Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/07/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]A great budget pick in a folder is the non-rangefinder Welta Perle -- a 4.5 x 6 with a 80mm f2.8 Tessar or more commonly, a Xenar lens. Ikonta-type solidity of construction, and although the more compact prewar ones come with uncoated lenses, the performance is more than adequate. These will be rock solid when extended and you can still get a clean one for well under $100. I can't recommend these too highly as bargains. I also have high regard for the Ansco Titan, which is very much like an Agfa Isolette but with a higher standard of construction than most of the Ansco rebadged Agfas and with much more durable real leather bellows. The 90mm lens is a triplet, but has such a wide field of coverage that the images I've gotten are very sharp. Others have had less success with theirs, but I suspect that this is because they haven't collimated the lens -- an easy job on most folders. The Agfas are wonderful if you can find a good one -- the 4 element Solinar lenses are as good as folder lenses get. But Agfas suffer from the dreaded green goo problem (wherein the original lubrication turns to this alien substance that gums up the workd) and their bellows are prone to light leaks. I wouln't reject an Agfa folder with the Apotar coated triplet either. These are surprisingly good lenses, and lens snobs unjustly pass them by. Thus, they can be incredibly good buys. Although not the most compact of folders, the Agfas tend to be quite light, and a pleasure to carry. Another postwar cheapie folder is the Japanese Zenobia -- a copy of the Ikonta A that has a great 4 element lens. The body covering appears to be some paper-based form of leatherette, but the images that you can get from a Zenobia more than make up for this cosmetic shortcoming. So there are loads of bargain folders for you to play with. If the bellows aren't too bad, you can easily repair pinholes with either a mixture of black pigment and fabric glue, or with that plastic dip for coating tools that is available at hardware stores. Just be sure to let either one dry completely before you fold up the bellows. This can take days in the case of the plastic dip. Mark On 7/4/05, Don Dory <don.dory@gmail.com> wrote: > Mark, > No flames here, I just was not able to find any well built folders for > really cheap. All the folders that I came across had shutter issues, > or lack of stiffness once extended, or obvious leaks in the bellows. > > In my travels, if I come across a nice folder near that magical $100 > range I will probably acquire one. It would cerainly be smaller than > my Fuji 690GL. > > Don > don.dory@gmail.com > >