[Leica] Speaking of medium format, I've picked up a 1954Rolleicord...

[langeratcarleton at gmail.com (Mark Langer)]

A great budget pick in a folder is the non-rangefinder Welta Perle --
a 4.5 x 6 with a 80mm f2.8 Tessar or more commonly, a Xenar lens. 
Ikonta-type solidity of construction, and although the more compact
prewar ones come with uncoated lenses, the performance is more than
adequate.  These will be rock solid when extended and you can still
get a clean one for well under $100.  I can't recommend these too
highly as bargains.

I also have high regard for the Ansco Titan, which is very much like
an Agfa Isolette but with a higher standard of construction than most
of the Ansco rebadged Agfas and with much more durable real leather
bellows.  The 90mm lens is a triplet, but has such a wide field of
coverage that the images I've gotten are very sharp.  Others have had
less success with theirs, but I suspect that this is because they
haven't collimated the lens -- an easy job on most folders.

The Agfas are wonderful if you can find a good one -- the 4 element
Solinar lenses are as good as folder lenses get.  But Agfas suffer
from the dreaded green goo problem (wherein the original lubrication
turns to this alien substance that gums up the workd) and their
bellows are prone to light leaks.  I wouln't reject an Agfa folder
with the Apotar coated triplet either.  These are surprisingly good
lenses, and lens snobs unjustly pass them by.  Thus, they can be
incredibly good buys.  Although not the most compact of folders, the
Agfas tend to be quite light, and a pleasure to carry.

Another postwar cheapie folder is the Japanese Zenobia -- a copy of
the Ikonta A that has a great 4 element lens.  The body covering
appears to be some paper-based form of leatherette, but the images
that you can get from a Zenobia more than make up for this cosmetic
shortcoming.  So there are loads of bargain folders for you to play
with.

If the bellows aren't too bad, you can easily repair pinholes with
either a mixture of black pigment and fabric glue, or with that
plastic dip for coating tools that is available at hardware stores. 
Just be sure to let either one dry completely before you fold up the
bellows.  This can take days in the case of the plastic dip.

Mark

On 7/4/05, Don Dory <don.dory@gmail.com> wrote:
> Mark,
> No flames here, I just was not able to find any well built folders for
> really cheap.  All the folders that I came across had shutter issues,
> or lack of stiffness once extended, or obvious leaks in the bellows.
> 
> In my travels, if I come across a nice folder near that magical $100
> range I will probably acquire one.  It would cerainly be smaller than
> my Fuji 690GL.
> 
> Don
> don.dory@gmail.com
> 
>