David Lindquist

No longer made of course, but the Deardorff 4 x 5 Special could be had with either a reversible or a revolving back. The back could be either a spring back or a Graflok back. Since the 4 x 5 Special used the 5 x 7 Deardorff body, a 360º revolving 4 x 5 back was easily accommodated. David

I have a hunch they did it that way because they wanted to make the lens collapsible. See an example here: https://www.kenrockwell.com/leica/50mm-f28.htm This way the diaphragm mechanism which takes up a larger diameter space than the lens barrel itself is well forward in the lens assembly making possible a maximum length of slimmer lens barrel for telescoping (collapsing). David

Thank you. I'm thinking now that for correcting errors or adding information it might be better for me to write a new post rather than counting on people re-reading an older one. David

Thank you, this has been very helpful. Fifteen minutes is a bit shorter window for editing than I'm used to but should be enough if I immediately read my post carefully for spelling and punctuation errors and redundancies. And yes, "Edit" does appear when I click on the dots... David

Thank you. When I do that I just get "Report" and "Share", as if I were clicking the dots in someone else's post. Tried signing out and back in, no change. No real need right now to edit a post but at some point I expect I'll make a error that needs correcting. David

My apologies, I haven't been posting here for long. Can't see an "Edit" to click on associated with my recent post. David

The diaphragm is also between the first and second element too, right? This is similar to the 50 mm Leitz Elmar, a Tessar formula. Here the diaphragm is between the first and second element. In general with Tessar lenses the diaphragm (and shutter, if there is one) is between the second element and the rear two lens cemented group. David

H. Lynn Jones died in 2012. I'm afraid he was known at times to put out mis-information. See: https://www.galerie-photo.com/ilex-lenses.html Read not only the opening paragraphs but also the information at the end about the Ilex 20" f/7 Acutar. David

I bought a 16.5 cm f/4.5 Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar on ebay from a highly rated seller in Ukraine. Ordered on March 28 with understanding that delivery would be about April 27. It arrived early, April 22. It's a nice example and I'm happy. Tracking number was provided. Tracking seemed to show that much of its travel time was, understandably, spent getting out of Ukraine. David

Thank you for this Conrad. I'm a bit surprised I didn't get this publication back in the day. As you suggest maybe it wasn't that widely distributed, perhaps mainly to RIT students as required reading. Very good presentation of important principles. Back in the 70's I had one of those Kodak black plastic (Bakelite?) densitometers. It got replaced with a MacBeth (transmission only/black & white only/ analogue rather than digital readout) later back in the 70's. Its performance got wonky a few years ago so I replaced it with an Xrite with digital readout, easier for me to use at this point in my life. Different people work different ways. I'd never claim one needs a densitometer to do good work but personally I like being able to use one. I remember many years ago hearing Oliver Gagliani advise that after getting your basic view camera kit together you should consider getting a densitometer before getting a second lens. David

I don't think that's the original shutter, doesn't look like it has an aperture scale for the 265 mm converted focal length. On a related note, wonder when Schneider started offering their lenses in Copal shutters. Copal shutters are not listed on a January 1968 price list. In fall of 1972 I bought a new 121 mm Super Angulon that was in a Copal shutter. Per its serial number, the lens shown here would have been made between November 1968 and July 1970 (11 000 000 - 11 500 000). David

I expect that's why when I tried to order some last fall I had a bit of trouble finding any. I did get some; they have an expiration date of 04-2025. As it turns out, here in the US Zoro (a subsidiary of Grainger) has the Excell brand: https://www.zoro.com/exell-battery-s28px-6v-silver-oxide-battery-4sr44-v28px-px28-544-s28px/i/G003546441/?q=4SR44 battery Looks like they are currently in stock. I've ordered stuff for my home shop from Zoro. David

I have two Pentax digital spot meter manuals. The older, dated 5/87, says to use "One 6V silver oxide battery or equivalent alkaline battery". The newer manual, copyright 2/2002, states for power source: "One 6V silver oxide battery, one 6 volt alkaline battery or 2CR-1/3 lithium battery." Elsewhere this manual gives 4SR44 and 4LR44 respectively for the silver oxide and the alkaline batteries. I use the Varta V28PX/4SR44. David

I have three Weston meters. Perhaps unfortunately for me in light of Rodeo Joe's comment above, they are a Master IV, a Master V and a Euromaster. I got the Master V at the Fort Sam Houston PX in 1967-68 and the Euromaster was given to me by a friend. George Milton/Quality Light Metric replaced the cells on these in 2007. He commented that the cells should be good for 15-20 years. At this point I'll hope for the best. As noted early in this thread, by 2014 George could no longer get the replacement cells. And of course now he has retired and closed the business. Ian Partridge, see: https://ian-partridge.com/index.html , rebuilds and sells the Weston IV, the V and the Euromaster. This includes replacing the cell of course. I don't know where he gets the cells. I bought my Weston IV from him in 2017. Personally I like these meters but that in part is because I'm drawn to old classic technologies. And full disclosure, I also use a Pentax digital spot meter. As far as what is available new with a selenium cell, I'm guessing that's what the Sekonic L398 uses. Does anyone know? Sekonic calls it an "Amophous Photo Sensor" and comments that it doesn't require a battery. David

Kodak film is still made by Eastman Kodak in Rochester, New York. As for Bell & Howell, well those cheesy lawn/security lights you see advertised on TV under the Bell & Howell brand name have no relationship (other than brand name ownership) to the fine and sturdy mechanics of the 70DR 16 mm motion picture camera. Like others here I buy my film from Freestyle. David