C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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rangefinder-35mm
The Bolsey B was introduced in 1947 by the Bolsey Corporation of America, a company founded by the Swiss-born designer Jacques Bolsey (born Jakob Bogopolsky), who had previously designed the Bolex movie camera in Europe. The B was a competitively priced American-made 35mm camera with a coincident-image coupled rangefinder - a feature typically found only on more expensive European imports at the time. It used a Wollensak Anastigmat 44mm f/3.2 lens and a Wollensak Synchro shutter, both American components. The body is compact die-cast aluminum. The B was fully mechanical and required no battery for any function.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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About this camera
A compact American rangefinder-coupled 35mm camera with a Wollensak Anastigmat lens, built from 1947.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm (24x36mm) |
| Lens | Wollensak Anastigmat 44mm f/3.2 (fixed) |
| Years | 1947-1956 |
| Shutter | Wollensak Synchro leaf, ~1/10s - ~1/200s + B |
| Flash sync | Synchromatic (Wollensak Synchro shutter) |
| Meter | None |
| Focus | Coupled coincident-image rangefinder |
| Battery | None |
| Body | Die-cast aluminum |
Jacques Bolsey arrived in the United States during World War II and established Bolsey Corporation in New York. The Model B was his first American camera and the product that defined the company's market position: an affordable, American-manufactured 35mm rangefinder that offered the coupled focus accuracy of a Leica or Contax at a fraction of the price.
The 44mm focal length (rather than the European standard 50mm) was an idiosyncratic choice that gave the lens a slightly wider field of view on a full 35mm frame. The Wollensak Anastigmat was a competent if not exceptional optic - adequate for contact prints and small enlargements, less impressive for critical enlargement to large sizes.
The B was followed by the B2, which shared the same body and optical formula but incorporated minor refinements. The line also extended to the C22 (dual-finder reflex viewing) and the Jubilee. Production of the B itself appears to have wound down by the mid-1950s as the American camera market shifted toward Japanese imports.
The Bolsey B represents a postwar American attempt to provide the functional advantages of a European rangefinder camera - coupled focus accuracy, compact form, acceptable optics - at a price accessible to a wider consumer market. Jacques Bolsey's European design experience (the Bolex connection gave him credibility with enthusiast buyers) translated into a camera that was taken seriously by American photography magazines of the period.
For contemporary collectors, the Bolsey B is interesting as an artifact of a brief window when American manufacturers (Argus, Bolsey, Keystone) competed plausibly with European and emerging Japanese cameras in the 35mm rangefinder space. That window closed definitively by the late 1950s when Japanese cameras achieved comparable quality at lower prices.
The coupled rangefinder differentiates the B from the zone-focus Argus A and makes it more useful in practice for photographers shooting subjects at varied distances in variable light.
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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