Amateur Photographer - UK (2021-11-13)

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Testbench IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

worth a glance is the Japanese
Komaflex from 1960, which is shaped
like a miniature Hasselblad and shoots 12
4x4 images on 127. Telephoto and wide-
angle adapters screw to the front of the fixed
standard lens. Users will find both of these
cameras practical. Collectors might prefer the
rare German Karmaflex or the Japanese
Superflex Baby from 1932 and 1938.

Twin lens reflexes
In 1928, the original Rolleiflex represented
the first truly compact roll film TLR. It was
followed by a slightly stripped-down version

called the Rolleicord. Their styles greatly

influenced manufacturers around the world

with models that mostly took 12 exposures

6x6cm on 120 roll film. A few companies,

however, transferred the same thinking to

smaller cameras that shot 12 4x4cm

exposures on 127. Prime among them are

Baby Rolleiflex cameras produced in different

styles before and after the Second World War.

Yashica, Ricoh and the Tokyo Optical

Company were among those who also

adopted the style. All work on a similar

principle: twin lenses that focus in tandem,

with the lower one shooting the picture and

the upper one reflecting its image onto a

hooded viewfinder screen on the top of the

body. TLRs made for 127 are usually reliable

and capable of quality images.

Curious and quirky

Not every 127 camera followed a

conventional style. Consider the Purma

Special and Purma Plus cameras made in the

1930s and 1950s. Their shutter speeds –

engraved around the viewfinder of the Plus

model as ‘fast’, ‘medium’ and ‘slow’ –

change depending on whether the camera is

held horizontally, vertically one way or

vertically the other. They each take 16

exposures of 3.2x3.2cm. For real quirkiness,

there’s little to beat the Donald Duck camera

made by the Toy’s Clan company in the

1970s. Taking the shape of Donald’s head,

the lens is behind one eye, the viewfinder is

in the other eye and his tongue is the

shutter release. Donald shoots 16

4x3cm images.

What to pay

Baby Brownie £10-15
Baby Ikonta £30-40
Baby Rollei pre-war and post-war £150-200
Brownie 127 £2-5
Brownie Vecta £7-10
Comet III £25-35
Donald Duck Camera £120-150
Eho Baby Box £15-20
Exakta B £75-100
Ensign Multex £250-300
Karmaflex £80-120
Kolibri £60-100
Komaflex-S £150-175
Pupille £150-250
Purma Plus £20-30
Purma Special £10-15
Superflex Baby £80-120
Vest Pocket Kodak £20-30
Vest Pocket Kodak Vanity versions £150-200
Yashica 44LM £60-100

Two usable 127 SLRs: the
Exakta B (left) and Komaflex-S

127 film SLRs of more interest to the collector:

The Karmaflex (left) and Superfex Baby

TLRs made for 4x4cm images on 127 film, left to right: pre-war Baby Rollei, post-war Baby

Rollei, Yashica 44 LM and the Tokyo Optical Company’s Primo Junior

Unusual 127 designs seen

in the Purma Special (left)

and Purma Plus

The quirky side of 127 seen

in a Donald Duck camera