Filling The Gaps: The Belca Beltica, A 35mm Folding Camera

I have a lot of cameras, but until recently I never had a 35mm folding camera. Then, a few weeks ago, I was leisurely scrolling the Kamerastore website when I came across this lovely black folding camera, the Belca Beltica. Unusually for me, it was in the ‘Certified’ category and was, ‘found to be working correctly [and any] flaws present will … will not affect typical use’. In this instance, there was ‘some minor haze on the viewfinder and some wear on the body’. This won’t affect use, so it looks like I have a 35mm folder now.

The Belca Beltica was made by the East German VEB Belca-Werk in Dresden between 1946 and 1951. It has a Meyer-Optik 50mm f2.9 Trioplan lens and a Cludor shutter with speeds of 1s—1/200s (+B). Unusually, the shutter button is on the left side of the top plate of the camera. The button to the right of the viewfinder is to open the front flap of the camera. My model is quite tightly wound, even seventy years after its production, and springs open with a mighty ‘thwack!’ so I tend to hold the flap and let it open slowly, just in case it’s not good for the camera.

Beneath the viewfinder is a distance dial with markings from 0,6m to infinity. I believe this is a parallax adjustment system, perhaps like an early rangefinder, but I’m not sure. On the right-hand side of the top plate is the frame counter, which is adjusted manually, and turns with a satisfying click. On the top left, next to the shutter button, is the rewind knob. On the base of the camera is a wheel to advance the film, and next to this another button that disengages the wind-on between frames. 

Loading and using this camera is a bit of a palaver, though in practice is easier than it sounds. To load the film, the tab on the film header is pushed under the little ‘flap’ on the wind-on spindle (which actually holds the film very securely) and the sprockets aligned with the cog wheel. Advance the film with the wheel until it stops, then push the film advance button. There’s a little click, then you can wind-on again. Repeat the process, and when the film is secure, close the back.

Wind-on one more time, pressing the advance button each time. On the top of the camera you can then adjust the frame counter to zero. Shooting involves the same process except this time, cock the shutter and set the speed and aperture. Judge the distance to the subject and set this distance on the focus ring. Set the parallax dial to the same distance, compose the image and press the shutter. Then press the advance button and wind the film to the next frame. At the end of the roll, pull on the wind-on wheel, which will disengage the film advance and allow the film to be rewound back into the cassette.

For my first outing with the Belca Beltica I used one of my rolls of the new colour shifting film from Harman, Switch Azure. This is a film like Lomochrome Turquoise where the layers on the film emulsion have been mixed up. However, although Turquoise has a quite wide ISO range, Azure uses the same film base as Harman Phoenix and is rated at ISO 125. We took the camera to Costa Nova and Vagueira, where we had lunch, and later to the Feira de Março in Aveiro. As usual, I used the Camera Meter app to judge the exposures. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr if you want to see the rest of the images. 

https://flic.kr/p/2sdvL6t

https://flic.kr/p/2sduoZW

https://flic.kr/p/2sdp2Ji

In conclusion, I was really happy with the Belca Beltica, it’s a quality camera, even 60-odd years after its release. Mind you, it’s not a camera for rapid shooting situations, and I’m always finding myself pressing the button to open the camera instead of the shutter button. The multiple steps mean you really have to think, and if you forget to wind on between shots there’s always a chance of multiple exposures. I’m also loving Harman Switch Azure, and as it’s much easier for me to get hold of than Turquoise, I might have a new favourite.

https://flic.kr/p/2sdtJ47

https://flic.kr/p/2sdvL7R

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A Day Out With The Sprocket Rocket And Expired Lomography Colour Film

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Sprocket Rocket. Whenever I can’t find anything to watch on YouTube, I always seem to gravitate to watching videos about peoples’ experiences with this panoramic toy camera from Lomography. Yet whenever I try to use mine, I’m filled with dread that I’ll break the film, like I did the first time. So it sits in its box, along with an Agfa Clack and a Reader’s Digest camera that I’ve always been promising myself that one day I’ll flip its lens. But whenever I’m going out, that ridiculous looking blue beastie always screams out to me, ‘take me! Take me!’ Normally I just ignore it, but last week I felt sorry for the Rocket, and out of its box it came.

The plan was actually to test a new (to me) camera, the Proud Chrome Six III, a heavily beat up medium format folding camera, and to try out an Industar 69M 28mm pancake lens that had fortuitously been recalibrated for micro four-thirds. Since the Sprocket Rocket was a bit of an afterthought, I didn’t want to use a ‘good’ film in it, so I rummaged around for something to use.

I have a small ‘collection’ of films that I keep in a box, just to see how they behave under ‘ambient’ conditions. They don’t go in the refrigerator, just sit on the side. Some of these are slightly expired now, including a few rolls of Lomography ISO 100 colour film (best before c.2023, I reckon). I had one of these rolls in the Zenit 11 for the Shitty Camera Challenge’s #CrappyCommieCameraParty, and it never got finished. So I rewound the film into it’s cassette in the Zenit and then reloaded it into the Rocket. I made a ‘best guess’ as to the number of exposures, then added the Rocket to my camera bag along with the Proud Chrome Six and an Olympus Pen E-PL3 and the Industar-69. 

https://flic.kr/p/2sdtGNb

It was a bright but overcast day, and we headed off to Barra and Costa Nova for lunch at the Marisqueira, the most wonderful fish restaurant. I also had a chance for a post-lunch walk around Costa Nova  — a ‘digestivo’, if you will — and at a derelict structure just outside of town. One of my favourite spots, but one that’s not too easy to photograph when the sun is in the wrong place, since the wall of the building can cast some strong shadows. The hazy day provided bright enough conditions for the Rocket without the inconvenience of harsh shadows. Not my favourite situation, but hey.

https://flic.kr/p/2sdp1ri

The Sprocket Rocket is a simple camera with just one shutter speed of about 1/100s (and ‘bulb’) and two apertures, one for sunny and one for cloudy weather (about f16 and f11, respectively). Normally, Lomography recommend using ISO 400 film with this camera, but I reckoned that all being well, if I left the camera on the ‘cloudy’ setting, it might work with the ISO 100 film, and fortunately it did. After completing the film, I had to wait a couple of weeks as the stormy weather started again. But a couple of days ago the weather cleared and I popped the film into Forever Blue in Aveiro.

https://flic.kr/p/2sduTUL

After development, I scanned the film at home with an Epson Perfection v750 Pro flat bed scanner and Epson Scan software. I tried to use the Lomography 35mm scanning frame, so that I could include the sprockets in the final image, but for some reason it didn’t work. I need to look into the scanning process for this. If you’re interested, I’ve posted the whole series in an album on my Flickr if you want to see the rest of the images.

https://flic.kr/p/2sdunMW

I was quite surprised that I got anything from this film, but in the end it worked quite nicely. As a panoramic camera, it doesn’t hold a candle to the Horizon (or the Widelux[x], or the X-pan), but it’s fun to use and I can always see the appeal. I’m also a bit agnostic over Lomography films. I absolutely adore Lomochrome Turquoise and the Red (though I’m leaning a bit more in favour of Harman Red), but this ISO 100 film actually produced some nice results.

https://flic.kr/p/2sdp1q1

The first image, of the driftwood on the beach at Barra, has two large white splotches that I thought was dust on the glass, but a closer look revealed that they were in fact images from the Zenit. Looks like I didn’t wind the reloaded film far enough after all. There’s still a couple of rolls sitting around, and now I’m wondering what camera I can put them in.

https://flic.kr/p/2sdunLt

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Another Zeiss Ikon Nettar (517/16) Film Camera

A while ago, I picked up a beautiful Zeiss Ikon Nettar 517/16 medium format folding camera for next to nothing from the Kamerastore website. It was cheap because it had, ‘flaws that will affect typical use.’ In this case, the ‘viewfinder has haze and fungus inside’. Otherwise, it was described as being in working condition. After a few weeks, I took it out with a roll of Lomochrome Turquoise, and the results were spectacular, but the hazy viewfinder was an issue and I really wanted to clean it out.

I looked around online and the hazy viewfinder seems to be a common problem with these vintage cameras, but quite an easy fix. However, I was still a little nervous about taking apart such a lovely camera and wanted something to pracise on first. And that’s where this Zeiss Ikon Nettar 517/16 comes in. Of course, it was in the ‘Not Passed’ category on the Kamerastore website, with ‘flaws that will affect typical use’. In this case, the 1/25s shutter speed overexposes by approximately 1 stop, and ‘there is some wear on the beams, but no light leaks were observed’. In addition, the ‘film advance knob only unwinds if its rotated backwards,’ and, of course, ‘there is blur in viewfinder’.

https://flic.kr/p/2rxZyr1

When the camera arrived, in a really nice leather case, it was in lovely condition apart from the aforementioned ‘blur’ in the viewfinder, which was in fact haze, as in my original version. Before I started cleaning the viewfinder, I thought it might be a good idea to check that the camera functioned properly. Although the 1/25s speed was reported as exposing incorrectly, the remaining speeds were within tolerance. As a reminder, the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 517/16 is a manual focus medium format folding camera that takes twelve 6x6cm images on a roll of 120 film. Introduced by Zeiss Ikon in 1951, it was manufactured until 1957. It comes with Novar Anastigmat 75mm f4.5 lens. There are three shutter speeds, of 1/25s, 1/75s and 1/200s.

https://flic.kr/p/2rxZyrb

I loaded it with a roll of Harman Red film in 120 format and took the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 517/16 to the Praia da Barra and around the neighbourhood in Oiä. To measure the exposure, I used the smartphone app Camera Meter, and made well sure to keep the shutter speed selection away from 1/25s. Fortunately, the days we went out were lovely and sunny, so that wasn’t much of an issue. The exposed film was dropped off at Forever Blue in Aveiro, and the negatives scanned at home with an Epson Perfection v750 Pro flat bed scanner and Epson Scan software.

https://flic.kr/p/2ry4Y2J

The negatives came out fine, and I was really happy with how the camera performed. However, this was my first experiment with Harman Red in 120 format and I’m not certain that the exposures were quite correct (or maybe it’s not just the 1/25s speed that’s out of tolerance). Also, compared to the images from my original 517/16 with Lomochrome Turquoise, these results were very ‘so so’. Mind you, I’m wondering whether that’s more because of my subject selection and response of the redscaled film than the camera itself. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album (https://www.flickr.com/gp/147583812@N06/zs8864PE9m) on my Flickr if you want to see the rest of the images. I do love these little medium format folders, and now it’s time to try clean the viewfinder. ‘Stay tuned’, as they say (and wish me luck).

https://flic.kr/p/2ry6ek9

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#Folder #HarmanRed #Mediumformat #Nettar #Redscale #ZeissIkon #barra #portugal #vagueira

Filling in the Gaps: The Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/16, A Medium Format Folding Camera

Sometimes I pick up a camera that I’ve been really keen to get a hold of and then, when it arrives I’m already sidetracked with something else and the camera ends up ‘filed away’ for later use. The Bencini Koroll 2 medium format half-frame camera was one such example, and the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/16 is another. I have a fair number of cameras now, film and digital, from 110 to large format, but one type of camera that I’ve never really used much is a folder. Not one of those giant 1920s folders made by Kodak and others, I have some of them, but a medium format folding camera from the 1950s. 

But I was still looking for a medium format folder, and while I was browsing the Kamerastore website I came across the perfect candidate, the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/16. As usual, it was classified under the ‘Not Passed’ category, which meant that it had, ‘flaws that will affect typical use.’ In this case, the ‘viewfinder has haze and fungus inside’. Otherwise, it was described as being in working condition.

The Nettar 518/16 is a 6x6cm medium format folding camera manufactured by Zeiss Ikon from 1949. The actual year of manufacture for Zeiss Ikon cameras is quite easy to determine from the serial number. My camera is stamped R93455, which dates it as being around 1961—62, much more recent than I had imagined, and a little confusing since from what I have read about this camera production was curtailed in the late 1950s. 

From what I gather there were two versions of the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/16, a cheaper version with the Novar Anastigmat 75mm f6.3 lens, and a more expensive version with an f4.5 lens. Just for a change, mine is the f4.5 version. The central leaf shutter has speeds of 1/25s to 1/200s and certainly seems to be functioning properly. The shutter is cocked with a little lever on the lens, and activated with a button on the top of the camera. Once the shutter has been fired, the cocking lever pops into view in the viewfinder, indicating to the user that it needs cocking again. The aperture can be set between f4.5 and f22. 

There have been a few locations around Vagueira that I’ve been really keen to visit, but we always end up speeding past these on our way home after a good lunch. This week, however, everyone is in agreement: we’re going to stop at these places so I can take some images. Excellent. For the film stock, I used Lomochrome Turquoise. With a usable range of ISO 100—400 I metered the exposures, with the Camera Meter app, at ISO 100. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, if you want to see all of the images, but the Lomochrome Turquoise colour-shifted images came out wonderfully. I was a little concerned with the focussing, but the Nettar was pin-sharp and the exposures spot-on. When firing the shutter it neds to be cocked first, and when the shutter was fired, the sound is just a slight ‘click’.

https://flic.kr/p/2r8vJHo

https://flic.kr/p/2r8BUnQ

https://flic.kr/p/2r8BUpy

In conclusion, I was really happy with the Zeiss Ikon Nettar, it’s certainly a quality camera, even 60-odd years after its release, and I’m just disappointed that it’s taken me so long to get around to using it. All in all, this test roll was a resounding success, and next time I’m definitely going to try some Harman Phoenix. The biggest issue with this camera is the dirty/fungus-y viewfinder, and it is pretty hazy. So the next thing I’m going to do is clean it out. This seems to be a common problem with these old folders, but the remedy seems to be is a quick fix. Now I’ve run a roll through it, I’ll see if I’m up to trying to clean this out.

https://flic.kr/p/2r8B9Wf

https://flic.kr/p/2r8B9YK

https://flic.kr/p/2r8BUor

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#ExpiredFilm #Folder #Lomochrome #Mediumformat #Nettar #Portugal #Turquoise #Vagueira #ZeissIkon

Lens-Artists Challenge #343: Seen on my Last Outing

‘What happened on Your last outing?’ asks Ann-Christine from To See a World in a Grain of Sand, our host for this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge. ‘Did you meet a friend or … go shopping? What made you take out your camera?’ Well, we went out for lunch in the seaside town of Vagueira, so of course I took along a couple of cameras.

It all started the week before, actually, with a trip to the now famous seaside town of Nazaré. Until a few years ago, Nazaré was just a sleepy seaside town. Yes, it was popular in the summer. Everywhere is in Portugal, a country where one whole side, from north to south is beaches, but what really put Nazaré on the map was Garrett Macnamara. 

This big wave surfer ‘discovered’ that in the winter Nazaré delivered the ultimate in big waves. He even set a new world record here (since broken by German surfer Sebastian Steudtner, also at Nazaré), and now Nazaré is a mecca for all types of surfer. It’s also famous for the Forte de São Miguel Arcanjo, a small fort and lighthouse that sits at the tip of a promontory overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. With its distinctive tiny lighthouse, the lighthouse is now famous for photographs of big wave surfers behind it.

Anyhow, all of this has little to do with my last outing, apart from the fact that when we went to Nazaré, I took with me one of my favourite cameras, the Nintendo Gameboy, and a camera that I’ve had for a long time but never actually got around to using before, the Bencini Koroll 2 medium format half-frame camera. It turned out that I didn’t use the full roll of film in Nazaré, so I thought I would finish off the film in Vagueira. The Gameboy was still in the same bag, so I brought that along, too.

After a lovely lunch we went for a walk along the sea front. I decided that from the restaurant to the end of the beach I would used the Gameboy, and on our return journey would finish off the last few frames in the Bencini. Just for a change, I thought I would try some street funtography (Gameboy photographs are known as ‘funtographs’, because the Gameboy is fun, I guess). It’s not that easy getting good images when your camera has a resolution of 0.014MP and you’re dealing with four shades of grey, but it’s rewarding when it works.

We were also lucky enough to see a motorised  paraglider, who flew back and forth along the sea front. When we reached the Casablanca bar, at the top end of the Vagueira’s beach, I put away the Gameboy and brought out the Bencini Koroll 2. There were four frames left on the roll so I recorded some nearby buildings (previously posted on the Blog), and saved the last frame for the sculpture of a sardine on a fork in the towns main square.

And that was my last outing. Since then the weather has been dismal, though it’s a lovely sunny morning at the moment, so we’ve not been out since then. I do have plans for this week, mind. Perhaps for a future Challenge (😉).

Themes for the Lens-Artists Challenge are posted each Saturday at 12:00 noon EST (which is 4pm, GMT) and anyone who wants to take part can po3st their images during the week. If you want to know more about the Challenge, details can be found here, and entries can be found on the WordPress reader using the tag ‘Lens-Artists’.

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#2Bit #Bencini #Challenge #Funtography #Gameboy #HalfFrame #LensArtists #MyLastOuting #PixelArt #Portugal #Retro #Vagueira #LensArtists