Chinese Cameras for the Water Dragon Year 2012

*Cameras courtesy of Zoilo “Yet” Andin.

1. SEAGULL 203

This is another offering from the Seagull Camera factory.  Like the more common Segull TLRs, this folding camera is a conglomeration of the best designs found in other folding cameras made by other manufacturers.  Its basic shape follows that of the Agfa Isolette and similar folding cameras.  But unlike the Isolettes, the Seagull 203 has coupled rangefinder focusing.   Zeiss also brought out folding cameras with coupled rangefinders, but they used separate wedges which stuck out off the lens board.  The Seagull used a far more compact and elegant system.

The Seagull 203 uses 120 film, and gives an option to select 12 6X6 or 16 6X4,5 exposures.  Film advance is by a lever, but there is no automatic stop.  Instead,  there are two red windows on the back to show how far to reel the film and  line up each frame.   The film gate has hinged masks to reduce the 6X6 cm square frame to 6X4,5 cm.   In some models of the Seagull 203, there is an exposure dial on the top plate to figure out exposures.

The lens found on this camera is the same as the lens found on the Seagull TLRs- the triplet “Haiou” 75mm.   However in this camera, the lens uses ‘front cell’ focusing (only the front element turns during focusing).  The focus is from 1 metre to infinity.  Fstops 3,5 to 22.

The shutter is a Compur-inspired three-blade leaf shutter.  Like the shutters found in many Chinese cameras, this one is timed to give exposure times of 1/300 to 1 second.   It also has a self-timer,  marked with a “V” on the shutter speed ring (the V mark follows the German style of indicating this function).  The advance lever is coupled to the shutter release to prevent double exposures.  The shutter has to be cocked manually before the shutter can fire.

The folding design allows the camera to fold into a neat package.  Its main weaknesses  are the potential loss of film to lens parallelism (the lens board is held up with metal struts which extend and collapse everytime the drawbridge door is opened or closed) and the potential of the cloth bellows to develop holes.  These are not unique to the Seagull- just about any folding camera is prone to these faults.

2. HONGMEI HM-1

This is another folding camera.  It has the same physical specs as the Seagull 203, and has the 12/16 exposure option too.  But the Hongmei (Red Plum) HM-1 is simplified.  No rangefinder, just an optical viewfinder. The shutter speeds range is 1/200 to 1/10 sec only.  The shutter has to be cocked manually before it can be fired.  There are also more visible plastic parts.

The optics is also a triplet, front-cell focusing lens.  Many have expressed concern about front cell focusing and say that it is inferior.  However, with cameras like this, sharpness is probably the least of concerns when using them.  This was the typical family camera in China in its day.

Its similarity with the Seagull is not surprising.  A lot of cameras manufactured in China were made by different factories.  These factories probably worked on the same  designs supplied by a central design bureau;  this resulted in cameras which were virtually alike, or else had the same specifications but with some modifications.

3. PEARL RIVER TLR

China made a lot of TLRs.  Most were patterned after, if not the exact clones, of the Seagull.  These were made  bydifferent factories. The Pearl River however is different.   Its features are significantly different- they were simplified.  There were several Pearl River cameras made.  This is the simpler one.

The lens used is also a  75mm f/3,5 Triplet.   There is absolutely no internal coupling between the film advance and the shutter. Each action has to be done separately and completely noted.  Just like with most of the camera which date from up to the 1930s.   The lack of coupled controls meant that either blank, or double exposures can result if the user forgets to wind or forgets that he forgot to wind, respectively.

The shutter is cocked by a lever before it can be tripped.  The shutter range is simplified- 1/250 to 1/25 sec only.  Film is advanced by knob, and has two red-film windows for  12 and 16 exposures.

4. SEAGULL -DF

Seagull started making 35mm SLRs in the 1970s.  The Seagull DF series was based on the Minolta SR-2 of 1958.  It used the Minolta bayonet mount, the same cloth focal plane shutter, and even the take up spool is the same. The DF even has a 58mm normal lens- a focal length popular for normal SLR lenses in the 1950s It is said that Minolta released the design to the Chinese in the 1970s.

Even the font used for “Seagull” on the logo appears to be similar to what Minolta used in their original logos.  ”DF” may stand for ‘dongfang’ ( “东方“）or “East”.

This camera will take in any Minolta MD mount manual focus lens. It is meter-less and do not require batteries to run.  Its shutter range is 1/1000 to 1 sec.  And uses FP and X PC connectors for flash as there is no hot shoe.  Make sure to select X when using modern electronic flash!.

The quality of this camera is rather high.  The operation is smooth and shutter is relatively quiet for mechanical SLR standards. The finish is quite fine and the fittings are perfect.  The viewfinder is also quite bright and snappy.

Seagull still make 35mm SLRs.  Their current crop are exact copies of the Minolta X350/X700 series.  Same lens mount, but lots of plastic body parts.  These newer Seagull has AE shutter priority feature.

Many Thanks to Yet Andin for allowing his cameras to be photographed and featured in this page!

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