paul_graham4

it must be made clear that there are two principle versions of the 135mm LF Planar (and many lesser sub-versions)

the first and most common one has a 58mm front thread. This version was available in regular and Linhof select forms. It is pretty good, but pretty old (50's and 60's). It is not hard to find. 95% sold on EBay are of this type.

the second and far rarer version has an enlarged front element for much better edge resolution + coverage, and has a 67mm front filter thread. This is a superior lens, made in the 1970's and 1980's came in regular, Linhof and T* versions. Nearly all were multi coated (I have this confirmed personally by Zeiss) but the T* branded coating i.d. was only on that last run of 500 made for Japan/US.

ALL of these 67mm versions are rare and hard to find. my personal favorite would be a 67mm Linhof one. it is multi coated, Linhof QC inspected (no small thing) and ultra rare. Probably the best 4x5" standard lens ever made, bar none.

Yes I have owned them, and tested them against one another. nothing comes close.

Could not disagree more!

I own a Quickchange and Grafmatics, and the Grafmatics can leak, have bent septums, and counters that jam. they are also very old by now.

The Quickchange has unbendable plastic inserts, works perfectly, is 50% lighter and has 8 shot capacity, rather than 6, and you can swap out mid sequence. its a no brainer.

Ken Canham (camera maker and technician par excellence) uses them himself and liked them so much he went to visit the designer in Japan, and then became the US importer when that was possible! You cant get a higher recommendation than that.

I would choose them over a Grafmatic any day. Considering that EBay outfit = more than 5 grafmatics, its a bargain.

Raj - I've had two of these exact enlargers for 10 years, and nothing has gone wrong with either of them, not even once. So I have no idea where you get your information from, (durst?) but its dubious. Yes ZBE no longer makes this models guts, but they are still very much in business, and there's plenty of people in the UK who service them and have the knowledge to fix anything, and have parts. But like I say, all I ever needed was the rare service. If it did go wrong, theres always the manual handwheels (like a normal 504 DeVere) so - thats the worst that could happen: having to use it like a regular 504!

Mine have worked flawlessly for over a decade. seems boring to report it, but thats how it is.

anyone out there with a P45 who'd care to let me know what they think

of it - I'm about to invest my hard earned $, if its a good buy,

paul

I can't seem to track down any reference to Panorama on the web, and

it was the principle magazine for the UK laboratory/ photo finishing

trade - anyone know where it went to or got a website to point me to?

ps: I'm not referrring to the Italian Panorama camera magazine.

thanks,

paul

jeez - its amazing how many people answer questions they don't know the answers to...

Laumont has a Lightjet 500XL, which is the only 72" wide digital c-printing machine you can use over 48" wide, and they are the cheapest too + specialise in these things. they mount too. Duggal has one also, but are expensive. Laumont are the 'art' lab in the city. If its just 3'x4' (which is not big at all) you can get them done most everywhere.

your file sounds too small to be succesfully enlarged though, its a problem with digital files - you can't go back and get a bigger scan made like you can with film. Look at outbackphoto.com for an up-resing photoshop action set for digital files, that may help.

has anyone seen the new Fuji 4x5" negative stock out yet?

Pro 160S / Pro 160C ?

it still seems to be NPS everywhere I look

Lens and Repro, 33 W 17th Street have a huge rental dept. mail and ask them.

Photo Gizmo has two Littmans also, but not sure if they are for rent or not: 134 W 26th Street

Readyload is US$60 per 20 sheet pack +tax

but I use Grafmatics on my Littman - it is the quickest way of shooting 4x5"

has anyone seen one of these lenses or used one?

- the very rare 55mm f1.2 Zeiss Planar for contax - any clues where I

could see some results, or where one is for sale, or information on

the lens

zeiss has nothing on its site, and google comes up with nothing !

thanks,

paul

ps: this is not a typo - I don't mean the 50/1.7 or 50/1.4 planars!

I have owned and tested all types of MF cameras, and I have to go against the flow of things here and tell you that the lenses on the Fuji are nowhere near as good as others would say. A direct comparison to a Mamiya 7 was not even close - the Mamiya is far superior, the Fuji is softer and less sharp.

The plain and simple truth is that most people don't blow up their images enough to see the difference in sharpness, and they want to believe thata camera this big & expensive has an amazing lens. it doesn't.

oh, and before anyone writes in to dispute this as a roigue camera - I tested 3 seperate 690's. all were inferior to the Mamiya 7, and to a Linhof 220.

I have a much beloved lens, but it is a very basic single coated

type. Flare is a bit of a problem compared to any modern lens I use,

though it is razor sharp so:

should I try to get it coated - and if so where?

or

would things improve if I use a modern multi-coated filter on the

front (or do I loose more than I gain?)

thanks,

paul

there's a koni omega lens spacer and complete close up outfit (ground

glass + viewer) for sale on Ebay.com - its very rare and turns your

Koni into a view camera.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?

ViewItem&category=710&item=3820841937&rd=1

paul

Get a Nikon 9000 - and forget the rest.

if you are scanning m/f films use this scanner with a Wet Mount carrier (from Aztek.com) then nothing comes remotely close to it at that price.

I have used all 3 the Nikon is astonishingly good when you wet mount the films. better than Imacons and a lot better than flatbeds.

paul

has anyone got or used one of these - is it any good? and what is the

length of the lens on it? seen one available anywhere?

many thanks,

paul

where can I get a lens resolution test chart/ target? something like

a wall chart to test the sharpness of my different lens

Ebay comes up blank on all the searches I can think of.

thanks,

paul

I got the epson 4870 and its a P.O.S.

buy the Nikon 9000 and a wet mount carrier.

light years apart.

just wanted to ask - can you get a bigger neg than 6x9 if you use

70mm rollfilm? or is it the same choices: 56x70mm, (6x7) 56x83mm,

(6x9) etc.

I wondered if anyone makes a back using unperforated 70mm that gives

you, oh, I don't know, 62 x 90 mm ?? I'm looking to get a little

more out of the hieght than 56mm... something halfway between 6x9

and 4x5".

btw: I'm not talking about the panoramic backs here, (6x12 or

whatever), thanks,

paul

the best m/f enlarging lens by far is the Apo El-Nikkor 105mm. it far out performs any of the Rodenstock lenses. I have had all of them (80, 90, 105 apo and G-series) and the Nikkor is quite superior. It is also the only true apo out of them all - no color fringing at all. Rodenstock should be sued for calling their lenses apo's when they aren't.

this is not a regular el-nikkor, and not an apo-nikkor it is an "apo el-nikkor"

Camera and darkroom called it "The best enlarging lens available to mortals" and they are right.

unfortunately its last list price was over $2000...

paul

yeah, I'm scanning some old plaubel negs right now. they are indeed 56x68mm, with rounded corners like an old postcard... pretty short of the ideal 56x72 that Linhof introduced the format for.

I think some manufacturers try to create a 6x7 with an 80mm 'standard' and the smaller size (image circle) makes less problems for them.

my linhof 220 is a proper 56x72, and Mamiya 7 is 56x70mm both with sharp square corners. I'm thinking of filing that out to 72mm soon !

paul

hi all,

has anyone ever seen the close up tube (lens extender?) for Koni-

Omega cameras? I'm told they exist for both the regular omegas (a

10mm tube) and the omegaflexes (a 10mm spacer plate) to move the lens

a little further out and allow the lens to focus closer, but I've

never seen one?

any ideas/ or knowledge of them?

thanks,

paul - peegeenyc@earthlink.net

hi,

does anyone have any info on the 6x8 version of the Fuji rangefinder -

the version that was only sold in Japan/ asian markets.

what was the exact neg. dimensions?

did any make it to the US?

I would prefer it to the 690, but am having a hard time tracking down

hard info or owners to ask.

thanks, paul

I remember reading an advert from a lab in NYC that boasted of

getting clean smooth even skies in the sheet film processing. -

anyone know or remember which one that was?

or can heartily recommend another one.

(I use color neg - C41)

thanks, paul

thanks all.

I really don't think the electric flashes are powerful enough to give me the ooommphhh I need. to get f22 or f32 at 6 foot is a lot.

I've always found that the electric flashes are very 'optimistic' in their output figures.

Anyone care to try it and tell us?- put their flash on full power, point it at your flash meter 6 ft away and tell me what you get for 100asa films - f16 at best, right? (if you have a zoom, do it at 35mm setting, I'm using 150 lens on 4x5"))

The most powerful on camera one I know is the Metz 40MZ series (discontinued now). and that gets to f22 at 4 foot.

paul

hi all-

do you know of anyone who specializes in refurbishing flashguns / or

even uprating them?

I have one that is a favourite, (Olympus T32) but a little old � I

want to bring it back to as new spec, or... better- e.g. up-rate the

capacitor? I'd love a 1/2 stop extra power!

any #'s for good repair guys or tinkeres?

I'm in NYC.

Paul