Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515/2 folding camera:
My friends, Rosann and Bill, surprised me with this little beauty. A change of their home decor caused them to pass it on. The side struts are crazily elegant. I was just about to head out on another WORLD PEACE THROUGH JUNK STORE CAMERAS trip across the northern plains so I decided to take it along. Throwing caution to the wind, I loaded the camera with some Perutz 21 120 film. The film says it’s 100 ASA and it expires in … well… I don’t know when it expires. It doesn’t say. Perutz was taken over by Agfa in 1964, so this film is probably expired. [Understatement.]
The little foil wrapper the film comes in – I feel like I’m opening an individually wrapped chocolate. Anyway, I shot that and I shot some C41, which I’ll post later. The shutter speeds range from 1/25 thru 1/125 and include “B” and “T”. ƒ-stops range from ƒ4.5 – ƒ32. I went with Sunny 16 for my exposures, adding on a bit of time (and a bit more for good measure) considering the age of the film. Processed in Kodak D-76, my exposures were pretty muddy, but viewable.
This particular camera has a plaque on the back that reads, “Beckmann y Co. Sucs. MARACAIBO”. Cool, huh? 
Click on any image for a larger view:
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Architecture in Fenton, Michigan.
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Architecture in Fenton, Michigan.
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Fast fiberglass Mold Graveyard. Sparta, Wisconsin.
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Fast fiberglass Mold Graveyard. Sparta, Wisconsin.
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Along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Indiana.
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Along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Indiana.
There’s a little metal window that slides over the ruby window.
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Sweet.
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I didn't take the advice.
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Depress the black struts to slide the bellows and lens assembly back into the body. This takes a little bit of dexterity on the part of the user. My camera fights it just a bit. Every time I do this, I imagine the camera not wanting to go to bed. I say in [what I feel is a ] funny voice, "No No! Help me! I'm melting!" Seriously. Every time I do that.
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As I traveled across the plains, I'd set up my cameras at campsites, hoping to start a camera conversation. That happened a few times, but mostly folks just wanted to talk about my pop-up camper.
I ended up in Michigan where I dusted and documented stuff in my parent’s basement using vintage cameras. I documented with the vintage cameras. I dusted with a duster.
The C41 I promised you:
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Fuji NHG 390. Not too shabby considering I used the sunny 16 rule and guessed on the focus.
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Fast Mold. Sparta, Wisconsin.
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The FAST Mold graveyard is beyond belief.
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Fast Mold, Sparta , WI
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Fast Mold, Sparta , WI
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Fast Mold, Sparta , WI
