Pix of your home-built cams, mods and creations here please (part 2)

[awty]

Here's my Wirgin build with SA 47mm f5.6. I coupled the lens to a Zorki RF. The latter expects a 52mm lens but it works ok.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2nvkRjS] DIY Wirgin Panoramic verywiiideᵀᴹ by Olivier, on Flickr[/URL]

DSC-05213 stitch by Olivier, on Flickr

Very clever, took me a while to work out what you had done, very impressive.

 

[awty]

3D printed a 4 mm spanner in order to remove the self-timer lever of a Minolta SRT101 (worked great).
View attachment 317458
View attachment 317457

Very nice tool, better than trying to use a set of dividers

 

[OAPOli]

thanks @nosmok and @awty

I have a few other builds I'll eventualy post. Currently reworking my 6x7 RF.

 

[lobitar]

Very clever, took me a while to work out what you had done, very impressive.

That is very cool! Props to you.

Wonderful creation - virtually an work of art.

 

[OAPOli]

Thanks @lobitar

Here is another mod. Fuji GW690 converted to 6x7. Spacing isn't perfect. I prefer the 4:5 aspect ratio and 2 extra shots ain't bad. I've also tried 6x8.

(this is for 6x8)
replacement part vs. original by Olivier, on Flickr

Fuji GW690 6x7 mod by Olivier, on Flickr

 

[Rick Rycroft]

After making the last 6x9 Zeiss conversion with a 65mm lens for someone, I realized how cool these little Zeiss conversions are. I had long wanted a ‘smallish’ camera with a ‘largish’ neg which would be ideal as travel companion (if we ever get back to traveling again…).

At first I was thinking about using a 6x9 Graflok back, but by the time you added the roll film back, the camera becomes more like a cube or box due to the way the film plane is directly in front of both the feed and take up spools. Using a Zeiss camera body with the film plane at the back of the body and the spools to the sides (and kinda in front) really helps the finished product be a bit less boxy and a little more ‘camera’ shaped.

To keep the camera as small as possible and ideal for handheld shooting, I used a single coated 47mm f/5.6 Super Angulon, this lens is remarkably small, especially compared to the modern, multicoated 47mm f/5.6 (non-XL) Super Angulon. The older single coated version was only designed to cover 6x9 which I have to assume keeps it nice and tidy. The front filter thread is only 49mm and the rear element is small enough to fit inside a small focusing helical. This was key as the lens board had to be recessed inside the camera body a bit for the focus to be work, the larger helical that I usually use would not fit into the smaller 6x9 camera body. The camera will focus from infinity to well under 6 feet!

After stripping off the 85 year old paint and leather from the camera, a gorgeous stamped steel camera body emerged. It was just too pretty to cover up with fresh paint or new leather so I gave it a good cleaning and buffed it out as best I could. The black accessories and lens mount look great on the polished silver camera body, I could be more happy with how this camera project turned out.

I’m looking forward to shooting a bunch of 6x9 this fall and winter.

There are more pictures of the camera and some other test shots on Flickr if you want to check them out: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dirkfletcher/albums.
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Hi Dirk,

Inspired by your great conversions I've sourced a Zeiss Nettar and a 47 SA and have begun building. Looking at the photos of your camera it looks like the lens is mounted in the center of the new lens board. The Nettar's film gate is offset down effectively giving you front rise on the lens if the lens is in fact centered on the front. If this is right is it intentional or just how the helical needs to fit? It would seem to me with such a wide lens some front rise is not a bad thing to avoid excessive foreground.

How did you mount the front lens panel to the camera body? I'm thinking of using epoxy to glue it in. If your are not wanting to give away all your secrets, I understand.

Cheers
Rick

 

[OAPOli]

Here is a new build. 6x7 (coupled) rangefinder. First roll was not great: SLS PA12 isn't opaque!

DIY 6x7 rangefinder by Olivier, on Flickr

DIY 6x7 rangefinder by Olivier, on Flickr

DIY 6x7 rangefinder by Olivier, on Flickr

 

[Nokton48]

SONY DSC by Nokton48, on Flickr

This is the handheld camera I used to photograph the digital tree photo just posted here. Great for testing and checking lenses, Makiflex Automatic #1 has the Makiflex Auto Iris 150mm Schneider Symmar. I have only seen this lens offered in Europe after decades of looking around. Anyways cock the aperture and it stops down just before the focal plane shutter goes off. Hence "Automatic". Loving the digital back, cost no money and works a treat. Fits interchangeably with my mini-me Peco Junior view cameras. "Poor Man's Medium Format Digital with Moves".

SONY DSC by Nokton48, on Flickr

nitial test of Makiflex Digital Back! Auto Makiflex #1 150mm f5.6 chrome Schneider Symmar Auto Iris Plaubel Makiflex lens mount. Key Day F11 Easily hand holdable, great way to test all my lenses. Much fun ahead. If I want I can switch to film in 30 seconds, although the camera needs totally reset in that case. But so versatile.

SONY DSC by Nokton48, on Flickr

• I wanted a small incogneto digital back, to go on my new Plaubel Peco Jrs. So I took the $60 18mp Sony Nex C3 body, and JB Welded it on to a Peco Jr board with #0 hole. I put a popup hood generic type, with a moncular magnifier that folds out of the way, and viewing is very good with this! Great for lens testing, and eliminates the need for expensive Fujiroid instant material. Exposure readouts in the viewfinder great for determining base exposures through the lens. Shown here with the chrome 100mm Schneider Symmar, ina a later vintage Compur shutter. I am trying to collect the lenses that were originally offered in the Plaubel catalogs of the day. This will be a useful tool for me in the studio, also in the field. I can switch back and forth between digital and B&W film of allsorts in rolls and sheets. This will be fun to field test. Well... it's odd indeed, but could be quite useful.

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Here's my Wirgin build with SA 47mm f5.6. I coupled the lens to a Zorki RF. The latter expects a 52mm lens but it works ok.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2nvkRjS] DIY Wirgin Panoramic verywiiideᵀᴹ by Olivier, on Flickr[/URL]

DSC-05213 stitch by Olivier, on Flickr

Very intriguing and beautifully crafted!

 

[Dan Fromm]

Here is a new build. 6x7 (coupled) rangefinder. First roll was not great: SLS PA12 isn't opaque!

DIY 6x7 rangefinder by Olivier, on Flickr

DIY 6x7 rangefinder by Olivier, on Flickr

DIY 6x7 rangefinder by Olivier, on Flickr

Cute. Not to be impolite, but why did you take the trouble to reinvent the Mamiya Press?

 

[OAPOli]

Cute. Not to be impolite, but why did you take the trouble to reinvent the Mamiya Press?

Because it's smaller and lighter, and I like to build stuff.

 

[awty]

Here is a new build. 6x7 (coupled) rangefinder. First roll was not great: SLS PA12 isn't opaque!

DIY 6x7 rangefinder by Olivier, on Flickr

DIY 6x7 rangefinder by Olivier, on Flickr

DIY 6x7 rangefinder by Olivier, on Flickr

Nice work again. How did you couple the range finder to the lens gear on this one?

 

[OAPOli]

Nice work again. How did you couple the range finder to the lens gear on this one?

Thanks! On the 2nd pic you can see an attachment on the rear lens group. There is a little plate that contacts the cam follower. Had to extend the latter because it expects a shorter lens.

 

[awty]

Thanks! On the 2nd pic you can see an attachment on the rear lens group. There is a little plate that contacts the cam follower. Had to extend the latter because it expects a shorter lens.

Do you have a picture of how you attached the cam to the helical gear?

 

[OAPOli]

Do you have a picture of how you attached the cam to the helical gear?

No sorry. There is a ring clamped on the rear lens group, to which the "cam" (just a flat plate) is attached. It doesn't turn with the helical but translates linearly with the lens. I had to modify the rangefinder cam follower for the coupling to work.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Because it's smaller and lighter, and I like to build stuff.

Thanks for the reply. There's much to be said for the joy of tinkering.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Because it's smaller and lighter, and I like to build stuff.

Completely valid on both points.

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Here is a new build. 6x7 (coupled) rangefinder. First roll was not great: SLS PA12 isn't opaque!

DIY 6x7 rangefinder by Olivier, on Flickr

DIY 6x7 rangefinder by Olivier, on Flickr

DIY 6x7 rangefinder by Olivier, on Flickr

Well done, very inspiring ideas and very well executed!

 

[Richard Man]

Here's me with my TardisCam - a Dora Goodman build in Tardis blue. Basically a soup-up SWC with 50mm Biogon and a Godox Retro flash

 

[Nokton48]

Fuji GX680 50mm f5.6 Seiko Shutter by Nokton48, on Flickr

My Plaubel Junior restored with New to me 50mm F5.6 Fuji GX680 lens, purchased broken, at a good discount, from Adorama in NYC. They also included the Gelatin Filter Holder/50mm Hood, it's worth some Dollars so a great deal. The view through the 50mm is AMAZING. Can't wait to shoot some test 6.5x9cm Makina Back Film. EVentually I will buy some type of Digital Medium Format Back. The Peco Junior has a Leica-like smoothness and feel. Plaubel advertised as "The Rolls Royce of Cameras" in the day. Works smoothly and tightly in a Leica-type of way. Also looked through my 4x5" Sinar Normas with this lens. It's amazingly sharp-looking and nice and contrasty view. This will get some use now, rather than becoming an interesting broken ornament. BTW I should mention that I bought the camera for 70 Bucks from Adorama. Another great price. And it included a lens board with a #0 hole

Getting There Set of GX680 Lenses Seiko Shutters by Nokton48, on Flickr

Getting there with my set of Fuji GX680 lenses, with Seiko #2 Shutters added. Mounted on PLaubel Peco Junior boards and Minolta SRT cable releases, Yellow Filters on each, and Hoods too. From the left front, the 50mm F5.6, then the 65mm F5.6, then the 80mm F5.6. On the far right front, the 100mm F4. Back Row, from the left, the 125mm F3.2, then the 150mm F5.6. Next the 180mm F3.2, and on the far right, the 210mm F5.6 Also adding the 250mm F5.6, should be tommorrow, got another Seiko Shutter coming. The 50mm front view reminds me of the HAL9000 fisheye in 2001: A Space Odyssey. It looks about the same LOL

SONY DSC by Nokton48, on Flickr

Using Brass Hobby Modeling Screws I bolted a Plaubel 120x120 Adapter Board, to a Sinar Norma Uber Heavy Metal Homemade Machined Norma Board (heavily used) LOL. Always wondered what I would ever do with this thing LOL. So now all my Plaubel Junior mounted boards fit onto the Norma, which I can go up to 8x10, although with these 4x5 will do it nicely. This is the Schneider 135mm F3.8 Schneider Xenar, a not often seen lens, in the F3.8 version. Great to look through on the 4x5 Norma. The tripod is Shulman-inspired Leica Tiltall, modded with aluminum block. This tripod is in Shulman's books on Architecture and Interiors, which I studied intensely back in the Eighties.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Here's me with my TardisCam - a Dora Goodman build in Tardis blue. Basically a soup-up SWC with 50mm Biogon and a Godox Retro flash

View attachment 327105

50mm Biogon? Did you mean 53mm?

 

[Richard Man]

50mm Biogon? Did you mean 53mm?

Hee hee, couldn't pass anything lens-related by APUGers I should have said "Biogon type". It's a Mamiya Press 50mm lens, that is... well, Biogon design. F/6.3 So relatively compact. Looks to be similar length as the 38mm Biogon but larger diameter

 

[dirkfletcher]

Not to mention no unrepairable electronics to fail without warning...

You aren't kidding Don, I've talked to two different people who have had gen 1 XPans just go dark!!!!! That's like a 4K ticking time bomb. Its crazy!!

 

[dirkfletcher]

Hi Dirk,

Inspired by your great conversions I've sourced a Zeiss Nettar and a 47 SA and have begun building. Looking at the photos of your camera it looks like the lens is mounted in the center of the new lens board. The Nettar's film gate is offset down effectively giving you front rise on the lens if the lens is in fact centered on the front. If this is right is it intentional or just how the helical needs to fit? It would seem to me with such a wide lens some front rise is not a bad thing to avoid excessive foreground.

How did you mount the front lens panel to the camera body? I'm thinking of using epoxy to glue it in. If your are not wanting to give away all your secrets, I understand.

Cheers
Rick

RICK!! So sorry for the delay, I missed your question. You are totally correct, on both the 6x9 and 6x12 bodies I'm centering the helical (except for one 6x12 actually at the customer's request) which gives you a tad more than a 3mm rise. The very first 6x12 camera I made was for myself because I couldn't afford the original 6x12 Technorama with a 65mm lens and a built in 8mm rise, so I opted to go with the 3mm rise on just about all the subsequent 6x12 projects.

You need more than epoxy, I make four angle aluminum brackets (one of them needs to be sidestepped a bit) and anchor to the top and bottom of the camera and and the face of the panel. Once the panel fits well and is square to the film plane, I metal epoxy over (and under) the brackets and all around to seal it. While 3D printed cameras are fantastic and offer so many affordable options the conversions that I make are truly built to withstand daily professional use if exposed to it. Let me know if you have any more questions, looking forward to seeing your final camera!

 

[Dan Fromm]

Hee hee, couldn't pass anything lens-related by APUGers I should have said "Biogon type". It's a Mamiya Press 50mm lens, that is... well, Biogon design. F/6.3 So relatively compact. Looks to be similar length as the 38mm Biogon but larger diameter

Thanks for the reply. That was the other possibility.