edhebert

leica m3. for all that hype, it's really that good. and even at the exorbitant collector's prices, I'd pay that much to buy mine back if I ever lost it.

BTW, if you have any critiques of these images themselves, I'd be glad to get your input.

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sorry, I'll make the next ones smaller. :-)<div></div>

I threw a Wratten 25A filter on my Konica s2 on Sunday, and took a

walk down along the Cape Cod National Seashore and around my nearby

hometown. I was very pleasantly surprised with how well the camera

behaved. I know I've said it in past posts, but I really think this

lens is a super performer. I'd never shot IR film with it before,

so here are a few photographs to show you how the camera performed.

 

If you'd like to see a few more, I've posted them to

http://www.theblueocean.com/ed/gallery/album04<div></div>

boy, that's weird. are the folding door's hinges locked on both sides? Is the lens "board" bent at all?? Is the lens seated properly on the board (locked down with the spanner?) These are just some suggestions, but I'm honestly not sure. You might want to tape a piece of ground glass or wax paper on the film plane, and try manipulating a few things while checking the focus in your corners with a loupe.

 

Good luck!

I have an Isolette with an Agnar that produces surprisingly good images. I do think that the front and middle elements have become stuck in your camera. The lubricant that Agfa used dries and congeals into a thick green "glue" that can be very difficult to budge. You might try heating the focus ring with a hair dryer and try again to separate them. Worked for me. If you search "isolette" and "frozen focus ring" on the web you'll get a few hits that'll give you some other ideas. Here's one I just found now... http://www.davidrichert.com/AGFA%20rebuild/agfa.htm

Thanks, Henry. I originally posted in that thread as well. In fact after reading it I did try to contact Winfried via email, but my message was rejected (the server said user's address was not found). So I figured I'd ask again in a separate thread, so that Winfried or others that might have bellows could respond.

 

thanks once again.

If anyone has a new (or at least light tight) bellows for an

Isolette they'd be intereted in selling, please let me know. I have

a couple of cameras I'm looking to restore. I don't (yet) know how

to make my own bellows, and I'm looking for a cost effective

alternative to camerabellows.com.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Ed

I'd once read somewhere that the bellows used on the Agfa Record III's w/ Solinar lens as well as the Super Isolettes were genuine leather, while the others (as we know) were not. I suppose that leather bellows would be much less prone to light leaks.

 

Since I unfortunately don't own either of these beauties, I can't confirm or deny whether this is true. But it might be worth a little more investigation, as an Agfa Record with leather bellows would probably be less inclined to need bellows replacement.

I've bought replacement bellows for my Agfa Isolettes from camerabellows.com, an outfit in the UK. Shipment to the US was very quick, and the price was affordable at $65.

Today I received a Contax IIa from eB*y. While it was represented

as having both a working rangefinder and shutter, well...you know

the drill. Another misrepresented auction I guess.

 

Anyway, I'm trying to consider my options. I've already sent an

email to the seller asking whether he'd take a return, or whether

he'd offer a partial refund based on its condition (on

correspondance to date, he seems like a reputable, nice guy).

 

But the cosmetic condition of the camera is very good, and if it

were running, it'd be a beautiful machine to both use and look at.

I've looked at zeisscamera.com and they charge $205 for an overhaul.

Is this the only gig in town for servicing these cameras, and is

that a fair price for CLA?

 

Has anyone gone under the hood with one of these themselves? I

wouldn't hesitate if it were a less expensive camera, but I hesitate

to go in there and fat-finger it into worse shape than it's in

already.

 

As always, thanks for any advice you can provide.

Here's a snap of my wife that I took while she was decorating the tree...wide open at f/2 with a 1936 Leitz Summar, M3, TMax100 developed with PMK pyro. Handheld at 1/8 sec, and it's a little too soft. If you look closely, you'll be able to make out a Leica "R" christmas ornament on the tree, too. :-)<div></div>

I like the first one a lot, and I agree - I vaguely discerned a "bucking bronco" form in there. Ernst Haas has nothing on you. Well...maybe he does. But, it's a creative capture nonetheless. Thanks for sharing it.

no photoshop or Noctliux here. It's simply a Nokton at f/1.5. Direct scan of the print - no trickery!

I admit I haven't fully researched it, but from what I understand it doesn't have a rangefinder. So how do you focus it? Is it by looking at the LCD to check for sharpness? What's that do to the ergonomics and the speed of accurately capturing a shot? How would you brace the camera properly while holding it from your body to check the LCD?

 

Was it mechanically impossible for Leica to include a rangefinder? I'd *really* like to get my hands on an intuitive rangefinder-style digital camera with useable manual controls. I'm not sure if this is going to do it.

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Mike- I think that the Russian cameras in general are always more of a "roll of the dice". You might get a winner, you may land a mechanical or optical dog. Luckily, they're not prohibitively expensive, and sometimes a little elbow grease can bring these back to life quite easily. The Moskva photo I posted was taken with my friend's camera. I borrowed it for a weekend just to play with it. (That lighthouse is near my house, and always ends up being my test subject for this sort of stuff.)

 

I know that when he received his Moskva5 from eb*y, it had some rangefinder problems. I actually think that I zone focused this shot - the rangefinder was messed up. He did end up taking it apart, learning how it works, and then fixing it. As you can see, though, the lens is pretty sharp. He uses it, and has taken some very respectable photographs with it.

 

I thought about an Iskra as well. I have to say that I my Isolettes (IIs) are much more easy and comfortable to use than his Moskva. They're much more compact as (6x6 cameras should be I guess), and a little less clumsy to operate. I imagine the Iskra would have a very similar feel to the Isolettes. (I never used a Super Isolette or Iskra, which I think are slightly bigger than the less expensive Isolettes).