a liter then, and good seafood lunches at any pub in Queensland about A$2.
It took me about six weeks to get to Cairns in that awful car. Half a century ago (almost) Queensland was nothing like it is now, unspoiled and with eye-dazzling natural landscapes, mangroves teeming with bird life, palm trees and bamboo groves everywhere, not the soul-shriveling dormitory suburbs, shopping malls and retirement villages one sees now.
I shot all my film and bought more in Brisbane and also from small photo shops in the country towns - yo, those happy past times when buying film meant dropping into the local chemist (= drug store) for an assortment of color or B&W emulsions.
On the minus side, that Exakta drove me almost insane. One needed at least basic engineering skills to make sense of the quixotic (or idiotic) speeds, also at least one extra finger on each hand to comfortably use the beast. A third eye on one's temple would also have helped, with a retina magnifier to make good use of the squinty Varex viewfinder. Mine had the flip-up/flip-down Rollei TLR variant viewfinder and I had to either use the camera at chest level or flip up the direct finder and squint into a sort of mini-telescope.
I ruined my first few films and had to reshoot scenes on the drive back until I worked out to operate this crazy creature of a camera. To its credit, the thing worked best after I preset it and used it as a point-and-shoot. The lens was razor-sharp and made beautiful B&W mid-tones but not so great color negatives. I would have shot slides but even in 1976 E6 emulsions cost serious money in Australia and as for most of my life, I was on a restricted budget.
The 1000+ images I made print well to this day. I did go overboard on lovely landscapes of sugar cane and pineapple plantation and stunning sunsets on beautiful beaches.
Back in Sydney I retrieved my Rollei, sold the Exakta back to Grace's and went off to Southeast Asia via Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. I ditched the Rover and traveled by train across the Nullarbor desert, a journey I enjoyed back then but once was enough for this lifetime.
Being me, I sometimes wish I had kept that Exakta. It was one of few cameras that made me really work for my images. Truly, it was East Germany's revenge on the capitalist world...
markjwyatt
Well-known
If an Exakta was quirky in 1974 (when people still regularly used them) they must be considered insane today! I just loaded a roll in my Exakta Varex yesterday and took it out shooting. It is a little quirky, but really the fore runner of all 35mm SLRs. Also, the Exakta was developed by Ihagee before the war, and it really did not change that much after the war, so I (personally) do not consider the classic Exaktas (including the IIb) to be East German cameras (though certainly they were built in East Germany after the war, so I cannot argue strongly about that), certainly not East Germany's revenge because they were largely designed and developed before the war along with the Contax, Leica, etc. The Praktica is another story (and I do like some of them because even Praktica has prewar pedigrees to their products). The RTL1000 was probably the first "East German" Exakta (IIb was at best a transition, and more in styling than functionality).
Sounds like it was a great trip!
Sounds like it was a great trip!
x-ray
Mentor
I’d have to agree the Exakta has to be one of the most interesting. I’ll add my Sputnik 6x6 stereo camera and Mercury camera.
I owned. Widely 7 and still have a Horizont panoramic cameras. I owned a Roundshot 360 degree panoramic camera.
A friend owned a Folmer Schwing #10 circuit camera it used 10” wide rolls of film and had a triple convertible lens. The camera rotated on a geared head tripod and could shoot a 360 degree image as it rotated. Depending on the lens element combination / focal length there were different sets of gears to drive the camera rotation. The proper gear set had to be used and there were governors to set the speed of rotation / exposure. The one my friend had used fan type governors.
The camera could produce a negative as long as 10”x6’. The also came in various film widths up to 16”.
They were very bizarre cameras but could produce some fantastic pano images.
I owned. Widely 7 and still have a Horizont panoramic cameras. I owned a Roundshot 360 degree panoramic camera.
A friend owned a Folmer Schwing #10 circuit camera it used 10” wide rolls of film and had a triple convertible lens. The camera rotated on a geared head tripod and could shoot a 360 degree image as it rotated. Depending on the lens element combination / focal length there were different sets of gears to drive the camera rotation. The proper gear set had to be used and there were governors to set the speed of rotation / exposure. The one my friend had used fan type governors.
The camera could produce a negative as long as 10”x6’. The also came in various film widths up to 16”.
They were very bizarre cameras but could produce some fantastic pano images.
Abbazz
6x9 and be there!
If we set aside the panoramic and stereo cameras, the diminutive Tessina is plenty quirky and most unusual: a tiny TLR shooting 14x21mm frames on standard 35mm film. It features motorized film winding and allows for close focusing to 30cm. And the best part is the fascinating set of tiny accessories: pentaprism viewfinder, lightmeter, tripod adapter, wrist mounting strap and even an accessory mechanical watch for those who are accustomed to their smartphone and need to be able to read the time on their camera....
Not my camera (Credit : https://coelncameras.com/products/cookncava-s-a-tessina-35-tessina-watch-olc-207)
Cheers !
Abbazz
Not my camera (Credit : https://coelncameras.com/products/cookncava-s-a-tessina-35-tessina-watch-olc-207)
Cheers !
Abbazz
Attachments
It seems the odd-ball interesting cameras often come from behind the former iron curtain!
Mine is the Belomo Elikon, made in Belarus, clearly patterned after the Olympus XA. It's nicely made, so it's a shock when you see the results. Distortion, massive barrel distortion that accelerates out of reason partway out to the edges.
Maybe a second thought for the tiny Pentax Auto110 SLR, with interchangeable lenses, and taking 110 film cartridges. Almost too small to operate!
Mine is the Belomo Elikon, made in Belarus, clearly patterned after the Olympus XA. It's nicely made, so it's a shock when you see the results. Distortion, massive barrel distortion that accelerates out of reason partway out to the edges.
Maybe a second thought for the tiny Pentax Auto110 SLR, with interchangeable lenses, and taking 110 film cartridges. Almost too small to operate!
Greyscale
Mentor
Take the already quirky Koni Omega Rapid, graft a view camera on top of it, and put a rotating reflex finder on the back of that, and you have the not-really-a-6x7-interchangeable-lens-TLR, the Koni Omegaflex M.
Koni Omegaflex by Mike Novak, on Flickr
Koni Omegaflex by Mike Novak, on Flickr
kangaroo2012
Established
I have the precursor to the Koni, the Simon Omega, of enlarger fame.
It has the same push pull film advance and is big and heavy but also has a flash bulb holder linked to the film advance. It takes 6 bulbs and when they are all used the first is cool enough to be removed without asbestos fingers. It is said to produce good negatives and was used by wedding photographers. Mike Johnson on The Online Photographer says it is the ugliest camera made. I just think it is an example of over engineering.
It has the same push pull film advance and is big and heavy but also has a flash bulb holder linked to the film advance. It takes 6 bulbs and when they are all used the first is cool enough to be removed without asbestos fingers. It is said to produce good negatives and was used by wedding photographers. Mike Johnson on The Online Photographer says it is the ugliest camera made. I just think it is an example of over engineering.
peterm1
Mentor
The Voigtlander Prominent. without a doubt. Loved its build quality but it was a handful to get used to in some ways.
lukx
Well-known
YESSSS, that is what I came here for to say, too. There are more quirky cameras around, but for what it is, a 35mm rangefinder from the 50s, it's very quirky with the way focusing works, how the film canister sort of 'floats' in the chamber and how the viewfinder feels in use. Can't fault the lenses, though.
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
As an interesting aside, many photographers who have used LTM Leicas tell me it is the oddest camera they have ever worked with.
Of course I bite my tongue (quite out of character for me, but there you are) to be polite when I hear such heretical sayings. shot with a lovely old iiic (a friend's) in the 1980s and 1990s and I found nothing especially difficult or odd about using it. My results were also quite excellent even if I had to do a fair bit of trimming to my films to load them, which I thought was annoying and which may be what many Leica users have to complain about.
Others may have their own thoughts to add to this. Over to you, everyone.
Of course I bite my tongue (quite out of character for me, but there you are) to be polite when I hear such heretical sayings. shot with a lovely old iiic (a friend's) in the 1980s and 1990s and I found nothing especially difficult or odd about using it. My results were also quite excellent even if I had to do a fair bit of trimming to my films to load them, which I thought was annoying and which may be what many Leica users have to complain about.
Others may have their own thoughts to add to this. Over to you, everyone.
dexdog
Mentor
I used to have a couple of Werra cameras, coincidentally from East Germany. Odd in the way you wound the shutter and set speeds. Took decent pics nonetheless, had a CZJ Tessar.
raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
Nokton48
Mentor
Sigma DP2 Quattro
bjorke
Designated Driver
I used to build laser volume-scanning cameras, particularly the Matterport camera. Later, handhelds. Christopher Morris is now using one...
I didn't take this snap of the early prototype.
I still have a clutch of spherical cameras, and sometime make little robotic cameras when I have any time between feeding kids and feeding rangefinders.
I didn't take this snap of the early prototype.
I still have a clutch of spherical cameras, and sometime make little robotic cameras when I have any time between feeding kids and feeding rangefinders.
Vince Lupo
Nobody's Mentor
I have used a lot of weird / unusual cameras over the last 40+ years, but I think this is (or at least it soon will be) the most unusual camera of all:
Ermanox1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Ermanox1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
lxmike
M2 fan.
A cool and interesting thread, I would have to say the Minolta 110 mk1, quirky very quirky
Erik van Straten
Mentor
The Contax I. Maybe not as weird as an Ermanox, but too weird for me. I have four of them, but only one works as it should.
gelatine silver print (nikkor 50mm f2) contax I.
Erik.
gelatine silver print (nikkor 50mm f2) contax I.
Erik.
Retro-Grouch
Well-known
There seem to be a lot of votes for Exaktas here, not without reason. I agree; my vote goes to the Exa, my first "real" camera, purchased from Seymour's Exakteria in NYC (Anybody remember them?) in 1966. My lack of photographic knowledge at the time was so thorough that I didn't even know how weird the camera was. Ignorance was bliss!
Darthfeeble
But you can call me Steve
Mercury II, handed down from my father's uncle to him then to me. Now long gone, I didn't appreciate it at the time.
Mercury by Steve Gumbiner, on Flickr
Mercury by Steve Gumbiner, on Flickr