Arax 88cm and Biometar 2,8/80

Hi there,

so I bought an Arax 88cm, thinking it would take my CZJ 2,8/80 without

complaining. The camera as such seems quite fine, but the lens does not work. To

be a bit more precise, the infinity focus does not work. On kievaholic I found

that this has to do with the mount (though this bit of information was for older

models). Yet it is said that the Arax does take _all_ of the Zeiss lenses.

I even bought a second Biometar to give it a second try, but to no avail. Same

problem, so the first lens wasn't badly adjusted as I thought at first.

Anyone else had (or have) this problem? I really would prefer the Zeiss lens to

the Arsat (which seems a bit soft to me).

Malte

Malte,

DId you ask Gevorg of AraxFoto if there is something within the interior of the that would

not allow the lens to focus to Infinity? It might be the body or the lens might require

adjustment for that particular lens. Are these lense the MC or non-MC version? It it the

newer Exakta rubber mount CZJ Biometar or the older Pentacon 6 lens?

Also there is a Kiev Users Forum on Yahoo and also on Delphiforums. Check out those 2

sites. Kevin Ing of Kievaholic, will hopefully see this and post his remarks. For me, I use

my Exatka 66 with these lenses.

Hi Evan,

thanks for your reply.

Gevorg said that most likely the lens was badly adjusted. Only, with the second lens showing the same behaviour, it seems to me that the problem is rather on the body side. Also, on a PSix body there is no focussing problem. Guess I'll have to wait and see what his reply is again.

Oh, and the lenses are both older MC Pentacon 6 TL lenses.

Malte,

If it sits perfectly into your Pentacon 6TL body, then I would muc rather err on the side of

having the body fixed correctly or have the :throat" adjusted to allow for the proper height

for the lens to sit in for Infinity focusing. That was the original problems with the Lever

locking front mount, which by the way is one of two different mounting methods of the

Kiev camera bodies. The other is the Twist and Lock, which I like over the Locking Lever

version. Please go and check on the Delphifourms and re-post your question there.

Someone on that list will definitely post a solution for you. My take on it, wiould be NOT

TO TINKER with lens, as it sits properly in the Pentacon body. The older MC Biometar lens

is pretty good, so don't rule it out as a non-primary lens. BTW, does the 80mm Arsat focus

to Inifinity in the Arax body?

Evan,

yeah, it sits just perfectly in the body, so my guess would also be that the problem is the body. The body is equipped with the locking lever, so that would also point in that direction.

Would an older Biometar fit, then?

Though, I'd rather have my body readjusted (pun not intended) instead of roaming the used equipment stores/sites for yet another Biometar...

Malte,

If oyu are mechanically inclined, you could perform some minor "sugery" to the actual

front lens mount. With this lever locking mount, its a matter of using a dremel tool to

grind off slightly some metal to allow it to sit properly. Again, refer back to the Kievholics

Website. Kevin has covered this in depth and has visual photos illustrating wqhat he is

talking about doing.

Other choice would be to return it back to Gevorg and allow him to grind it off. I would

however suggest, if you have an assortment of CZJ lenses, try all of them to see if they

would all fit and ALSO have fully automatic diapgrahm setting. The 50mm Flektogon,

180mm & 300mm SOnnar are some of the lenses that will not be able to function

automatically. Also the Hartblei T/S lenses might not fit too.

Evan,

I guess I would rather not attack my camera with a dremel. I'm not totally mechanically challenged, but don't want to take the risk of slipping and butchering some vital interior part...

I guess having Gevorg perform the surgery would be best. Kevin Ing proposed the flange-to-film distance could be wrong. In that case it would definetely be out of my range to repair/adjust.

The locking lever lens mount version tends to be troublesome at best. Arax might be using the older version of the mount where it has not been frinded down to accomodate the newer Schnieder optics (Exakta 66), the CZJ = 50mm, 80mm, 180mm, and the newer Hartblei optics.

Yes I saw Kevin's reply to you, so the camera body must go back to him and do tell him which lenses you plan to use. That way he will have to assure you that all lenses would fit properly for Infinity focusing and the Automatic aperature features of the lenses will work correctly.

Evan,

thanks for your help!

I'll have to see what Gevorg says to this. He asked if Arax standard lens works, but has not yet answered back. But then it is Easter after all, so I'll have to wait till next week.

Just a short update on the state of things: My Arax successfully made it to Kiev, was fixed, and made it back safely to Aachen. The parcel arrived today. So far the focussing issue seems to have been successfully removed. Will go out right now and shoot a test roll.

:-)

Cheers for all the help (even if that is a while ago),

Malte

Hm, the system here seems to have devoured my last update: Sent the camera to Gevorg, got it repaired (no charge) and it safely made its way back here. My Biometar works quite fine now.

Summer holidays are coming, and that means I'll be using one film roll or the other. :-)

Thank you for all the help I got here. :-)

Malte