The 1946 Kershaw Eight-20 Penguin Folding Camera – 100mm f11 on 3D Printed M42

When I discovered the Vintageglass shop on eBay and saw this lens, I immediately became very excited. I have always loved using old M42 on my digital camera via an adapter. But the idea of being able to photograph with a lens from an old bellows camera from the 1900s, how amazing would that be !

Kershaw Eight-20 Penguin – Tauranga Heritage Collection – Credits : Stanley Hedge – CC-BY – https://view.taurangaheritagecollection.co.nz/objects/7776/camera-kershaw-eight-20-penguin

Vintageglas had various lenses for sale on eBay, all removed from their original cameras and mounted on an adapter made by a 3D printer, thus giving them new life ! All lenses are either M39 or M42.

My eye caught this beautiful 100mm f11-f16 from a Kershaw Eight-20 Penguin camera. A camera that was first released around 1946 and apparently was very successful with many units sold. There were also many variations, some with inscriptions in different languages. Long story short, I couldn’t resist this specific offer, so I bought it – isn’t it a beauty !

As an ‘adapted’ camera, I used a 2010 Olympus E-PL1, a 12mp m4/3 camera. However, 100mm on a 2x crop camera isn’t very interesting for taking photos. Therefore, I also invested in a speed booster and adapter from Venes (Pixco). For less than €70, including shipping, I got a focal reducer of x0.7, resulting in a final FOV of 140mm—a robust portrait lens. This is what many cameras of this type were originally intended for—capturing family portraits or street scenes.

The “boxy” style of the camera matches the lens perfectly

Below on the left, there’s a link to Lomography with real photos taken on a Kershaw King Penguin, a later model. It gives you an idea of what to expect from such an old camera. I didn’t have high expectations for the results myself, partly because the focal length on MFT isn’t very appealing, but mostly because the expected image quality won’t be picture-perfect for sure. But you already know that beforehand; the main reason to shoot with such a lens is more for the nostalgic feeling and creating images that look like they were taken almost a hundred years ago. In the end, we’re talking about a camera/lens from just after the Second World War, however, its appearance and simple construction is very 1900s.

Above, two photo results in color, exposure and contrast adjusted.

The diaphragm is controlled by a flip switch, and it’s basically just a plate with a hole in it, one for f11 and one for f16. Focusing is done with a kind of slider or slide switch on top of the lens, which has three settings: 6ft – 10ft and infinity. The focusing is a bit stiff and not easy because you move the switch sideways, making it hard to keep the camera aimed accurately.

The results are as expected, like being transported back to the 1940s – not that I was there 🙂 . Shooting in black and white or editing with a vintage film simulation seems to give the best results, in my opinion.

Click on the collage below to go to my photo gallery with more photos with the Kershaw Eight-20 100mm lens:

Although the lens looks nice on the Olympus E-PL1, the final photos were taken with an Olympus E-M10 MKII. Some were taken with the Pixco Focal Reducer, others with DTC, and a few on an old Canon 5D MKII, a Full Frame camera that I had the chance to borrow for a while.

pictures and more about the camera itself on : https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Kershaw_Eight-20_Penguin

Samples shot with this camera : https://www.lomography.com/magazine/213859-kershaw-eight-20-king-penguin-1950s-lomography

Vintageglass – Bernd Sieger, Aachen, Germany :

https://www.etsy.com/shop/vintageglas and on eBay : search for vintageglas and use a lens brand like Meyer Optik, this should give what you are searching for, or try : https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/vintageglas and https://www.ebay.de/usr/vintageglas

La Gallerie

The photo gallery of Open Source Photography, Olympus micro 4/3 system, Vintage Lens Photograpy, Film Simulation, PictureFX, HDR – Photographer : Marc R.