Realist 35 on Christmas day.

[patrick j dempsey]

The Realist 35 is a fun little rangefinder. This is an interesting story... the

name "Realist" comes from the "Stereo Realist"... a stereo camera made here in

the states by the David White company. In the 1950s there was a German company

called "Iloca" which made stereo cameras called "Iloca Stereo"s. The cameras not

only looked totally different but used a totally different layout for the lenses

and veiwfinder. Iloca also made non-stereo cameras which it sold to US

department stores like Sears which rebadged them. In 1955 the David White

company contracted Iloca to made a low-end stereo camera to be sold here in the

states to be called the "Stereo Realist 45" and they made their own version

called the "Iloca Stereo Rapid". Consequently, Iloca decided to put the

"Realist" badge on their "Iloca Rapid" and called it the "Realist 35"... a later

version was rebadged by Sears as the "Sears Tower 51". Weird huh? Anyway, the

result is a decidedly NON-stereo camera with the Steinheil Muchen Cassar

1:28/45mm lens and VERO shutter. I have several cameras now with the 2.8 Cassar

and I think it is a pretty decent and sharp lens! The Realist is a bizarre

camera that features a left-handed film advance and the whole back pops out to

remove the film.... typical German weirdness.<br><br>

<img src="http://manuals2go.com/cameras/realist_35.jpg"><br>

...Stolen image...<br><br>

 

These images are from my very first outing with the Realist 35 on Christmas day

last year. We hiked up to the hop of this beautiful spot with a 360` veiw of

mountains... you couldnt see a road or a house in any direction! When we got to

the top there was a guy flying a kite-boarding kite.... almost 400 miles from

the beach... a bizarre site indeed! I took several shots of this surreal scene.

I only mention it because at the end of the roll I wound up the film and then

the rewind jammed. It wouldnt move. I had never shot with the camera and never

loaded film in it untill that afternoon and so I had no idea what to do. My

only option was to open the back.... and Unfortunately lost the first 8

exposures on the roll. It was an unfortunate expereince but as the photographs

show, this is a great little camera.... as a lefty I find the lefthanded film

advance pretty novel!<br><br>

 

Max's Patch NC, Kodak Gold 200:<br><br>

 

<img

src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/patrickjdempsey/Realist35/MaxPatch_Realist35_Gold200_07.jpg"><br><br>

 

<img

src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/patrickjdempsey/Realist35/MaxPatch_Realist35_Gold200_08.jpg"><br><br>

 

<img

src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/patrickjdempsey/Realist35/MaxPatch_Realist35_Gold200_10.jpg"><br>

Guessomatic rangefinder and Cassar 45mm f2.8 yeilds nice portraits.<br><Br>

 

<img

src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/patrickjdempsey/Realist35/MaxPatch_Realist35_Gold200_12.jpg"><br>

In the distance are the Smokey Mountains... doing their thing.<br><br>

 

As you can see we suffered from a VERY mild winter here in NC!!!

[ralf_j.]

Great shots, I like them all, malkes me feel I wish I could be there.

The Cassar is mafe by Steinheil Munchen, I believe, not up to par with Tessars or Xenars but still a decent performer.

[patrick j dempsey]

The Cassar is a three-element lens. Tessars and Xenars are 4 elements. I have a lack of expereince with those, but I have a Zeiss Ikon Contessa LK with a 50mm f2.8 Tessar which I have not shot due to the shutter being gummy on low settings. I plan on using it now in the warmer weather. I would like to carry both cameras on a shoot soon to compare the lenses! Im happy with the results of the Cassar... I do enjoy the disortion in the out of focus areas in the corners of the 3rd shot... it would be interesting to see how differently a Tessar preforms wide open like that.

[patrick j dempsey]

Sorry you are correct I misspelled Munchen... I beleive that is what we today call "Munich"

[canfred]

Hi Patrick , the Sears Tower was the rebadged Iloca Rapid B made in 1951 by Wilhelm Witt / Hamburg for Sears. Lenses availabel where Cassar / Cassar S both triplets but also the Cassarit f2.8 50mm

a Tessar clone.I have a very small camera with this successful Tessar lens, this is not to say the Cassar is poor but Tessars are better at close range. My super small camera is a Braun Paxette just 115mm wide and 75mm high.Good photos you have here glad to see these old cameras are still hanging in there.The photo is a later version of the Iloca Rapid with meter and rangefinder.

Manfred<div></div>

[gene m]

Great presentation. The lady in the hat is stunning.

[mark_wilson4]

Agreed...isn't she something else again?

Stylish and unconventional...just like the little camera.

 

M. <-- Steinheil Cassar fan (Edinex and Welti)

[sw12dz]

I'll throw my hat in with Gene and Mark. Nice shot. Makes it even better when taken with a classic camera.

[patrick j dempsey]

Thank you guys! The lady in the hat is my girl friend Jenny and we just celebrated our 6-months anniversary yesterday! :) <br><br>

Heres a recent shot with her taken with a Minolta SR3 with the 55mm f1.8 silvernose and the Minolta 2X teleconverter:<br><br>

 

<img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/patrickjdempsey/SR3%2055mm%20wExtension/Elkmont_SR3_Extension_Gold200_08.jpg">

[david_m]

That Iloca looks very like my Argus V100

[patrick j dempsey]

Manfred, the Realist 35 is a nice compact camera as well... it measures 125mm wide by 78mm high and 63mm deep with the lens set to infinity... but a 2.8 Tessar in a little smaller package must make for a very nice setup! I really enjoy the size and weight of this camera compared to the other 1950s rangefinders I have, which are all much bulkier and heavier.

[mfophotos]

Ha! cool. I have the Tower 50:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mfobrien/sets/72157594546067384/">here</a>

[patrick j dempsey]

Hey! Great images Mark! Is that the Cassar? Dont you love that left handed advancing? ;)

[mfophotos]

It's a little strange at first, but I was surprised at the quality of the lens, as much as anything.

[mel_snyder2]

I got carried away with the idea of a Realist camera that wasn't stereo, and bought an RF version for the probably overpriced sum of $12.99 on eBay. I went to photo.net to see if anyone else had encountered the bizarre way to load/unload this camera. <p>It's as if someone in Germany said, "Let's make a camera that no normal-thinking person could open." <p>It's not only left hand film advance, but the film winds on a large-diameter drum-like spindle on the RIGHT side. You rewind the film by depressing a button on the RIGHT BOTTOM of the camera, PULL UP ONE CLICK on the "film minder" dial on which the film advance lever is mounted. You could pull it up more than one click, but that would disengage the rewind spindle from the film cassette. When you pull that film minder knob all the way up, and turn it clockwise, a pin pushes the left side of the camera on a pivot, and the back pops off -- literally -- it's spring loaded on the right side, like a cantilever!<div></div>

[Troll]

You do not want to be alone with that woman after dark, especially if there's a full moon. A wreath of garlic around your neck might help.

[patrick j dempsey]

Mel its difficult to load, but surprisingly fun and once you get used to it, its a surprising quick shooter! And compared to many similar cameras of the era its very compact.

[luc_moreau]

<p>Just received one in the mail today... agree about the most difficult camera to open in history. Mine also has a problem, the winding knob/lever does not seem to "engage" correctly in the place it should (inside the camera) leading to somewhat difficult winding/cocking. It has a tendency so "skip" unless I push vertically (top down) at the same time as winding in order to keep it engaged where it should. Is there something broken/worn inside do you know?</p>