Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-01-25)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 25 January 2020 57

TonyKemplenon the É

TonyKemplen’sloveof photographybeganasa teenagerandeversincehehasbeencollectingcameraswitha viewto testingasmany as he can.
Youcanfollowhisprogressonhis 52 Camerasblogat52cameras.blogspot.co.uk. See more photos from the Paxina 29 at
http://www.fl ickr.com/tony_kemplen/sets/72157711496251557.

Braun

Paxina 29

Tech Talk

Poordaylightwasn’ta problemin this
image taken with Tony’s Paxina 29

‘Forthistypeof

camera,it sports

a veryfastlens’

A

ftertheSecondWorld
War,variousGerman
firmsresumedcamera
manufacturingto cater
fora growingmarket.The1950s
wasthedecadethatstartedto see
thegrowthin popularityof 35mm
camerasovermedium-format
models,andCarlBraun
Camerawerkof Nuremberghada
footin eachcamp.
Itstwomainrangeswerethe
120 formatPaxinasandthe
35mmPaxettes,thelatterrunning
toarounda dozenmodels,with
varyingdegreesof sophistication,
thebettermodelshaving
interchangeablelensesand
coupledrangefinders.Therewere
fewervariantsof thePaxina,and
thisone,thePaxina 29 from
around1955,is at thetopendof
therange.Forthistypeof camera,
it sportsa veryfastlens,the
apertureof f/2.9beingalludedto
in thecamera’sname.
There’snogettingaroundthe
factthata medium-format
camerais goingtobebiggerthan
a 35mmone,buttherearea
numberof waysin whicha rollfilm
camera can be made more

pocketable.Theuseof bellowsis a

triedandtestedwayof foldingup

anotherwiseunwieldycamera;

evenprizebeastsliketheKodak

3A,whichmeasures25cmfront

tobackwhenopen,slimsdownto

a moremanageable3cmwhen

folded.Althoughbellowswere

usedonbothcheapandexpensive

models,at thebottomendof the

market,simplersolutions,suchas

a lenstubewhichcouldbe

telescopeddownintothebody,

wereoftenusedinstead.

Lensmechanism

WiththePaxina,thelensis pulled

outfromthebodyandthen

twistedtolockit in place.Thereis

a mechanismtopreventthe

shutterbeingfireduntilthelensis

fullyextended,asif youforgotto

extendit, thephotoswouldbe

severelyoutof focus.Oftenwith

cheapcameras,youcanbefairly

relaxedaboutfocusing,asthe

maximumapertureis generally

quitesmall,andunlessyou’re

shootingclose-ups,thegenerous

depthof fieldis quiteforgiving.A

little more precision is required

withanf/2.9lens,andthere’sno

built-inrangefinder,soyouhaveto

payattentionwhensettingthe

focususinga scale.Withthefast

lens,I didn’tneedtoworryabout

poordaylightwhenI

photographedthisbrickmuralon

a dullOctoberdayin Sheffield.

I’mtryingto limitmyacquisition

of ‘new’camerasnow,but

sometimesI canbetempted.

RecentlyI spotteda shabbyleather

caseona tableat a carbootsale,

andalsonoticedtheBraunlogo

embossedonit. I alreadyhavea

basicPaxinaandexpectedthat

thiswouldbeanotherof thesame,

butI’mgladI tooka closerlook,

becauseI wasn’tpreviouslyaware

of thisone.Cosmeticallyit’snotin

topform,butthelensis cleanand

theshutterworksasit should,

albeitwitha modestfourspeeds,

plus‘B’.Allin allthe£5thatI paid

seemswellspent;theygenerally

go for at least twice that on eBay.

AGermanpost-warmediumformat

camera with a pull-out lens

ThePaxina29,atthetopendof

the range, dates from around 1955

© TONY KEMPLEN

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