Certo Dollina 35mm Compact folding front camera.

[Stephen]

Coming from Poland via EBay, a Certo Dollina, early type without the rangefinder, fitted with a Steinhall Cassar f2.9 lens. Hopefully in working order, condition stated as good, but you never know!

Early 35mm compact from mid 1930's, a very small folding compact, with a plain specification shutter and many variants of lens maker. The Cassar was widely fitted, and was a modest lens, only crisp at F8, a bit soft at open aperture. Uncoated at this early period.

Neater design than some early 35mm cameras from Germany, very small viewfinder. Certo were based in Dresden, and became part of the Pentacon group under the post war communist government of East Germany.

Usually quite reliable as they were well made.
Photos as soon as it arrives.
Stephen.

[genazzano]

I agree. These cameras are very well made. The addition of the rangefinder on the Dolllina II was a bit awkward but the design came together finally in the later Super Dollina.



David

[mickeyobe]

Nov 22, 2014 2:35:02 GMT -5 genazzano said:

I agree. These cameras are very well made. The addition of the rangefinder on the Dolllina II was a bit awkward but the design came together finally in the later Super Dollina.



David

Its older brother. Coupled rangefinder. Truly an excellent camera.



I don't know why the chrome photographed yellow. It is steely steel or nickel or chrome.

Mickey (The second one)

[Stephen]

If you get yellowing on the chrome in the shots, it is usually because flash has been used in an already well lit room with artificial light from incandescent bulbs.

The yellow light from the bulbs is bright enough to reflect and overcome the white light from the flash, especially where the flash in not being defected from.

The solution is to turn off the main lighting before the shot is taken, at least any direct lighting, no need to stand in the dark!

In pro use large colour foils are put over the light source causing the issue, but a simple cure is to put a yellow conversion filter on the flash and set the white balance to artificial light, problem gone as both light source then match.

Stephen.

[Stephen]

There is a mystery to the camera coming from EBay. I noticed that the drop front door hangs down below the camera, suspended on a hinge between the door and the body.

Now all other shots here and on the net show the bed drop front remains attached to the underside of the focusing lens mounting board.

This would indicate the camera is faulty or incomplete if the struts are missing.

Until full examination I cannot be sure of the operation of the door as a unit with the lens board, or is it separate and able to drop?

The lens board on the one coming is also a bit different to the ones shown here from David and Mickey. It has a leatherette surface, not paint, and slightly different cut outs.

Is it possible is an early variant, or have I got a camera that needs repair. I suspect it will work with the door able to drop, but is this as built, or a removal of parts by the owner?

I do hope it is original arrangement and got modified in design later on by Certo.

I can't post the shots of the EBay easily as I am on a tablet and the transfer is difficult to photobucket on tablets. I will post them from the PC tomorrow.

[Stephen]

The Certo Dollina arrived from Poland, and in far better condition than the Ebay shots showed. It is the Dollina 0, the focus is front element, and the drop front is loose on this model. Websites do not list the Dollina 0 with a Cassar, but I expect there were lots of variants. It dates from 1938 onwards.

Everything works correctly, shutter, focus, film counter etc. Viewfinder, although small, is very clear. Bellows appears light tight, only a film will show any leaks.

The lens is pretty clean, no marks, and the shutter tests out accurate. Leather etc, in good condition, and plating is OK. Slight paint loss on the top plate, where chrome is showing through. would require re-spray to entire top to correct, as patching in would show badly.

Next a test film.

[Stephen]

The Certo Dollina 0 camera as received, all working 100%.

This model is the basic 0, but with a Steinheil Cassar lens. The date of manufacture is not easy to find on the net, but as it is the base model must be from 1935 to 43, but not the earliest as they have an Art deco front plate. Some references say 1938, but then the 11 came out before the 0. The 0 was available pre-war in the UK, and was available in the states till their entry in the war. It was dropped about 1944.

The front is not connected to the drop bed except by the hinge in this version.

As it is front element focusing, there is no focus knob on the top plate, but everything else is the same as the Dollina 1. The lens is marked in metres down to 1.3mtrs. There is no depth of field scale.



The lens board on this model is in crackle matt finish. The Cassar lens is un-coated, and appears in good condition. The film transport and counter works, it is a dragging film type, where the sprockets are pulled over the teeth to turn the counter. It does not function properly without a film in place.

There is no double exposure prevention on the Compur shutter, but the shutter is operated from the body release via a linkage.

The shutter tests as accurate on all speeds,  1 sec to 1/300 th, the shutter release appears to be Leica screw fitting.

The whole camera is very well made, mainly stamped metal parts, many reinforced with plates. The chrome on this example is in good condition, as are the nickel silver knobs etc. Excellent condition leather, with clear markings.

Test film over the next few days.

[retina]

That is a nice-looking camera. Somehow I've never managed to get a Certo even though I have lots of other 35mm folders, I suppose they are just too thin on the ground.
Regards, Chris

[Stephen]

The camera for use over Christmas 2014, the Certo Dollina, all cleaned and lubricated,leather cleaned, the top plate, which is litho printed black, still has slight marks impossible to touch in. The rest cleaned up well, no brassing wear, and test shots show the Steinheil Cassar 50mm F2.9 lens to be in fine condition.



A very Happy Xmas to all on the Forum,

Stephen

[Stephen]

The Christmas film, Fuji negative, has been sent to a mail order processor who offers scans to CD as part of the service, trying the higher definition version, plus larger prints. Camera should deliver the goods, despite an uncoated lens. It handles very nicely, despite the tiny viewfinder.
Next to try out this way is the Kodak Retina, which should be even better!