[nickthetasmaniac]

I see.

Resourceful, to be sure.

Aren't the rails of the cold shoe made of metal? If so, couldn't the ends be bent slightly downward to exert pressure on the viewfinder foot?

Probably, but I'm not super keen to bend parts on a camera worth more than my car

Or maybe a shim could be made that wedged it in tight?

Also probably, but why bother when the fishing line does the job?

[womble]

Probably, but I'm not super keen to bend parts on a camera worth more than my car



Also probably, but why bother when the fishing line does the job?

Whatever works! I have a similar problem with the turret finder on my FED2. I used a piece of film trimmed to the right size. Just enough to get the finder on tight without being hard to remove.

K.

[Baard-Einar]

Finally.

I managed to find a nice copy of the Asahi Auto-Takumar 85mm f1.9, in it case and with the original hood, at not to bad a price.

Mounting it on a Asahi Pentax SV makes me feel like a Beatles member

[Swift1]

Finally.

I managed to find a nice copy of the Asahi Auto-Takumar 85mm f1.9, in it case and with the original hood, at not to bad a price.

Mounting it on a Asahi Pentax SV makes me feel like a Beatles member

What a gorgeous pair!!!

---------- Post added 05-15-19 at 01:51 PM ----------

After years of wanting one, I finally got myself a Leicaflex SL.
The bodies are usually easy to find, but the lenses are harder to find and usually way too expensive for my budget
IMO, the Leicaflex SL might be one of the best looking 35mm SLRs ever made...

[TomB_tx]

I bought my Leicaflex SL in 1968, trading a couple Canon SLRs & lenses toward it. Not only looks good, but solid as a tank. Still use mine.

[nickthetasmaniac]

After years of wanting one, I finally got myself a Leicaflex SL.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts regarding the SL. Does the handling (UI, viewfinder, ergonomics etc.) live up to the build-quality? How does it compare to Pentax? Likewise, the Summicron - is it as good/better than a Pentax 50mm?

[Jean Poitiers]

This showed up at my thrift shop ... excellent cosmetics, but meter is way off and the silvering on the rangefinder prism has flaked off ... thus one sees no change will focusing. Everything else AOK ... I have already shot two rolls of B&W.

[womble]

I picked-up a very nice bellows set from an auction site for a reasonable price the other day. Include the bellows-M, slide copier-A, both manuals and a custom made wooden box. The only thing missing is one of the screw-in stops at end of the main beam.


Pentax bellows (1) par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity


Pentax bellows (2) par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity


Pentax bellows (3) par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity


Pentax bellows (4) par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity


Pentax bellows (5) par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

[edom31]

My K-50 with a powder-coated-silver lens mounted...

[Swift1]

I'm curious to hear your thoughts regarding the SL. Does the handling (UI, viewfinder, ergonomics etc.) live up to the build-quality? How does it compare to Pentax? Likewise, the Summicron - is it as good/better than a Pentax 50mm?

Now that I've used the camera a bit, I can try to answer your questions.

The build quality is superb. It maybe doesn't feel quite as good as my M2, but very close. Though I don't really want to, I have to admit the Leicaflex is a noticeable step up from any Pentax I have used. It's not like the Pentax aren't great quality, but the Leicaflex is just so nice.

It's a big beast of a camera (especially next to my Pentax SV) but it doesn't feel too big. The advance is super smooth. The shutter is maybe the smoothest I have used. The viewfinder is huge and bright. I'm having a bit of difficulty nailing focus, but I am having to use a right angle finder and rely on helpers to get focus and we haven't worked out the kinks in our system.

So far, the Summicron-R 50 seems to be exactly what I have been searching for in a lens. I think the Pentax 50 I have is probably every bit as sharp, but the Summicron-R has such smooth tonal rendering. My favorite lens is the 80/2.8 Planar on my Rolleiflex 2.8C, particularly because of its super smooth tonal rendering, and so I have been hoping to find a lens with similar qualities for a 35mm format camera. Your collapsible Summicron seems (to me) to have that quality and I would love to have one for my M2, but they typically sell for a lot more than I paid for the entire Leicaflex kit.

[TomB_tx]

Keep an eye out for a Leicaflex SL2. It adds a split-image spot as well as microprism in the finder, more sensitive meter, and other refinements, but keeps all the good of the SL.
These models are a bargain now as are the common 70s lenses for them. Some of the more exotic later lenses are now really high, but a kit of the older lenses is reasonable.

[nickthetasmaniac]

The viewfinder is huge and bright. I'm having a bit of difficulty nailing focus ...

As I've found with the acute matte screen in my 500CM - bright doesn't necessarily mean easy to focus...

So far, the Summicron-R 50 seems to be exactly what I have been searching for in a lens. I think the Pentax 50 I have is probably every bit as sharp, but the Summicron-R has such smooth tonal rendering. My favorite lens is the 80/2.8 Planar on my Rolleiflex 2.8C, particularly because of its super smooth tonal rendering, and so I have been hoping to find a lens with similar qualities for a 35mm format camera. Your collapsible Summicron seems (to me) to have that quality and I would love to have one for my M2, but they typically sell for a lot more than I paid for the entire Leicaflex kit.

You're right about the super smooth tonal rendering from the Collapsible Summicron, which I've found particularly noticeable on B&W film and when shooting people. I also believe my Pentax 50's are sharper, although really it's splitting hairs when comparing sharpness from quality 50's - they're all pretty good.

Interesting that you mention the 2.8C. I've found the Cron to have very similar rendering to the Rokkor 75mm in my Autocord, particularly wide open.

Anyway, here's some gear p0rn. My 50's appear to be breeding



Mounted:
- SV - Super Takumar 50/f1.4 (8 element)
- SP-F - SMC Takumar 50/f1.4
- LX - SMC Pentax 50/f1.2
- MX - SMC Pentax-M 50/f1.4

Unmounted:
- Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 50/f1.4
- SMC Pentax 50/f1.4
- Super Macro-Takumar 50/f4
- Super Takumar 55/f1.8

[abruzzi]

About $250 for all of this. The camera included a full rebuild (the video of the vortex done by “gentle hands” is even posted on YouTube. (Though he’s speaking Russian throughout, so I don’t know what he said.)

The lenses across are Jupiter 9 (85/2), Helios-103 (53/1.8), Jupiter-8 (50/2), Jupiter-12 (35/2.8). The left viewfinder is for the 85, and the right viewfinder does 28, 35, 50, 85, and 135.

The Jupiter-9 (technically ЮПИТЕР-9) has really stiff focusing, but that seems to be all of them that haven’t been restored. There are instructions online to clean and relive the focusing.

The shop also had a 135mm Jupiter 11 lens, but it wasn’t in the best of shape. I may break down and buy it to complete the set. (Well the 28mm would be needed too, but that seems to sell for pretty high. There was also the 50/1.5 but I couldn’t justify the cost on that either.)

[Cuthbert]

About $250 for all of this. The camera included a full rebuild (the video of the vortex done by “gentle hands” is even posted on YouTube. (Though he’s speaking Russian throughout, so I don’t know what he said.)

The Jupiter-9 (technically ЮПИТЕР-9) has really stiff focusing, but that seems to be all of them that haven’t been restored. There are instructions online to clean and relive the focusing.

The shop also had a 135mm Jupiter 11 lens, but it wasn’t in the best of shape. I may break down and buy it to complete the set. (Well the 28mm would be needed too, but that seems to sell for pretty high. There was also the 50/1.5 but I couldn’t justify the cost on that either.)

I have the same set but for Zorki, the Orion and the Jupiter 12 are great lenses, Jupiter 9 and 11 are difficult to use on a rangefinder due to parallax and long focus.

[stevebrot]

About $250 for all of this. The camera included a full rebuild (the video of the vortex done by “gentle hands” is even posted on YouTube. (Though he’s speaking Russian throughout, so I don’t know what he said.)

The lenses across are Jupiter 9 (85/2), Helios-103 (53/1.8), Jupiter-8 (50/2), Jupiter-12 (35/2.8). The left viewfinder is for the 85, and the right viewfinder does 28, 35, 50, 85, and 135.

The Jupiter-9 (technically ЮПИТЕР-9) has really stiff focusing, but that seems to be all of them that haven’t been restored. There are instructions online to clean and relive the focusing.

The shop also had a 135mm Jupiter 11 lens, but it wasn’t in the best of shape. I may break down and buy it to complete the set. (Well the 28mm would be needed too, but that seems to sell for pretty high. There was also the 50/1.5 but I couldn’t justify the cost on that either.)

Hail the conquering hero! You are going to like the Helios 103. Do you have the link for the J-9 cleaning/lube instructions? Mine is identical to yours and is also quite stiff.


Steve