Oh Man! Plaubel Makina III!

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Nokton48

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One of Plaubel Makina III's in beautiful natural sunlight. Hasselblad 100mm Planar

More Agfa 70mm Aviphot 200 processed in Rollei Supergrain developer. Similar in most respects to 70mm Rollei 400s available fresh from Germany

70mm Agfa Aviphot 200 Rollei Supergrain by Nokton48, on Flickr
 

rknewcomb

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An interesting discovery about Plaubel Makina and mine in particular. They must have specifically made some cameras for export. My IIIR has factory 1/4-20 tripod holes and the distance scale is marked in feet. I bought it some time back, here in the US, but had not noticed this before, cool !
Robert
 
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Nokton48

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Hello Again Robert!
I recently made a similar discovery. My Makina III focus scale is marked in meters, and has the larger tripod sockets on the body. My IIIR focus scale is marked in feet, and has the smaller tripod sockets. I have ordered a packet of tripod bushings (thread adapters) from China and they will be here shortly, to adapt my European III camera body. It is good to have two camera bodies, one marked in feet, and one in meters, in my opinion. When I use the 73mm wide angle lens, the original Makina depth of field tables are marked in meters. Trying to convert these to feet would be slow and something of a bodge. Best to use the body marked in meters for wide angle shooting. I have never seen a Plaubel depth of focus table marked in feet, only in meters. For other types of uses I prefer to use the body marked in feet. So it is good to have both types of bodies. I'm also trying to standard the tripod fittings so I can use just one tripod adapter (when I finish making it this spring).
 
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Nokton48

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Yesterday my Wife and I went to the local Art Museum. We has a nice tour and I shot two rolls of Delta 3200 120 film in my Makina III. I shot at 1/50 and 1/30 at F2.9, so it will be interesting to see what I will get. I think I will develop in Ilford DDX. I rated the film at EI 800. I tried this once before with my Plaubel Makiflex, and it worked well.

Such high speed films were not around in the era of Plaubel Makinas.
 
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Nokton48

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I just sent my Makina IIIR and 100mm F4.2 Aniticomar to Wizcam in NYC. This is the Guy that advertises repairing modern Makinas on Ebay. Anyway he is very fast and good on old Makinas, and he seems to have a lot of original parts! So we will see how he does cleaning up this one, it works well, but could use a CLA. It does have a bit of corrosion here and there, it came from the San Francisco area. Everything I have read about Wizcam and old Makinas has been positive.

So I am getting ready for the Spring shooting season.
 
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Nokton48

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My Makina IIIR with 100mm f4.2 lens is on it's way back from Wizcam. Quick turn around.
 
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Nokton48

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Two Makinas My IIIR and III CLAed by Nokton48, on Flickr

My somewhat corroded Makina IIIR is now back from Wizcam in NYC and has been through a complete mechanical CLA. I bought this body to get the lens; the rare F4.2 100mm Anticomar. Wizcam did a fantastic job. All I need to do now is apply some black camera body dye I bought from Cameratools, to the bellows and leather parts, and buff them up bright and shiny. I did this with my first body ( a III) and it looks like new to the casual eye. This IIIR has been rode hard, but works like new and soon will look like it too.

I'll be using these cameras extensively this spring. They are great for folding up and carrying around, although a bit heavy. I can deal with that. And they are built with Leica-like build quality!
 
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Leitz Tabletop Legs by Nokton48, on Flickr

Just got this Leitz set of tabletop legs, to use with my Makina III's, and Leitz Ballhead. Throw it in the Domke bag and it is ready to use. For when I don't want to lug a tripod around or not allowed.
 

rknewcomb

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Just got my Makina lllR back from Wizcam for a complete CLA. He did a beautiful job with very quick return time. Just so people know, five stars to Wizcam.
 
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Nokton48

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New Makina Tripod Adapter by Nokton48, on Flickr


After many years of searching, I have finally found one of these at a decent price. The Makina Tripod Adapter. Now on it's way to me.
I've thought about making one of these, but gave up on the idea.
 

rknewcomb

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Hi,
A couple of Makina clean up questions.
1) Does the black camera leather dye make the leather look too new? As in really black and no patina to it or just make it look richer or ???
2) Any ideas about how to clean up the dull metal hardware?
Thanks,
Robert
 
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Nokton48

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I like the result of dyeing my Makina IIIR. I went to Cameratools.com and bought "Venetian Cream" and it is easy to apply and cleans up the rough exposed leather edges very nicely. Looks like new! To clean the metal, I use electronic contact cleaning spray (Radio Shack etc) or lighter fluid from the grocery store. And lots of q-tips and a toothbrush. Nasty spots may require acetone and elbow grease

-Dan
 
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Nokton48

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Wooden 120 film spools by Nokton48, on Flickr

I have just decided I will no longer attempt to load modern plastic 120 spools into Plaubel Makina film backs. I shot a rather important roll a couple of weeks ago, using a plastic spool I wrapped with duct tape. Well when I opened the back to change film, it did not load evenly onto the spool, and the roll is fogged! Luckily I was able to switch backs and reshoot my important photos but I am not going through this again!

I bought another dozen wooden spools for the take up side in these backs, which will solve that problem! Onward and upward!

I am opening and re-loading all of my Plaubel backs with wooden take up spools as of now.

Film advance with these old wooden spools is smooth as butter. Very nice!
 
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rknewcomb

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Hi,
I've had some frame spacing issues with older cameras including the Plaubel Makina roll film backs. I've heard that this is caused by the difference in older thicker film and the new modern thin film. The solution I've heard was to add thickness to the takeup reel with tape so more film is pulled with each advance of the knob.
Is this what you were doing with the tape on the reel? Is the wooden reel thicker so you don't need tape? I also look forward to hearing how the wooden reels work out with frame spacing.
regards,
Robert
 
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Nokton48

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Hi Again Robert,
Yes increasing the diameter of the modern 120 spools which results in beautiful even frame spacing, as you can see.
I used three go-rounds of duct tape on each spool and it does the job (sort of). See below.

DSC05861 (2) by Nokton48, on Flickr

DSC05851 by Nokton48, on Flickr

The Makina "advancing key" fits tightly and precisely in the wooden slotted end of the spool. Just exactly like it was made for it!

Kodak 120 film spools by Nokton48, on Flickr

However, the tape is not wide enough, and can result in uneven roll winding. The result is straining to get the film through the film back all the way to the end of the roll, not a good thing for it's gearing, etc.

These old wooden spools are the answer. Easy to load (no taping of the roll when loading, a real pain!) and it really goes through smoothly. I have some Kodak, Agfa, and unmarked spools, they are all identical except for the metal stamping.

Try one and be amazed! These are the right take up spools for these really old film backs.
 
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Nokton48

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6x9cm Plaubel Film Magazines All Loaded by Nokton48, on Flickr
Seven of my Plaubel film backs fully loaded each with a different film. Wooden take up spools also installed. This is what is great about interchangeable film mags. Somewhere around here I have one more, loaded with Foma 200. Gotta find it. HP5, FP4, Foma Retro 320, Panatomic-X, Acros, Verichrome Pan, and Delta 3200.
 
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Nokton48

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73mm Plaubel Orthar Set New Old Stock 1 by Nokton48, on Flickr

73mm Plaubel Orthar Set New Old Stock 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr

73mm Plaubel Orthar Set New Old Stock 3 by Nokton48, on Flickr

L@@K what I just bought on German Ebay, New Old Stock. Actually I just want the wide angle viewfinder, but look at the lens. Never used I think. Original correct box

Merry Christmas to ME

Since this is a F6.8 lens, I suspect this is a Dagor formula lens. Which is is very good thing! Like a Schneider Angulon.
 
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