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It is a long time ago since I used a Contax RTS. I do remember that this problem is well known. I believe it is a mechanical problem in the lens. The aperture is mechanically communicated to the camera body. When you look at the back of the lens and turn the aperture ring you can see a little "lever" moving. The position of the lever communicates the aperture setting. It also closes the aperture. You can simulate this with your finger by pushing the lever clockwise. I suspect that the lever is slightly out of spec. On some cameras it still works correctly but on others it communicates the next aperture. Being a mechanical problem implies that it can easily be solved. A problem is that Contax service has vanished a long time ago. Perhaps contacting a discussion group dedicated to Contax can be of more help. Ferdi.

The Leica is smaller than the Hasselblad but it is quite heavy for its size.

Alistair, What I was trying to explain is this. The transition zone of a grad should be suitable for the frame size. Medium format is usually 60 mm high and it requires a wider transition zone than the 24 mm (or 36 mm) of 35 mm film. Lee's 75 mm system is aimed at 35 mm cameras and the transition zone corresponds with that frame size. Lee's 100 mm system is often used on medium format cameras. Anyway the transition zones are wider than those of the 75 mm system. In real life we tend to choose a filter system based in the diameter of the lens. Now that you are opting for the 100 mm system you are OK because the transition zones are suitable for MF. It is just that if the small diameter of a 3.5/75 mm lens would cause you to opt for the 75 mm system, you should choose a soft grad to get the same transition zone as a hard grad in the 100 mm system. Large format photographers using lenses with small diameters can opt for the 75 mm system but that will have very narrow transition zones with respect to their frame size of 4 or 5 inch. /Ferdi.

The effect on film is the same as looking through the viewfinder. I do not understand your second question. Except for the very old Rolleiflexes viewing and taking lenses have the same apertures and the same bayonet sizes. The diameter of the lens makes a difference when it comes to choosing a filter system like Lee. The grads for the 100 mm system have a wider transition zone than the grads for the 75 mm system. The 100 mm system aims mainly at larger image sizes (medium format) than the 75 mm system (35 mm, APS-C). Typically Lee grads come in two flavours: "Hard" and "Soft". What is hard in the 100 mm system equals soft in the 75 mm system. I have never used grads on my TLR; I also have a medium format SLR. I suppose the 100 mm system will be very unpractical on a TLR and a 75 mm system might be less unpractical. In that case be careful with "hard" filters. They will turn out to be "very hard" on medium format film. Rollei made a lens shade in Bay III with a holder for (grad) filters at the front. Filters could be positioned up and down just like Lee or Cokin now. I have never seen one and do not know how thick filters were. Their size was rather small so I suppose they will have been around 1 mm thick rather than the present 1.5 or 2.0 mm filters. Finding such a lens shade is going to be difficult and you still have to find filters that fit. Using a polariser on a TLR is not a problem, using grads is quite a hassle. Best regards, Ferdi.

Heliopan produces Polarizers with numbers on the rim. You do not have to mount the polarizer on the viewing lens. You can simply look trough the polarizer and turn it until you see what you like and read the number that is on top. Mount the polarizer onto the taking lens and turn until that number is on top again. As far as I know Heliopan produces no longer filters in Bay I (3.5/75 mm lens), so you will have to find a suitable adaptor ring first. Bay I - 46 mm should be available. /Ferdi. Rollei and Yashica TLR Accessories

Post-War Rolleiflex 3.5 serial # at Rolleigraphy with information on optics Rolleiflex 2.8 serial numbers on Rolleigraphy.org with information on optics CZJ = Jena (East) Opton = Oberkochen (West) CZ = Oberkochen (West)

The Automat had a Tessar 3.5. The mismatched CZ Jena Tessars were the 2.8 not the 3.5 lenses. This is the story. The optical elements for the Tessar 2.8 were made at Carl Zeiss Jena before the war. The elements were matched and the lenses were ready for sale. They were not coated. Before WWII coating was reserved mainly for military use. During the war camera production had been reduced in favour of military products and the Tessars remained unsold. After the war the Rolleiflex factory was interested in purchasing Tessars 2.8 but wanted them coated. During the process of coating a number of elements were misplaced resulting in the mismatched Tessars 2.8. The Rolleiflex 2.8 cameras were recalled to have the optics replaced by (West-German) Opton Tessars 2.8. /Ferdi.

When you wrote you had a "5" I already guessed you owned a Rolleicord V. The Xenar is aTessar-type lens. The original screen is dim indeed, however I had no problems taking sharp pictures with my Rolleicord Va. I did use the magnifier when focusing. /Ferdi.

How far did you stop down? With Tessars you really have to stop down to f/8 and smaller (higher f/number) for crisp images. A fully opened Tessar is fit only for "flattering portraits". /Ferdi.

That was the Carl Zeiss JenaTessar 2.8 not the 3.5. /Ferdi.

I also own that lens and mine also behaves exactly like yours. I never gave it a thought. I own a Fujinon lens that turns beyond f/64. May be you just worry too much. /Ferdi.

I wanted to take the farmhouse, not a problem it is there, the Spring flowers, they are flowering for about a week, some sunshine at the right time of day and nice clouds. I went there four times and was not very lucky with the clouds. Eventually the desired clouds emerged but then most of the flowers were gone. I'll try again next year. Ferdi.

Farmhouse with Spring flowers near Drachten, Friesland, Netherlands. (Rolleiflex 6008i, 50 mm Distagon, Velvia RVP)

Castlerigg Stone Circle, Cumbria, England. Made in October 2006, around 5 pm. Rolleiflex 6008i, Distagon FLE 50 mm f/4 on Velvia RVP. This is the old Velvia, not the present Velvia 50. I used a polariser.

Millennium Bridge with St Paul's cathedral, London.

The original Photomic: has it "open-aperture" metering or "stop-down" metering? With open-aperture metering you have to index, to know what "open" is and how many steps from "open" the aperture ring is set in order to simulate the working aperture. With stop-down metering this is not needed because you meter using the actual aperture, not a simulated aperture. You write it has an external CdS-cell. External cells usually meant stop-down metering, IIRC. Ferdi.

That is the planetary or differential Synchro-Compur needed for the F-type light-meter. It turns stiffer caused by the extra gears. First 3.5 F cameras have an EV-lock on the aperture wheel. That was omitted in type 2 3.5 F cameras because it has no purpose on an F-type. Later type 3 and 4 3.5 F and all 2.8 F have a standard Synchro-Compur shutter with a separate differential. Third type 3.5 F or later are seen as more desirable than the earlier ones. /Ferdi.

http://www.focalpointlens.com/our-services/#lens-polishing

Buy or sell nothing. Use the FTB.

On my digital cameras I do not need that many filters. I do not wast my money on step-up rings and bye the filters in the proper size.

If you want to let the AEL/AFL button do the actual focusing, you have to set the front switch of the camera on M (manual). Aim the camera at your chosen point of focus and just press AEL/AFL. Fine tune focus by hand if necessary. Then do what ever you want to recompose and meter by half-pressing the release and finally release the shutter. I use a different Fuji X camera but I believe it works the same way. I do not have the manual at hand, you may have to adjust the function of the AEL/AFL button. Ferdi.

Podere Belvedere, along SP 146 near San Quirico, Tuscany.

<p>John Farrell is right. This lens by the East-German Carl Zeiss Jena was meant for export to the Western World, hence the company name was shortened to just JENA and Biometar was shortened to Bm. In the same way products by West-German Carl Zeiss, Oberkochen, that were sold in the East Block were labeled OPTON (OPTical works OberkocheN) and for instance Planar became Pl.</p>

<p>If Key Camera fails there is only Paepke in Düsseldorf and DW Photo in Braunschweig, both in Germany. For contact details please see<br> <a href="https://rolleigraphy.org/repair.php">https://rolleigraphy.org/repair.php</a></p>

<p>Danielle Inc do not service Rollei cameras/lenses anymore.</p>