The Dutch Fodor 66

[belgiumreporter]

I've just bought this Fodor 66 because it's such a weird camera. Some research tought me that the Fodor is a Dutch version of the Fujita 66, Soligor 66 and kalimar 66, all the same camera, but different branding depending in wich part of the world it was sold.

There's a few interesting facts about this rather hunble medium format camera, it sold for less than 100$ when new in 1957 making it the cheapest 6x6 reflex camera available. While it had initially only one (M44!) interchangeable lens a little later in the fifties they managed to offer the first wideangle lens for medium format : the 52mm Kaligar retro focus (after an Angenieux design) wich was in an adapted version very popular with Hasselblad 1000F owners (as Hasselblad didn't have a wideangle back then).

Still the Fodor is a rather simple camera, its limited shutter speeds ( very quiet cloth focal plane shutter) and limited (or no) available accesoires. It handles more like a single lens Rolleiflex than a Hasselblad. The Fodor,Fujita,Soligor...doesn't seem to be a rare camera as they can easily be found on e-bay whitin a price range of 100 to about 400$ with standard 80 mm lens. I would say it is more of a collectors camera than a "user" as there are better options out there if you want to get into (slr) medium format on a budget.

[julio1fer]

Interesting camera.

. I would say it is more of a collectors camera than a "user" as there are better options out there if you want to get into (slr) medium format on a budget.

What would be your recommendation for a medium format SLR on a budget? Bronica?

[belgiumreporter]

Dec 13, 2021 19:09:31 GMT -5 julio1fer said:

Interesting camera

What would be your recommendation for a medium format SLR on a budget? Bronica?

It all depends on how far your budget "stretches"... I think the cheapest you could go on a medium format SLR would be a Pentacon six wich with some luck can be found below the 200€ mark. Be aware though, as they tend to have film spacing issues, avoid the metered prism as it dims the viewfinder significantly (not so with the non metered prism). Lenses can be found relatively cheap and they are good (east) German quality. Handheld the heavy slap of the mirror will cause virbration blur at the lower shutterspeeds.Then there's the Russian Hasselblad clones like the Kiev 6x6 wich can be found at reasenable prices though they are vulnerable and develop all kinds of mechanical failures. Apart from that both Kiev and Pentacon have a focal plane shutters as opposed to the central shutter( in the lenses) on the Hasselblad wich limits flash use to 1/30th of a second so in most cases no fill in flash in daylight possible.

Bronica's may be a good choise but they're not as cheap as the East German/ Russian cameras and some of them are known for mecahanical and electronic problems. All in all medium format SLR's do come at a price, should you not need interchangeable lenses and are able to live with a parralax view trough the finder a TLR's can be found way cheaper and due to their simpeler construction are less prone to develop problems. I've recently bought a few Rolleicords for less than 100€ and was blown away by their optical performance, Yashica's are good to as long as you don't want a "124 Mat G" for wich these days silly prices are asked so you may want to considder a "real" Rollei instead (but then again we are talking about 400€+).

BTW, thanks Julio for your input, it seems like you are one of the few people keeping this forum alive and making me feel my postings are not "all for not" regards, François

[julio1fer]

Good advice, thanks! I already have a couple of TLRs, a Rolleicord and an Autocord, although I shoot mostly 35mm. I like using TLRs. For instance this was with an Ikoflex that I gave to a friend.



Always was intrigued by those expensive medium format SLRs, would those be worth the price for me? The Communist options I knew about, but was wary of.

I am getting into the age in which one thinks of scratching old itchs while there is still time. Maybe I could loan a Bronica or even a Hassy to see what is all the fuss about. Or a Pentax 6x7, highly praised by my camera technician friend. Then I may evaluate if the price and weight are justified by results.

Thank you for basically keeping the forum alive, I just read and comment. Indeed it is getting a bit lonely here.

[belgiumreporter]

It all depends on your style of shooting and what the results need to be used for.

(old) medium format camera's are very restrictive, as a reporter i've found the Hasselblad 500C/M quite useless, the quality of the negatives is overkill for use in daily reporting, while the camera is so slow to work with you most likely miss the decisive moment in a photo report of an event. A acumatte screen helps somewhat whit fast focussing, but still...

So no matter how good the 500C/M is i wouldn't advice it for anything else than slow paced work. A bit faster and modern is the mamiya 645, it handles more like a 35mm SLR while still producing nice large negatives (or slides) with the typical image rendering of medium format. There's a large array of lenses available at mostly moderate prices, still as it's got a focal plane shutter flash use is limited (few central shutter lenses are available). The RB 67 is a complete different beast, but here i've said it, it's a beast of a camera to heavy and large to haule around, but great (and some say) better than a Hassie for studio work or landscaping, if you've got someone willing to carry the gear.

I did love my Bronica S2 with the Nikkor lenses but that was half a century ago, don't know how it would suit me now. I didn't like the Rollei SLX and sold it shortly after i've bought it (hated the plastic focussing screen extermely expensive accesoires. It broke down in the first weeks i've used it (but was fixed free of charge by Rollei with their sincere apologies that something went wrong with their product). So that's about my experience with medium format slr's, i also heard a lot of good things about the pentax 6x7 never used one myselve.

Further more i do like the Mamiya C (220/3/33/330) range, no slapping mirrors, flash sync at all speeds... but then again no SLR and no interchangeable backs or film inserts. I do think some of the latest medium format SLR's with AF,AE and all the bells and whistles will be able to speed up workflow but they don't come cheap and the their output is often matched by a good FX slr. I never felt the need to get into digital medium format. Anyway since two years i've laid down my reporting cameras, it's now all hobby and whenever i feel like it.

Here's a few shots with the Hasslblad:










These are with the mamiya 645 with the 35mm lens (wich corresponds with a 20mm on 35mm full frame)








Here's one with the humble Rolleicord, the slow Agfachrome colorslide film allowed for very fine detail and highlight detail.








So is it worth it buying an expensive medium format? in my opinion it is nice to have one or two, do i need them? NO!

Nice shot of the lorry, i like the separation of the subject and background, but this is one of the reasons to go in to medium format anyway.

[paulhofseth]

along timeago I used a Linhof6x9 which gave reasonably good pictures, but nowadays I find that a high MP digital gives equally good prints plus a chanse to remedy my exposure errors & light dynamic errors made by the landscape motive.Also, there is no need to curse over the old Rollex back plus juggling darkslides when using sheet film.

p.

[julio1fer]

François, thanks for all the feedback. I had not thought on the more recent 645 types, such as the Mamiya. Will look further on that option.

[belgiumreporter]

Dec 16, 2021 10:32:37 GMT -5 paulhofseth said:

along timeago I used a Linhof6x9 which gave reasonably good pictures, but nowadays I find that a high MP digital gives equally good prints plus a chanse to remedy my exposure errors & light dynamic errors made by the landscape motive.Also, there is no need to curse over the old Rollex back plus juggling darkslides when using sheet film.

p.

Don't get me started on Linhof's my first 6x9 was a Linhof technika press, it was useless because of the spacing problems with the rolex film back and was replaced by a Mamiya 23 press with a very nice 65mm lens wich never gave me (film or any other) problems. Today i still have a 1967 Linhof 220 wich even though it hasn't got a rolex back has trouble with (you guessed it) film spacing. Now all in all throughout the years i've found that film spacing seems to be a problem cross brands on medium format, i guess the forces involved in transporting a large chunk of film puts a lot of strain on the transporting gears...
Here's my Linhof220 and a period ad

[julio1fer]

My late father was always dreaming about a Linhof Technika. He never got one, maybe he was lucky.

[belgiumreporter]

In following the market i've noticed the prices on medium format camera's are going up. Probably because medium format still has an edge over digital. You would have to spend a whole lot of money on a digital medium format wich is able to reproduce the look of medium format film. So when you don't need medium format on a daily basis (as a pro) it might be more economical to shoot on film and have the negatives or slides scanned on a decent scanner. Maybe some more work but depending on your workflow it may turn out to be the best solution. All this makes film medium format still interesting wich is reflected in the second hand prices. After a dip some years ago these days you"ll be lucky to find anything medium format wise under 200€. For that money a twin lens reflex might be an option as they in most cases are pretty reliable. Medium format SLR's on the other hand in that price range are mostly vulnerable ex-Sovjet camera's with one or more issues. 

Here's a few nice (Swedish and Japanes) ones in the 500 to 1000€ range:

 

[julio1fer]

Thanks again François. Sometimes there are both Mamiyas and Hasselblads in local auctions; will look for “the one”. Currently eyeing a Hasselblad 500C with Planar 80mm but may go too high.

Almost all of what I take in medium format is slow paced, so not much of a problem (but I do worry about goofing it, if operation gets too complicated).