One of those
mythic cameras you hear the name of mentioned once in a
blue moon and everyone
sighs and says... "ohhh, the Plaubel Makina... wellll...."
The Plaubel Makina 67, 670 and 67W (wide angle) all share the same body design - a Medium Format 6x7cm Rangefinder Camera that utilizes an old stlye folding mechanism that allows the camera to shrink to a size that will fit in your pocket. Coupled with superb quality lenses this makes for a very useful camera. Try doing that with any other 6x7 on the market. Unfortunately, the Plaubel Makina isn't on the market - it's been out of production for over 20 years.
Despire it's status as a legend, the Plaubel Makina does have several drawbacks... it's expensive first off. No camera I know of that is 20 years old sells for as much. It's impossible to get this camera on ebay for less than $1000, and in a camera store one should expect twice that much for one in good working condition. Second, the design threads the wire for the light meter along the folding mechanism - fold it enough and this wire weakens and eventually breaks - no more light meter for you. Finally, the design does not allow for interchangeable lenses - this is a big complaint for me... but the idea of having a MF camera with me all the time everywhere I go definitely works towards compensation... I just need a few extra thousand dollars lying around...
Lens specs:
The 67 and 670 have a Nikkor 80mm f/2.8, I'm still looking for the specs on the 67W but will update as soon as I find them...