Dacora, strut braced, self erecting camera for 12 exposures on 120 roll film in 6x6cm format. Dacora-Kamerawerk sprung up in the immediate post war period in Reutlingen, Germany. By the 1950s cameras were commonly constructed around a die cast body onto which the were mounted chrome plated pressed brass housings, the Dacora follows this practice. The main casting and general arrangement is also shared by the Dacora Subita. The back and lensboard/hatch are stamped and pressed steel parts, painted black. The struts, are steel anodized or possibly zinc plated, although they remain bright, rather than dulling over time as zinc often does. lens mount and sundry assemblies are pressed steel and painted black. The bellows are flexible plastic over linen and is deployed with a rather too powerful spring that will suck the film into the bellows if allowed to open unrestrained. Apart from the satin chromed top cover, the finish is black enamel with a linen based faux leather. The Dacora was very much a budget camera, fitted with f/5.6 lenses in Vario shutters as per our example, or a slightly more upmarket f'3.5 mounted on a pronto shutter.

This was my first camera, handed down from my Mother. Results from this camera were generally rather disappointing. Particularly as the film rollers tend to stick mutilating the film emulsion in the process. This is a design flaw common to this and the Dacora 1. The film supply spool puts strain on the film transport rollers as they share a common pivot point - acting as an efficient brake. It's a bit of a shame as, aside from this elementary design flaw, it's well made and otherwise on par with its better known contemporaries, Agfa Isolette and Zeiss Nettar also in the collection. Pictures from this were developed at home, using the same developer several times, in an ancient developing tank, and printed in contact frames on the kitchen table during the winter months when it would get dark earlier! The present day arrangements are only marginally less primitive.

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Body No.38048
Shutter Vario, B, 25, 75 & 200th/sec
Lens, Subita anastigmat 75mm f/5.6
Condition, 5J

View other 6x6cm folding cameras in this collection.