“Certo Dollina 1, folding 35mm camera ca. 1935″
Last year I came into possession of a certain German-made camera called the Certo Dollina. It is one of the earlier version too. That means forget about a meter, or a rangefinder, or a crank of any kinds for that matter.
For new readers, when I use an old camera like this, I prefer not to use any meter. Instead, I use what’s called the Sunny-16 rules. And without a rangefinder, that means *I* get to guess how far from the subject the camera is, and adjust the focus accordingly. Primitive, eh?
Check out a link at the end of this journal entry for more info about this camera.
Aside from the incredible build quality, this camera also sports a Zeiss Tessar lens, which made it somewhat rarer. Needless to say, my heart was broken when I learned that it has a frozen film advance mechanism. A few friendly folks at Nelsonfoto forum tried to help out, but it’s stuck beyond my almost non-existent fixing skill.
Finally I was able to scrounge enough fund to send it to one of the “Jedi master” when it comes to obscure camera repairs, Ken Ruth. Not only did he fix the jammed film advance gears, he also adjusted the shutter speed, and cleaned up the viewfinder (looking at a spotless 75 years-old tiny viewfinder feels downright weird :).
When it came back last week, I was itching to try it out. But of course, I had to mess things up in one or two new ways :)
I’ll keep it short:
- The reloadable film canister that I use for this roll apparently has stiff felts, there is a few fine scratches through out the roll. Great… just grrreat :(
- I mismatched the lid of the development tank, thinking (or not thinking) that it’ll still be light-tight, I proceeded to develop the film, only to find out that even though it’s light-tight, it’s not liquid-tight. The developer sloshed around unevenly, causing bright and shadowy regions in the scanned frames. Sigh…
I just managed scan a few pictures from the already short roll (about 12 bulk-loaded Arista Premium 400 roll).
“She Didn’t Blink”
I took my daughter to visit the historic downtown area in McKinney, TX. About half-an-hour drive from my house. It was a holiday, so the traffic wasn’t as bad.
“Beyond The Scratches”
One thing that we noticed was the abundance of frog-shaped plant pots. Interestingly decorated and they graced almost all of the store-fronts in the downtown square. Must be a town mascot thingy…
“Rrribit…”
I was quite amazed at the number of stores in the square, all of them have that old-store charm. Can’t believe I never took the time to visit here before.
“Shoe Pump”
We stopped by a very charming candy store, and an equally charming store clerk who deduced correctly that my daughter wasn’t so keen on barbeque-flavored pop-corn that she tasted (why, they have apple, and cherry popcorns also!).
Ending up with a small bag of “normal” butter-popcorn and we ate at the sidewalk, enjoying the cool, crisp air. Until it’s time to go home before it went dark for tomorrow is school day. And then we drove into the sunset… on the state-highway :)
So, where was I? for an old camera, the Certo Dollina certainly has a lot of charm. As you can see in the pictures above, a Zeiss Tessar lens does not need any help to produce photographs with high-contrast and details. And this camera is so small, it fits into my palm or pocket.
I do need to get a strap because being a tiny folder-style camera, it’s quite awkward to hold. And being an well-built, it’s quite heavy.
But the second roll is coming up, definitely.
I just have to find that #@!$ film cartridge that still has a good light-trap, so no scratches next time.
Oh, and here’s the link I promised.
