You certainly came up with cameras that I have never seen before! Your
Dad's camera looks to be a very nice example of the later folders. I
almost bought a Retina II when I was in the market for a 35 in 1952.
As a child of 8 or 9, I received a Christmas gift of a small, plastic
Univex box camera that used Size 00 roll film, about the size of 35mm,
but paper backed, with no sprocket holes. The film had to be returned
to the company for processing. I still have an image of my grandparents
that must have come from that camera, because it is the only one I had
at that time. That was the same company that later became Universal
Camera.
See my response to Rick Beckrich for an example of a Mercury II image.
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
On 7/2/2015 1:45 PM, David Young wrote:
G'Mornin' again, Jim!
When I was in my teens (lo, those many years ago) I did a fair amount of
spelunking, too, but never with a camera.
I found it interesting that you should refer people to the Camerapedia for more
on the Mercury II.
I am not a camera collector, I am a shooter. But over the years I have been given four
"oldies", and three of 'em have wound up in the Camerapedia.
An old (and damaged) Birnbaum Perforetta,
http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Perforetta
A Debrie Sept:
http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Debrie_Sept
and my dad's old 1950 Beauty Six (later sold as the Frank Six) folder, now
acknowledged, both in the Camerapedia and elsewhere, to be one of only two such
cameras surviving in the world. And certainly the only one with it's original
box and ever-ready case intact.
http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Frank_Six
Actually, my dad gave me the Beauty Six in the mid-80's. He told me that he'd owned 6 cameras, but
when I was 12, I had taken them all apart, to see what made them "tick". The Beauty Six
was the only one I'd managed to get back together, in working order! Thus he felt, at that point,
that I should have it! It may not be my "go to" camera, but it is still my most
treasured one.
David
Hi David,
When my sons were in their teens, and into exploring caves, I rigged the
Mercury II with a cheap flash gun (bulbs), and they took it into the
caves with them.
It still works, though scanning the single-frame negatives is a real
challenge. :-(
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
On 7/2/2015 12:52 PM, David Young wrote:
Thanks, Jim, for that information! I have an old Mercury 1, and had always
wondered why it used the style of shutter that it did. Now, I know!;
David.
Some of you might be able to recall, as I do, street photographers who
snapped your photo on city sidewalks and then offered to sell you copies
of the image. Their favorite camera was the Universal Mercury,
introduced in 1938, or the Mercury II, introduced in 1945. A half-frame
camera with a rotary cinema-type shutter, it produced 72 images on a
36-exposure roll of 35mm film. This was a very rugged camera with a
cast aluminum body and an extremely sharp Tricor 35mm f/2.7 lens,
requiring manual scale focusing with no rangefinder. When properly
focused, the image detail was equivalent to much more expensive cameras
of that era.
http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Mercury+II+from+1945.jpg.html
Comments welcomed, and appreciated.
--
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
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