Is this a good price?

[Andre Reinders]

Always wanted a folder.....Item # 330078404531

THX

[Dean Williams]

The price (at $20 currently) is fine, but I would ask for an iron clad guarantee for the bellows on one of these.  Many, many of this brand and type camera have holes in the bellows.  Many.
Question the seller on the bellows, and while you're at it, ask if the focus is nice and free.  I'm guessing it's not.
Sorry.

[moose1010]

You'd be better off with one like this:

300073501837  

It has the better Apotar lens, and the seller seems to know how to check basic functions and bellows condition.

[TravisM]

Are you wanting an Ansco for sure?  I have a ZI Nettar that I was planning on letting go next week.  I wanted to run a roll through this weekend to make sure all is ok. I have not used for about 5 years.  But it is nice........ I also have ZI 6x9 that will go as well.  Although might be a bit more than $20.

[Andre Reinders]

Are you wanting an Ansco for sure?  I have a ZI Nettar that I was planning on letting go next week.  I wanted to run a roll through this weekend to make sure all is ok. I have not used for about 5 years.  But it is nice........ I also have ZI 6x9 that will go as well.  Although might be a bit more than $20.

My wife is holding me back......but I would love to know more about what you are selling....

[TravisM]

Ok I will get it out tomorrow and run a roll through. Bellows are good I know that, as I checked that out the other night.  I just want to check on the speeds.  I have never owned the Ansco but The nettar is nice to hold and to use.

[Andre Reinders]

No rush from my end - any idea on what you are asking? Does it take 120?

[TravisM]

Yeah 120 6x6. Scale focus.  Will no more on Price after I give it a good once over and verify everything is in order.

[TravisM]

Maybe some others could share some opinion on the 2 different cameras.

[Captain Slack]

I've used both the Agfa Isolette / Ansco Speedex (same camera/different marketing) and the Zeiss Nettar.  

The Agfa is slightly less sturdy, but probably has the better lens of the two.  The bellows are these are not good and will 90% of the time leak.  This is easy to fix with some black fabric paint, however.  The Apotar lens is SHARP and the Solinar is no slouch either!  No DOF scale on these, however.

The ZI Nettar is a somewhat better built camera and has real leather bellows (no leaks), but the Novar lens that comes with them isn't as good as the Isolette lenses.  That said, it's still a Zeiss lens and nothing to sneeze at.  Does have a DOF scale if you're like me and aren't good at scale focusing.  

I was given examples of each by a friend who had several to unload.  After running film through each, I ended up keeping the Nettar due to the DOF scale, even though I had an Agfa with an Apotar.  It was a hard decison, but my scale focus skills stink!

If I had to recommend one or the other, I'd say get whichever you can get the better deal on.  Can't go wrong with either.

[ImageMaker]

Given what I can see of the bellows in the listing photos, I wouldn't give more than $10 for it, and then only if I had another camera that needed the lens and shutter.  Those bellows are *far* from perfect, you can see them peeling in the corners of the folds.  And peeling Ansco/AGFA bellows are effectively guaranteed to leak.

Captain, having owned a Speedex with Agnar (below the Apotar) and a Nettar with Novar-Anastigmat, I can verify that both are better than they need to be for the average run of hand held photography.  Move up to Apotar, Solinar/Tessar, etc. and you've got lenses that are good enough for very large prints from the 6x6 negative frame.  If only there were a source of reasonably priced replacement bellows for the Agfa/Ansco post-War cameras...

[Ronald Bishop]

I had one for sale on this site with no bites so I donated it to MikeR for his Photography class. It was litetite and gave me some very good photos. So far I haven't seen anything it has done for him.
  I think I have 2 more, one I think has a good bellows, but the focus is frozen.
  The other one is a star gazer, lots of leaks.
   I have a Baldalux that I has a roll in it now. Then I looked close to the last roll I put thru it and it is developing a leak. With the mask in everything is fine. BTW- the Baldalux is a pretty good camera. {I paid too much for mine but it was for chairity and it looked good .}
  I have bought some litetite folders, use them a few times and leaks develop.
  So it is a Turkey shoot with these old cameras, but sometimes you beat the odds. Pay what 'you' feel is comfortable with.what the heck, it is a 50/50 trip, you may end up feeling like you stole it.

Ahhhhh life is good.

[OldProfessorBear]

Given what I can see of the bellows in the listing photos, I wouldn't give more than $10 for it, and then only if I had another camera that needed the lens and shutter.  Those bellows are *far* from perfect, you can see them peeling in the corners of the folds.  And peeling Ansco/AGFA bellows are effectively guaranteed to leak.

Captain, having owned a Speedex with Agnar (below the Apotar) and a Nettar with Novar-Anastigmat, I can verify that both are better than they need to be for the average run of hand held photography.  Move up to Apotar, Solinar/Tessar, etc. and you've got lenses that are good enough for very large prints from the 6x6 negative frame.  If only there were a source of reasonably priced replacement bellows for the Agfa/Ansco post-War cameras...

The two main things to watch out for with Agfa/Ansco folders are (a) the bellows are virtually guaranteed to leak, if not immediately, then sooner than later (they're made of paper, after all ...) and (b) the horrible green grease that invariably turns into epoxy or something, freezing the focus.

The grease can be dealt with either via lighter fluid (naphtha), cotton swabs, pointy sticks and a lot of patience, or by using an ultrasonic cleaner (I know a guy who cleaned his that way). I went the other route.

There are various stopgap (literally) measures for bellows rot. The one I tried was black nailpolish. Unfortunately I overdid it, and even more unfortunately, used nailpolish remover to try to undo it. The remover turnrd out to contain water ... I should've used straight acetone :-( .

So one project I've had on hold for quite a while involves attempting to transplant a Polaroid 80 bellows onto my 6x9 Agfa. Classic Polaroid bellows seem to last forever. The 80s are basically useless for anything other than shelf decoration (lousy lenses), so this seems like a good use for them. Will report if I ever get a Round Tuit.

Dunno what you might find for a 6x6, though ...


Oh, one thing I've been meaning to try eventually: liquid electrical tape. Should be more flexible and durable than nailpolish, and I've read promising things about it.

[Andre Reinders]

Thanks to everyone for all the info - I appreciate the input!

[ImageMaker]

Oh, one thing I've been meaning to try eventually: liquid electrical tape. Should be more flexible and durable than nailpolish, and I've read promising things about it.

I've used liquid electrical tape for bellows repairs twice.

One, on a leather bellows (Wirgin Auta 6.3, post-War 6x9 folder) held reasonably well and stayed light tight for a couple years, but eventually started to leak; the other, on a plastic-coated Agfa/Ansco bellows (Speedex 4.5) lasted only a couple rolls, and never really adhered to the glossy coating layer on the bellows (though it might work better internally than externally).

I've since replaced the bellows in the Wirgin with one from another Wirgin with a twisted front standard, with so-far good results (still chasing a minor light leak, but it doesn't seem to be from the bellows).  The Speedex I traded away a while ago, for likely conversion to a wide-angle pinhole camera (which conversion would eliminate the bellows entirely).

Very important note with liquid electrical tape -- it stays tacky for a long time, and folding the bellows prematurely can lead to having to cut them away just to open the camera again (or, if used internally, potentially even to gluing the bellows to the pressure plate).  I found it worked very well to let the bellows sit for *two weeks* after treatment before folding; by that time, the tackiness was entirely gone.

However, in the end, liquid electrical tape is as much a stopgap as other treatments, and nothing can really save a post-War Agfa/Ansco bellows -- which is a pity, because once the focus is freed, these cameras are more than worthy of loading, carrying, and using, if you can only find a way to keep the dark in.