Clarus MS-35: A couple of pictures

<p>At (<a href="../classic-cameras-forum/00YqVE">link</a>) I recently posted a discussion called <strong>Clarus MS-35: The Camera</strong>. Here is a truncated followup.</p>

<p>I had been working the shutter on the Clarus for a while and it had sat while I was traveling among the Civil War battlefields in Virginia. So I finally could see that the shutter was firing. However, so far as I could see by using Rick Oleson's custom shutter speed tester ( http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-135.html ), the shutter was only firing at one speed, regardless of what it was set to.</p>

<p>So I decided to load in a roll of Ilford XP-2 C-41 B&W and try the camera out on a tripod at different shutter speeds and apertures.</p>

<p>The bad news is that the nice young woman doing the processing at Walgreens somehow broke off the film so that only the first four frames on the roll were developed.<br>

The good news is that the shutter was firing evenly at least, although these first shots were taken at 1/50 at f/11-16 or so. From the TV test, it looked like the only speed was something like 1/30 to 1/50, so these were only a little underexposed. What I will not know until I try another roll is what was happening at the other settings.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>Here is the first picture on the roll - a screen shot of the manual cover. The Wollensak 2 inch f/2.8 Anastigmat didn't do too badly at the closest focus and wide open. (Not only did most of the roll get lost, but the brew seemed unusually cruddy this pass).</p><div></div>

<p>And here is the first shot at infinity (the rangefinder also seems to be OK). The Wollensak is a little swirly in the corners, but not awful, I think, for the breed.</p><div></div>

<p>On reflection, if the speed is so slow, some of the blurriness in the tree leaves could have been wind movement.<br>

Anyhow, that's all I got, but the results are encouraging enough that I will see if I can get another roll of film through it without the processor fail this time. So more to come, I hope.</p>

<p>I should mention that modern film cartridges seem to be a fraction of an inch too long for the film chamber on the camera. I forced one in, and had to pry it out. Next time, I'll shave a little off the plastic reel first.</p>

<p>Hi JDM, nice effort and thanks for sharing with us.<br>

I have resisted these at the camera show, as they appear too clunky for my taste. I might pick up one just for kicks as they are cheap enough...</p>

<p>The camera is heavy. but that makes it feel better in the hand than does the very similar appearing Perfex camera. It's actually less 'clunky' than most of its contemporaries.</p>

<p>I think, given the economics of American manufacture of high-labor-input items such as cameras, Clarus probably couldn't have competed with the coming Japanese wave, but if they had only got the thing working from the start (and been better capitalized), they might have least been a contender.</p>

<p>Interesting, <strong>JDM</strong>, and a shame about the rest of the film. "Breaking" a film is not that easy to do....It's interesting that many American cameras of the era had the sort of "brick" or "block" appearance and build, certainly more solid than their West European or Japanese counterparts, though the Clarus reminds me more of the Feds, or their relatives. But then, perhaps I'm just hopelessly confused...</p>

<p>I look forward to a full film and post.</p>

<p>Interesting camera, JDM. Unusual situtation with the film cassette. Well, at least the young woman who broke the film was nice. ;) Maybe the next roll will be okay. I look forward to seeing more from this camera. <br>

BTW, where I live I have CVS to contend with. I just make sure that the person running the lab that day is someone I trust. One day I went in to pick up some film and an unfamiliar clerk was removing processed negatives to be cut. She had her fingers all over the the image area. I remarked, "are you really comfortable with the knowledge that a total stranger now has a complete set of your fingerprints?" Anyway, bad luck happens sometimes even with careful workers.<br>

Best regards.</p>

<p>Update.<br>

Watch this space ;)<br>

In a couple of hours I am headed back to Walgreen's -- mysterious call that my "film was ready" - maybe the young woman just didn't know how to get the rest out of the cassette?<br>

Have to buy some more film too before trying again anyway.</p>

<p>Alas, it was just a post-consumption eruction*, my film was lost forever...<br>

I did get some new film to try, if at first you don't succeed, try again.</p>

<p>_______<br>

*not a typo, it's a word that will be useful to you. :)</p>

<p>Sorry to hear you're having trouble JDM,</p>

<p>Hmmm, the Clarus indeed looks exceedingly similar to the Perfex series.</p>

<p>There are lots of similarities between the Perfex and the Clarus, particularly in the body form. The Clarus was also originally designed in Chicago before the war, so some connection seems very likely. On the other hand, in the hand, the two cameras feel very different, and the Clarus somehow seems more "finished" in action (when it works).<br>

The interior of the body is much more "finished," too.</p>

<p>Well--I just inherited my grandfather's camera collection, and right now I'm staring at a Clarus MS-35 in its original box with its manual, hang tag, a guarantee card, and a Kodachrome exposure guide. This is the very camera that he used to shoot all of the family pictures in the 1950's-60's. <br>

It works--sort of--I need to run a roll of film through it. This one seems to have the afore-mentioned problem of firing at the same shutter speed no matter what it's set to (apart from B, obviously). I don't suppose there's a tech out there willing to work on something like this?</p>