C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Voigtländer Perkeo I (1952) is a folding medium-format camera made in Braunschweig, West Germany, shooting twelve 6×6cm square frames on 120 roll film. Launched in 1952 as the entry-level model in Voigtländer's Perkeo range, the Perkeo I is distinguished by its extraordinary compactness — when folded, it measures barely 40mm deep, making it one of the smallest 6×6 folding cameras ever produced.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the — format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
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About this camera
The smallest 6×6 folder Voigtländer ever made — the Perkeo I collapsed to a genuinely shirt-pocket size while shooting twelve full 6×6cm frames on a roll of 120 film, earning it a devoted following among medium-format minimalists.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 120 roll film, 6×6cm (12 frames) |
| Mount | Fixed (non-interchangeable) |
| Years | 1952–1956 |
| Lens | Vaskar 80mm f/4.5 or Color-Skopar 80mm f/3.5 |
| Shutter | Prontor-S or Prontor-SV leaf: 1s – 1/300s + B |
| Flash sync | M and X sync |
| Meter | None |
| Exposure | Manual |
| Viewfinder | Direct optical |
| Focus | Scale (no rangefinder) |
| Battery | None |
Voigtländer introduced the Perkeo name in 1952 for a range of extremely compact 6×6 folding cameras. The Perkeo I was the base model, fitted with the simpler Vaskar triplet lens and Prontor-S shutter. The Perkeo II (1952) — introduced at the same time — was the upper-tier version, standardised on the Color-Skopar 80/3.5 and Prontor-SVS shutter with self-timer.
The "Perkeo" name had been used by Voigtländer previously for a 1930s camera (the folding Perkeo using 8×10.5cm frames on 120 film in the "vestpocket" format), but the 1952 Perkeo I/II were wholly new designs optimised for maximum compactness in the 6×6 format.
Production of the Perkeo I ran through approximately 1956. Voigtländer continued the medium-format line with the Bessa series and other offerings, but the Perkeo's extreme compactness was never replicated in a later Voigtländer product.
The Perkeo I makes 6×6 medium format genuinely portable — it fits in a jacket pocket, imposes almost no bag weight, and produces the 56×56mm negatives that give medium format its quality advantage over 35mm. For film photographers today who find the Hasselblad or Mamiya TLR too heavy for street or travel work, the Perkeo I offers a compelling alternative: true medium-format quality in a body smaller than many 35mm cameras.
Fixed Vaskar 80mm f/4.5 (triplet) or Color-Skopar 80mm f/3.5 (Tessar-type), non-interchangeable. The Color-Skopar version is strongly preferred for image quality. Accessories: push-on Series V filters for the lens, ever-ready leather case, M/X sync flash leads. No rangefinder accessory available; scale focus only.
BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →Voigtländer Perkeo I
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