I purchased a 1930s German large-format camera: Mentor Studio Reflex. And then I fixed it! 

Ari, you are the sexiest, smartest and most entertaining RU-vidr in existence ❤🎉😊

It's definitely entertaining and refreshing to know you aren't trying too sell me something but just share your love of photography. Even though I'm a digital guy, your unlimited creativity gives me more creativity.

Beautiful images. You have one of my most favorite channels. I always look forward to your adventures. Thank you for sharing your love for photography!

How is this not entertaining? Pure gold! And beautiful images👍

I think you are wrong. Your videos are entertaining and informative. So there.

That shutter mechanism is pure art! The rendering from that Tessar is gorgeous, too.

Gotta love a camera that also makes a great arm rest.

What I like about those very old cameras is that they have parts you don't need a magnifier to see.

I love there is no long term strategy with this channel. And it is very educational despite what you do.

Well, that's an interesting camera. Strange but satisfying shutter sound too. Nice pictures - lots of potential there, I would think.

Brilliant, Ari. Consistently interesting content. Fascinating camera. Dandy engineering and repair. I always look forward to Saturdays!

You are impossible to compete with. And something about pictures, there is some strange sort of magic in them.

I'm all over the place too - that's why I love what you do with your channel! This one was a (dangerous!) inspiration!

Amazing photos from such an old gear, thank you Jaarki

Wow, your photos look amazing! This camera does give a different look to your style. While photos are the responsibility of the photographer, equipment can bring a different take on the results. Lessons in action! Thanks Ari. :)

Love the shallow DOF that the 3.5 lens provides and it looks sharp as well. Excited to see more photos from this camera.

What a neat old camera. I always enjoy your videos. Love the sound of that shutter.

I love this freestyle approach to the channel, without a plan. And it is ALWAYS entertaining. ☺️👌🏻👌🏻

Very inspirational, thank you for sharing, Ari. I'm looking forward to seeing the portraits taken with this camera!

Someday, maybe soon, I will likely make the jump to large format. I'll definitely add this one to the list of cameras to consider. Thank you for this introduction, i sincerely appreciate it.

I love your spirit of play with your cameras. A photo colleague called my film cameras “brushes “. I think that’s an excellent way to look at them except the cameras are way more interesting to hold.

Great job done. It's every time a pleasure to watch your vids and follow your thgoughts.

Very nice! Love the photos. Brilliant idea about 3D printing film holders. 3D printing has the potential to save so many old cameras. As always sir, very enjoyable video! Kiitos!

My grandfather was a professional photographer and a Mentor like this was one of his cameras. My father has given all his stuff to the FOTOMUSEUM.

Always different, always interesting Ari! What a fascinating camera to play with. I know exactly what you mean about the fascination of being able to see how a mechanism works and appreciating the engineering that goes into them. Beautifully atmospheric images from it to.

You have got to be the most fascinating and entertaining persons I have ever been exposed to! What an interesting camera! And your presentation is superb!!!

Great video! I really like your approach to making these. I work at a camera heritage museum and love that somebody else wants to play with these old camera.

It’s often inspiring, and always entertaining!

very interesting! its so cool to see how people used their ingenuity in the past.

Wow, very cool; beautiful photos.

"I'm all over the place" - yeah, can relate to that. The MSR in your hands takes beautiful images. Portraiture would be awesome. I have a Voigtlander Bergheil 9x12 from around 1922 and finding film or glass backs is so difficult. I am getting a 4x5 holder 3D printed but will continue the search for the proper stuff.

I love the Mentor 9x12 for portraits. It is quick to work with. You can take the picture exactly when the eyes are in focus and you get lovely out of focus rendering, especially with a little tilt/shift. I am looking forward to seeing your portraits.

Wrong! Your videos are educational and entertaining. I always learn something and laugh a lot.

Hey Ari Love your videos even though they really don’t try to teach anything and you don’t use my camera model. Your enthusiasm is infectious

Nice video and a true passion for the art of photography.

Really enjoy all your videos. This one was of particular interest for me as I also not too long ago bought a Mentor reflex camera, mine from the late twenties. I’m mostly now working with medium and large format reflex camera, love them for what they are, and I’m just not that eagle eyed anymore. A large ground glass makes focusing so easy. And I’m also a big fan of those old f/3.5 Tessars. As you know and mentioned, the Mentor’s shutter are quite different to the Graflex ones. It’s reassuring to hear that they’re nevertheless as easy to fix. Thanks a lot for this great video.

I find your videos very entertaining and interesting. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences.

It's fun that no matter how short a lens you have the world is always wider. That lens looks amazing too. Thank you for including us! Have a Great week!!!

Fantastic bulky SLR large format camera! Probably 9x12 is the smallest large format I think. But camera is large indeed. Have a lot of fun! Regards 😁

I have a 5x7 graflex home portrait big film size and the convince of an SLR - Love old cameras.

I watch your channel because the way you approach photography embarasses me into being more creative. Your creativity is compelling.

I have said it before & I will say it again You are a genius & an artist. You also make me realize that I should not over think taking a photo, just take photos!

50yrs ago,, I found a 8X10,, I sourced a lens from a friend,, a new adventure!!! I was a photojournalist at the time n19yo ... I still have it (8X10)... I always look for Your Video (I Really Enjoy Your Photographic Adventures)(Nice Photos) (Do You know of the Edward Weston??) first thing in the morning (in USA Phx. Az.)!!!!!!! ThankYou :) :) :)

Hi Ari, please don't stop making these videos, I look forward to them every Saturday! It's great wondering what you're going to show next and trying to work out the music soundtrack.

I bought 3 wooden cameras from 1906-1915 with brass lenses from 1890, 5x7. I use Zebra glass plates and it changed all my photography. My advice: buy cameras with plate holders included.

Fascinating video, I admire your initiative to take on an old camera, fix up the issues and even manage to get film holders that work so well. Thanks for this!

Amazing video and camera, now I want one of these 😂

I kind of like heavy and bulky too when it comes to film cameras. Hammond organ players say great sound weights a lot, in my opinion so does great image quality. My "number one camera" is a Mamiya RB76, not as big as that camera of yours but not a lightweight either.

Great stuff

Great video! I just bought a Thornton Pickard SLR, which came with an unbelievable 165mm f2.7 Tessar!! The lens is in great condition (it's about the size of a 250mm f4.5), but the camera's focal plane shutter doesn't work. I'm gonna try the lens out on one of my Graflexes, though first I have to make a dedicated lens-board for it.

Another fine video Ari, let us know how you get on, fixing the light leak pernamently.

Amazing

You say it can not be entertaining nor educational, but the creator has those those creep into their heads many times. I find your videos entertaining and educational, even when it is over my head, like developing film! I love seeing how you purchased this camera and were able to fix it and your “thinking out of the box.” Haha it is also great to see a new camera and the photos you made with it! Thanks for another great, entertaining and educational video! I always wanted to get into large format photography, but I have enough on my hands trying to get manual focus 35mm and 120 film range finders to focus and not take 5 minutes per shot! Have a great day! Edit: what film did you use on this camera? I think I missed it if you said it.

9x12 cm was a very common film size, so film holders for this format should not be difficult to find. I even found some at the Finnish Kamerastore.

Online CAD and 3D printing services. The possibilities are endless -- even outside the realm of photography. 3D printing is fascinating, but I'd much rather pay someone to do the printing.

No need to rationalize this channel, Ari. As much as anything I come for the piano playing, your pictures, your exploration of vintage gadgets and once in a very great while - there are some really valuable tidbits of knowledge shared ;) LOVE big clunky gadgets and yeah, like you, been fixing things forever (most of the time) just by just looking at them. Hey, whatdya think - 100 years from now will anyone be resurrecting a NIkon Z or Hasselblad H6 - maybe with Siri's help???????? Thanks (again) for my weekly dose of sanity.

The film holder may be “butt ugly” LOL, but the photos are beautiful. I’m glad I hung in for this one.

Hey Ari . What a beast but lens looks good and quite sharp . Germany Dresden 1930 during Hitlers time manufacturing and their technologies were full tilt . Wonder who used it and what images were captured by this camera ? I often think if cameras could talk as to who they have seen ! Keep up the passion . John Perth Australia . Cheers

Great camera! But it seems awfully small. Surely you can find a bigger one! ;-)

Congrats for repair ! is it a 9x12, or a 12x12 (== you can do also landscape by 'rotating' the back) Wouldn't it be not simpler/cheaper/... converting/exchanging the camera back to use of modern 4x5 or 9x12 film holders ? I consider to do this for a tiny 9x12 from the 1920s later the year. Ok there I plan a shift of the focal plane by a few millimeter back... which to be honest does not harm "the" reflex view finder, as it has none. BTW I: I have aligned myself Toyo and Linhof (with adapter to Toyo) lens boards to simply any lens (including pinhole) exchange. Do you consider to align on e.g. graflex boards == add an adapater to the mentor and remount the f3.5 tessar ? BTW II: I might have even looked on the same camera you bought, despite I was/am not yet ready to buy a pre-post war mentor 9x12, 12x12 or 13x18 yet,. Having so many other camera gear construction work to work on still. But I watch the market ...;-) My dream would be 2.7 165mm Tessar... bacause it covers just 9x12 (not 4x5). unfortunately they are very rare and expensive

Another great video! Is there any chance to name the CAD software you used? There is a bunch of offers and I feel quite puzzled, which might really work fine.

Incredible camera. As you made the chassis, you made 4X5 inches?

It’s look like large format of Rollei SL66.

Hello, on the contrary, I always find your videos interesting, I'm very interested and I'm always looking forward to seeing the next one. I have been learning and the videos have awakened my interest in certain aspects of photography. There should be a lot more content like yours, so keep up the great work!