Certo Bee Bee

[pandino]

I'm selling this camera for a friend.  

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120027355184

You're intials come engraved from the factory in Germany.  That is if you go by Big Bertha, Baggy Butt or Barbara Bush...

[connealy]

That's a very nicely crafted listing of a fine looking plate camera.  Seems like your friend should do well with it.  I did notice that the minimum aperture is listed as f22, though one can see in the photo that it is f32.  
The film holder and the film pack adapter look identical to those for my Recomar, so it seems likely the camera would also accept a Rada rollfilm back, though I don't know that for a certainty.
The latch permitting rotation of the shutter is interesting and sets the camera apart a bit from the many other compact view cameras of the time.  Hard to say exactly what the intent was.  Certo made an elaborate array of accessories for a large number of folding cameras.
Good luck with the sale.

[pandino]

That's a very nicely crafted listing of a fine looking plate camera. Seems like your friend should do well with it. I did notice that the minimum aperture is listed as f22, though one can see in the photo that it is f32.
The film holder and the film pack adapter look identical to those for my Recomar, so it seems likely the camera would also accept a Rada rollfilm back, though I don't know that for a certainty.
The latch permitting rotation of the shutter is interesting and sets the camera apart a bit from the many other compact view cameras of the time. Hard to say exactly what the intent was. Certo made an elaborate array of accessories for a large number of folding cameras.
Good luck with the sale.

Thanks for the info and correction, Mike.  I'm not too terribly familiar with plate cameras.  I'd love to own the camera myself, but I'm putting too much time and money into LF endeavours at the moment.

[ImageMaker]

You sure that shutter doesn't just come off after rotating some amount?  There were a number of plate cameras with bayonet mounts (I've got three Ideal bodies, though they have two different size bayonets and the two small ones have identical lenses), though it's very rare to find a lens not mounted on a camera that still has the bayonet parts even if you can identify their mounting  holes.

Looks like a nice example; though to be at all practical it'd need more plate holders, the Ihagee that's with it is one of, if not *the* most common type for 6.5x9.  BTW, pack film hasn't been available in about 20 years, since the grandmothers who stuffed the packs (in total darkness) all retired -- apparently no one ever designed a machine that could stuff twelve or sixteen film-and-pull-tab assemblies, in order, in perfect register, into a pack (other than Polaroid, who've been making what amounts to film pack film plus the pod-and-print stack for the past 45 years).

[cenelson]

That's a beaut of a camera. I dont know that I would part with it if given to me to sell. Good luck!

[Glenn Thoreson]

I have one very similar to that one. The film for those holders is not you every day item. It's 6.5X9 and  is available in the US, but only in one or two flavors. It is indeed a bayonet mount lens/shutter asembly. I assume there was a wide angle lens available for it. I don't think it has enough bellows for a telephoto. They are really cool cameras! Oh, the BeeBee comes from the name of the importer/retailer, Burleigh Brooks.

[pandino]

Thanks for the education Glenn. I've updated the ad with the correct film size. I wondered what the BB stood for. At first I thought it was a previous owner's initials engraved when presented as a gift. The brass shines through as if it were engraved yesterday.
 
I'll have to see if the lens is removable. Interchangeable lenses on a folder? Now that's cool. I may have to place a bid myself.
 

That's a beaut of a camera. I dont know that I would part with it if given to me to sell.

Yeah, I hear ya. Actually he's holding a carrot out there for me for helping him sell this (and a bunch of other stuff)....an 8x10 Eastman View.

[ImageMaker]

The BB stands for Burleigh-Brooks, the originator of that model that was bought up by or merged to form Certo at some point in the 1920s.  I've seen plate cameras with the Burleigh-Brooks name, old enough that they have dial-set shutters instead of that clean-looking rim-set Compur.

BTW, J&C had *three* emulsions in 6.5x9 cm last time I looked -- ADOX 25 and 100, and Classic 200, IIRC.  That's enough choices to make a 6.5x9 a usable shooter.  In addition, a lot of folks get a roll holder to fit them and never bother with sheet film; you still get to focus on ground glass, use movements, and yet have the convenience of only loading every 8th frame (you can even carry two emulsions loaded if you have two roll holders).  Some roll holders even have masks to let you use smaller formats like 6x6 or 6x4.5.

[pandino]

... though to be at all practical it'd need more plate holders, the Ihagee that's with it is one of, if not *the* most common type for 6.5x9....

While in a G.A.S. induced stupor, I misplaced the other two plate holders.  I found them under the car seat today and will post a revision to the auction to include the holders and the case for them.
 
I'm selling this for a guy who found a fully stocked darkroom in the house he bought.  I left his house so stricken with G.A.S, that I forgot I ever had the other two holders.
 
There's so much stuff down there, I would've bought the house, cleaned out the basement, and resold it just to own the equipment!

[wlewisiii]

I really didn't need to see this ad... I really didn't... Argh... Maybe if it doesn't go too high... mutter. Have to order the 126 from JandC anyway...



William