The Rondine is a small Italian metal camera made for 127 sized film. It features a second lens for reflex viewing at waist level, as well as a fold up frame "sport finder." There is only one shutter speed and one aperture. But it does have a coated lens that focuses from infinity to seven feet.

This was a rescue from that table of five dollar items at Belleville Flea Market.
It was very dirty. The leatherette was also peeling off.
After a good cleaning, examination indicated that the camera had been previously tampered with, and I did not think the focus calibration was to be trusted. The back of the camera does not open. The film carriage and pressure plate slide out to the side. As a result, it is virtually impossible to test focus at the film plane. So what I did was insert a focusing screen in through the side to the approximate location of the film plane, then use the small red film counter window at the back to look at the dim image I could see through there for my best guess at focus accuracy. I used tiny set screw markings visible inside the front lens assembly as a guide for likely original factory focus adjustment.

When I was done with all that, how could I resist wondering what the actual capabilities of this camera might be?

I found a fresh roll of Japanese made generic 127 B & W film online. I think it was ASA 100. It was expensive.

So I thought, what would be an appropriate subject for an Italian camera in the dead of winter in St. Louis? and I loaded her up and went to Forest Park looking for architectural targets.
The first frame was ruined. When exposing it, the shutter was so quiet that I had my doubts that it was working in the cold. I tripped the shutter again while watching, just to see that it opened and closed.
For some reason I was thinking that I had about a dozen frames to expose on the roll. Not so. With the vertical full frame format, the film ran out after number 8. Only one chance at the Art Museum, then it was all over.

Film was sent off to Kansas for developing, not knowing whether the camera was a worthwhile picture taker, or whether I got the focus calibration right.

My results came back in the mail today. I was pleasantly surprised.

First set of images are resized straight off the original negative scans.
Second set have been tweaked just a little from those scans.

Please click on thumbnails to see enlarged.
All images are (c) 2018 E.J.Kowalski.
Thanks! Ed