Test Roll

Tree Blossoms

Test roll from my Super Baldax, medium format folding camera.

Short review of the camera:
So far there are no light leaks in camera, something that is always a concern with these 50 year old or so folding cameras. The Radionar lens is a little soft at wide apertures but is better at smaller f11 or so. The shot of the tree blossoms and portraits were done at f5.6, it's slight softness, I think, is pleasing enough for the subjects. The chairs were shot wide open at f2.9 and 1/100 shutter speed. It came out not bad at all.

My first film roll, a Fuji Neopan 400 came out not very contrasty. I had to tweak my scans a little bit with levels and curves adjustments to get the contrast I preferred. It could be because of my film developing technique. The film was developed with Kodak HC-110, dilution B at five minutes. I have to evaluate my next set of negatives before I make a conclusion.

Ergonomics: I find that there is hardly any room for me to hold the side of the camera. The lens door swings horizontally and is too close to the side. I had to cradle the camera at the bottom. I would have preferred the lens door to swing up and down. The rangefinder/ viewfinder is bright and contrasty enough, comparable with my other rangefinder cameras.

The auto frame counting system of the winder didn't work precisely. The top frame counter did not match the red counter window at the back of the camera. I hear a lot of complains from other owners with the same problem. Some say that the backing paper of old film rolls made during the time of this camera was a little bit thicker than today's film. The auto frame counter was not calibrated for modern film. To remedy this, I rachet-turn the winder clockwise a little more until the correct frame number appeared on the red window. The negative frames would have overlapped otherwise.

Time will tell if the Super Baldax will become my favorite carry around medium format camera, but I like it's great potential.

Empty Chairs


Lunch Break