Aaaak
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2015
- Messages
- 43
- Reaction score
- 16
- Location
- São Paulo, SP. Brasil.
- Website
- flic.kr
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos OK to edit
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I showed it to an old technician, he didn't know much about it but he guessed almost the same "it's from the 40-50's", he said. He showed me how it works, which is really interesting. He said to me that it is probably working, but the frontal lenses is damaged and it wouldn't focus well. Funny technique, btw.That is DEFINITELY a Starflex twin lens reflex! I'm not an expert, but my guess is mid- to late- 1950's era, value $10. Have you seen the reasonably new trend/fad of taking these old box-camera-grade TLR's, and then building a paperboard chimney, and on top of the chimney, mounting a digital camera? You then take the images off of the camera's viewfinder screen! Photos shot this way have a very lensy, Diana- or Holga-like softness to them. Looks kind of cool!
Strange one this. Don't think it's a Star series (Starflash, Starmeter, Starmatic) from Kodak, they shot 127 rollfilm and had fixed focus lenses. The focusing distances are in meters so it's likely a continental European beast. Open it up and look for some ID or a logo inside or a faint logo embossed into the covering.
Nice infos that you gave me. It's really beautiful to me, I love the outside made of leather.I was thinking too maybe European; the lettering to me looks modern/art deco.
For some reason it made me think possibly even Japanese? (resemblance to Konica lettering maybe?) and I did find a Starflex made by Tougodo that is supposedly a rebranded Toyoflex. Those look like TLRs modeled after Rolleis (like the Ciroflex and Argoflex and every other flex! lol) and don't look like this one.
This one looks to me like a box camera - latch at top back and knobs/levers lower side; and/or if anything maybe a pseudo TLR with the top 'lens' actually being used as a viewfinder not a lens. With a distance scale on the lens and the knobs possibly being made to pull in and out as a way to adjust aperture I'd think a later box camera ('40s ?).
I looked at sites I use to look up collectible cameras and I'm not finding anything else. It's an interesting looking camera, I like the lettering and design of it.
I don't know since so far none of us seem to have found it listed anywhere - seems like we've mostly eliminated possibilities. Most box cameras aren't worth much (I have quite a few) but this seems unusual (at least here in the US) so I don't know how rare it might be or if collectors or a museum would have any interest. It looks like a fairly basic camera, looking at the shutter release at the top etc. so I don't know if it would be valuable. A lot from the depression era into midcentury was made to be affordable I think. The lettering seems to give it some style.
I would not do much cleaning if any. A soft cloth, or soft brush. If you want to clean the glass I'd use something made to clean lenses and squirt a small amount on a microfiber cloth not directly on the lens/glass. Start with a small area that won't show. Leatherette can get fragile with age so I don't think I'd use a liquid cleaner on it. Some collectors prefer to do the cleaning themselves and I imagine museums might too.