Topic: Is this bin fodder?

[Pete_R]

Got this in a job lot. Anyone want to give me a reason to not throw it in the bin?

[Francois]

While the film is unavailable, there's a few reasons to keep it.
First, the swinger was designed by Henry Dreyfus and the camera is a bit of an icon of the era.
Second, they are prime candidates for modification. I believe the lens should cover 4x5 film. I know that the colorpack does.
I made a custom body for my colorpack so that it can be used with large format film.
So if you want a handheld large format for essentially free, it's a pretty easy hack.

[Pete_R]

Thanks Francois. Good effort but it's just moved a bit closer to the bin.

[John Robison]

Yeah, if you are a DIY type camera builder then definitely have the lens off that thing and try it, stopped way down, f45 or f64, on 4x5. Last winter I produced a series of 4x4 (Yes, 94x94mm format.) for 4x5 film holders. Made 16 of them all to the same dimensions out of hobby plywood. That way I can try all manner of oddball found lenses using photo paper as a negative.
Why did I make them 4x4? A little less diameter image circle needed, about 133mm. And no need to decide between vertical or horizontal composition. And still a big negative.
Photo paper as a negative is cheap, can be handled under safelight, and is slow enough that you don’t need a fractional timed shutter.
Edit; Moved closer to the bin! Oh Pete, that just makes the heart of inveterate camera hackers like Francois and myself ache.
But, camera building/hacking is not for everyone so no recrimination from me.

[Pete_R]

Oh I'm a camera hacker OK...



but this one has no attraction for me and I know I won't do anything with it.

If anyone wants it for the cost of postage they can have it. Otherwise, clock's ticking.

[ManuelL]

I would probably cut off the front part with the lens and attach it to a lensboard to use on a 4x5.

[Francois]

Or take a dead SLR, strip the inside except for the frame counter, enlarge the film gate to the max and use that lens to make a Frankenstein X-Pan.
The good thing about those lenses is that they have a shutter in them. That's something I'm always looking for when trying to find a proper hacking candidate.

[John Robison]

Admittedly I’m a little OCD about hanging on to useless photo related junk because ‘I might use that lens some day.’
Probably 10-15 years ago picked up an old Polaroid One Step at a Value Village for a couple of bucks. Disassembled it and used the first surface mirror right away. But the lens got put in a little plastic bag and forgotten. Just this last summer I rediscovered it and stuck it in front of a homemade 4x5. Had to mask to 85x85mm, it just ran out of coverage on a larger opening. Right now it has a blazing fast f32 card in the aperture slot. Focal length is 95mm close as can be measured by me. First image came out quite sharp, well sharp enough for 1:1 print size anyway.
Have become somewhat obsessed about using adapted lenses with 4x5 film holders. Have 6 cameras made up this way. Only hand held 4x5 with a lens made for that format has a 90mm f6.8 Schneider Angulon.

[Pete_R]

So, summing up, it seems the only possible use is to take the lens off and use it on a large format, home made, camera. I don't think I'll be doing that for two reasons. One, I found out after I built the LF camera I pictured above, that I'm not a LF person. And, two, I'm not into crappy lenses. Decision made I think. Thanks for the answers. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

[Francois]

It will more than cover any medium format.
The problem is often that the cameras they came with was designed to be fixed focus. So the lenses are sharp at one distance and rely on dof for the rest.
For the best results you might have to build some focusing device.

Or you could just turn it into a lamp...  😬

[John Robison]

Re; Pete_R. “I’m not into crappy lenses.”
I hear you there, life is short and silver halide materials are ever more expensive so I understand not wanting to waste negative real estate on fuzzy images. (One of the main reason’s I use paper negatives, it’s cheap compared to film.)

Re; Francois ‘…build some focusing device.’
This is where the Chinese made focusing extension tubes found on ebay come in. Have 3 of them in M42 mount and they can be used where necessary. For the 90-110mm range lenses, then fix at infinity, or a little closer, stop way down, and let DoF do the rest. Stoping to f45 or smaller is also handy with paper as the exposure is seldom less than 3-4 seconds and up from there. No timed shutter needed.
It may seem like cheating, buying stock items to home build. But I’m just not that talented to create my own.

[Francois]

There's nothing wrong in using ready made parts for custom builds.
I simply rarely do so because I'm too poor to waste money on stuff like that when I can come up with some crazy alternative that takes me countless hours to put together.