tor_kviljo1

Hello Giovanni

I agree with the previous posting: the tech. 70 is technically a fabulous camera, but it's unlikely that You will have much use of the main feature of the camera: the big R/V -finder with its built-in level and selenium-meter. However, movements is better than on the most common super-technica's - the Super tech III.

In addition to the Linhof Rollex'es and super rollexes, You have to very interesting options, espesially if You want to use the cameras tilt/shift capabilities. The first and most expensive option is buying the Linhof Rapid-rollex, a roll-film back which You can slide in beneath the ground glass - not having to remove the GG-back first as with the Rollex'es. The inexpensive option is buying exactely the same thing, but american made - in the form of an old Adapt-A-Roll 2 1/4" x 3 1/4" roll film back. These fit all cameras using the small sheet-film holders, including minature graphics, Horseman Press/VHR/670/690 and Your Linhof. Can sometimes be purchased cheap on Ebay or from Columbus Camera Group etc. Unfortunately, they use 620 film, but the spool-compartment is big enough to let You use the original 120 -film as feed-roll and using a 620 spool only on the take-up side.

Sheet-film for Your film holders is produced by AGFA and EFKE, but mostly for european marked. Identical holders for american size sheet film (2 1/4" x 3 1/4") can be bought for just a dollar or two apiece from KEH camera brookers and Midwest. B&W film in this format is sold by Freestyle (LA) - You fint it on the 'net

Personally, I will advice You not to pay too much for the tech- 70: You might (like me) soon findt that it's ground-glass is too small for comfort, its movements too limited & cramped, and its weight and cost about the same as a sinar-f - which can do much more and uses universally available 4"x5" film.

Good luck!

Tor Kviljo

Hello Andy

There is numerous Technika 6x9 cameras, the Super Technika V being the most recent (if I'm updated at the moment) and the super tech. III being the most common. The newest cameras is the better one for wide angle work, espesially were shift is necessary. The newest technikas have a flap on the top of the camera-housing, easying the use of extreme wide-angle lenses better. However, a recent Super-Technika 6x9 will set you back $1500 or thereabout - if you can find one.

The VHR is built wery mouch like the super-tech, but is more universal as it both can use an accessory 4"x5" back as well as using all standard 6x9 graflok-backs, ie. the rollfilm backs made by graflex for 6x9 graphics, the Mamiya RB backs etc. + Horsemans own 6x7/6x9 backs. The linhof 6x9 can only use Linhof's own backs as the rotary-mechanism is part of the back, whereas it is part of the camera-body/back-adapter on the VHR. The VHR can be bought for around $ 600 at KEH camera brokers and other places.

The Linhof thech-70 is a spesial camera incorporating extensive movements within a hand-held reporter-style 6x9 press camera. The wery expensive range-viewfinder unit is an important part of this very spesial camera, but its unlikely You will need it for your use. As a "cult object" the tech 70 is very expensive but it have less movements and flexibility than the VHR and I would not recommend it for Your work.

Thus: if money is not an issue: buy the super thech V. If money and the possibilities of expanding the system without using a herrendous lot of money, buy the VH/VHR and look at Midwest and KEH's pages for bits 'n pieces.

(after having used Horseman press, 670, VHR, and Linhof Tech III I personally swapped for a Sinar 4"x5": I found the limited/cramped movements of the 6x9 -press cameras as well as the 6x9 ground glass to small to be able to utilize the large format possibilities all the way. Do think about it: a Sinar F will set you back less than a VHR)

Hello Jean-Pierre

I had the same questions when buying an old 40mm some years ago. I finally emailed Hasselblad AB and they were very helpful in explaining me the differences of old and new 40mm, and also sent me the MTF diagrams and distortion-plots for old and new 40 mm and the Biogon 38mm for comparison. As the MTF curves showed, and in accordance with what Hasselblad told me the new 40mm had much lover distortion than the old one, slightly better MTF-values (MTF: Modulation Transfer Function or something: the ability to reproduce tight grid-pattern with as little contrast-loss as possible). Except for improved distortion-figure, the main differences were the reduced bulk & weight + better close-focus abilities due to floating lens element of the new 40mm. The MTF & distortion-figures showed the 38mm Biogon to be superior over both new & old 40mm. The answers from Hasselblad as well as the measure figures on optical performance told me that the old 40mm would be the right one for my use (were distortion and close-up performance were not the most important issue, rather sharpness & fidelity of reproduction). I bought one, but sold it after a rather short time simply because the lens were horrifying bulky & heavy when packed down ready for the field. Now i use a Mamiya RZ with 50mm lens for wide-angle work. The mamiya/50mm rig is even wider than the SWC/Biogon 38 in coverage and the whole rig costed less than I payed for the old 40mm alone. Since the 50 for the Mamiya is lighter & smaller than the old zeiss 40 the total rig is not that much heavier or bigger than the old blad (which is now sold).

With the purpose to modify it for hand-held aerial photography, I

have bought a Vinten 360/F95 (think that's the designation) 70mm

camera. The camera is originally made for military reconnaissance

work, but is possible to use handheld. My have a 4" Wild-lens, but

heaps of other lenses were adaptet to the camera. The camera runs on

28V.and have magazine for 100' 70mm film (ca 500 exp).

Anyone have information on the camera/use, pithfalls etc. I ought to

know about before starting to adapt it for service?. Any info is

greatly appreciated!

Hello Scott.

The Mamiya RB and the Horseman both uses a 2"x3" Graflock-back, so the film-plane position of a RB-67 film holder is the same as the ground-glass position of the Horseman. Likevice, You ought to be able to use the Horseman's 6x7 cm roll-film- holder on a RB-67 camera. Also Graflex made roll-film holders for 2"x3" Graflok-backs (only the film-holders with lever-type film advance can be recommended, the ones with "nob-type" film-advance is reported to be haunted by film-flatness-problems). Due to the sheer body-size of the RB-film-holders not all RB-67 film-backs can be used on the Horseman. Personally I found that the 70mm Mamiya RB-film-holder was to wide (due to the big film-chamber for the 70mm cassettes) to be able to mount on my Horseman 970. I advice You to try with the RB-film holder in question befor buying it.

Good luck!

Hello Fred

I used to have the Bronica S and S2a models with warious lenses, both Nikkors and two Komura-optics. I did not have any of the 50mm nikkors, but the other Nikkor-lenses vere excellent sharp and contrasty. My two Komura lenses: 50mm 3.5 super Komura and 150mm Komura vere both very soft - they did not at all come close to the Nikkors in terms of sharpness and contrast, and I were quick to get rid of them (strangely enough I later had an expensive & advanced 50mm w floating lens element for the mamiya RB 67 which was also unacceptable "soft" - like the Komura). The Zenzanons I do not know about. Since it is so many different lenses/brands/generations for the early Bronica's, chances is good that you end up with a mediocre lens. I would have trusted nothing but testing the lens in advance. For focussing/deept of field calculations: Get Yourself one of the deept-of-field charts (or tailor one Yourself using the program in the proper page on the web (it used to be several deep-of-field calculators on the web)).

Good luck!

Hello Ryan

Nice to hear that You like the old Horseman. I have been the lucky ovner of a number of these machines: Topcon Press, Horseman 970 and 985 as well as the most elaborate of them all: Horseman VHR, which rivals the Linhof Super Technika V in movements and capabilities (except WA. capability). As I know it, all lenses and roll-film/sheet-film backs works on all the Horseman-models. However, when it comes to Polaroid-backs and 4"x5" adapter backs, there is numerous differences. I know of no redily-made adaptor-board for using Horseman-press -lenses on other brands (and I don't think any of the other brands You mentioned uses the Horseman-press lensboards), but I think I have seen one (custom-made maybe) for using these lenses on Horseman 4"x5" monorails (which in its turn uses boards identical to Sinar). Looking on a factory-made adaptor-board however, You will see that it's very easy to make Yourself (out of wood or polycarbonate ex). using a little time. The Horseman-press -lensboards is so small that You ought to be able to make adaptor-boards to most makes You listed. Using the Horseman-press lenses on 4"x5" cameras, be aware that only some lenses is suitable for that format: I recall, only the Topcor "Super" lenses, not the "Pro-Topcor" covers the 4"x5" format, the "professional-Topcor" is for 21/4"x31/4" format. You will only be able to use Your rollfilm and sheet-film back on a 21/4"x31/4" grafloc-back, and thus using the backs on other cameras/4"x5" cameras requires a reduction-back. Horseman make a Wonderful rotating back for their 4"x5" monorail-cameras facilitating rapid film-back/viewing-screen change using Horseman and Mamiya RB 21/4"x31/4" roll-film backs. However, it is a rather big/heavy and expensive piece.

I have had a Burke & James press camera as well as a number of Crown & Speed-graphics. Although the B & J -press is all-metal, I was quite disapointed when it came to mechanical workmanship (which were much better on the late-version Crown I purchased), and the focussing-knob soon died... At the time, I use a 4"x5" monorail (Sinar F1 - the smallest standard Sinar) in the field, but if size is an important issue, it is substituted by the Horseman 970 - the only one in the world, I think, which is equipped with a 50mm Zeiss Distagon 50mm f 4 wide-angle....

Hope this helps

Tor Kviljo

Answer to Peter about tanks for 70mm: To get a high-quality tank, I asked a local metal-shop (who is specializing in making stainless-steel products of sheat metals (kitchen-sinks and stuff) to make me a stainless-steel tank that fitted the 70mm reel exactly. To keep cost/work-time down, I told them to build the tank as a bucket with a push down/inside-type lid, and with an 8 cm. diameter round hole sentral in the lid. The tank is lengthened to approx 15 cm to fit on a motorized roller/agitator-unit, and thus the "bottom" of the tank is soldered in place halfway up the tank-body. In the hole in the lid, I glued in place the top part (i.e. the light-trap and the neck/filler plug assy.) of a cannibalized 35/120 plastic developing tank (the light trap/filler-cap part would othervice be the most expensive thing to make from stainless steel). This gave me an about $ 100 very high quality stainless-steel tank suitable for roller-processing. Any black plastic or stainless metal-tank with the proper diameter and a fitting lid can of course be converted to "daylight developing tank" with a top part of a plastic developing tank - it comes to my mind that cupboard where you store your cooking-pans might be a place to start searching....

Good luch

Tor Kviljo

Hello Dan

As noted by the other posters, not to many emulsions is readily available on the shelf. My experience (from here in Europe) is that "todays" users of 70mm film is high-volume users buying rather large quantity of film directly from Kodak or other producer. 70mm film have been used quite a lot for small format aerial photography as well as for metric purposes, where the customer is likely to buy a large quantity of film. One solution is thus to buy surplus films from aerial-photography companies using 70mm, and/or to contact them before they submit their film-ordering and see if You can fit inn a part-order for 70mm. Color-labs doing medium-format duplicates uses 70mm film (which is ordinary E6 or C41 films), and is thus able to prosess your 70mm stock as well. If You want to process the films yourself, Jobo makes all the needed equipment for prosessing up to 15' length (they also have reels for 70mm - 5' length for use in the standard-tanks in the 2500/2800 family). Kindermann have for decades made stainless steel reels & plastic tanks for 15' 70mm. Earlier, Nikor prodused identical reels but vith SS tanks. Inexpensive plastic reels for about 14' - 70mm film can be bought from companies distributing X-ray systems: seems that 70mm film have been used extensively in this field. I have one of these, an it works fine.

Last but not to forget: The film-section on Ebay allways show 70mm film of some kind for sale, including often the mentioned 70mm color-neg version by Konica at low price.

Good luck to You.

(PS: Let me hear from You, Dan, if there is any 70mm aerial cameras left after You've been shopping!)

Hello

The rather old but good Rollei E36RE is a powerhouse with guide nr. 51 (if I recall right) in meter at 100 asa (guide-nr 36 in meter at 50 ASA in Rollei's own calculations - explaining this models name). Automatic (built inn meter-cell in the flash or the flash's separate meter-cell) No TTL-options as I am aware of. Using it on full power should work out OK consulting the distance/asa/aperture - scale on the back of the flash. At f 8 and 100 asa the distance should be about 6,5 metres if only the flash-light contributed. Use of this flash in daylight or strong model-light calls for some calculations to awoid overexposure as there is no ttl-meter adjusting flash-output according to total light-input to the film. Good luck!

Tor K.

Hello Robert

I ususally test for vignetting by first putting on the filters/lens-hood combination I need. I then park the camera (hasselblad) with WL-finder in a position which gives plenty of light to the upper side of the ground-glass. Peering through the lens at 10" distance I can see the focusing screen, and by changing position it is easy to observe when the filter-stacking starts to steal light/reduce the cone of light trough the lens. Generally, You will see that You can put on a few filters before Your filters start to reduce the cone-of light into the lens more than the barrel or other permanent parts of the lens produces. This check only works properly with wl-finders or other finders showing 100% of area covered by film. Please note that some (long) lenses on the older HBL do wignette due to limited mirror-area. In those cases: remove magazine and lock camera/lens at T-setting at largest aperture (setting most suceptible to vignetting) lighting from magazine-end. Hope this helps.

Good luck

Tor Kviljo