Kodak Retina IIIc

Come on guys.

It's a wide-coverage reflective meter stuck to the top of the camera. Even if it was working like new; how accurate do you think it could be? And compared to what?

Yet another wideangle reflective meter that's going to be affected by subject reflectivity and by stray light getting onto its sensor?

 

Let's get real here.

Well, my dad took all the family photos on Kodachrome with a Retina IIIc, using the built in meter. His hit rate on exposures was probably better than 90%. Meters designed for typical subjects can work just fine with typical subjects. Night shots and unusual situations with a selenium meter? All bets are off.

Well, my dad took all the family photos on Kodachrome with a Retina IIIc, using the built in meter. His hit rate on exposures was probably better than 90%. Meters designed for typical subjects can work just fine with typical subjects. Night shots and unusual situations with a selenium meter? All bets are off.

I'm not saying it's useless Conrad, but OTOH it's no Sekonic L358 either.

Sometimes 'near enough is good enough' and IMO that's what the aim of using a meter like this should be.

From past experience with 50+ year old selenium meters, just getting a needle deflection is a stroke of luck.

I'm not saying it's useless Conrad, but OTOH it's no Sekonic L358 either.

 

Sometimes 'near enough is good enough' and IMO that's what the aim of using a meter like this should be.

 

From past experience with 50+ year old selenium meters, just getting a needle deflection is a stroke of luck.

Agreed. And also with Conrad's last two sentences. This is what I was implying by suggesting he run a roll of C-41 through in a variety of exposures and see where you stand.

The intention is to determine if the use of the camera's exposure meter is viable for use by matching it to the light meter. If the camera's meter is functional but it is consistently off by the same close range...then I can use the camera's meter with some measure of confidence by always offsetting by the same discovered settings. Then monitor the meter's performance by seeing the scans later.

I am amazed that the photoelectric meter is functioning after 67 years--awesome engineering for sure! I have seen many listings for Retina IIIc's where they state the meter is inoperative. So thank you all for your comments--you guys are a great source of information and ideas!

Howdy!!

 

I bought me a new "used" classic camera...the fully manual Kodak Retina IIIc (Type 21). I performed dry-run shutter and aperture tests and for a 67-year old camera, it performs, sounds and looks great. The real test will be when I run some test film through it this weekend (hopefully). I cleaned the 35mm and 80mm lenses--amazingly, they look great for being so old and they were well-cared for previously. The filter kit was a pleasant surprise as well--they looked great too. It should be fun using this l'il gem.

 

[ATTACH=full]1373751[/ATTACH]

 

I probably should have it CLA'ed for good measure to ensure its longevity. Apart from the international Retina master, Mr. Sherwood in New Zealand, is there another person or camera shop in the USA that could perform great CLA work on it? I live in Texas...but I will not mind shipping it anywhere in the Lower-48.

The Retina is a straightforward design and any good repair shop should be able to do a competent CLA. Be sure to specify a full cleaning/then relubrication of the shutter and a thorough cleaning of the RF/VF optics.

alfonsomartinez said:

Then monitor the meter's performance by seeing the scans later.

The scans won't be of much help, after the digital conversion by the scanner's software. The traditional way of assessing negatives is to use a lightbox and a loupe, a procedure that is still totally relevant today.

Nice!

I wonder if the meter is working?

 

I've got a soft spot for the folding Retinas - truly pocketable without sacrificing a rangefinder, and quiet as a mouse in operation.

 

However.... they're a nightmare to work on. So if it's all clean and functioning, I would leave well alone. A repairer not used to these cameras might easily do more harm than good trying to gain access to the shutter, etc.

And it's not as if you'll be giving it hard use and relying on it to make a living, I suspect.

Agree with this. I love folding Retinas, and use a 1b scale focus model. Mine makes superb images, and has for the last 26 or 27 years since I bought mine for $60. Never had a repair or CLA yet either. Still works well today.

Forgot, I did a brief writeup on mine, with a drawing for the special wrench required to remove the shutter- Retina IIIc

There's a reference to my links page, but if I ever had one, I don't anymore. I don't consider these easy to work on, at least not the body, and I'd never give one to a tech for a CLA that didn't already have experience with them.

As I wait for my new film to arrive, the Schneider Kreuznach Retina-Longar-Xenon C f:4/80mm lens had a lot of internal dust and "spots".

It was quickly disassembled (in the front two-thirds) and the lenses cleaned up quite nicely. However, I need to gain access past the spring-loaded section of the lens mount. Does anyone have the specs on doing that? Do I just remove the three screws that attach the small lens to the spring-loaded black section of the lens?

Just curious if any one has cleaned up these type of lenses before...they are pretty easy to work on versus the more modern types.

If the camera's meter is functional but it is consistently off by the same close range...then I can use the camera's meter with some measure of confidence by always offsetting by the same discovered settings.

Oooh! That's a big collection of 'ifs'.

All the dead or dying selenium meters I've come acros have died in a non-linear way. The cell loses output with increasing light. In other words it stays reasonably accurate in low light, but gets more and more inaccurate at the top end of its range.

So there's no single correction factor you can apply to a selenium meter that's gone off.

Just curious if any one has cleaned up these type of lenses before..

Can't help you there. But Schneider lenses often have poor edge blackening - 'Schneideritis'. I've discovered that a permanent black felt-tip pen is perfect for retouching loose or incomplete edge-blacking.