Franka Solida III

The Franka Solida III is a medium format (120 film) camera with an uncoupled rangefinder. It has an excellent f2.9/80mm lens. The example that I own is in pretty good shape. The rangefinder needs to be calibrated but I haven't had the time or inclination to figure out how to adjust it. I do better estimating the distance on my own. The one time I relied on the rangefinder, my pictures were out of focus.

The bellows are in excellent order with no light leaks to speak of. The lens can be fussy from time to time when attempting to close the lens door. The hand strap was dry rotted when I got the camera and it quickly broke within minutes of using it for its intended purpose. I was able to fashion a new handle with some leather and rivets I had. I was back in business in short order.

This camera is equipped with double exposure protection. There's a window on top of the camera with a white/red dot system. When the dot is white it means you've fired the shutter and need to advance the film. The dot will turn red and you're good to cock the shutter and take your next picture.

The Franka Solida III is an excellent camera from Germany. It's relatively easy to use and produces good results on a consistent basis.

I used Kodak Tri-X 400 film this month. Developed using R5 Monobath Developer and scanned on an Epson V550.















Next month's camera: Fujica 35-EE

introduction

I knew it was a bad idea to count up the number of film cameras I own. I thought I had maybe 12 and had a great idea of using a single film camera each month for an entire year. As it turns out, I actually own 18 vintage film cameras. 

So I've decided to spend the next year and a half using these cameras and sharing my results here. I’m not setting any rules regarding film (black and white? color?) or how many pictures I can take in any given month. My only rule will be that I will only carry one single camera for the entire month.

The Line-Up:

Manual Cameras:

Agfa Solinette

Agfa Isoflash Rapid C

Canon Demi EE17 (half frame)

Medium Format:

Ansco Color Clipper (w/flash)

Petri

Ansco Titan

Franka Solida III

Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex 1b

SLR’s:

Sears TLS

GAF L-17

Konica Autorex (full and half-frame)

Rangefinders:

Olympus XA

Konica Auto S

Chinon 35 EE II

Vivitar 35ES

Yashica Electro 35 CC

Ricoh 500G

Fujica 35 EE

I will try to mix it up from month to month but—due to the disproportion of certain camera styles—this won’t be mathematically possible. Actually, I think I’ll shoot these cameras in alphabetical order because it’s a pretty good mix that way.