Close-ups on a non-Bayonet TLR?

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>So, the idea is to do a portrait/headshot using my Ricoh Super44 TLR. It's a late 1950's vintage 127 camera, shooting 4x4, and I enjoy the way it handles. If I was using a Baby Grey, I'd get a Rolleinar closeup set to get the job done. But, of course, there's always a fly in the ointment. This Ricoh has threaded, not Bay1, taking and viewing lenses. And, to make the party even happier, they are 34mm diameter, which is a royal PITA to find anything for, except for maybe a step-up ring.</p>

<p>If I wanted to emulate the Rolleinar kit on this camera, I suspect that I'd have to buy two of the standard diopter kits, and mount one lens on each of the viewing/taking pair? And then, of course, the step-up rings with the diopters cannot be so big that they crunch into each other, right? And as for parallax correction/adjustment?</p>

<p>Yeah, this sounds like a herculean effort, but I'd love to find a way to make this happen. If anybody has experience in doing this, or even a pointer in what seems like a good direction, I'd love to hear from you!</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>j</p>

<p>Getting close enough with a standard lens might not provide the most aesthetically pleasing portrait results.</p>

<p>Somewhere, I have or had, a parallelogram thingy that allowed you to compose exactly using the viewing lens and would then raise the taking lens to the height of the viewing lens so any kind of a close up attachment would work. Anyone remember these?</p>

<p>The Mamiya Paramender is one.</p>

<p>Thanks for the parallax solutions, but the first nut to crack is what to use in place of the Rolleinar set. Do I just slap on the close-up diopters on both of the Taking and Viewing lenses? Or is there a difference between the two so I have to work more magic here?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

<p>j</p>

<p>I have the later Ricoh Diacord, which uses the bayonet mounting for lens accessories. I think, if you are using the Paramender or thru experimentation raising and lowering the tripod to compensate for parallax at different distances, you could use two diopter lenses, one on the taking lens and one on the viewing lens, or even just one which you manually shift from the viewing lens to the taking lens. Alternatively, for focusing purposes, you could just use one diopter lens on the taking lens and a tape measure to ascertain the proper distance to your subject...years ago I had to do this with my first rangefinder camera. Composition isn't great using this method and it is a PITA, but with a little cropping it can work pretty well. I also used cardboard masks held up to the subject to get a sense of coverage with this method.</p>

<p>If you get a proper close-up pair, the attachment for the taking lens is just a lens. The one for the viewing lens has a prism mounted with it, so you get an approximate parallax error correction built in. I have a bayonet set like that for my Yashica 44s. It's good; you use the camera quite normally and quickly. On the other hand I guess it's bound to be less of an exact correction than (say) winding the camera up a couple of inches on the tripod after framing and focusing.<br>

I don't think 34mm screw-in accessories are that rare; the size has been used on some modern stuff. I doubt you'll find a TLR close-up pair easily, but if you can handle the parallax yourself, you only need two lenses the same. I just looked at the 'bay (.co.uk here) and found one seller offering +1 and +2 close-up lenses in 34mm screw-in fitting pretty quickly, for 8 uk pounds each. There's another seller offering a set (+1, +2 and +4). These are single lenses, so you'd need to buy one for each of your camera's lenses, but it seems to me if you are prepared to watch for a week or two, you'll find what you need. Just be sure your viewing and taking lenses have the same fitting, and it really is 34mm, before buying.</p>

 

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<p>Do I just slap on the close-up diopters on</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I'd worry about distortion with that solution. Close-up and telephone are not the same. No one wants to look like Jimmy Durante in a portrait. </p>

<p>Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

 

<p>There are several issues here.<br>

1. As Henry said, you shouldn't be taking portraits with a closeup lens because of distortion. Head-on you get big noses because the nose is closer. If you want to use more of the film then you could look for a telephoto attachment, not a closeup lens.<br>

2. The rolleinar set (or equivalent) does not do a perfect job -- even if the framing is approximately right, the angle at which you are viewing is different. That is, if you were trying to hide a double-chin, and were looking through the top lens, it might be hidden. But the lower lens might see it. Using a tripod and cranking the lens position up and down will "fix" this, but at substantial inconvenience, even with the device that Chauncey mentions. It works for a totally stationary subject, not so much for a portrait.<br>

3. It may be way more efficient to get a different camera, maybe with a zoom or mildly telephoto lens. A film 35mm SLR. A medium-format TLR with a telephoto lens is another possibility. I don't know if there are telephoto accessory lenses that you can use with your Ricoh; quality may suffer.</p>

 

<p>... or just take the closest portrait you can with the camera as it is, i.e. from about a metre away, and crop the picture when you print or scan.</p>

<p>A closeup with a TLR is anything closer than 1 meter. There is so much parallax with a Rolleinar that you see the subject from a significantly differently angle, even if the framing and focus is reasonably accurate.</p>

<p>Using an 80 mm lens on a TLR to shoot a head-and-shoulders portrait works only if you are not accountable to the subject, or are seeking some absurd distortion effects. TLRs were used 60 years ago because with a large negative, you can shoot from a proper distance and crop freely. Now I use an Hasselblad with a 150 or 180 mm lens (the latter with a 16 mm extension tube), or a small format camera at 90 to 105 mm.</p>

I use for medium format closeups Rolleiflex SL66SE. It has bellows and enabling to the size 1:2. Very convenient.

<p>There are several issues here.<br>

1. As Henry said, you shouldn't be taking portraits with a closeup lens because of distortion. Head-on you get big noses because the nose is closer. If you want to use more of the film then you could look for a telephoto attachment, not a closeup lens.<br>

</p>

 

I have to apologize here - you are correct. I've goofed up close-up and telephoto. I should have recognized this as I was typing, but sometimes the brain fails to engage the clutch all the way.

 

For portraits, usually I stick to my larger Rollei with a 180mm lens, but was trying to get somewhere else and find my thoughts stuck in the mud. If I am really going to do a portrait with a TLR, I have better luck buying a different lens set for my Mamiyaflex C2, where the 180 pair can be found on EBay for not much money.

 

Thanks to everyone for answering and setting me straight again. It's appreciated!

 

j