1935 Certo Dollina

The Certo Dollina was produced by Certo in Dresden Germany in th mid 1930’s. It was a relativly expensive, 35mm camera and it was one of several cameras that helped spread the popularity of the then new “miniature” or “Kine” format. Of course we now refer to this fprmat as 35mm. The Certo Dollina was capable of producing excellent results and folded to a convenient size. The nice thing about these 80 year old cameras is that it is still usable and enjoyable today because you can simply load it with modern 35mm film.

During WWII, many combatants and correspondents used the Dollina to record their experiences. It was compact and performed well. As result many of these cameras were used intensively and many examples were lost, damaged or simply worn out. As a result it’s often difficult to find clean working examples today.

These photos were taken with a Certo Dollina (with a Steinheil Cassar 2.8/50mm lens) which we enjoyed servicing and having in our shop. The current owner hails from the United Kingdom and he was kind enough to share his photos with us. These photos were taken in the U.K. Copyright 2018 Danny McClure. All rights reserved.

The Certo Dollina photos were shot on ISO 50 Ilford Pan F+ film developed in Rodinal RO9.