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Bolseyflex – Not much flex
The Bolseyflex is a medium format 6x6 pseudo-TLR. A very ornate simple camera which I tried out a couple of times.
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Holga 120N – The serious toy camera
The Holga 120N is iconic for producing unpredictable results. It has been a lot of fun shooting creatively with it.
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Walzflex – The slow dance
The Walzflex is a Japanese Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) from he 1950s. Aimed at the consumer, it was reviewed against modern emulsions.
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Rolleicord Va Type 1 – The middle twin
The Rolleicord Va Type 1 is a Twin Lens Reflex medium format camera which shoots a classic 6x6 format. TLRs are fun, especially with the Rollei quality.
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Pigeonflex – Bird of a feather
A camera to allow your photography to take flight? To release your creativity free as a bird? Probably enough bird puns for now. So, was the Pigeonflex a camera to set the cat amongst the Pigeons? Ok that was one more. Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) cameras are an interesting type of camera. They have a history in street photography, especially the Rolleiflex, yet they are designed quite different from the rangefinders which are generally thought of as street cameras. They shoot in square format, like well-known Hasselblad studio cameras, but are designed to be used mobile. You look through the viewfinder, with the image reflected by a mirror, like a…
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Agfa Jsolette 4.5 – When J is not a J
The Agfa Isolette range of cameras have a cult following. That includes me as I own both Isolette and Jsolette labelled cameras. The ability to shoot medium format, especially 6×6, with a camera that is small and at a stretch pocketable, is very enticing. Throw in the fact that they look lovely, and you can understand the popularity. I personally like quite a few different “folders” as you can see by another review of the Voigtlander Perkeo I. This model is the Agfa Jsolette 4.5. Agfa has used the names Jsolette and Isolette interchangeably, as the letter J referred to an I in German. There is a misconception that the…
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Ensign Ful-Vue – Is it really the full view?
When does a box camera not look like a box camera? When it is the Ensign Ful-Vue from 1946. Until then most were basically a box with a lens on the front. There were a few variants, including box cameras that had better viewing lenses and looked more like Twin Lens Reflex cameras, but still generally had a box shape. When Ensign released the Ful-Vue they moved to a very modern shape for the period, and I think created one of the most striking looking box cameras ever. I picked this camera up when I was living in London around 1999 and promptly put it on a shelf. While…
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Voigtländer Perkeo I
The Voigtländer Perkeo I is a small folding 6x6 medium format camera. It is as much fun to use as it sounds.
