That is a Mamiya Super 23 that has had it's rangefinder removed. Last fall, before all this madness with FSU rangefinders, I picked up a 65mm lens (28mm equivalent) and turned the Super 23 into a street camera. With all the modifications I made to this body, I called it the Frankencamera. I wrote about it here. Then the Zorki and the FED 2 arrived and the Frankencamera was neglected.

Last Tuesday night I was possesed by the spirit of Dr. Erich Salomon (and here) and his Ermanox. He was the original candid photographer and his Ermanox predates the Leica although the Leica quickly replaced the Ermanox for this kind of photography. I've loved the picture of Dr. Salomon with his Ermanox held at waist level, with no viewfinder, and his free hand holding a cable release, for some time.

The Mamiya 65mm is slower (f6.3) than the Ermanox but my film is faster. In the spirit of the Ermanox I removed the hand grip and viewfinder and put on a cable release. With a lens this wide I can just point the camera. I removed the Pilot light meter I had on the Frankencamera originally and added the little Sekonic. I loaded it up with Fuji NPZ 800 in anticipation of taking pictures of Zoe's surprise birthday party. Unfortunately, the light was a little low and I ended up using the Brownie Hawkey Flash Model. The flashbulbs were well received. ("Jesuschrist! I can't see!" and "What's that smell?") I only had Fuji NPH 400 so I hope everything isn't overexposed. I still have a couple of shots left on the roll.

Here is an ad for the Ermanox from my August, 1927, issue of American Photography.

Ermanox

I still need to shoot the roll in the Frankencamera. Maybe this weekend. I also need to recover the Frankencamera. After recovering the Isollete and FED I'm ready to tackle the Frankencamera. It's covering has always not been attached very well. The camera came without a nameplate. I've wrestled with what to do and finally thought of a simple solution. I measured the shape on the camera, drew it in a CAD program, printed it out, and then glued it on with rubber cement.

Now I need to see it Aki will sell me a sheet of dark brown crocodile.