Another KW Patent Etui 9x12 folding camera. Better luck this time?

Another KW Patent Etui 9x12 folding camera. Better luck this time?

It's been a while since I posted about finding a new camera. Not that I've not had anything to do. Just before we went away I picked up some Agfa Iso-Rapid IF cameras to make some Rapid cassettes, and I have a couple of posts about glitchy digital cameras on the go, and then there's 'the brick' did I mention the Brick? I will. But this post is about a KW Patent Etui 9x12 folding camera. 

My renovation with the original KW Patent Etui is still ongoing as I attempt to get the internal lenses clean. The roll film back has also been an obstacle since no matter how hard I've tried it's been difficult to find a decent ground glass viewing screen and camera back that is compatible with the Patent Etui. I have my Leelux diffusion filter now, but the sticking point (literally) has been finding a back that will smoothly fit the Patent Etui. 

So I was a chuffed when another KW Patent Etui 9x12 folding camera appeared on the Kamerastore website. This time with a 'regular' ground glass viewing screen and not a roll film adapter. Naturally, this fell under the Kamerastore's 'Not Passed' category, with 'flaws that will affect typical use.' In this case, the 'focusing is stuck [and] there are some thick haze on the inner elements of the lens ... the shutter works but the accuracy cannot be verified, and the ground glass is dirty and has some wear.'

Just as a reminder, the KW Patent Etui is a beautifully designed and very thin camera compared to regular boxy 9x12 folders. Made from around 1921-1938 this is a 'slim form' folding camera, with a three-element lens (I think) in two parts. The Patent Etui features a range of shutter speeds, from 1/100s to 1s (plus B and T) and a variable aperture from f6,3-f32. 

Well, of course I couldn't really resist getting this folder, and at 35€ it seemed like a good price. Besides, I thought, worst case scenario I could always use the lenses and viewing screen with my existing Patent Etui, or so I thought. When it arrived it was in much better external condition than I expected. Yes, the ground glass screen was in a state but the back was in excellent condition. It's still really tight on the camera body, though and difficult to remove. 

The thick front lens, which I reckon is made up of two elements, was in good condition and the viewfinder was really clean, I'm not sure that I've ever seen one so clean. But my biggest concern was the single element internal lens, it was full of haze. What was also instantly apparent was that the lenses couldn't be flipped with the other Patent Etui, they were much too large compared to the original camera.

I made an attempt to date the KW Patent Etui. On my original Patent Etui there were no distinguishing marks or serial numbers on the camera body so I made a rough guess of the early 1920s from the serial number of the lens. On this Patent Etui there was a number stamped into the camera viewing screen, 635, but I'm sure this wasn't for the camera as the lens backs are interchangeable and odds are this is not the original back for the camera.

The Patent Etui was fitted with a Meyer Görlitz Anastigmat Trioplan 13,5cm 1:4,5 lens, (serial number 418482) in an IBSOR shutter,  made by Alfred Gauthier Calmbach between 1913 and the 1930s, serial number 116464. According to several sources online, Meyer Görlitz lenses with serial numbers from 336157 and 600000 were made between 1930 and 1935, which puts this lens in the early 1930s. I can't find much about finding dates for the Ibsor shutter, so my best guesstimate is that this is one of the later models Patent Etuis, before being withdrawn in 1938.

I turned my attention back to the internal lens. Yes it was really hazy, but what was quickly apparent was that instead of a two-element lens this was a single piece of glass. With a soft cloth and some methanol I gently wiped the dirty glass,  and ... all the haze disappeared to leave a lovely clear lens. That was certainly a surprise,  I had expected it would be difficult to clean, like the original Patent Etui. 

After cleaning the body and lenses I opened the camera, cleaned it out with air and did a quick test of the bellows. With my portable little LED light the bellows looked beautifully secure with no obvious pinholes. Hopefully these bellows are light tight. I took off the viewing back and took it apart to clean the ground glass. It really was dirty, but this soon came off with a little solvent on a cloth and now looks lovely. I also cleaned the rails as best as I could, hopefully in time this will make it run a little better. 

Now it was time to try making an exposure. Looking at the shutter, although it was clean some of the shutter speeds, especially the slower speeds, seem way out of tolerance and the 1s setting would stick occasionally. I ran through all of the shutter speeds a few times and restored the lenses back into position. One of the faults with the camera was that the 'focusing is stuck' and the winding knob on the side was definitely seized up. However, the odds of me wanting to use the camera at anything other than infinity are remote, so I'm not too concerned with that. 

My existing film holders fit perfectly, though some are a little tight. I took two film holders and for the first exposure I set the shutter speed to 1/50s and took a meter reading at ISO 800 using an ND4 filter. This suggested an aperture of f18 at 1/50s and I made an exposure accordingly. As mentioned, I wasn't sure that the shutter speeds were accurate so I exposed a second film at 1/100s at f32, the meter reading was f35.

The two images came out wonderfully, with almost perfect exposure. From my experience with the generic folding camera I was very concerned that the exposures might have been overexposed, but I needn't have worried. This suggests that the faster shutter speeds are reasonably close to their stated settings. Of course,  I need to confirm this with more exposures, but I was certainly reassured. 

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