SUPERB! 1935 35mm Certo Dollina folding camera, Freshly Serviced!

Cleaned, Lubricated & Adjusted. Ready for immediate use

Are you looking for a fine, useable pre-war camera? A camera crafted from metal, wrapped in real leather and trimmed in nickel and chrome. A 35mm camera with a nice feel, a quality build and decent handling...?

Well, you may want to look at this one. This is somewhat hard to find Certo Dollina camera built by “Certo Camera Werk” in Dresden, Germany between 1935-39. It was an expensive, high quality 35mm camera and it helped establish the popularity of the then new “miniature” 35mm format. The nice thing about this 81 year old camera is that it uses normal 35mm film.

An interesting feature of this camera is that it is focused via a knob on top of the camera. This knob has a distance scale around it and can be used to pre-focus the camera whenever you like, even if the camera is closed! This means you set the focus anytime you want and if a great photo suddenly presents itself, all you’ll need to do is unfold the camera, compose and shoot. Personally I’m fond of the design, the lovely embossed Moroccan leather, the finely machined knobs and the intricate looking depth of field chart on the back of the camera.

The Certo Dollina was very popular with Europeans in the 1930’s & 1940’s and it remains a fine performer. It produces lovely photos and it’s a great choice for people who want to experience historic photography without spending a small fortune. It works well with modern color print film and the photos it produces have a very similar appearance to those produced with a Leitz Leica II & a 3.5/50mm Elmar lens.

The lens on this Certo Dollina is a fine, Steinhhell Munchen Cassar f2.9/50mm lens (a classic triplet with three elements in three groups). The lens is exceptionally clean and clear. There are no separated elements, crystallization, or other problems. There are no scratches or cleaning marks and it’s capable of producing lovely photos with modern color and black & white films.

The camera has been carefully cleaned, lubricated and adjusted. The quality Compur shutter works smoothly and all speeds (B, T & 1 sec - 1/300th) are appropriate. The slow speeds buzz along nicely and the fast speeds are clean and snappy. The bellows are supple and completely light tight.

It comes complete with an original brown leather case.

All in all, a fine freshly serviced classic camera and ready to use. The perfect companion for people with a historic interest in photography.