hansz
Lifetime Member
Hans
Posts: 697
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Post by hansz on Jun 28, 2014 3:17:40 GMT -5
You know me as a die-hard Zeiss Ikon affeccionado, but the prize for the most ugly SLR goes to:  IMG_0966 by hanszeiss, on Flickr Carl Zeiss made the most rewarding lenses one can get, but lost control over its subsidiary engineers at Zeiss Ikon, when they created the Contarex. Such a beast, weird controls, call for big "kolenschop" hands (if you don't know Dutch, please google...), ungainly, heavy, its main advantage is the fact that you need one to carry the Zeiss lenses. It kept its value as collector item, though  Hans |
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truls
Lifetime Member
Posts: 568
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Post by truls on Jun 29, 2014 12:04:09 GMT -5
You may have forgotten the russian Kristall camera, your Contarex looks like a fashion camera in comparison. I think Contarex are cool.
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Post by philbirch on Jun 29, 2014 17:03:35 GMT -5
I'd say it looks industrial rather than technical  |
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Post by philbirch on Jun 29, 2014 17:04:24 GMT -5
Its not an SLR but OMG its FUGLY  |
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truls
Lifetime Member
Posts: 568
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Post by truls on Jun 30, 2014 10:26:49 GMT -5
Gee wiz, it looks like it could bite the photographer any minute...  |
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mickeyobe
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Resident President
Posts: 7,280
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Post by mickeyobe on Jun 30, 2014 11:11:21 GMT -5
philbirch, So far you take the Ugliest medal with that ? Kpucman ? thing. The chrome knobs and lens on the brushed chrome top plate is too, ....... I am too emotional to comment.  Sorry truls. I think your Contax is beautiful. It should be noted I am not considered a reliable judge of beauty by some jaundiced judges. Mickey |
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Post by philbirch on Jun 30, 2014 17:31:49 GMT -5
Its a Koni Omega 120. An earlier version of this. Not much better looking but a little more co-ordinated in design.  |
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Stan
Senior Member
Posts: 84 
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Post by Stan on Jul 4, 2014 12:46:04 GMT -5
I'll cover your Contarex and raise you a Petri-Flex 7! Unfortunately, the forum has exceeded it's attachment space, so I can't abuse you with it's ugliness. If you haven't had the dis-pleasure, you'll have to Google it! I actually took one of these things apart once upon a time, and it's ugliness went to the bone!
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Stephen
Lifetime Member
Still collecting.......
Posts: 2,718
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Post by Stephen on Jul 4, 2014 13:09:20 GMT -5
Again apologies for not being an SLR, but a seriously oddball design, the very odd 1950's Alsaphot Cyclope....and if you have never seen or heard of one of these very strange French 120 roll film cameras, then if you ask nicely I will describe the operation of this one eyed monster!... and yes, the red window is on the front of the camera! I am negotiating to buy one at the moment......  Stephen. |
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matty
Lifetime Member
Posts: 126
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Post by matty on Jul 4, 2014 14:19:09 GMT -5
Again not a SLR but really ugly:  The Nishika N8000, quad lens 3d camera. The only camera I have bought and actually thought why am I buying this as I handed over the money, they should have paid me to take it away. Not only spectacularly ugly but totally useless as no one does the 3d printing anymore. Personally I think all the other contenders so far have character and would be happy to have them on my collection shelves, the Nishika is hidden in a cupboard. Matty |
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Post by julio1fer on Jul 4, 2014 19:08:15 GMT -5
Stephens, please do describe how that beauty operates. It seems that the film is out of place with the lens.
Someone must have worked very hard to design that, probably after drinking even harder. Or maybe someone won a bet in the engineering department, you know. "I'll reuse those parts from the rejected design and also pass this under the nose of that #@%% manager and he won't even notice!"
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daveh
Lifetime Member
Posts: 4,696
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Post by daveh on Jul 5, 2014 2:43:31 GMT -5
It's all done with mirrors, I would expect - just like a back-projection large (at least for those days) screen TV.
The camera: the flat area behind the lens suggests a mirror at 45o with another in the main body facing backwards.
The TV: our physics master at school had all sorts of weird and wonderful things in his lab. One was a large screen TV he had made. The screen was, as it were, ground glass plastic. The picture was produced by a small but very bright CRT and enlarged by a series of mirrors. By today's standards the screen wasn't that large, nor that bright but compared to modern equipment, but was quite good for the day. In fact, larger and better still still bearing in mind he would have made it when TVs were restricted to about 5 inches. There were magnifiers (big lenses that stood in front of the screen) sold commercially but nothing to compare with his contraption. Doc. Britten had worked on radar in WWII as a young graduate. I'm not sure he was the best teacher but he was wonderful for anyone who had an interest in those weird and wonderful things.
p.s. I know all threads should wander off topic, but I can only presume there are very few ugly SLRs out there, but plenty of ugly other types. I'm not sure whether of the SLRs so far are actually ugly.
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Post by philbirch on Jul 5, 2014 5:51:51 GMT -5
Again apologies for not being an SLR, but a seriously oddball design, the very odd 1950's Alsaphot Cyclope....and if you have never seen or heard of one of these very strange French 120 roll film cameras, then if you ask nicely I will describe the operation of this one eyed monster!... and yes, the red window is on the front of the camera! I am negotiating to buy one at the moment...... Stephen. McKeowns describes this beast here. You have some negotiating Stephen, they value it at over a grand. They are pretty spot on too re the prices.  |
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Stephen
Lifetime Member
Still collecting.......
Posts: 2,718
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Post by Stephen on Jul 5, 2014 6:03:36 GMT -5
The Cyclope in plain odd, the 120 roll film is in the conventional flat position, but it faces backwards, and therefore upside down as well in relation to the printed numbers on the backing paper.
The red window is therefore on the front of the camera!
The rest of the optical path is folded via mirrors in the form of a porrofinder, there is bulge on the back of the camera to accommodate the mirrors.
The big question is..... why......and the answer is not easy, however there were plans for an interchangeable lens version, each lens having the shutter built in. It was considered the shorter than usual folded light path made fitting various focal lengths easier, and the general size was reduced compared to a fixed body 120 camera. It remained far bigger than a folding camera, and is awkward with the bulge at the back.
It was also suggested that the designer had ambitions to make it an SLR with a raising internal mirror behind the lens, that was out of the way whilst viewing via the taking lens.
Also it has been claimed the reversed film posistion would have allowed "film cartridges" like the Adox and Zeiss designs, to be able to reload with film or change type mid roll. Only other camera that did this in 120 were the folders fitted to take the Rollup and Plaubel 120 adaptors.
The designer was later it seems, involved with the 35mm Focaflex. which also used a strange light path, but mainly for the viewfinder, rather than deflecting the light to the film as in the Cyclope.
They are rare outside France, and very rare in France!!, a Gallic oddity.....
Stephen.
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Stephen
Lifetime Member
Still collecting.......
Posts: 2,718
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Post by Stephen on Jul 5, 2014 6:09:58 GMT -5
The price can be high for all French cameras, which I have slowly collected due in the main to cost, but this one is a private deal.
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