DennisN said:
Ok, I catched a bit of the antique bug and bought two old cameras on auction [...]
[...] I will put up photos of them here later, of course
.
Old camera 1/2:
Voigtländer Brilliant
Year: 1936 (dated with help of the serial number)
Model: first metal body model (later models were made of
bakelite)
Type: Medium format pseudo-
twin lens reflex camera (TLR)
Shutter times: Just three to choose from (1/25s, 1/50s and B (bulb mode))
Apertures: Just three to choose from (f/7.7, f/11 and f/22)
Here it is. It looks a bit like a small lantern, but no, this is a camera.
It's pretty small and cute (dimensions: 11 cm (height), 7 cm (width), 7 cm (depth)).
The left top lever controls the shutter; you pull it downwards to take a photo. It still works
.
The left bottom wheel sets the shutter time. It still works.
The right bottom lever sets the aperture. It also still works.
And you focus by turning the small ring around the lens. And you have to a guesstimate
when focusing (that's what the texts "Landscapes", "Groups" and "Portraits" are there to help with;
the viewfinder will not show how it looks through the lens, the viewfinder just shows a static view
(see down below).
Look, there's a small photo counter on one side of the camera. It's not digital
:
And to help with framing the photo you open the top to access the viewfinder.
When framing the shot, you look straight down with your eyes at ca 30 cm from the viewfinder.
If you look any closer you will not see a view in focus.
The viewfinder sees through the top lens on the front via a 45˚ mirror.
And here's the viewfinder. Not digital, but a pretty bright and nice analog preview
of a small fan on my table. It looks like the viewfinder needs a bit of cleaning, though
.
And inside the viewfinder box the serial number can be found.
H586461 means the camera was manufactured in 1936 (
according to this page).
I'm not sure exactly how it works to load film, but I think you have to open both the bottom and the back to load the film:
And inside the camera, is there perhaps a digital sensor somewhere?
Nope, no digital sensor here
.
We shouldn't expect very much, this little thing has been through a lot.
It's 89 years old, and judging from my testing I think it still works.
That's pretty impressive.
I'm thinking about putting in some LEDs in it and turn it into a small lamp for fun,
positioning the LEDs so light shines out through the two lenses (the main lens and the viewfinder lens).
)...