Some time ago I was given old Czechoslovak camera called Flexaret IV. Apparently it wasn’t in use for long time, hidden in loft of a household gathering the dust. It is a medium format camera very popular during 50’s and 60’s. In those times it was preferable choice for amateur photographers beyond eastern Europe and indeed very popular with Czechoslovak families. This camera utilizes square format (approximately 6X6 cm) and uses 120 film which was initially introduced by Kodak for their Brownie No.2 camera in 1901.
It looked in good repair and after I cleaned it I realized that this camera was in really good condition. I ran through it Ilford film in order to find out whether it was worth keeping for the actual use or to be kept as a decoration or perhaps even a collectable item. The resulting images pleasantly surprised me. I started to take the ‘box’ with me on walks with my friends in English countryside as I wanted to have images with different feel as pictures taken by today's camera phones are just too ubiquitous. Another, more tangible reason for its use on my walks is that I do not want to carry the weight of my main camera kit on my back.
It is all manual camera made in 1957 and its design, function and durability makes it still possible to take photographs after 60 years since it was made by Meopta company in Přerov.
