Koroll 24

[grizzz]

Anyone ever heard of this camera? A friend of mine found it in his house and asked me about it. I honestly have never seen one before. A little Googling has confirmed he needs to go to work tomorrow cause this is in no way a collector. Seems to be F/11 and liked at 1/50th a second or Bulb. Focus is locked up as well but most likely could be cleaned up if it were worth it. It is Italian made which was the only thing I thought was interesting about it.... Griz

[martolod]

i have
i had one that i turned into pinhole as the lens was scratched to buggery
very simple
but a solid and effective weapon in a streetfight

[Philip]

I've got a Koroll 24S. It's a lot of fun being a kind of half-frame 120 camera.  Mine only works in warm weather -- the lube gets too hard to make focus adjustments in colder weather.  I've got a dozen or so shots from it on my Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?ss=2&w=72041338%40N00&q=koroll&m=text

[Glenn Thoreson]

Made by Bencini, they're the Italian equal of a Photex, and  that ain't no compiment.

[jake]

I have a Bencini Koroll "S" that shoots 120 film. This camera is different from the 24 in that it originally could shoot both 6x6 and 6x4.5. There evidently used to be a mask to set up the camera to shoot either 2 1/4 x 1 3/4 images or 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 images. There is a revolving frame counter red window on the back for either or. I suspect my camera was made for the English market, given the film format designations. The camera itself is made out of cast aluminum and I think could safely be described as robust. The shutter actuation is by way of a button on the top plate that articulates with a rod that runs out of the back of the lens housing inside the camera. The lens housing is retractable and the body is barely big enough to fit the 120 roll of film (but it is for 120, not other formats,) making the camera the smallest 120 camera I have when the lens housing is retracted. The lens is focusable, with a fixed shutter speed (according to the writing on the lens) of 1/50th of a second and an aperture of f11. And it shoots very well. See for yourself.

[sandeha]

Bencini Koroll "S" ... hm, that's impressive, Jorn.  Maybe I should try mine again, only this time with the lens turned the right way around. 

[jake]

When I first got mine, it was a bit gunked up, but the camera is totally simple to open and clean. I think all-aluminum with a few steel parts is bad in terms of galvanic corrosion, but in my camera's case, it was just dried out grease. Now the shutter works better than a brand new Holga.

Italy went through a period of industrial design when quite a few things were made in aluminum. Post-war, 1950-60. Possibly Italy had aluminum and not much else. Who knows?

[sandeha]

Crashed aircraft, I suspect, littering the Po Valley.  You hold that camera in your hands and think - someone once flew in this.

[jake]

You are probably right! Here then is my B-17.

[sandeha]

The lens ring unscrewed (I think) very easily, so reversing the lens was no problem.  Here's a couple ...





It was fun.

[Graham Serretta]

Hah!  Brilliant!

[Philip]

Pretty pictures! 


I must look more closely at my Koroll 24S to see if I can dismantle it.  Uhh, and remantle it too.

[br1078lum]

You guys are killing me!  I guess now I have to dig out my B-17 Bencini and see how it flys.

[P C Headland]

....

Italy went through a period of industrial design when quite a few things were made in aluminum. Post-war, 1950-60. Possibly Italy had aluminum and not much else. Who knows?

Quite a few things were made out of aluminium  (  :p ) post war in the UK too.  Rovers (cars) for example, since steel was in short supply.