Mercury Rollback 23 Instructions
INTRODUCTION
The mercury Rollback 23 is an homage to the classic era of rollfilm: from the early 20
th
century
until the post-WWII industrial boom, medium format cameras made use of an ingenious,
inexpensive system for film advancing and frame counting. Numbers were printed on the film's
backing paper (something not possible with cartridge-based film systems). Precisely positioned
windows would reveal exactly the numbers that corresponded to the camera's frame size. Rather
than a complex geared system automatically advancing to the correct point for each shot, and
another complex geared system advancing a counter, the
photographer
would do the advancing,
peering through a red-tinted window. Whatever number appeared in the window was the current
frame's number. It was like using a magical window that revealed the inner workings of the
mysterious Film Camera. Well, because Mercury Works is all about magic windows, we chose to
revive this system in a 3D printed variant. Finally you can actually make use of those numbers
that are still, to this day, printed on the back of every reputable roll of 120 film. Yes, they are
really there: take a look!
It should be noted that this back is neither simple nor cheap to manufacture, and in most cases,
you're probably better off with one of the excellent metal, geared-advance Graflok 23 backs
available on the used market from Graflex, Mamiya, or Horseman. However, those with a
penchant for more manually-driven photography and magic windows will appreciate the Mercury
Rollback. For some, depending on local availability of vintage backs, it may be cost effective as
well, given that our two models represent two fairly rare film sizes (most vintage metal backs are
6x7).
Our Rollback comes in two versions: 6x9 and 6x6. Operation is identical between the two. Note
that neither version contains a darkslide system. This is the Rollback's greatest limitation. This
means that you will not be able to change lenses or film backs once you have advanced your film
to the first frame, until you finish the roll. Plan accordingly, intrepid photographer!
Like many of the best things in life, there may appear to be a lot of steps in what follows, but
operation is actually rather intuitive. It is important to carefully read these instructions the first
time you use the back. After that, you will probably find operation to be quite simple.
