The Perfect Format
By Carl Kuntze
7 Apr 2008
THE LINHOF 220
by
Carl Kuntze
There were a total of 2,200 units produced from 1966 to 1977, or 200 a year. Expensive at the time, that was customary for handbuilt cameras. Parts were handtooled individually, which accounted for aberrations from model to model, but each camera was a work of art. Although touted as the perfect format, it never earned the confidence of photojournalists. LIFE Magazine had perfected 35 mm. photography, and processing that made it possible to blow up huge detailed enlargements from the miniature negative.
Despite its hefty weight, it was surprisingly easy to handle, and had good balance.
The shutter release on the gunstock handle was of great assistance keeping the camera steady. Fashion photographers discovered this after the camera went out of production, and the format taken over by the boxy Mamiya 6 x 7. It had a life size optical viewfinder with a coupled split prism rangefinder, and parallax compensation. A heavily milled focusing ring assures a stable grip. A double stroke winder transports the film. The built-in exposure meter was only accurate in bright light, and when the selenium cell burnt out, it is extremely expensive to replace. The fixed lens, a Rodenstock 95 mm. f.3.5 triplet was not as limiting as I expected since negatives were large enough to enable cropping.
This is one detail I "neglected" to tell my editor, when he asked me if I had a medium format camera when I was commissioned to cover The Thrilla in Manila. I only covered the weigh-in, the boxing match itself, and the postfight press conference with my Linhof. I found 35 mm. cameras more convenient to cover background activities. I only used it at Joe Frazier's news conference after the bout, because Ali, through his spokesman had announced he was too exhausted to hold one. I had only exposed two and a half rolls of 120 film, and wanted to fill the frames before submitting them, if only to prove I was working. I was dismayed when Ali relented and showed up for the final interview. Fortunately, I still had some frames of High Speed Ektachrome Tungsten in my Pentax KX camera. I did not cover Frazier during his training sessions, but to make up for it, covered
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him after his defeat. Frazier assured reporters that he did his best, but it was not good enough. Asked if there would be a rematch, he admitted, he didn't know
This would be the only boxing bout I would ever cover. If there was another one, I would not be averse to using the Linhof 220 again, only I would invest in preload film adapters. Tlhen I'd be able to change rolls with dispatch, instead of fumbling with it as I did at The Thrilla.
Because the body seemed designed to shoot best the vertical format, it was ideal to shoot covers because space for a magazine logo could be predetermined. The bright parallax lines assured positioning. When I was younger, it was not difficult to convert to the horizontal angle, but turning the handle, it is now difficult to stabilize. But even that is a minor problem. It could always be mounted on a tripod, if need be.
5 responses
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Frank Summers gave props (27 Nov 2008):
Interesting read on a old camera! Well DOne!
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Ævar B. Jak. gave props (21 Dec 2008):
great technical story, with review of the event. Got my vote!
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Dan Richards (Deleted) gave props (3 Jun 2010):
Excellent info on that camera.
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Daniel Alajajian gave props (28 Jan 2011):
NICE!!!
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Carlo Pagan gave props (27 Mar 2014):
AWESOME!! Voted!!
