ron_lawrence1

You should have purchased the $50 drum. You can find them used for $5

to $25. I purchased mine for $5 at a local camera shop. You could also

consider the Beseler drum. It is a nice product but I selected the

Unicolor drum because I liked the Unicolor motor base roller.

I experienced this same problem on a light weight Calumet wood 4X5

field camera. I now use a Linhof Technica III for 4X5 and a Calumet C1

for 8X10 and I have no problem. Both are metal cameras and very

stable. This may be one of the things you have to put up with when

using older wooden cameras.

I have a 375 Ilex Caltar that is use for 8X10 B&W and it performs very

well. In fact I have compared it to a 14" Kodak Commercial Ektar and I

can not tell any difference on 8X10 contacts. Maybe there was a

quality control problem that caused some 375 mm Ilex Caltar lenses to

be poor performers. If this is true I would have thought it would also

affect other Ilex Caltar lens.

Just to clear David up, the two Ilex No. 5 Universal Sync shutters I

have are both self cocking. Of my two shutters, the oldest one that

has not been CLA'd in 10 years works great with my cable release. The

newer shutter which was CLA'd within the last year will not work with

the same cable release. I think it needs a longer plunger for some

reason.

I also use a B&J Grover 8X10 but to my knowledge the 8X10 Grover never

had an extension rail as an option. My rail is a hex rail

approximately 20" in length. My bellows will only support the 20"

rail. There are no gear teeth on my rail. I think someone may be

pulling your leg.

I had a bellows made for my Calumet C1 approximately 6 months ago by

Flexable Products in Florida. Cost was $175 and all I had to do was

send them my old bellows with the bellows frame on both ends. Quality

was okay but not as good as I was expecting. Turn around time was 3

weeks.

One thing I forgot to mention that may be an important issue. In my

older age I'm now wearing Varilux progressive focus glasses. Lining up

you glasses on the loop eye-piece for sharpe focus can be a real

hassle.

I currently have two different focusing loops that I use on my 4X5 view camera (Toyo 4X & Eschenbach 8X). I have recently gotten a Acculight light table and I'm using the same two loops to view transparencies on this light table. What I have noticed is all transparencies are very slightly soft when the loop is placed on top of the transparency. When I raise the loop up off the transparency approximately 1/16" for the Eschenbach and 1/8" for the Toyo, images are tack sharp. What's going on? Do I need to purchase a special loop for viewing transparencies on a light table? Thanks!

I currently use an older Technika III and think it is the greatest 4X5

field camera I have ever used. I love the precision. In fact I have

sold two different wood field cameras over the years (Wista DX and

Horseman)in favor of keeping the Technika III. Don't get me wrong, I

think wood field cameras are beautiful but sometimes beautiful things

are meant to be looked at. The less beautiful Technika is a tool that

keeps on delivering beautiful images year after year.

150 Schneider Symmar S for 4X5. When I backpack, I end up making as

many still life close-up images as I do landscape images. I find the

150 Symmar S to be a very versatile lens.

It has been 5 years since I owned a Wista DX and I have never owned or

used a Tachihara. I have compared the two cameras and they will

basicly do the same thing. The person under the dark cloth and the

lens are the most import elements when comparing these two cameras.

With that said, the differences I saw when comparing the two cameras

were, Wista has a better made bellows, Wista has a little thicker

cherry wood, Wista has a better grade brass metal work. These are the

reasons the Wista cost more money. If I had to do it over again I

would buy the Wista DX. Since you already own the Tachihara, keep it

and enjoy it.

What do you mean you can not afford a Unidrum. The last two I

purchased locally cost me $5.00 each (used, but very nice condition).

I also purchased a Unicolor motorized base for $15.00. The system

works great and is the lowest cost way to process 4X5, 5X7 or 8X10

film. Good luck!

I have 90 mm Super Angulon in a defective Compur shutter. I also have a spare Compur shutter in very nice condition with the same min/max aperture. If I were to exchange shutters, what kind of calibration is needed to match the lens to the new shutter? When I take the lens elements off the defective shutter, I see no shims. Thanks for your guidence!

I have an 8X10 bellows made recently by Flexproducts. The company was

very customer friendly and it only took 4 weeks to get the bellows

back. Quality was okay considering the $160 price, but nothing like

the original Calumet bellows. The folds were not symertrical and the

inter and outer material was not glued in places which caused a few

puckers in the bellows. Flexproducts offered to make the bellows over

again but I was to eager to get out and use the camera and figured it

was only a cosmetic problem that I could live with. Good luck!

I understand Kodak's serial number code on Commercial Ektar lenses can be used to determine what year the lens was manufactured. Can anyone share how the serial number code works?

David.... I use a Beseler 8X10 drum and Rodinal 1:25 to process single

sheets of HP5+. I have had very good results using 120 ml of

developer. I also use a water bath for 30 seconds before the

developer. I hand roll the drum. I have never tried the motor base.

Don't know about the Kodak back but I have seen a Burke & James wood

back on a Calumet C1 8X10. If the Kodak back is wood, I'm sure you can

make it work with a little machining.

Can anyone tell me the differences between the different "C" series Calumet 8X10 field cameras? In View Camera magizine I have seen advertised models "C", "C1", "C2". In pictures I have seen Calumet 8X10's that were black, blue, green, gray. Do the different models match up to the different colors?

I once had a 5X7 Elwood that I used for printing 4X5 negatives. Since

the carrier is made of wood, it was pretty easy to make a 4X5 carrier

in my wood working shop. I sandwiched the negative between the carrier

and a wooden frame. I also used a 5X7 Aristo cold lite head with my

Elwood. It worked well! The only problem I had with my Elwood was

stability. I had to gut the enlarger column to the wall using cable

and turn-buckles.

Thanks to all for the comments! The Commerical Ektar has nice glass

but has a ding (been dropped) around the filter ring area. The shutter

will need to be CLA'd because slow speeds are way off. The Ilex

Calumet Caltar lens is in very pretty condition, both glass and

shutter. Shutter seems to be close to accurate but has not been tested

on a shutter tester. How can I tell a 3 element from a 4 element Ilex

Calumet Caltar. The serial number on the Ilex lens is 1531. I was told

it was late 1960's. I have seen some 14-3/4" Ilex Caltar Acutar lens

that do sell for a little less. Could this be the 3 element lens? By

the way, I'm looking at local camera shops because of some bad

experiences I have had with buying on EBAY. What you get is not always

as described and shown on EBAY.

 

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Thanks again!

I'm looking at two used 14" lens at local shops in my area. I have narrowed my choices down to a 14" Commerical Ektar in VG condition for $500 and a 14-3/4" Ilex Calumet Caltar lens in E++ condition for $300. Does the Commerical Ektar in it's condition justify the $200 greater cost over the Ilex lens? Both are in Ilex Universal #5 shutters. I will be using the lens to make 8X10 B&W contacts and an occasional 8X10 color transparancy. Thanks!

Send your lens to a shop you trust now before the fungus starts

etching into the coating. I once had a 90 f5.6 Super Angulon that had

fungus and I sent it to Schneider USA and they were able to clean the

lens so it looked like new. Peace of mind now and resale in later

years will make it worth the $50-$75 it will cost to clean.

I once used at Soligor Spot Sensor meter in the late 80's and it was

an anlog meter. It is my understanding the Spot Sendor II was a

digital meter.

Where can I find front and rear lens for an older Ilex Calumet Caltar 375mm lens? Why do so many large format lens have no lens caps when they are on the market for sale?

 

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Thanks!

I have a Linhof 3-way pan/tilt head, model 139. The tilt control arm and the pan control knob has broken. Does amyone know if parts are available for this head and if so, who should I contact? Thanks!