# Do i Have a Gem ? Franka Solida



## Hampton

*OK so i came across this Franka Solida 
to the best of my knoledge its a rare camera..... i cannot pinpoint the exact model it is.... please help.

*


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## Hampton

Any information or suggestions of places to look for information would be great !


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## greybeard

Well it's post WW II.  (West Germany)  Very sweet.


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## Hampton

Yeah it says on the case "made in Germany us - Zone  "
and everything is in perfect condition ! everything works like new ~!


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## Hampton

SOLIDA 35 - 1957. 35mm camera with interchangeable lenses based on the *Franka (1956). Available with coupled rangefinder or uncoupled selenium meter. The behind the lens shutter is a Prontor - SVS. The lens mount is similar to the Diax mount, with female threaded locking ring on the lens. At about the same time the Synchre - Compur bayonet mount appeared and the Solida 35 system did not stand a chance. Less than 500 cameras were made. Interchangeable lenses include: Isconar f2.8/50mm, Xenar f2.8/50mm, Westron f3/35mm, Isconar f4.5/85mm, Westar f4.5/85mm and Ennaston f3.5/135mm.

just found this....?*


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## Hampton

bump


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## Derrel

Well, if fewer than 500 were made, that's a good thing as far as rarity goes. I suppose to a collector looking for a Solida 35 in clean condition, your camera would have some value; I am not a serious camera collector, but my thinking is that if it is one of fewer than 500, that would make it a very difficult camera to acquire--it's NOT like say a Kodak Retina model of which there were 20,000 made. Value and price are tricky things...the right buyer with the right level of desire could drive the price to a pretty penny, I would think. Let's put it this way: I think the camera "might" be worth at least $500 to the "right" collector. Perhaps even more. I would definitely not sell it "locally" without first having listed it on a big site like e-Bay, or without having done more research on actual sales of the Solida in recent auctions.


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## Proteus617

It looks exactly like the Frankarette with a mount.  Have you tried to take the lens off?  I wonder if the camera had framelines for the optional focal lengths.


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## Hampton

Proteus617 said:


> It looks exactly like the Frankarette with a mount.  Have you tried to take the lens off?  I wonder if the camera had framelines for the optional focal lengths.



yes i have taken the lens off.  it takes screwing off a ring bezel then the lens is free. i dont know what you mean by "framelines" 
But yes it looks very similar to a few different models franka solida made... that's why im looking for someone who know more about them to tell me with a little more authority that this truly is a rare camera.


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## Hampton

bump


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## compur

Yes, it's a rare camera.  Congrats.


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## Hampton

Any suggestions on what this camera is worth ?


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## Kazooie

Over 5 thoushands

Have you looked up auctions online? Maybe show it to a historian.


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## grandad66

I do not Know how much you Franka Solida is worth. What I can tell you is it the Zenar lens is a good quality lens. You think the lens is interchangable? if this is so then it would more than likely be especially for your camera. So there's practically no chance of getting the other lens. As to the frame lines when you look through the view finder can you see several different size rectangles (frames).These are for the different sized lens the large for the wide angle and the small for the telephoto. I would think it is very similar to the Kodak 111S and that can fetch over £100 on Ebay


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## Hampton

bump


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## Braineack

looks rare, even the pictures you take of it turn vintage...


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## Steve5D

Well, it's not worth thousands.

It is, though, worth a lot more than most vintage cameras I've come across.

According to this website, it looks like it was manufactured only in 1957. Depending on condition, the value would be somewhere between $300.00 and $800.00...


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## minicoop1985

Rare doesn't always mean valuable. There were far less of my Minolta XG-SE made than there were of my Hasselblad 1600f, but the XG-SE is worth probably $40 to the right person, but the Hassie's worth a lot more than that. Basically, don't be upset if it's not worth much, but have fun with it. Having something rare can be kinda cool in and of itself.


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## dxqcanada

It's worth as much as someone wants to pay for it.
That's the problem with items that do not have much selling history ... you need a buyer(s) to set the price.


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## Steve5D

I've got a bunch of vintage cameras. The most I probably paid for any one of them is ten or twelve bucks...


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