s.k. grimes inc

In addition to the <a href="http://www.skgrimes.com/caps/index.htm">rigid Delrin lenscaps </a> I make on a routine basis I have made numerous slip on adapters in large size to accomodate the Lee filter holder slots in wide angle lenses. The ones to fit over the Rodenstock and Schneider center filters are almost a stock item at this stage but I don't have a web page with details about them yet.

 

<p> Price for this special wide angle version of the filter adapter is typically about $200.00. I have also made some threaded adapters in larger sizes to accomodate the entire Lee filter holder but I think the flat plate version is superior. Typically I need to have your lens on hand to make sure the size is right for your lens or filter.

Optical coating or not coating has the same effect on performance of the lens using color or black and white film (the lens does not know or care what kind of film is used) It is a myth that lenses are "color coated" There is, in fact, no such thing as "color Coating" Color correction, often confused with the mythical "color Coating", has to do with the design of the lens (curves of the surface and types of glass) and has nothing to do with the optical coating which has only to do with anti reflection of the air to glass surfaces.

 

SKG

In this context "power" and "focal length" are synonomous. The shorter the focal length the stronger the "power" of the lens. Lens "power" is expressed in Diopters: plus one is 1000mm focal length, plus 2 is 500mm focal length, plus four is 250mm focal length, etc.

 

SKG

<i>elsewhere that the wood underneath the ugly paint is actually quite nice. </i>

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In fact there is ugly wood under the nice paint. That camera was made of economical and not particularly matched wood and intended to be finished in a plain proletarian gray utility finish. Its actually a very nice job of economical manufacturing which might actually grow on you.

 

SKG

When using the lens with only one element group be sure that the single element is behind the shutter and not in front of it. That means that the lens/shutter as mounted on the camera will have no glass showing in front of the shutter. Sharpest results are with the lens set up this way and any other way for any other reason will not give the sharpest result.

As supplied from the factory the Copal #567 version of the #3 shutter (the usual style) has a two piece retainer made up of a spacer and a threaded retainer. In thin large lensboards the spacer is used behind the lensboard. In thick wooden lensboards the spacer is omitted. It can be placed in the front of the lensboard in cases such as the Technika type lensboard so as to distance the shutter from the board and allow the iris control to turn.

 

SKG

Some of these lenses as configured for their original use as copy lenses in the offset printing plate preparation process had features popular with printers: The mm numbers are the diameter of the iris opening in millimeters. The lever is either an opening/closing cover for a slot into which special shaped iris openings could be inserted and/or a rotating in degrees Waterhouse stop holder. Some of these shapes, (triangles, squares etc) could, on some lenses be rotated clockwise in degrees and the orientation of the shape of the iris with respect to the copy or the dot screen in the camera had something to do with the way the lens copied for converting to the dot screen plates used in offset printing. These features have no particular use in ordinary photography.

Rodenstock Tele-Photo lenses are called "Rotelar" They are competitors to the Schneider Tele-Xenar lenses.

In this case the letter M is the first letter of the German word "moment" for "instantaneous" (not the same as the letter M used in flash synchronization) <p>

As a practical matter, a LUC shutter in good condition will deliver about 1/25 second at this setting for the small sized shutters and about 1/10 on the large sized ones. <p>

Also the instantaneous speed may vary depending on the punch you apply to the release bulb. Use the same consistent touch to get the speed to repeat. Compare by eye the speed of the LUC shutter with that of a known good ordinary shutter with variable instantaneous speeds. Speeds of 1/50 thru 1/8 can easily be compared by eye with a known good shutter.

Subject: Response to Research/Compatibility: Older 4x5 Lenses?

 

Photogrpahers are cordially invited to find and visit my shop in Woonsocket RI. I assure you that any perceived elfin quaintness is more a result of a quest for low rent than an attachment to times gone by.

<p> My building just underwent something of an ordeal of a week long power failure -- It turned out that assorted old outdoor wiring and basement "switching gear" that looked like it had been installed by George Westinghouse personally was in fact live and in use. (Don't worry, that wiring will last 100 years) Well, the 100 years expired last week. <p>

Trying to reset resulted in a small explosion on the utility pole which scared the *.* out of 25,000 pigeons and one hard hat utility worker. Then followed a parade of city inspectors and electricians with a lot of head scratching and remarks like "I just don't know, I've never seen anything that old actually being used" And the dreaded "We may have to call Henry (the owner) in Miami"

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My building was restored to power yesterday but the neighboring building is now being run on a $2000/day generator. Its times like this that I really appreciate being a renter and not an owner.

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I liked the comment/observation of the old timer making the slot machine parts. This is probably more of what I'm like. There is a common observation that inventors/engineers/innovators from olden times such as Franklin, Tesla and the Wright brothers were antiquarians. And, looking at their writings and equipment today they look, indeed, antique and their memory is kept alive by custodians who are themselves museum curators and antiquarians. <p>

 

However, my interest in these men and their technology is in their Modernity, not their antiquity. To me there is a complete compatibility with historical and current technology. I'm sure that men like Franklin, Tesla and the Wright brothers to whom I owe so much would be at home and in step with current technology within a few hours if they were to suddenly re-appear. Christopher Columbus would surely have used a welded steel ship powered by a Diesel engine if it had been available. He would have no interest in today re-enacting the voyage of the Nina, Pinta and Santa-Maria and would be amused by antiquarians. <p>

 

See: <a href= "http://www.skgrimes.com/ship/hamlet.jpg"> for a picture of my building.</a><p>

See: <a href= "http://www.skgrimes.com/1968.jpg"> for a picture of me defending my country in 1968 </a> War is Hell.

You can work out my age from that. I assure you all that I'll have everything worked out by the time I'm 125. :-) SKG

I think the discs are intended to be used instead of and not in conjuction with the built in iris of the shutter. <p> The Imagon lens which is the original design of this type of lens is intended to be used only with the discs and not with the built in iris. As configured at the factory the Imagon lens has no f-stop numbers engraved for the built in shutter iris becaus its not intended to be used with the lens.

<p> Its likely that the Fuji lens uses the same principle.

Beleive it or not, you are not making it complicated enough. I have observed significant variations from the simple formula. Richard Knoppnow (a netizen on the large format newsgroup) has explained this a few times but I don't have it at my fingertips. It has to do with the magnifying or minifying power of the back element. That is to say the diameter is measured taking into account the power of the back element. I always take factory reckoned iris diamters at their face value since, almost by definition these companies surely know what they are doing in these calculations. The simplest way is to measure the diameter of the existing iris in the barrel or old shutter and use that dimension to compare to the available dimension in the shutter.

 

SKG

Seiko made some oddball size shutters that you almost never see. This reads like one of those. (#2 size) I don't know the dimension for the hole size and suggest you will have a good deal of difficulty trying to research it. Best thing is to just measure the shoulder of the retainer to get the diameter. Alternately send it along and I'll bore the hole and mount the lens. Price $15.00

 

<a href="http://www.skgrimes.com"> www.skgrimes.com </a>

The Compur #1 has both self timer and press focus. (the "beehive button" is the self timer on that model. On the #0 version the "beehive button" is either the self timer or the press focus depending on the shutter (View camera shutters were made with the press focus feature while non viewcamera (folding camera) versions which have no use for the press focus were made with self timer. <p>

 

See <a href="http://www.skgrimes.com/compur/slftime/index.htm">this page with pictures </a> about this.

A slip on design adapter to receive your 58mm filters is the most direct way of doing this. See pictures of my design at: <a href="http://www.skgrimes.com/slipon/index.htm"> this page.</a> It may be just what you need. You would need a different adapter for each lens.

 

SKG

Acetone and/or Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) are ordinary and available on the shelf Hardware store items, usually around $10.00 per gallon. A slightly different version is called "lacquer thinner" which has various additives making it more suitable as a thinner but its still OK to use as a cleaner. Pure Ethanol is not readily available (190 Proof Russian Vodka is close enough for all practical purposes) but an intentionally corrupted version known as "denatured alcohol" also known as "shellac thinner" is a hardware store item. Same properties as ethanol except you can't drink it. These all evaporate cleanly and quickly which is what makes them suitable as cleaners. There is risk of damaging painted surfaces and plastic. (If, for example the edge of a lens is painted with black lacquer, it stands to reason that a product intended as lacquer thinner would damage it)

 

If you can remove the glass from the metal parts of the lens the very best thing to use is ordinary diswasher detergent, such as "Dawn" in lukewarm water and handle the lens like a champagne glass. (Champagne glasses are more easily damaged than the average lens element) If it were packaged as "Aqueous optical surfactant" people would be lining up to use it. Rinse with plain water after use and then apply clean compressed air to remove the remaining water. Don't allow droplets of water to stand on the surface of the glass. If left to stand on the glass and evaporate there is risk of damage to the glass around the edge of the water bead.

The Copal shutters are all made by the same company in Japan. The band on the Rodenstock ones says "lens made in Germany" Both Schneider and Rodenstock use the standard production version of the shutter which is <a href="http://www.skgrimes.com/newcopal/index.htm"> available at retail. </a>

<p> Both Fuji and Nikon use specially made

<a href="http://www.skgrimes.com/iris/index.htm"> proprietary versions of the very same shutter</a> which involve slightly different placement of the iris scales and shutter dials. Nikon also uses a different flash connector angle. The main differences are in the typographical presentation of the shutter speed and iris numbers.

<p> These differences make it inconvenient to interchange the lens elements to a standard production shutter. Replacement shutters need to have new iris scales prepared since the proprietary ones from the original do not transfer to the new shutter. All other dimensions and parts of all current versions are identical.

<p> Manufacture and QC of these is excellent and the shutters can be exchanged with simple attention to detail of keeping track of any spacers which may have been used in the original installation and transferring them to the new shutter.

The Goerz lenses do not accept any standard sized filter. They are not "series" size. I can fabricate an adapter/converter (slip on or screw in/on as is appropriate) so that your lens will accept ordinary metric sized filters of a size you specify.

 

Because of the differences in production of these lenses I need to have the lens on hand here in the shop to do the conversion. Price is $50.00

 

<a href="http://www.skgrimes.com/slipon/index.htm">Click here to see a page about my patented slip on design adapters </a>

I'm around.

 

I heard the phone ringing around 5:10 as I was locking up for the weekend but missed the call by the time I got back to set the message machine. Also, although there are four people working in the shop now sometimes a machine (or two or three) is running and no one happens to be near the phone. This is rare but happens from time to time. I won't be back in the shop to check eMail and messages until Monday but you are welcome to call on the cell phone at 508-259-9861. Can't account for the email problem. ((If your subject line contains any of a number of "sensitive words" (mostly about organ sizes and get rich quick schemes) it might get filtered to the delete pile )) :-)

In addition and perhaps more conveniently than Edmund Scientific check around your local yard sales and/or thrift shop. Practically any 35mm Japanese Rangefinder camera has a large enough beamsplitter mirror to get a couple of trys for the right size of the Kalart. Nice thin glass and the silvering percentage is just right for camera rangefinder use. The silvered surface should face front. These cameras are typically $2.00 to $10.00 depending on condition etc. The mirrors are always good.

 

SKG

It may be that you have a problem that is not a problem. Depending on the nature of the damage to the front element replacement or repair may not be necessary. Nicks, dings, blemishes,isolated scratches etc make no difference whatsoever to the performance of a lens. Specifically, the damage, whatever it is, does not show up as a replicated artifact on the negative. As a practical matter, a chip or scratch on that lens could easily be up to 3 or 4 mm in diameter and/or length and have no discernible effect.

 

SKG

It reads that you are disassembling rather than unscrewing the rear element group. Try unscrewing what you call the collar. If the lens is a type in which the shutter is fitted to its own special housing then the housing, complete with the built in shutter is what should unscrew from the lensboard. If the shutter retainer bears onto the lensboard and not a separate housing then its likely that you are disassembling the back element group.

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How about posting a picture?

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See: <a href="http://www.skgrimes.com/lensmount/shutmt/index.htm">A page about mounting shutters/lenses to lensboards. </a>

 

SKG

Some of the older versions of those lenses are fitted to special shutter mounts which have non standard sized mount retainers.

<p>

Measure the diameter of the mount flange that came with the lens to tell what size hole is needed in the lensboard. If there is a shoulder on the flange/retainer that is the diameter of the hole needed; for ones with no projecting shoulder the diameter is just slightly larger than the outside diameter of the mount thread.

 

<p>There's a table of Copal hole sizes

<a href="http://www.skgrimes.com/repair/products/index.htm">here</a> (scroll down the page to see the table of dimensions)

<p> If the diameter you measure is the same as one of those holes then you can use one of the usually available hole sizes. Otherwise a special hole size is needed. I charge $15.00 plus return ship to bore a hole to the right size and fit up your shutter to it.

 

<p>SKG

My patented slip on filter design is <a href="http://www.skgrimes.com/slipon/index.htm"> here </a> . This can be made to convert the lens so that it accepts a standard filter size.

So as to avoid confusing your eye care specialist keep in mind that viewing the image on the ground glass is the same as viewing any other object (such as a postage stamp or coin in a collection)

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The distances of the picture taking lens to the subject do not factor into this, only the distance of your eye from the object viewed (in this case the ground glass).

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Think of reading spectacles, magnifiers, loupes, etc (and they may be used in combination, that is, added together) as devices which correct your eyeball focus at a distance from the object viewed which you select.