Old folding cameras are so elemental. You get a lens and a shutter, but everything else is up to you. Plus, even the most straightforwardly styled of them look elegant. It’s like having a beautiful but difficult girlfriend. Especially when something’s wrong in the relationship and she leaves it entirely up to you to fix it. That’s how it has gone for me with this Certo Super Sport Dolly.

Certo Super Sport Dolly

Certo was a German company, headquartered in Dresden. It produced a wide range of Super Sport Dollys (Dollies?) from about 1934 to about 1942. Mine is a Model A, the most common version by far. It takes 120 film. SSDs could be had with a dizzying array of lenses and shutters, but mine happens to feature the most common lens, the capable 75mm f/2.9 Meyer Görlitz Trioplan, set in the most comon shutter, a Compur, which operates from 1 to 1/250 second.

Certo also offered the Model B, which adds the ability to use plate film, and the Model C, which adds to the Model B the ability to rewind rollfilm. Most SSDs have a pop-up viewfinder, but the Models A and C could be had with rangefinders. And some SSDs focus by twisting the front lens element, and others focus by moving the entire lens board.

Certo Super Sport Dolly
Certo Super Sport Dolly

But back to my Model A. Notice the three frame-counter windows on the back, behind a door that covers them. Masks that clip on inside the camera let the SSD create either portrait 4.5×6-cm or square 6×6-cm negatives. The top and bottom windows count 4.5×6 frames and the center window counts 6×6 frames. My SSD came with only the 6×6 mask. New SSDs shipped with an exposure calculator card inside the door. As you can see, my SSD’s original owner replaced that card with some personal exposure notes.

Certo Super Sport Dolly

My SSD shows signs of heavy use and rough service. But the lens is clear and focuses smoothly. And the shutter snaps with square-jawed, steely-eyed authority. It sounds like it means business. It’s the Charles Bronson of shutters.

If you like folding cameras like this one, also see my reviews of the Voigtländer Bessa (here), the Kodak Monitor Six-20 (here), the Kodak Tourist (here), the Ansco B2 Speedex (here), and the Ansco Standard Speedex (here). Or check out all of my camera reviews here.

But before I could use this Certo Super Sport Dolly, I had to repair it. The focusing mechanism was broken. I outlined the repair here. Once fixed, it behaved beautifully.

I shot a roll of Kodak Ektar 100 at Crown Hill Cemetery on an overcast day late last autumn. Just look at the great sharpness that Trioplan lens delivered. The bokeh is middling, though.

Test

I found it hard to frame in the tiny viewfinder. I worried that close shots would be misframed, and I was right. My framing of landscape shots turned out fine, though. I shot a lot of landscapes to check the SSD’s infinity focus. A complete repair of the focusing system would have included properly collimating the lens. That sounded like a hassle so I set infinity focus quickly and dirtily. It turned out okay.

Autumn tree in Crown Hill

Oh bother, a light leak. See it there, on the right, about 4/5 of the way down? There really isn’t much to go wrong with a simple camera like this, but bellows pinholes is one of the most common problems. My cursory initial check of the camera didn’t find any pinholes, but I suppose that’s the problem with cursory checks.

Lane in Crown Hill

This throwaway shot of cars in my driveway shows the leak at its leakiest.

Cars

I took the SSD into a dark room and shone a bright flashlight into the bellows. The corners lit up with pinholes. I dabbed fabric paint onto them all as a quick fix, let it dry, and tried the camera again. The film this time was Kodak Tri-X 400.

Old Bank Antiques

I took the SSD out on a short trip up the Michigan Road. I stopped in Kirklin first for a few photos.

Truck Parked

Then I moved north along the road to Burlington for a few more photos. As you can see, the fabric paint cured the light leak. At least it did for now; who knows how permanent a fix that stuff is.

Burlington, IN

Once again I discovered that the SSD is best at medium distances and beyond. Anything too close, and you can’t be sure of the viewfinder’s framing. This is my only real gripe with the camera.

The 1848 "American House" in Burlington, IN

If you’d like to see more, check out my Certo Super Sport Dolly gallery.

I really liked using the Certo Super Sport Dolly. I need to shoot it again soon, because a beautiful but difficult girlfriend gets crabby when you don’t take her out often enough.

If you like old film cameras, check out all of my reviews here!
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Comments

13 responses to “Certo Super Sport Dolly, Model A”

  1. Andy Umbo Avatar
    Andy Umbo

    I am jealous! This type of camera is exactly what I like!

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Here’s hoping one of these can find its way into your hands!

  2. bodegabayf2 Avatar

    Wouldn’t you just love to know the history of this grand old camera?

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      It turns out I know some of the history. It belonged to my friend Alice’s dad, and might have been his dad’s. He wrote me a note telling me a little about each camera when he sent me that big box of cameras. I’ll have to find the note.

      1. bodegabayf2 Avatar

        That is very cool!

  3. Mike Avatar

    Very nice review of the Dolly. Those pinholes won’t take a minute to fix. Lately, I’ve been using a little halogen desk lamp to track them down. I turn the lamp on high and point the open lens at it with the back open. The pinholes really light up.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Just need to buy some fabric paint! There’s a Michael’s a couple minutes from the office; I’ll swing by there. Thanks for the tip on the halogen lamp!

  4. Ron Avatar
    Ron

    Folders are fun. Just picked up an old Moskva 5, a Russian copy of a Zeiss Super Ikonta, with a rangefinder. It also has a mask for 6×6 and 6×9. Haven’t shot it yet, but with the sun finally out, you’re making me want to leave work early and burn through a roll.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      doooo eeeeeet!!!

  5. Dan Cluley Avatar
    Dan Cluley

    I have gone my entire life never realizing how much I wanted to read the words. “It’s the Charles Bronson of shutters” :)

    I have 3 or 4 folders ranging from a Kodak 828 up to a 4×5 Seneca. I am fascinated by the way they look, but between pinholes and alignment issues, my actual use has been mixed at best.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Off the top of my head, my advice about buying old folders is buy ones with well regarded lenses and shutters, and be able to examine them in person.

  6. Mark O'Brien Avatar

    Nice post, Jim. That is a nice Dolly. I have always liked the compact nature of those square format folders. Right now, I am trying to get the focusing helical unstuck on my Agfa isolette. It’s already been in the naptha, now on to Acetone. If that fails, I’m just going to bash it with a hammer. (well, not really, but it is frustrating!)

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      I’ve got an Isolette around here with the same problem. If you get yours unstuck, let me know how. I’m sitting right on the fence about whether to just toss the thing into the trash. I gather this is a common problem among Isolettes. I guess the grease in the helical hardens. I have a lovely table radio here with a similar problem in the tuning knob. The solution for that one, when it starts to act up, is to turn it over and turn it hard and fast repeatedly from end to end to loosen and redistribute the grease. I wonder if there’s a similar thing for an Isolette whose focusing still functions but is getting hard to turn.

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