David Murphy
Mentor
Ezzie, those very nice shots really just confirm the well-deserved reputation of the Kalloflex optically. I particularly like the image of the grain mill. Reminds me of my home town of Fort Worth Texas, or the endless roads of rural middle America.
Ezzie
E. D. Russell Roberts
Got the leatherette from Morgan a few days ago and went about recovering it this afternoon. I however meet with a bit of trouble. It would appear that the WLF and back are not covered in any form of imitation leather or other, but paint!. I went about removing some from a small patch to the rear and gave up after an hour with little progress. This got covered in the new green seal grain leatherette, but the rest of the paint stays (its also in good condition). The sides and front however have been given the once over. And boy was there a ton of white powder underneath the paperbacked fake leather. It came of in small bits, so I had to make templates from scratch. The result is not perfect, but at least a lot better than previously. So now I´ve a two tone Kallo:
Two tone Kallo by Eirik0304, on Flickr
Two tone Kallo by Eirik0304, on Flickr
hefty
Established
I think the green blends in perfectly - beautiful job.
Ezzie
E. D. Russell Roberts
Thanks, I´m glad the green turned out to be darker than the impression I got when ordering. It goes well with the black. Loaded with Delta 400, and we are good to go (again) 
mjflory
Accumulator
My poor Kalloflex...
My poor Kalloflex...
I just couldn't stand another Sunday looking at the work I'd brought home, so I started checking my neglected rangefinders and TLRs. Cleaned up the Tessar and the mirror on the pre-war Rolleiflex, fussed with the Rolleicord, and turned to my favorite TLR, the Kalloflex. The shutter had gotten sluggish, so I gave it a thorough bath in lighter fluid, which got it right up to speed. But when I checked the focusing screen, I noticed that distant buildings were sharpest a little shy of infinity. Stranger yet, this tendency was most pronounced in the upper half of the screen, while the lowest part was perfectly focused. When I took the hood and screen off, I realized for the first time that the Kalloflex focusing screen is lower in the front (the top of the image) than in the back. Mine was shimmed in front with a couple of washers, but it seemed to need further shimming to make the upper part of the image focus properly, thus making the focusing screen more level. Normally I'd prefer to change the focus on the viewing lens, but I couldn't get it to budge. So I put more and more washers under the front of the screen and finally got it about right with three #6 washers on the front-left and four on the front-right!
With all this padding under the front of the screen I had to leave off the front screws holding the hood in place, but it seemed quite secure with just the back ones. I was contemplating my work, glad to have gotten reasonably accurate focusing at close and far distances, when I heard a distinct "snap" from inside the camera. The focusing was now much farther off than before, and my suspicions were confirmed when I reopened it yet again. As I feared, the mirror had broken in half about two-thirds of the way toward the top. I suspect I had put pressure on it when I reattached the hood. Anyway, I'm going to have to look through the parts boxes for a scrap of front-silvered mirror, 1.53mm thick or a little less.
I began to wonder about the curious tilted-screen design, though, and did a little Googling to see what had been posted in the last few years on Kalloflexes. I found nothing about the screen and no repair instructions, but I was delighted to find that David had started this thread and posted his very appealing pictures. And now that Ezzie has done such a beautiful restoration of his K'flex I can regain my title as owner of the ugliest known Kalloflex. I'm inspired by David's and Ezzie's and Krosya's great shots to get mine back in working order.
Having disassembled two Rolleis and the Kallo in one morning I'm more impressed than ever with the tank-like build of the Kalloflex. (Still, if anything has a claim to be the Hummer of TLRs I think it has to be the Mamiya C-series.) After looking at everyone's images, I'm wondering if a little misalignment might have been why my images looked softer than the ones from a YashicaMat when I ran parallel rolls a few years ago. With a little luck I'll find where I left my front-silvered mirror stock and I'll give it another try!
My poor Kalloflex...
I just couldn't stand another Sunday looking at the work I'd brought home, so I started checking my neglected rangefinders and TLRs. Cleaned up the Tessar and the mirror on the pre-war Rolleiflex, fussed with the Rolleicord, and turned to my favorite TLR, the Kalloflex. The shutter had gotten sluggish, so I gave it a thorough bath in lighter fluid, which got it right up to speed. But when I checked the focusing screen, I noticed that distant buildings were sharpest a little shy of infinity. Stranger yet, this tendency was most pronounced in the upper half of the screen, while the lowest part was perfectly focused. When I took the hood and screen off, I realized for the first time that the Kalloflex focusing screen is lower in the front (the top of the image) than in the back. Mine was shimmed in front with a couple of washers, but it seemed to need further shimming to make the upper part of the image focus properly, thus making the focusing screen more level. Normally I'd prefer to change the focus on the viewing lens, but I couldn't get it to budge. So I put more and more washers under the front of the screen and finally got it about right with three #6 washers on the front-left and four on the front-right!
With all this padding under the front of the screen I had to leave off the front screws holding the hood in place, but it seemed quite secure with just the back ones. I was contemplating my work, glad to have gotten reasonably accurate focusing at close and far distances, when I heard a distinct "snap" from inside the camera. The focusing was now much farther off than before, and my suspicions were confirmed when I reopened it yet again. As I feared, the mirror had broken in half about two-thirds of the way toward the top. I suspect I had put pressure on it when I reattached the hood. Anyway, I'm going to have to look through the parts boxes for a scrap of front-silvered mirror, 1.53mm thick or a little less.
I began to wonder about the curious tilted-screen design, though, and did a little Googling to see what had been posted in the last few years on Kalloflexes. I found nothing about the screen and no repair instructions, but I was delighted to find that David had started this thread and posted his very appealing pictures. And now that Ezzie has done such a beautiful restoration of his K'flex I can regain my title as owner of the ugliest known Kalloflex. I'm inspired by David's and Ezzie's and Krosya's great shots to get mine back in working order.
Having disassembled two Rolleis and the Kallo in one morning I'm more impressed than ever with the tank-like build of the Kalloflex. (Still, if anything has a claim to be the Hummer of TLRs I think it has to be the Mamiya C-series.) After looking at everyone's images, I'm wondering if a little misalignment might have been why my images looked softer than the ones from a YashicaMat when I ran parallel rolls a few years ago. With a little luck I'll find where I left my front-silvered mirror stock and I'll give it another try!
Ezzie
E. D. Russell Roberts
Though I am tempted to get another one, I thought I'd let you know there are two Kallo's up for sale on the US ebay right now, 5 days left. Seller called Shutterbug50. Estate sale, but from a camera shop. They look good, better than mine. One even has a hood. Ships to the Americas, Europe and Oz.
dfatty
Well-known
Darn, those Kallo's went for more than I was hoping, $330 each. You folks need to stop posting such good photos taken with them! Glad I got my TLRs last year, seems like film equipment prices are going through the roof.
Ezzie
E. D. Russell Roberts
I didn't join the bidding. Same person kept bidding on both. Looks like they are for a collection or two. Pity. Glad I got mine already, even if it is less than pristine.
Ezzie
E. D. Russell Roberts
Heads up: One of the two popped up again from the same seller. Evidently the sale fell through. The seller looks genuine, the bidding on the two last time around looked funny to say the least, maybe that's why one of them has been put up for sale again. By the way, he also ships to JP.
NOTE: This camera, its twin sold last time around, and the one I bought, are the only Kalloflexes I´ve seen on ebay this last year. Oh, and I have nothing to do with the seller, but thought that some discerning RFF'er deserved running off with one of these, rather than it ending up in a display case. Its a nice camera to use, well built, and gives good results too.
PMCC
Late adopter.
This time it was relisted with film wind not working and still sold at $255. Allow for a CLA and the total investment is easily north of $400.
Ezzie
E. D. Russell Roberts
Oh well, it would seem its popularity is picking up. It sold to a bidder with over 6000 feedbacks. I would suspect a pro (camera) buyer and reseller. At least I got mine for a reasonable amount, way south of what these have been fetching .
ian
Member
Kalloflex
Kalloflex
The Kalloflex is an excellent and "STURDY" TLR! I bought mine about six years ago at a real camera shop in London, Ontario, Canada. It was and is in E+ condition and I paid around $150 for it and its original case also in E+ shape! I had some trouble finding a manual for it but was mailed a copy by a company in England that specialized in old camera manuals. The Kalloflex was only made for a year or two. I take mainly black and white photos with it and I prefer the results to my Rollieflex (that I use mostly for colour) and find it comparable to photos shot with my Mamiya C330 and C330f. It IS a bit of a tank but so then are the Mamiyas. I think you will enjoy using the Kalloflex and there is also a Flicker forum for users.
Kalloflex
The Kalloflex is an excellent and "STURDY" TLR! I bought mine about six years ago at a real camera shop in London, Ontario, Canada. It was and is in E+ condition and I paid around $150 for it and its original case also in E+ shape! I had some trouble finding a manual for it but was mailed a copy by a company in England that specialized in old camera manuals. The Kalloflex was only made for a year or two. I take mainly black and white photos with it and I prefer the results to my Rollieflex (that I use mostly for colour) and find it comparable to photos shot with my Mamiya C330 and C330f. It IS a bit of a tank but so then are the Mamiyas. I think you will enjoy using the Kalloflex and there is also a Flicker forum for users.
PMCC
Late adopter.
Welcome to the tiny club of Kalloflex admirers. By my count, that makes a total of 5 of us as unearthed in this thread. Must be a rare and specialized taste.
David Murphy
Mentor
A scanned version of the manual is also available online at:
http://www.butkus.org/chinon/kallo_flex/kallo_flex.htm
I was fortunate to find an original manual to go with my Kalloflex on eBay at a reasonable price. I love those vintage Japanese manuals, and this one is informative too.
http://www.butkus.org/chinon/kallo_flex/kallo_flex.htm
I was fortunate to find an original manual to go with my Kalloflex on eBay at a reasonable price. I love those vintage Japanese manuals, and this one is informative too.
Joe Vitessa
Well-known
Ezzie
E. D. Russell Roberts
Good on you Joe. On the surface of it, it looks quite good. Hopefully technically as good as it looks. Need to run a film through mine soon, been using the Rollei for a few months, and now a Yashica A. TLR's are wonderful beasts.
sharpey
Member
Hey Folks...
I've been having one of those... "let's spend the afternoon looking at TLR's on ebay, and reading through rangefinder.com posts" days....
It was all going fine until I logged in again at home after having had a couple of jars... and reading this post...
A quick search on ebay... and what would you know....
A Kalloflex K2 pops up with a buyitnow of $250....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/14068095351...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_8463wt_1204
Please tell me it wasn't beer goggles....
I'm guessing it's just a sticky shutter...
I've been having one of those... "let's spend the afternoon looking at TLR's on ebay, and reading through rangefinder.com posts" days....
It was all going fine until I logged in again at home after having had a couple of jars... and reading this post...
A quick search on ebay... and what would you know....
A Kalloflex K2 pops up with a buyitnow of $250....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/14068095351...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_8463wt_1204
Please tell me it wasn't beer goggles....
I'm guessing it's just a sticky shutter...
PMCC
Late adopter.
Nice find -- she's a real beauty. The number of RFF Kalloflex users seems to have risen to seven -- a population explosion. A CLA and you'll be in TLR heaven for years to come.
sharpey
Member
Cheers Have decided to send it off to Mark Hamma to do a CLA... I believe he's worked on them before... and he seems a cool guy to boot
Will update in a few weeks
James
Have decided to send it off to Mark Hamma to do a CLA... I believe he's worked on them before... and he seems a cool guy to boot Will update in a few weeks
James
Joe Vitessa
Well-known
Congrats, James. I saw that one on eBay too and was tempted--even though I already have one. I figured other folks should enjoy the pleasures of the Kallo.
I've shot about 5 rolls with my so far. I've found it to be an incredibly solid camera, with a decent viewfinder and lens. I really, really love its ergonomics. The focus/wind knob is just great and makes so much sense. I'm afraid my Rollei 3.5 just isn't getting as much attention these days.
Please let us know how she works after you get it back from Mark.
Joe
I've shot about 5 rolls with my so far. I've found it to be an incredibly solid camera, with a decent viewfinder and lens. I really, really love its ergonomics. The focus/wind knob is just great and makes so much sense. I'm afraid my Rollei 3.5 just isn't getting as much attention these days.
Please let us know how she works after you get it back from Mark.
Joe