Topic: I just made/fixed ...

[jharr]

A friend gave me a dusty locked Nikkor 13.5/3.5 from the early 60's. The glass was a mess and it was obviously in need of some care. So off to Richard Haw's site I went and followed his instructions to breathe some life into this old beauty.
Half way done...

The instructions left out some important details, but with some fiddling, I got everything back together and working. I shot a roll of old Tasma on the F2 with this lens mounted, so hopefully I will have something for the weekend thread.

[Francois]

Nikon lenses are definitely not obvious when it comes to fixing them.
I once repaired a 50/1.8 and it threw me a few surprises.
But luckily I didn't have to dismantle the aperture for cleaning.

I just hope you didn't encounter their fabled glued on screws... These are a real pain.

[jharr]

Nikon lenses are definitely not obvious when it comes to fixing them.
I once repaired a 50/1.8 and it threw me a few surprises.
But luckily I didn't have to dismantle the aperture for cleaning.

I just hope you didn't encounter their fabled glued on screws... These are a real pain.

I didn't get any glued screws. I did however strip one and had to drill it out. It was one of three holding a sleeve on, so I didn't bother re-tapping the hole and finding another tiny screw for it. It's a $50 lens after all. If it falls apart, I will put it in the parts box and buy the 2.8 version which is quite a bit better lens.

I did have the aperture apart on this one. At least all of the blades are identical. When I overhauled my Isolette III, I had the aperture blades out before I realized there were 3 different types!! That was not a fun puzzle to put back together.

[Indofunk]

Wait, that's actually a 135/3.5, right?

That said, I'd love to see a 13.5 in any format 

[jharr]

Wait, that's actually a 135/3.5, right?

That said, I'd love to see a 13.5 in any format 

Yes, the early versions are marked 13.5 cm. They later switched to the standard mm designation.

[Indofunk]

I have a lot of lenses that are marked in cm. Never bothered figuring out if there's an age correspondence.

[Cadha13]

I had an itch for a field camera and started to look at some Press Cameras, but then I got reminded of the Toyo Field 4-3/4 X 6-1/2 cameras.

So I got one for a song that needed some work, but had some nice accessories with it.

I also had a Graflok back that I had bought for my Toyo D45M, and it fits!

As seen in the photos, I plopped on the 90mm lens for the photo, but it shows how bad the bellows were. Every time I moved the lens or folded the camera more of the bellows flaked off.

I bought new bellows and attached it using some old Pliobond and I can wait to do some Fuji Intax Wide film in it.

[Francois]

This must be a 4x5 year for many of us!
About 30 years ago, I got a chance to get an old Burke & James view camera that was in really bad shape. It had been set fire to on one side (probably put too close to a photoflood), the bellows looked like they had been chewed-up by a rottweiler and it was missing some parts.
I got it and put it on a shelf as I didn't quite know what to do with it.
At some point, I got the chance to get a nice bellows for it from Sandeha, so I began restoring it. I stripped the battleship gray paint that was on it, sanded the burn marks the best that I could, stained and varnished it. I made a new support block for it (I still need to re-do this as it's not perfectly straight), but it had been missing one thing all along: a lens.
So, pandemic helping, I got the idea to turn a set of close-up lenses into a lens for the Burke. I had this set of 46mm lenses that fit nothing that I have. I got them for cheap at a garage sale thinking that one day they might become helpful. It was their time to shine.
I 3D printed a special holder for two of them complete with waterhouse stops. I still need to print the stops.
In the end, I have a 209mm f/6.1 lens. Not too bad for what they are. Now I need to build a front mounted shutter for the lens... another hard thing to do. But at least I can now use a black card shutter with it.

[John Robison]

Looks gorgeous Francois. Keep restoring cameras like this and you will lose your ‘Miroslav Tichy’ award.

Edit; It also looks like you have a plus diopter close up lens mounted, good job. Simple one element lenses, suitably stopped down, can often produce interesting photos and don’t break the bank.

[Francois]

I've actually got two!
The other one is mounted on the lock nut inside the camera 
On the front I put the +2 and on the inside the +3.

[Bryan]

Looking good Francois, I can't wait to see what those lenses do. 

[Francois]

Me too.
But so far it looks promising. Coverage is good for about an 8x10, infinity should be reached.
Only thing is that it's definitely a studio camera, this thing weighs a ton!
The monorail is made from a solid bar of steel and the tripod that it's mounted on is an all aluminum heavy duty model that was designed for an RB67.

edit: I just weighted them and tripod and camera weigh a whopping 15lbs together!

[Sandeha Lynch]

Super cool that those bellows fit Francopis, as you've now got the rig looking very smart.
Packard shutters come up from time to time and you can even rig a PC flash sync on it if it doesn't have one.

[Francois]

I know, but they're expensive.
I've been looking at a book I have that has many illustrations of vintage shutters including some of the inner workings.
I'm in the process of choosing the most promising one and redesigning it to fit.

I've also got an idea for a new model that could be a bit revolutionary... But will it fit? I don't know until I play with the cad drawing.

[Bryan]

I just completed another set of bellows for a Kodak Vest Pocket Special Autographic 127.  I purchased this a while back for practice knowing the bellows were shot, I already have a pattern made for this camera.  This time I used a fabric that Sandeha Lynch recommended.  It's called BK5 and you can get it online from a company called Thor Labs.  I purchased their minimum order which is enough to make a lot of bellows so I'm set for a while.  The nice thing about this fabric, besides being light proof, is how thin it is.  That makes it ideal for these small bellows.  I just used two layers glued together with thin paper ribs between the layers.  It folds up really nice and fits perfectly into this compact little camera.  For the first one I did I used fabric from an old changing bag.  The fabric was a bit thick, I was barely able to squeeze it into the camera. 

This Vest Pocket Special has the 85mm Kodak Anastigmat f/6.9 lens that is made by Bousch & Lomb.  The lens looked hazy when I got it but it cleaned up really well.  I also re-glued some loose leather. 

[Francois]

Pretty sweet little thing.
Cameras that use a clap style extension always make me smile as they remind me so much of the proverbial cartoon boxing glove on an extension 

[Francois]

I found this project on Thingiverse and thought it was so cool that I needed to build it!
It's a lens in a cap with a focusing helix for M39 cameras.
The lens is a Kodak Ektanar from a 35mm Kodak Cameo that I got for really cheap because it was really damaged.
The corner was melted (don't ask me how this happened, I just got it like that) and some of the internal gears were completely stripped.
So I took it apart and saved the screws and the lens.
It focuses from about 9 feet to infinity. Aperture is probably about f/5 (I don't know the exact focal length so it's hard to calculate).
Focus is a bit on the stiff side, but what do you expect from something like that?

[ManuelL]

I always like your contraptions Francois. Looking forward to some pictures from this camera.

[Francois]

I think I've found myself a new hobby: re-using super crappy lenses to put them on a nice camera
Now I need to make some device for collimating those lenses without having to take the camera out every single time.

[Francois]

While going through my grandfather's stuff, I stumbled on five Minox cassettes.
And to my surprise, one of them was exposed... that is mysterious.
So, I'll have to break out my C-41 kit and develop the roll. Only problem: it's Minox film.
This stuff is really small, so I went hunting on thingiverse for accessories.
I found a spiral reel for the format. Granted it's very different from the original Minox tank, but it'll have to do.
I also found a slitter. I thought it would be a great idea to practice in the dark before committing to processing that roll of 1970's color film.
So, here is my new spy camera gear...
I'm getting to be really curious.

[jojonas~]

francois: how did you get on with the minox stuff? You got me curious

[Francois]

I still haven't tried it.

[Bryan]

My new Crown Graphic came with a lens board with an odd size hole.  Since I have a few lenses that I want to use with it I started looking for lens boards.  It turns out the lens boards for this camera are scarce.  This camera takes the metal Graphmatic lens board so they are not easy to make. 

https://filmwasters.com/forum/index.php?topic=6181.msg139759#msg139759

I went to TAP Plastics and purchased some silicone mold material and some Polyurethane resin.  I used the lens board the camera came with to make a mold.  I had to plug the hole so I could drill my own hole sizes.  This is not an easy mold to make and my mold making skills are very limited.

Though they are a bit rough I'm happy with how they came out, they seem much more durable than I was expecting.  I made as much of the front as I could a little thicker to make sure they don't bleed light through and to give them more strength.  They fit into the camera quite easily and secure down nice and tight.  I made one for the Kodak Ektar 127mm f/4.7 which is the proper lens for this camera.  I also made one for an Ilex Paragon Anastigmat 140mm f/4.5 in an Ilex No. 3 Acme Syncro shutter.  That's a big shutter and it just barely fits this camera, can't close the camera with it though.  Lastly I made one for a Kodak Ektar 101mm f/4.5.  I wasn't sure if this lens would give good coverage but it does and allows for some movement. 

[Francois]

That looks mighty good. I just 3D print mine, so I'm stuck with low temperature PLA that can warp if left in the car on a hot summer day.

[Francois]

francois: how did you get on with the minox stuff? You got me curious

Yesterday I developed the only roll I had that was taken by my grandfather. Sad news, the film was fogged beyond the point of no return.
With the scanner, I could crank-up the contrast to see that there were people like shapes in some of the photos, but I simply couldn't say more than that.
But on the up side, the spool worked very well despite having to deal with the springiest piece of film I've ever seen in my life!

[collodion]

Nice job on the mold, looks like the lensboard came out perfect.

[Bryan]

Nice job on the mold, looks like the lensboard came out perfect.

Thanks, the back side looks great, the front face was rough around the edges where I made it thicker.  I cleaned it up a bit with a Dremel tool.

[Pete_R]

Just an excuse to bump the thread...

I finished this GX today (finally) with some laser-cut fabric covers. Something I'm experimenting with. I modified it to use current lithium batteries instead of the obsolete ones it was made for. It has a 40/1.7 lens which I've heard good things about. I just need to get a film in it now.

[Bryan]

Just an excuse to bump the thread...

I finished this GX today (finally) with some laser-cut fabric covers. Something I'm experimenting with. I modified it to use current lithium batteries instead of the obsolete ones it was made for. It has a 40/1.7 lens which I've heard good things about. I just need to get a film in it now.

Nice work Peter!  How did you do the battery modification.  I know that can get kind of complicated like what this guy did: ][https://ludens.cl/Electron/mercreg/mercreg.html]  At least for me that's complicated, may be simple for someone with some training in electronics.

[Francois]

I know that converting a camera to use a silver cell is often just adding an inline diode to the battery, so that's easy.
Using lithium, that's something I never really thought about.
I'm really wondering what kind of lithium cells fit in an Electro?
That probably involves adding adding a step-up voltage converter somewhere in the camera...

[Pete_R]

Battery mod was pretty simple because the Electros are very voltage tolerant so you don't need to worry about getting the exact voltage. The Lithium is 3V so one battery replaces the original two. The battery is smaller diameter but the same length so fits in the existing socket. I added a bit of foam to stop it moving around. So to modify it for use with a single battery would just need a wire moved or fill the gap of the second battery with a a spring or something to short across the contacts. I thought it would be useful to be able to have two batteries as the capacity of the lithium is smaller than the original batteries. It's not recommended to put two batteries in parallel due to the possibility of one charging the other if they have different charges. A Schottky diode in series with each stops that. The only other thing I did was to alter the battery label to show the correct orientation of the two batteries.

Note that the GX uses different batteries to the earlier Electro series so this doesn't apply to them.

[Francois]

That's pretty much what I can see from that. My Electro35G uses a round battery that's about the size of a CR123A, so I was really puzzled at how you could get 5.6v out of one of those.

I'm starting to wonder if there isn't a better way on mine to make a good mod other than using a rare 6v alkaline...

[Pete_R]

That's pretty much what I can see from that. My Electro35G uses a round battery that's about the size of a CR123A, so I was really puzzled at how you could get 5.6v out of one of those.

I'm starting to wonder if there isn't a better way on mine to make a good mod other than using a rare 6v alkaline...

An adapter with a 4LR44, or similar, will usually work with the older Electros. The problem is the 4LR44 type batteries can't supply sufficient current so the actual voltage you get, on load, is a lot less than 6 volts. But the Electros can usually cope with it due to the bridge design of the circuit. But you may find the battery check lamp doesn't work. 2 x CR1/3N can also be used and the lithiums can deliver more current so the voltage doesn't drop off quite so much on load.

[Francois]

I could 3D print a sleeve to hold them.
I just hope that the voltage won't affect the exposure meter too much...

[collodion]

Hi all,
Recently I made some lens boards for my Rittreck 5x7 out of old phenolic sheet.  Also made an adapter board for Graflex, as most of my lenses are on Graflex boards anyway. Considering it took me two days to fabricate and paint it...perhaps it wasn't such a good deal to make my own.... but I needed something to do :-)

A new Bellows is next,

Cheers
Jonathan

[Francois]

Why not?
'Cause in the end, when you buy commercial stuff, you're essentially just buying something other people made themselves.

[collodion]

I hadn't considered that.... I suppose your right

[Bryan]

Those lens boards look great.  That will be a really nice camera when you're done with it. 

[Pete_R]

I could 3D print a sleeve to hold them.
I just hope that the voltage won't affect the exposure meter too much...

It won't. I wrote this sometime ago. Might be worth a read.

https://www.contax139.co.uk/replacement-battery-for-yashica-electro-35-series

[Francois]

I could 3D print a sleeve to hold them.
I just hope that the voltage won't affect the exposure meter too much...

It won't. I wrote this sometime ago. Might be worth a read.

https://www.contax139.co.uk/replacement-battery-for-yashica-electro-35-series

I'm going to check it out. Thanks!

[collodion]

Thanks Bryan,
Have been working on the bellows this week and got them installed today. Hopefully no light leaks....fingers crossed!

[Francois]

I could 3D print a sleeve to hold them.
I just hope that the voltage won't affect the exposure meter too much...

It won't. I wrote this sometime ago. Might be worth a read.

https://www.contax139.co.uk/replacement-battery-for-yashica-electro-35-series

I checked it out last night and I'm starting to wonder if replacing the lamps by LEDs would be a good idea?

[Pete_R]

I could 3D print a sleeve to hold them.
I just hope that the voltage won't affect the exposure meter too much...

It won't. I wrote this sometime ago. Might be worth a read.

https://www.contax139.co.uk/replacement-battery-for-yashica-electro-35-series

I checked it out last night and I'm starting to wonder if replacing the lamps by LEDs would be a good idea?

That would reduce the drain on the batteries and make them last longer but wouldn't have any effect on the voltage during exposure as the lamps are off during the exposure.

[Francois]

Do you think it's worth the hassle?

[Pete_R]

Do you think it's worth the hassle?

Is what worth the hassle? Changing the lamps to LEDs? No, not in my opinion. The early Electros are usable with a modern 6V battery and an adapter. The battery check light may not work and the exposure lamps may be dim but they are usable. Just use it.

[Francois]

Pretty much what I was thinking. Besides, I might not be able to get LEDs with the proper size...

[Francois]

Finally I won!
This project has been kicking my butt in every imaginable way. Finicky fit, blind measurements, design mistakes and everything in between.
But now, it's finally over!
I've had this Burke & James Grover 4x5 for over 20 years. When I got it, it was in really bad shape. At some point it had been set on fire (there was a spot of charred paint), the bellows looked like they had been chewed by a rottweiler, it was missing some parts. But on the up side the lens on it was good. So I moved the optics to a hand made Graflex lens board. But I just couldn't leave a broken camera alone, so I restored it. But I was still missing a lens. So I decided to make an adapter.

So, I can now mount those Graflex lens boards on it. It took me 5 versions of the frame to get it right... a far cry from my usual "get it done in 3 or less" mode of operation.

Here are the photos.

[rotarysmp]

You made a really nice job of that restoration Francois.

[Francois]

Thanks!
It was one of those projects that drags on forever.
Thing is that this is a quite heavy studio camera for which I don't have much use. But I simply couldn't get rid of it as it had so much potential. Now I need to figure out a way to make it a nice stand that doesn't take up as much space as that huge tripod that I have.
I guess I'll have to make a studio stand for it...

[rotarysmp]

"...camera for which I don't have much use..."
I can relate to that