Friday 4 February 2011

Project: Foth 6x9 Pinhole Part 1

I've wanted a 6x9 format pinhole camera for a while. Giving 8 big frames on a roll of 120, easy loading / unloading and developing in a standard tank are features that really appeal. It sounds like the perfect pinhole format. So into my possession comes a 1920's Foth 6x9 folder. Berlin based C F Foth & Co made cameras from 1926 until 1943. This one has been in the family for decades, but no one knows who's it was or when it was last used. It's all there, but a little rough. The shutter fires, but only if you first run the self timer and even then only at 1/100 T or B. The leather is worn, paint is missing. The lens standard is bent. On the plus side the bellows look good. Like a lot of cameras of its age, it even has little a built in support leg, perfect for long exposures without a tripod!
This then will become the basis of my next pinhole camera. The shutter / lens unit will come out, to be replaced with an almost working Prontor-S which will give some useful 'slow' speeds for bright days, plus B for darker days. the Agfa Apotar lens in the Prontor will make way for a home made pinhole shim. I'll fit a shorter 'wide angle' stop for the lens standard and that'll be it. The great thing is that it'll all be undo-able. Some time down the road I can get the Doffel-Anastigmat lens / Iberzit shutter fixed up, straighten the lens standard and see what a 1920s lensed 6x9 can do!

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