Recently discovered camera and photographs from 1940's

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Peter
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I spent Christmas day with my elder son and he showed me a box of photographs taken by his grandfather, Alan, between 1944 and 1946 in Europe. The prints are mainly 3x4 cm deckel edged contacts and approximately 6x9 cm, maybe enlargements from 3x4 negatives. The exciting thing is that the camera was with them, a Baby Box Tengor, and it works! Alan said it the camera was very discreet and he used to hide it under his tunic, it also has the advantage of taking 16 pictures on a roll of film, Alan once told me that he also owned a Foth Derby, also 127 format, maybe some of the pictures were taken with that. So I have ordered a couple of outrageously expensive rolls of 127 film to try it out.
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I originally thought the shutter wasn't working but then discovered that the wire frame finder acts as a shutter lock when it is retracted.

Actually this isn't the only camera that Alan left, I have a pristine Fujica 35-EE rangefinder and a Fothflex.
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I read somewhere that the Fothflex was a poor man's substitute for a Rolleiflex but although it might have been cheaper and maybe the lens wasn't as good it is incredibly well made. It's very industrial and functional, the nearest equivalent I can suggest would be a Mamiyaflex, in terms of build. One of it's unusual features is that it has a focal plane shutter. And there is the problem with this example. The second curtain is stuck so the shutter won't run. Apart from that the camera is in pretty good nick for its age (year of manufacture 1936 or thereabouts). It's certainly in better condition than any other example I've seen for sale, it even has a complete leather case.

I emailed Miles Whitehead before Christmas and I shall be sending it to him next week for his opinion. I'm not too worried about the expense if Miles is willing to try an overhaul. As a family heirloom it's almost priceless.

I'm pretty sure this Fothflex was acquired during Alan's tour of duty but none of the surviving photographs are 6x6 square format. Perhaps it never got used when he was criss-crossing Europe. The only surviving pictures taken with it date from 1968/1969.

I'm just about to start scanning the prints so I'll post some as an addendum to this post.
 
I have my grandad's Foth Derby which he bought before WW11 and used until the early 1950's when he went over to Leica. Unfortunately it doesn't work and is in pretty poor condition, I'm thinking of applying to the Repair Shop to see if Brenton can sort it :)
 
The Foths must have been well liked cameras. I mean despite the fact that perhaps they weren't sold in many numbers, all the examples I have seen on line look like they survived a war. Oh! they did.

Maybe too specialised for Brenton?

I'll keep you posted on the potential refurbishment.
 
i used to have a tenga ..............it worked too!

a beauiful liitle number tbh which iirc was a model further advanced than the one you have pictured.

Enjoy it, even if the images may not be great quality, its a fun camera to play with.
 
Asha, I have a couple of 120 format Tengas and they are ace. Probably got two shutter speeds and apertures and very good lenses, given the quality from other brands, Kodak for example.
 
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