Never thought I'd see that again...

[John Parry]

What's the first camera you can remember? Mine is an old folder that belonged to my father. All I could remember about it was it's finder prism - and it always looked as though it had seen better days. But, to me, that was how cameras should look.

I mentioned it to Dad the other week. All he could remember was that it was French. But sure enough, next time I called around he'd dug it out from wherever it had been hiding for the last fifty years, and I have it in front of me now.

A strange manufacturer - some company called Pontiac. Shutter is a Gitzo 2R, with a 105mm/4.5 Berthiot lens.

Looking it up, is seems to be a "Bloc 41" - main claim to fame is that it's almost all made from aluminium (actually an aluminium alloy they called Hydronaniurn) - which, considering it was made in Occupied France in 1941, seems a little strange. Supposedly 620 (and 6x9) but there's a pencilled note inside saying 1-20, which may mean it's been modified. The take-up spool that was inside it is definitely a 120.

Other than that - not much to say. I wouldn't like to take a chance on the bellows being light tight (although I can't see any holes). It's just nice to see it again. I must ask Dad how he got it. I know he passed through France while on National Service at around the right time - it would be nice if it was a souvenir. (He was also in Germany though, but he doesn't have a Rolleiflex !)

To end with another question - When's the last time anybody gave you a Pontiac?? LOL

Regards - John

[kiev4a]

John:

I have my late father's 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 Speed Graphic that he acquired used about 1950. The body has had so many homemade attachments fastened to and unfastened from it that I suspect there are multiple light leaks. The bellows is suspect, too. Still, it has a lot of sentimental value. I have several hundred negatives that were made with the camera.

[herron]

Sounds like a neat camera, John.

If it were me, I'd run a roll of 120 though it, and see what happens. Could be an interesting evening of conversation with your father over the results!



-----
and Wayne...I've got three 4x5 Speed Graphics. All of them work (had the lens/shutters CLA'd a few years ago by Steven Grimes, before his unfortunate passing), and I have a 120 rollback that fits them. One of them has a pinhole in the bellows, unfortunately, and I don't use them enough any more to spend the time or $ getting it repaired/replaced. But if it had been my Dad's, I think I would. Just an observation and a sentimental reaction....

[Microdad]

Sounds like an interesting camera John, got any pics of it?

[Reiska]

I have seen a Pontiac camera once in a flea market in Helsinki. It has a very interesting look indeed. Unfortunately I had not enough money then (Do I have Now??)

What about your guestion, John:

"To end with another question - When's the last time anybody gave you a Pontiac?? LOL"

It is obvious, that you mean Pontiac Firebird or perhaps LeMans.


My answer is "Never" not even in my dreams. I remember that I got once a ride on a Pontiac of a local shipowner from Helsinki to our home island Reposaari. There were a general strike on and I was visiting relatives and had no other way to come back home, lucky me. It was SOMETHING in Finland in the fifties.

The first camera, that I remember is my fathers Glunz plate camera or my sisters Piccolette folder.

Regards
Reijo

[Randy]

My Dad had a fixation with Polaroids. He had a nice old Voigtlander that sat on the shelf while he messed with instant film and that goo you had to swipe on it. Don't know what happened to the Voigtlander.

[doubs43]

My parents were married in December, 1936, and while my father had an interest in photography, he couldn't afford a decent camera. My mother scrimped and saved and for Christmas, 1939, she gave my father a Foth-Derby folder..... German-made with a focal-plane shutter and considered to be a better-than-average amature's camera. It was the beginning of a nearly 60 years adventure in photography for my father.

The Foth-Derby is now part of my collection and will be passed on to one of my children or grandchildren.

Walker

[Abbazz]

John,

The Pontiac Bloc Métal 41 was indeed manufactured in occupied France from 1941. Before WWII, the French Camera Manufacturing Company, MFAP, was producing the Gallus, a 6x9 folding camera with a bakelite body. As supplies were scarce during the war, they had to adapt their production to the situation. Bakelite, steel and leather were in short supply but aluminium was readily available, so they decided to use cast aluminium for the body and to simulate the leather covering with a black painted textured surface.

The standard lens on this camera was a Pontiac 4.5/105 mm in Pontiac shutter. A camera with a Berthiot lens and Gitzo shutter must have been a high-end model.

Here's a link to a page on this camera (with pictures): www.collection-appareils.com/pontiac/html/pontiac_bloc_metal_41.php
(check the Bloc Métal 45, the 1945 successor to the Bloc Métal 41, it's a very nice camera, still usable today, if you adapt it to 120 film).

Cheers,

Abbazz