[Jean Poitiers]

Thrift store comes through again ... all for 10€. (xpost)

- a very nice, working Voigtlander "Baby" Bessa 66 with case and a French "PMP" yellow filter with its strap case for 7€ (upside down) ... I flashlight tested the bellows and all seems OK
- an excellent Tempophot meter with case for 3€ ... and
- an excellent "Utilo" brand meter with case ... thrown in for free with the Bessa.

But, I have a question for you all ...what exactly is this in the second image ... not quite sure.

[wtlwdwgn]

Looks like a rangefinder.

[Jean Poitiers]

Looks like a rangefinder.

Yes ... I was thinking the same, but it's quite small (about 3.5'' maybe) and impossible to look into ...

[GPZ]

It's a rangefinder - distance meter. See here

[Jean Poitiers]

It's a rangefinder - distance meter. See here

OK ... excellent. Thanks a bunch, J

[gofour3]

Looks like it may be part of a light meter kit? Nice pickup!

Phil.

[WPRESTO]

Surprised that it's split-image rather than overlapping image. As the example in the Kodak museum is described as being in feet, they probably had an alternate ranging/distance wheel for the American market.

[Jonathan Mac]

It's a rangefinder. Some can be very hard to use as the hole to look into is tiny.

[45 Mike]

But, I have a question for you all ...what exactly is this in the second image ... not quite sure.

Most indubitably a range finder. I have a similar unit that i carry in my shirt pocket nearly everywhere i go.
I have 3 scale focus folders, the Billy, the Zenobia and the Rolfix. I have discovered that i almost never need the rangefinder, at all. In fact the rotating DOF dial on the Zenobia is about the most accurate focusing aid I have used on a folder. I wish i had the same device on my 6x9 folders. Using that and a very rough distance estimate to the subject in daylight photography tells me where to set the focus for best chance of in focus image. 5 foot, 10 feet, 20 feet, or more is the only estimate i need for subject distance. Much faster than using the range finder.
TBH, I have stopped using the rangefinder almost entirely IN MY TWO RANGEFINDERS!!
I estimate a rough distance then set the focus to the distance scale on the barrel, and shoot, but I almost always just leave the focus distance set at hyperfocal anyways, then i don't need to change anything.
I also stopped using the focus so much in my SLR film cameras also. Hyperfocal and DOF are the keys to scale focus cameras.

---------- Post added 01-21-16 at 23:58 ----------

ingenious

BTW, I am super jealous of your 65mm super angulon! LOL
I have a 75mm lens in a barrel mount, but no shutter that it fits in.

BTW there are two mods available for your baby graphic, one allows down tilt, and the other allows swing.
If you have a lathe and the skill to use it, then the mods should be super easy for you to do. Most guys use a dremel and a file. :-)

[malinku]

I have 2 copies of this lens, a near mint and another that is very battered on the outside but has pristine glass... I sold my x570, one of my favorite cameras but kept the lens... I decided to buy a xd11 to keep using the 35mm f1.8... it is a must have.

Yeah it is a great lens and now my go to event lens when I shoot film.

One of my shots with my copy:
https://flic.kr/p/C5TEb8


Now for some more minolta gear. The Maxxum 7000. I really wish more autofocus film cameras felt as good in my hands as this.

[wombat2go]

BTW, I am super jealous of your 65mm super angulon! LOL

Hi Mike, I put a thread on Apug about the project along with some photos.
I had to make some parts in the lathe, but the old camera remains in its original condition.
Adding the Super Angulon wide angle to the 2x3 Century - making Lens Board and Jigger

[Swift1]

Getting ready to load some 620 Kodacolor Gold 200 (from 1996) into my 1947 Kodak Medalist II.

[gofour3]

Getting ready to load some 620 Kodacolor Gold 200 (from 1996) into my 1947 Kodak Medalist II.

Beauty! Love the official "Olympic Games" film, have fun,

Phil.

[stevebrot]

...and I managed to drop my Kiev yesterday.

Sorry to read this. I almost dropped mine a few years back due to a failed leather strap. The camera was around my neck with one hand coincidentally touching the strap on the side that did not break. I felt the strap moving past my fingers and grabbed it just before the camera hit the pavement.

Steve

[stevebrot]

Could be that copying the Contax rangefinder with it's vertical travel roll-up garage door-style shutter was a mistake, as that shutter was both prone to breakdown and very expensive to repair.

I dunno...the design is definitely more complex than most horizontal-travel cloth shutters, but the most common failure is a broken ribbon*. Materials for a repair are still readily available and the replacement is sufficiently easy that most hobbyists can do it. The expense to have a tech do it is about the same as for a repair of Spotmatic shutter and much less than for a Leica.

As is well-known, the cameras (shutter and all) as well as tooling and parts inventory came into Soviet hands as war reparations at the end of WWII. It was not so much a matter of copying as continuing to use that which they had. The amazing thing is the roll-up shutter cameras stayed in production until the 1980s.


Steve

* Estimated to last about ten years of regular usage with the original silk and somewhat longer with synthetic replacements.