thomas_vaehrmann

Hi Dave,

 

actually I own the 4.5/90 Grandagon but can't remember using it at f 4.5. It's a very large lens, esp. on the Technika. Stopped down it is execellent and has lots of movements. I think it will still cover 4x5'' with good quality at f 4.5. On the Technika I normaly use an old 6.8//90 Angulon which is still OK at f 6.8. If you can live with the huge size of the 4.5 Grandagon sell the Super-Angulon and get one, it's a fine lens which provides a bright focusing screen.

 

kind regards

 

Thomas

Hi Andy,

 

the price sounds OK to me, too. If you want to collect the camera, mint condition is preferred. If you want a shooter, I'd choose (and happily did) a camera in B-C condition. A CLA can be needed even in mint condition if the camera was stored away for a long time. I don't think a used M3 that looks OK to you will fall apart the next day. And if so, you can get it fixed and will recive a useble tool.

Look for a cheaper one, avoid the prof used if not CLA'd recently, look for the RF, look for the cloths of the shutter, hear the gears running - that's all.

 

kind regards

 

Thomas

Hi Brian,

 

Kilfitt offered a lot of adaptors for nearly every camera, but they are sought after. Keep your lens and try to use it, it's still a fine tele. You can use a M42/Pentax-srew-mount to E39/Leica-adaptor plus some M42-extension tubes to get the lens in focus. It will work but the focusing-scale will not be correct, but that's no problem on SLR. Avoid the Kilfitt-reflex-housing as Winfried advised and get a Visoflex if you want to use it on a Leica. The Kilfitt-reflex-housing works only with the cable release which fist screw-mount Leicas, not the M-series. I can try to look in a brochure for the right code-name if you tell me the camera you want to use it with.

 

kind regards

 

Thomas

As a long-time Bessa-shooter I'd favour the Septon, a really good lens. The Bessamatic or Ultramatic have a fresnel screen so you can only use the split-image or the micro-prism ring in the center for focusing. Only the Bessamatic-m had a frosted ground-glas for focusing which gives a darker image but you can see the sharpness of the whole picture without any tools in the center. The drawback of these cameras - as the central-shutter and the dof-marks indicate - is that it is over-engineered and a horror for the service.

Hi Paul,

 

the german site of Schneider has an "archiv" with old adv's as pdf http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/archiv/archiv.htm. Hope you find the needed info there.

 

kind regards Thomas

Hi Visti,

 

as you have a rather late Angulon I'm surprised that it doesn't cover 4x5. I have one from the 60's Linhof-selected that covers 4x5 sharp and illuminates more, as does my 120mm Angulon. I once had a prewar-version too that didn't cover. I use mine mostly with f16 to 22. Check out wether it is mounted in center of the film (on Technika-plates it has to be mounted off center therfore) and wether the mounting in the shutter (total length of the lens) is right (if that is off you still get a sharp image but the IC shrinkes).

If that doesn't help try another one, the Angulon is still a fine small lens.

 

kind regards Thomas

Hi Darko,

 

just a few notes to your lenses as others handled the Technika-specs. Uncoated don't mean useless. The Angulon is made of 6 lenses cemented together in only 2 elements so it should be at least equal to your Tessar. Your Tessar won't cover 4x5'', it's for 6x9cm. Your Angulon will cover 4x5'' with little movements. I had one prewar and was not satisfied. So I changed it to a postwar-version which is much better. 120mm is a nice focal length, a little bit wider then normal. Try it and keep it if it fits your needs, then look for a coated 180 to 210mm lens. Old Symmars are cheap.

 

kind regards Thomas

Hi Vick,

 

as I love old lenses and had a bunch of Repro-Claron, Xenotar, Culminon and others I was confrontated with this question (and posted here, search the archive). A friend of mine even put a geiger-counter on them. May be the risk is minimal but I thought about my family, dropped all these lenses an avoid collecting them in the future. I don't miss them as there are alternatives. Nobody saying risk is near nil will guarantie you anything and your are responsible.

 

regards Thomas

Hi Harrison,

 

as far as I remember (had the AE-1 yeras ago) the red M indicates that the aperture-ring on the lens is not set to automatic. The other red light(s) at the end of the scale in the finder indicate over- or under-exposure. Mount a FD-lens and switch to automatic, check the battery and see if your camera is still upset. The electronic parts of the AE-1 seem to become the weak part of that fine camera.

 

kind regards, Thomas

Hi Dan,

 

I use it on a Bessa T with an old Voigtländer Kontur-finder and have no focusing problems. Contrast is still a little bit low on mine which needs a cleaning. Of course there is no reason to have it together with either your Nokton nor my Ultron but that can be said for the rest of 80% of my camera stuff. I'm a passionate hood-user and use a cylidrical metal hood. It blocks the finder of the Canon VI which came with the lens but I don't mind because I'm wearing glasses and can't see all of the finder at a look.

Try it, enjoy it, keep it!

 

kind regards

 

Thomas

Hi Jerry,

 

you are right, the black element can be unscrewed. It's allways safer to take the lenses off before cleaning. You open the shutter from the front side. Unscrew the ring that holds the dial withthe exposure-times and you can see the escapement for the longer times. the 1/500th second has an additional spring for faster movement. You can clean and lub the gears from the front, even unscrew the whole units. The screws from the back side of the shutter-capsule hold the inner platine under which the aperture and shutter-blades are. A dissassambling and cleaning of this parts is only needed if the shutter is realy sticky and greasy. It's always good to have a second shutter opend beside so that you can look where the geas and little springs are fixed right. I'd try to open just the front, clean the gears and put a very little drop of oil (for small watches) on the axles. After a little training the slow times should run good. Other moving parts should be cleand and relubbed with grease. If it's not working right take it apart again and go deeper. Yo can clean the blades in place with alc. If you take them out but look at the right position when remounting.

 

Regards + good look!

Hi Vick,

 

Linhofs are great and the Technika is a field-camera like the Wista. If you want maximum of movements you should look for a monorail like Linhof Kardan (not the Technika-like version with rail). You've read Cameraquest and the facts are true. But the Technika III istn't bad at all. You just have to consider two details: lens-boards are different but availible or DIY and only version 5 takes international film-holders. I'm very happy with mine and it's cheaper then the later models.

 

Regards Thomas

Hi Scott,

 

no, sorry, I didn't recognize it. But just a thought: shutter isn't original but fitted later, barrel is unmarked, lens is pretty fast. So I guess it's an old copy-lens from a xerox-machine. If that's true it is corrected to about 1:1 ratio and either resolution nor coverage are high. You've got a nice spare-shutter (plus a lens). Schneider C-Claron-lenses are in the same drawer but marked, your lens is not. Give 'em a try.

Hi,

your lens is just marked Linhof and has a Linhof-styled front-plate. Inside it's a Synchro-Compur. If the size is identical you may try to swap the lens elements. Measure the total length of the lens mounted in the shutter before and after this operation to see wether it fits. Additionaly you should check the position of the aperture-blades which can be critical to get the best performance of the lens. Some lenses have shim rings to adjust the position of the elements inside the shutter. If you can swap the elements and something is wrong you will see it on the groundglass or at least when enlarging.

But a CLA would be the better option as you get the original shutter back working.

Hi Michael,

 

new lenses have multicoating, less flare and a harder contrast-handling. Symmars etc have more coverage, that all being said. But remember that your fine Technika III (my work-horse in the field) gives you not so much movements. Try your Xenar which might perform better than you expect and get a wider or longer lens first.

The Xenar was a standard lens for all purposes and made in to lines: f 4,5 and a faster one f 3,5 for portrait. Shutter-ergonomics are the reason to reduce the f-stop from 3,5 to 3,8 to fit Compur 1, as the 360mm Symmar in central-leaf-shutter was reduced to f 6,8 to fit Compound III.

Hi Nicholas,

 

bad luck to be "desperatley in need" as I think $350 is a little bit high for a lens with a scratch. So you might not sell it again for that $$$ if you don't like it. The scratch might affect the performance under certain lighting conidtions. To be on the safer side fill the scratch with black paint. That will avoid flare from the scratch and will not need a crrrection of the exposure-time as it is so small.

Hi Michael,

 

as the Xenar is too large for the Polaroid and you have swaped the lens-cells, check the length of the complete lens. It might be that it doesn't match to it's original shutter size.

Element separation (Schneideritis) might affect the image quality. The Ysarex is told to use rare earth glases. I've a 150mm Xenar and a 135mm Ysarex but didn't ever compare them side by side. Both perform good enough. Image circle is smaler than Symmar as both are Tessar-types. Contrast and resolution are very high in the center and fall off towards the edges. As image quality might be equal or at least good enough take the one that works on your camera. As I've a 135mm cam for my Technika, I use the Ysarex for hand-held shooting with aperture full open or slightly closed to f8.

Simon,

 

if you need something longer than 250mm you should look for a 360mm Tele-Xenar or Tele-Arton or a 400mm tele-lens. These are big but you will not have to pull the extension beds out so far. If you want a non-tele-design you will need every mm of extension the Technika offers. I wouldn't suggest that with a lens that comes in a Compur 3 like Symmar etc. 300mm Apo-Ronar, 300mm Nikor-M or 300mm G-Claron are a better choice and come in Compur 1, the old 360mm Apo-Ronar can be found in Compur 2. But remember 300mm isn't that much longer than 250mm. If you want to make shots in the nearer distance a 270mm G-Claron might be the best choice.

Hi Steve,

 

as already said, the Vito-shutter is cocked via the perforation of the film, so no kocking without a film in it or moving the sprocket in the back. As far as I remember, you didn't have to remove the shutterblock from the camera bady. You start from the lens by removing the complete front-element. As it has front-lens-focusing, you'll have to adjust that later. There should be three small screws in the ring bearing the distance-scale. Lose them, pull the ring off and unscrew the whole element. Then you can remove the rest of the front-assembly and finaly look at he wheels. Clean them and the shutter-blades with lighter-fluid or someting similar. Then put a small drop of oil (for whrist-watches) on the wheel-axles. Finaly if nothing is broken it should work.

Hi Carsten,

 

Symmars are cheap these days. You can swap both elements or (first) cover the scratch with matt black paint. As modern convertible lenses are not absolute symmetrical the results may be not so good if you mix cells from different manufacturers.

Information about coverage, sorry the files are a littel bit to large and data is in German.

Sometimes someone asks for more Information:

Hi Bill,

 

Solinar is a Tessar-Clone, Agfa's six-lenser was named Solagon. Both perform well, have fun!

Hi Wen,

on my old Rollex holder the brass wheel and the ratchet for measuring the right distance between the frames is worn out. I bought a new Calumet-holder. If the rollex is very old and very used avoid it.