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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The Plaubel Makina IIIr (1958) is a 6×9cm folding bellows camera with a coupled rangefinder, built by Plaubel & Co. of Frankfurt, Germany. It is the definitive postwar model of the original German Makina line — the "r" suffix denoting a revised version of the Makina III — and the last 6×9 folder manufactured under the German Plaubel name before the brand was sold to Japanese interests in the 1970s.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the — 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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Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
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About this camera
The Plaubel Makina IIIr was the last German-built Makina — a 6×9 collapsing folding rangefinder of prewar pedigree, refined for postwar markets and preserved in production until 1970.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 120, 6×9cm (8 exp per roll) |
| Mount | Fixed |
| Lens | Plaubel Anticomar 100mm f/2.9 (Tessar-type) |
| Years | 1958–1970 |
| Shutter | Compur leaf: 1s – 1/400s + B |
| Flash sync | All speeds (leaf shutter) |
| Meter | None |
| Battery | None |
| Viewfinder | Optical direct with coupled rangefinder |
| Focus | Bellows extension with rangefinder coupling |
The Plaubel Makina concept dates to the 1920s. The original Makina and subsequent Makina II and III established the Frankfurt firm as a maker of precision folding cameras for professional and serious amateur use. The 6×9 format, coupled rangefinder, and collapsing bellows design were the signature elements of the line.
The IIIr (1958) was a refined version of the Makina III, updated with improved rangefinder coupling and revised shutter integration. Production continued until approximately 1970, by which point the market for German 6×9 folders had declined sharply in the face of more affordable Japanese medium-format cameras.
In the mid-1970s, the Plaubel name was acquired by Japanese interests (ultimately connected to the Doi Group and then Mamiya), who produced the completely different folding 6×7 Plaubel Makina 67 (1979) and its wide-angle companion the W67 (1984). These Japanese-built cameras share the Plaubel name but bear no mechanical relationship to the German Makina line. The IIIr is therefore the last true Plaubel Makina.
The Plaubel Makina IIIr offers large-negative 6×9 photography — a negative more than four times the area of 35mm — in a folding camera that fits into a large coat pocket. The Anticomar 100/2.9 is a capable optic for a folder: sharp at f/5.6 and beyond, with acceptable distortion and good contrast for black-and-white film. The coupled rangefinder allows accurate focus at portrait distances without the need for ground-glass work.
For documentary, portrait, and landscape photography on 120 film where negative size matters, the Makina IIIr offers a German-built alternative to Japanese folders at a typically lower price than the Fuji GF670 or Mamiya 7. The 6×9 format gives generous cropping latitude and very fine grain even with ISO 400 films.
The Makina IIIr uses a fixed lens with no interchangeable optic. Standard accessories include:
BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →Plaubel Makina IIIr
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