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Semflex Oto 3.5 Type 31

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2020 1:22 pm
by alexvaras
Hi all,

A long ongoing project finished... a French TLR medium format, Semflex Oto 3.5 (Type 31).

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It has a Berthiot Flor 75mm f/3.5 as taking lens, Tessar type and coated, this exemplar has multiple cleaning marks on the front, still I think it does right.
OREC shutter up to 1/400, high speed are halved after CLA, from 1/100 to 1sec are fine.

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The camera has the double exposure prevention, crank winds and cocks the shutter. Loading is done positioning the first frame and after that it's done by winding.

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Mirror and ground glass were fine and you can find this guides for helping your composition.
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The only problem I couldn’t find a mechanic problem is the overlapping of few frames, my bet is winding strokes were too fast, anyway checking later with a technical roll I decided to make a fatter spool and avoid any kind of overlapping again.
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The camera came with a ready case in good shape.
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What I like the most (besides the photos taken with it) is that the crank strokes can be done with the thumb (one time and another until it locks) and of course that elegant grey leatherette (rubber in fact), the design is still very attractive the camera looks great :)

I took few photos with the camera.

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Bended tree.

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Sprouts and a tree.

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A kids game.

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Path of light.

I like them very much, closest aperture was f/8 the first photo, others at f/5.6 or f/4.

The camera is very well made, it's not a Rolleiflex in the guts but I haven't seen broken or bended parts, as per lens, it handles very well au par Tessar and Xenar ones, I have one photo with backlight and I can barely see any flare.

Another camera from this manufacturer I like is Semflex Studio, a telephoto TLR camera with a 150mm f/5.6.
Let's see how it goes :)

Thank you for looking,
Alex

Re: Semflex Oto 3.5 Type 31

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 10:23 pm
by PFMcFarland
Another fine project, Alex. That crank handle is really robust.

PF

Re: Semflex Oto 3.5 Type 31

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2020 9:32 pm
by Julio1fer
A nice TLR, Alex. That guide in the viewfinder looks like it was made for 35mm shots. Maybe there is an adapter around!

Re: Semflex Oto 3.5 Type 31

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2020 12:06 pm
by alexvaras
Thank you, Phil and Julio.

Julio, yes, you are right! There is such accessory, two rollers, film back plate and frame finder. Valid for several Semflex models though my model has it already.