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Monday, December 28, 2009

Twin Lens Reflex

Seeing a Twin Lens Reflex camera in the film Snow Angels made me realize that it's one thing I'm missing from my camera "collection". And they are quite beautiful, hefty machines, I think.
A search on eBay, though, show that these cameras fetch quite high prices. And since I don't use film anymore and I'm not a real collector (I just like the objects), I don't want to pay hundreds of GBP for one. And since I don't demand that it's working, I'd think I could find one at a reasonable price, but so far no luck... :-)
Some of the few I found at low prices are these. And just look at these old fellas! Man, they must be fifty years of they're a day, and not high-end either.



What I really want is something looking like this, but clearly that'll cost me a mint:



Oh, here's a wonderful little oddity:

A 35mm SLR camera, but shaped like a Hasselblad! Odd, but sort of beautiful, and as I recall, very advanced technically.
at

9 comments:

  1. Jan28 Dec 2009, 00:35:00

    My mom still uses one of those Rolleiflexes. She never saw a reason to upgrade. :-)

    I hope you find a nice one.

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  2. Eolake Stobblehouse28 Dec 2009, 00:47:00

    Good for her!
    It's a blessing to have a tool which works well for one.
    David Pogue told about a woman who ran her home business solely on a text editor... not even Word, just a text editor!

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  3. TC [Girl]28 Dec 2009, 06:22:00

    That second one from the bottom is BEAUTIFUL! :-)

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  4. Eolake Stobblehouse28 Dec 2009, 06:50:00

    I know, that's the one I was looking for.
    (Or maybe a Mamiya pro twin-lens, they are also solid.)

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  5. Eolake Stobblehouse28 Dec 2009, 06:51:00

    ... Of course it's also beautifully photographed, which always helps.

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  6. TC [Girl]28 Dec 2009, 07:23:00

    True...but it also looks to be in mint condition!! Even a shitty pic of it wouldn't look bad! lol! ;-)

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  7. Ian28 Dec 2009, 14:27:00

    Another 35mm oddity I saw once was a 35 twin lens reflex. Just like the 120 models with the stacked lenses and all. The film chamber was a removable back that you loaded off-camera. I think it was a Rollie. Wish I could get one like that.

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  8. emptyspaces28 Dec 2009, 18:02:00

    I bought a working, cosmetically fine Super Ricohflex TLR earlier this year for USD $35. It's not nearly as nice a camera as the Rollei models, but it sure does the trick. I've shot a roll here and there and had a blast with it, well worth the purchase price. I made these two with it recently.

    Medium format is really cool, and I especially love 6x6 cm negatives. Hard to scan, though.

    You might want to take a look at Collectible Cameras — they're in the States, but maybe you'd find a bargain anyway.

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  9. Eolake Stobblehouse28 Dec 2009, 19:54:00

    Thanks, ES.

    Ian, yes, I think I vaguely recall seeing a 35 twin lens reflex once. Not sure though.

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