Martin Pancisin
Well-Known Member
Hi all, I promised to do a write up on my new old camera so here it is 
I was considering getting a medium format camera pretty from the moment I started doing analog photography. After short consideration I postponed (hopefully) Haselblads and its clones, as they are not really portable and I do not have any room, that I could convert to studio. The second stop had been lomography shop where I was eyeing their Belair cameras, but once I got it in my hand I understood that this is not for me (plastic camera for 300+ EUR?)... Holga and Diana were also out of question, because if I spend money on film I feel like saving money on optics is generally not a clever idea. But I was not giving up, I am on tight budget when it comes to hobbies, so I had to pic carefully. There is a photography shop relatively near to where I live and they even give one year warranty for their used cameras. So I went there to have a look at what they have and sure enough I found a display with used Rolleiflexes for <200 EUR. Hmm..., that was worth considering. With my birthday coming up, I could get it as a present for myself. It was decided, I am going to get a TLR, most likely a Rolleiflex. In the April I was visiting my parents in Slovakia. I had nothing to do and was just surfing the interwebs, when I found a website with ads for used cameras, which was full of quite interesting pieces, among them also Flexarets. So come June and my birthday I was a happy owner of the Flexaret 5a.
The Camera:
Flexaret were manufactured in the former Czechoslovakia from 1939 to 1970 by Meopta. Flexaret 5, 5a, 5b became available in the 1958 and was replace in 1961 by Flexaret 6. Their are fully manual cameras (or as the manual calls them instruments) without metering and with out the mirror image correction (to frame picture to left you need to rotate/move it to the right). Flexaret 5a were equipped with Prontor-SVS or Metax shutter mechanism, viewing lens were an anastigmat 1:3 f=80mm, while shooting lens is Belar 1:3,5 f=80mm (for those interested in the design of these lenses I recommend website of Lubomir Cevela (in czech)). Here are some shots of the camera:
I was surprised with how portable this camera actually is. It is not the lightest nor the smallest, but despite that it fits nicely into my bag and since it came with a original case, I can carry it on my shoulder/around my neck without any problems. So far, I shot only two rolls, but I am more than pleased with results (sample image here).
The quality and performance of the camera is in my opinion astounding, this thing was built almost 60 years ago and it works, without a problem. It makes you wonder about how many cameras of today one will be able to say the same thing 60 years from now on. In any case, I am more that happy with it and can only recommend it to everyone who wants to try medium format photography without having to invest too much money (mine was 50 EUR).
Cheers!
I was considering getting a medium format camera pretty from the moment I started doing analog photography. After short consideration I postponed (hopefully) Haselblads and its clones, as they are not really portable and I do not have any room, that I could convert to studio. The second stop had been lomography shop where I was eyeing their Belair cameras, but once I got it in my hand I understood that this is not for me (plastic camera for 300+ EUR?)... Holga and Diana were also out of question, because if I spend money on film I feel like saving money on optics is generally not a clever idea. But I was not giving up, I am on tight budget when it comes to hobbies, so I had to pic carefully. There is a photography shop relatively near to where I live and they even give one year warranty for their used cameras. So I went there to have a look at what they have and sure enough I found a display with used Rolleiflexes for <200 EUR. Hmm..., that was worth considering. With my birthday coming up, I could get it as a present for myself. It was decided, I am going to get a TLR, most likely a Rolleiflex. In the April I was visiting my parents in Slovakia. I had nothing to do and was just surfing the interwebs, when I found a website with ads for used cameras, which was full of quite interesting pieces, among them also Flexarets. So come June and my birthday I was a happy owner of the Flexaret 5a.
The Camera:
Flexaret were manufactured in the former Czechoslovakia from 1939 to 1970 by Meopta. Flexaret 5, 5a, 5b became available in the 1958 and was replace in 1961 by Flexaret 6. Their are fully manual cameras (or as the manual calls them instruments) without metering and with out the mirror image correction (to frame picture to left you need to rotate/move it to the right). Flexaret 5a were equipped with Prontor-SVS or Metax shutter mechanism, viewing lens were an anastigmat 1:3 f=80mm, while shooting lens is Belar 1:3,5 f=80mm (for those interested in the design of these lenses I recommend website of Lubomir Cevela (in czech)). Here are some shots of the camera:
I was surprised with how portable this camera actually is. It is not the lightest nor the smallest, but despite that it fits nicely into my bag and since it came with a original case, I can carry it on my shoulder/around my neck without any problems. So far, I shot only two rolls, but I am more than pleased with results (sample image here).
The quality and performance of the camera is in my opinion astounding, this thing was built almost 60 years ago and it works, without a problem. It makes you wonder about how many cameras of today one will be able to say the same thing 60 years from now on. In any case, I am more that happy with it and can only recommend it to everyone who wants to try medium format photography without having to invest too much money (mine was 50 EUR).
Cheers!
