Keeping them dry and folded goes a long ways to insuring longetivity.
The German folders had a different leather treatment than Kodak's, and lasted a lot longer. Exposure to the acids in tobacco smoke is very hard on extended bellows.
To keep them in good shape, store them folded when not in use.
I have to light test the bellows on the Franka Rolfix camera. There are moisture marks on the bellows, and fungus spots on the rear lens element.
Here are a few pics of the Jiffy Six-16:
Front plate after a light cleaning. The prismatic mirror in the finder for verticals is flopping around. I will have to either re-glue it, or replace it if it's a broken corner.
I have it on good authority that some mirrors in make-up kits are ideal for this task...
Manufacturer's marks under the carrying handle.
There is a sticker under the film back with patent up-dates to 1936, including a first patent for Canada. Same sticker also lists recommended Kodak films for the camera.
I will get a photo of that next time I have the camera open.
Film winding "key" on top of the film box. It shows film size information.
Bellows extended.
The lever on the back of the lens board is the shutter lever. Moving it trips the single blade shutter at approximately 1/25th sec. exposure time. There is another lever on the bottom of the lens board to set the shutter to "T", or time. The shutter will stay open until the shutter lever is activated again, then the blade moves to the closed position.
Small button on the top of the film box is the bellows release...
There is an aperture tab on one side of the lens board.
It is a simple blued steel sliding plate with three different sized holes in it for f8, f11, and f16 from what I've read on the internet.
I downloaded the user's manual for it off of the Butkus site, and there is no info in it about using the aperture, except for uncoupled flash/photo lamp exposures~ both requiring the "T" shutter seting.
Regards,
Doc Sharptail
|
