winfried_buechsenschuetz1

<p>"The "circularly placed mechanics" surrounding the lens is very interesting."<br> This is more or less the way all leaf shutters are designed. Taron did not use their own shutters (maybe the shutter make can be seen on the lens barrel), they used shutters from japanese manufacturers. Many of their shutters are based on German Prontor shutters. <br> Many years ago I found a very similar Taron model on a flew market for a few EUR (or even DM at that time). It turned out that obviously a blacksmith had worked on the camera - hardly anything worked. With a basic knowledge of rangefinder cameras, leaf shutters and "needle trap" auto exposure mechanism I finally got this beast to work and the meter to show reasonable values. However, I never took any pictures with it. <br> Many of the early Taron rangefinders with meters look a bit similar to Konica cameras of that era, but their design and workmanship does not meet Konica standards. Maybe Taron placed their products as cheaper alternative to Konica and other leading brand cameras. BTW, Taron rangefinders were among th first japanese cameras officially imported to Germany. They were sold by Photo-Porst, one of the first mail order photo shops in Germany, some of the models were re-branded. <br> <br> </p>

<p>...but why a "Schmidt-Cassegrain" system?<br> The special thing about Schmidt systems is that they use spherical mirrors instead of a parabolic one. The spherical abbereation is avoided by setting the entry pupil in the center of the sphere of the mirror. Theoretically, all light beams are reflected exactly to this point. Practically, with an opening greater than zero, the light beam has a certain diameter and so minor aberrations will occur. These can be corrected by the "Schmidt plate", actually a very thin lens with an aspherical curvature on one side. This lens will have only small chromatic aberrations. <br> The Cassegrain design (with the secondary mirror reflecting the light beams to an opening in the primary mirror) was known earlier and was combined with Schmidts design. The secondary mirror can be attached to the Schmidt plate, thus avoiding diffraktion from a mirror holder. <br> And ... welcome back, JDM!! It will be a pleasure not only for me but for everyone (I think) to read your contributions from time to time. </p>

<p>I think this is rather a problem with the shutter button locking feature. The shutter button has two parts, one to be pressed with the finger and to screw in a cable release, and another one linking it to the shutter release mechanism. Probably only the first part is somehow locked in place. Maybe you can check yourself, you have to remove the upper cover. Unscrew the screw of the advance lever and the rewind crank and remove all screws around the cover, then lift it. <br> Of course you have to remove the film prior to that. Rewinding the film should still be possible after pressing the rewind button. Also, in shops still dealing with film cameras they should have a "film changing bag", an opaque bag with two openings for the hands which makes it possible to remove the film without a darkroom. </p>

<p>Filters will change the picture but will not necessarily improve them. When shooting b/w you can, for example, get a darker sky (in case it is actually blue) with a yellow filter since most b/w films will "overexpose" blueish tones. <br> A polarizing filter will increase colour contrast since it reduces reflections, even indirect ones from more or less matte surfaces. This CAN be an improvement, since it will also reduce reflections from dust in the sky and the blue will be more intense, but sometimes a pol filter gives a somewhat unnatural look since we are used to see reflections for example on grass etc. <br> If you are satisfied with your pics, there is no guarantee that you will be more satisfied when using filters. They should be used deliberately and not overabuntantly. </p>

<p>I think we did not answer the question yet WHY some camera manufacturers use Keplerian viewfinders. One point is that the length of a Keplerian telescope/viewfinder can be extended using relay lens elements (the "image erecting" lens system mentioned by me earlier doubles as such a device). So the path of light of the viewfinder can be bent by mirrors and the entry window can be placed virtually anywhere on the camera body, sometimes very close to the taking lens and thus avoiding parallax errors. All other viewfinder systems have a certain (limited) tube length with a given magnification factor. </p>

<p>"Yes, following on from Stephen, the other salient point is that a Keplerian viewfinder does not produce an upside-down image (unlike a Galilean telescope)."<br> It's just the other way round. Galilean telescopes produce an upright image, Keplerian telescopes will produce an upside-down image (which does not matter when these telescopes are used in astronomy). A Keplerian telescope always needs a device for reversing the image. This can be done by a set of reflective prisms (as in binoculars), or by using additional lens elements (which will increase the length of the telescope). <br> The advantage of a Keplerian viewfinder is that you can easily add a frame limiting the field of view and the edges of this frame will appear as sharp as the image itself. <br> More details are discussed here:<br> http://www.openphotographyforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17828</p>

<p>" I have one 1950 J-3 made using 1945 Zeiss elements that was held together using sewing thread and could not focus until putting a 1mm spacer between back and front groups."<br> I do not deny bad workmanship on many russian goods. But sometimes the items that appear on the market suffer from failed repair attempts. I once received a Moskva5 (supposed to have a 105mm lens) which was equipped with a front lens element obviously cannibalized from a Moskva4 with a 110mm lens. Also, I once received a Sokol rangefinder camera where the light meter had been removed and all wires leading to it were properly isolated, I still have doubts whether it was manufactured like that or whether someone removed the broken light meter completely. <br> </p>

<p>"Zenit 39mm Pitch thread is fine; interchangeable with Leica."<br> That's true but do not ignore the fact that the Zenit lenses were made for a completely different lens register (distance from lens to film plane). You will not get anything even close to sharpness when screwing such a lens to your camera. </p> <p>However, I also would not recommend using a SLR lens on a arangefinder except for special needs. Since 28mm lenses for LTM are a bit hard to find and costly, I bought a 28mm Vivitar lens with M42 mount dirt cheap and found a matching thread adaptor and distance ring in a local dealer's grabbox. Works fine, depth of field is so wide even at f/2.8 that there are no "guesstimate" focussing problems. </p>

<p>I had quite a few pieces of Carl Zeiss Jena and other GDR made camera stuff in my hands but I have never seen a "DDR" engraving on any of these pieces. <br> Otherwise, due to the brass coating, there is little doubt that this is a Russian fake from a less competent manufacturer. </p>

<p>"Lucky man, Andy, the Travegon is more than somewhat sought-after."<br> Yes, there is a hype for older German lenses from less known manufacturers but this does not mean that these lenses are excellent. <br> Many years ago you could get Schacht and Meyer-Goerlitz lenses dirt cheap, I have some with Leica screwmount, and I also managed to acquire a set of Schacht lenses for M42 mount for reasonable prices. The f/4.5 200m came as a 3D puzzle, with the focussing helical guide block broken off (fortunately there was room enough to drill new threaded holes for somewhat bigger screws). <br> However, the Schacht lenses were not bad at all. They were designed by Ludwig Bertele, former lens designer with Zeiss who designed the Sonnar f/1.5 50mm. </p> <p> </p>

The link posted before is helpful for older Prontor shutters, however the SVS is somewhat different. It has a M sync feature and the escapement for the M sync (the contact is closed before the shutter opens, or, in other words, the shutter action is somewhat delayed) is activated by a train of levers installed on top of the rest of the shutter. So you have to remove these levers first and then get access to the shutter escapements etc. I did not disassemble any shutters for a long time but on some Prontor shutters you have to remove the slow speed escapement to get access to the one of the screws holding the rear cover of the shutter blades. Dissambling a shutter, especially when it is somewhat more complex as the SVS shutter, is not really a beginner's task. But if the shutter blades stick again and again, there is no cure but cleaning each single shutter blade and its surroundings thoroughly.

<p>Yes, the HiMatic's shutter speed is faster... but you will not get this speed when shooting with f/2 since on this camera, the shutter speed is related to the max. opening. It has only one set of combined shutter/aperture blades, and the 1/1000 can only be reached at higher f numbers. Also, there is a LOT of eletronics inside the HiMatic E. Like many other cameras of that age, it is quite prone to wire corrosion of the battery connection. There are a lot of very thin wires running close to the battery compartment, and if these wires are corroded they are hard to fix. The 640 cells are no problem, they can be replaced by 625 cells + spacers. <br> However, I would prefer the 7SII. Of course the max. shutter speed is 1/500 at any aperture setting - in manual mode there is no linkage between the aperture and the shutter mechanism (yes, both have their own set of blades). </p>

<p>Even if you close the back with the rewind crank/shaft removed: on many cameras, the latch of the rear door is actuated by a groove on the rewind shaft. If you accidentally close the rear door, you can still lift the latch with a hook made from a piece of thick copper or steel wire. Your lady's crochet hook should work, too. </p>

<p>Actually one of these beasts was the first rangefinder camera I ever held in my hands, one of my uncles owned one. <br> Decades later I found one which was not too difficult to get back to working condition. <br> Your question has been answered by others, just a few addendums:<br> - the bulb behind the second round window also is used as a battery indicator (should show up when you press the test button), and also shows up during long-time exposure (the Selectronic can handle exposure times up to several seconds). BTW the camera does NOT need mercury cells, it will work properly with alkaline 625 size cells. <br> The self-loading mechanism is a bit awkward, but works - mostly. Simply push the film leader under the "flap" over the taking spool. To rewind, you have to press the lever marked R downward (the one on the bottom on the lens barrel). The advance crank then will become a rewind crank. The frame counter counts downwards as you wind back the film so you will know when you are finished. </p> <p> </p>

<p>The flash firing mechanism on these cameras is very simple, just a leaf contact which is closed when the shutter is fully open. There are rather incompatibility problems with old flashes and new cameras, many older flashes have a voltage of around 100V between the firing contacts and newer cameras with semiconductor switches may be damaged. <br> This is NOT the case with the good old SPn. I have to admit that I never used mine with a flash but I used many other cameras of that era with simple flash units and never had any problems. </p>

<p>There is a page covering many Retina issues:</p> <p>http://retinarescue.com/kodakretinarepair.html<br> http://retinarescue.com/retina2arfadjust.html shows how to adjust the rangefinder on a Retina II. As far as I remember the III is pretty similar. I remember that sometimes the screws are very tight. </p> <p>However, as mentioned before, in many cases it is just the coupling lever which is sticky. A drop of lighter fluid (and a tiny drop of gun oil or silicon oil) will fix this. </p>

<p>I am quite sure that the LIFA filters with their proprietary bayonet (including the Va size) always have a front bayonet. I remember that the LIFA filters I got from my father could be stacked and fitted into a case which consisted of a bottom part (with a bayonet to hold the filters) and the lens hood as a cover. </p>

<p>I do not know whether they were available in other countries, too, but from the 50s to the 70s filters and close-up lenses from a german manufacturer called LIFA were very popular. They made adaptors for almost every thread or push-on mount size to accept their bayoent mount filters which came in 7 different sizes and would fit almost any camera on this world with their adaptors. Since most german cameras had filter mounts with approx. 30mm ... 40mm, you could use the same set of LIFA filters for different cameras and you just had to buy one more adaptor. My father had a set of filters from his days of b/w photography with his Agfa Silette and I remember that I just had to buy an adaptor to use his filters on my Rollei 35B. <br> Probably your camera has such an adaptor, since LIFA used the Va designator for one of their standard filter sizes.<br> However, today it might be much easier to find filters for the original thread of the Retinette than filters of the proprietary LIFA Va size and bayonet. <br> There is an overview of varios filter mount systems which also describes the LIFA system - but in German only. <br> http://photobutmore.de/vintagephoto/filter/fassung/</p> <p> </p>

<p>I do not know this lens. But sometimes the front retainer ring is secured by set screws and covered by the rubber/leatherette cover of the lens barrel. </p>

<p>First, DO NOT try to repolish a lens element surface by yourself!!! The curvature and thickness of a lens are ground to much less than 1/100mm precision, and anything you do after this process will degrade the lens element.<br> Second, check whether the fungus really has etched the glass. I had good results in removing fungus with vinegar. If this does not work, try concentrated vinegar. Sometimes these cloudy structures are just threads of fungus which have not been removed completely. Caution, there are some older lenses (from the late 40s and 50s) which have a very soft coating, this can be damaged (or removed completely) with concentrated vinegar.</p>

<p>I think that the behaviour in auto mode is normal. As described, there is a so-called needle trap mechanism which will set the aperture according to the meter needle position. All shutter-priority cameras of the 60s and 70s have this kind of mechanism. <br> In manual mode, however, the aperture should follow the manual settings. Some years ago I tinkered on Hi-Matics and one of their clones (Revue 400SE). As far as I remember, the aperture dial has a cam follower mechanism which sets the aperture. This cam follower has a spring pressing the cam against a rotating wedge. If this spring is broken, out of order or if the mechanism is gummed up this will not work. <br> Fortunately the Hi-Matics (and their clones) are pretty simple to tinker on. Remove the self-timer lever. Remove the leatherette on both sides of the lens. There is a lens base plate held by four screws. After seperating the lens plate you have to remove the shutter/lens assembly with a spanner wrench. This gives you access to the rear of the shutter/aperture assembly.</p> <p> </p>

<p>The 35GX will fire the shutter under any condition, even without battery.<br> The only camera I ever came across which blocks the shutter button in case of over- or underexposure is the Canonet QLIII. However, this works mechanically and needs very precise adjustments, so in many cases it does not work anymore.</p>

<p>@Eugen: if it's sticky grease, this problem should be solved by applying a drop of lighter fluid to the bearing(s) in question. <br> The Meyer Trioplan is not a bad lens either, I thing it is one of the best triplets ever built. The performance of the pre-war Trioplan on my Welta folder (f/4.5) comes close to the f/3.5 Tessar clone on my Moskva. Stopped down a bit, I think you will not see much difference to a Tessar. <br> Also, since this camera uses "unit focussing", in case you find an east-german camera with a Tessar, you probably can swap the front and rear lens cell to your camera - but you have to re-adjust (re-shim) the lens assembly. </p>

<p>@Bernard: Nice to meet colleagues on this forum. I have also designed measurement circuits for ranges from sub-micro-amps to hundreds of amps. Circuits with an input in the range of 1...10V or supply voltages in that range hardly ever will suffer from input overdrive or tolerances in supply voltages (logic circuits and microprocessors, however, will be fried by supply voltages higher than rated voltage + 5% - but you won't find these in our cameras). As long as you do not stack two 3.7V lithium cells in a battery compartment designed for a 1.5V button cell there will be no harm to your camera. </p>

<p>You can never go wrong with a 1950's CZJ Tessar, they are among the sharpest lenses I have encountered on budget cameras. They were the only east-german lenses ever fitted to west-german cameras, some batches of the Tessar-Rolleiflex were equipped with these when there was a shortage of west-german Tessars. </p>