Andrew in Austin Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 I don't know how many of have tried this, but I've been experimentingwith swapping lenses between some of my bottom drawer 6x9 folders. Allof which I acquired in 2003 for under $20 a piece and are a bit rougharound the edges. The camera in the photo is a $15 Agfa Billy Record II, which not onlyhad a leaking set of bellows, but a Steinheil Apotar with most of itsfront and rear coatings wiped off. The shutter worked, so it wasdonated to a Record III. Enter an $9.99 Franka Rolfix fitted with a 105mm Radionar and workingProntor S shutter, but more importantly a nice set of bellows. The Agfa and Franka produced a gorgeous Frankastein version of theBilly Record II 6x9 folder, but the results from the Radionar were waytoo soft for my taste. Dissappointed, the camera goes into a displaycase for six months. Enter $53.00 Record II, with oxidized dials and leaky bellows. Also,its the ugliest camera I've ever laid eyes on, but it had a nice AgfaApotar and Prontor SV in perfect working order. Record II and BillyRecord II smerge to become Billy Record II, the third incarnation. Time to get the Billy Record II out its display case. Best Regards - Andrew in Austin, TX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew in Austin Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 Oops, the Billy Record as it looks today.<div></div> Best Regards - Andrew in Austin, TX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew in Austin Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 After reading a post about how poorly these "third rate" 6x9 folders performed, I wanted to try this one out again, know that I'd probably be dissappointed. So, I took the camera to a local scupture garden on the day Tropical Depression Ivan arrived in Texas.<div></div> Best Regards - Andrew in Austin, TX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew in Austin Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 The nice thing about scuptures is they have all the patience in the world, allowing one to set up the camera and slowly take an exposure.<div></div> Best Regards - Andrew in Austin, TX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew in Austin Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 Needless to say, this former resident of my bottom drawer, a.k.a. the repair drawer performs quite well. My previous opinion of the 3 element Apotar has been upgraded.<div></div> Best Regards - Andrew in Austin, TX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patric_dahl_n Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Not bad. :-) I made my own Frankenagfas. I took the Solinar and Compur-Rapid shutter from one camera, and mounted them on a newer Record II body. New bellows from Jurgen Kreckel. Another Record II had a simple Pronto shutter in bad condition, so I took a Prontor-S shutter from a Weltax. I had to swap the trigger arms to make it work. The one in the Weltax Prontor was too short. No test shots yet, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew in Austin Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 Thanks for the kind comments. I've been trying to get used to 6x9 format as opposed to 6x6. Camera shake can be a killer in this format, focusing isn't as forgiving as either my 75mm Solinar or Xenar and to tell you the truth I haven't been too thrilled with the contrast of my Record III which uses an f/4.5, 105mm Solinar. In short, at the moment, I prefer this particular Apotar over the 105mm Solinar. By the way, the above location is the Umlauf Sculpture Gardens. Best Regards - Andrew in Austin, TX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connealy Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Very nice images. I'm inspired to take a closer look at my junk pile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murrayatuptowngallery Posted October 12, 2004 Share Posted October 12, 2004 Since these are usually zone focus, I guess the lens distance from the film is probably not critical...that was my main concern about doing this with mine. What kind of rangefinder is that on the Billy II-2? It's elegant-looking. I have a plastic Soviet Blik one that seems accurate enough. I have an Agfa Ventura 69 with an Agnar that was so frozen I finally threw it in an ultrasonic cleaner (lens only) with flux remover...I was shocked to see the entire lens unscrewed (all elements!) later, and the paint too, but I had given up. It works now, but I have to use a shutter release because the shutter release is too wobbly. I've been afraid to mutate a Moskva V (it seems the rangefinder would be useless without it's body complement) and just put money into a CLA on a Vollenda 620 6x9. Murray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew in Austin Posted October 12, 2004 Author Share Posted October 12, 2004 Murray, unless you wish to shoot at f/16 or f/22, I wouldn't want to rely on zone focusing on a 6x9 camera. The attached range finder is Voigtlander whose increments are in feet. It works quite well. The Billy Record II with its transplanted f/4.5 Apotar does remarkably well with Kodak 400TX developed in Microdol-X. I was quite surprised The Blik range finder is an undeniable bargain and quite accurate. You just have to be able to multiply by 3.3 to get the number of feet. Best Regards - Andrew in Austin, TX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murrayatuptowngallery Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 I have been shooting at f/11-22 with a tripod! I really should do some things closer to wider open to see what soft corners look like, in case I ever want it, but I'm afraid the combination of soft corners and zone focusing will combine & I won't know what I did wrong. I guess people lived with these for many years and did OK. Murray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew in Austin Posted October 13, 2004 Author Share Posted October 13, 2004 Murray, depending on your style of composition, the corners will crop out on an 8x10 print. In addition to being easy to handle, what I really like about the 6x9 frame size is there is loads of wiggle room when cropping as opposed to 35mm. Also, I've been getting by with a monopod in low light or bracing againsts trees, walls or what not. Best Regards - Andrew in Austin, TX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murrayatuptowngallery Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 Who was Billy, anyway? There are weird-looking cameras, and there are wierdly-named cameras. Nothing against anyone named, Billy...maybe goats used to eat the leather/leatherette? Murray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murrayatuptowngallery Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Hey, I'm lucky, my lenses are metric and so is the Blik ranefinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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