Gear P0rn - post it if you got it.

Huss · 06-28-2021, 10:17 PM

Originally posted by LesDMess

At least in my collection, the XE-7 seems to have the smoothest film advance and the magazine reviews and Minolta brochures highlight this particular characteristic.
.

My XK felt very very similar to my XE-7. Or was it XE-5? Not sure now because I gave it to a co-worker's son a few years back who was just getting into film photography.

LesDMess · 06-29-2021, 07:22 PM - **7 Likes**

Minolta XK with some Kodachrome slides taken on Agfa Ultra 100

wkraus · 06-30-2021, 08:35 AM - **7 Likes**

Meet the monster: Zenza Bronica S2 with prism finder and tilt-shift bellows attachment with EL-Nikkor 135mm 1:5.6 [A].

**K-Three** · 06-30-2021, 06:11 PM

Originally posted by wkraus

Zenza Bronica S2 with prism finder and tilt-shift bellows attachment with EL-Nikkor 135mm 1:5.6 [A]

Wow,
That is a monster,
reminds me of the Rollei SL66, with a built in bellows, and some limited up/down tilt capability.

How short of a lens can you still get to infinity with this rig? thinking about for architecture, 135mm on 6x6 is a bit long for most tall buildings.

LesDMess · 06-30-2021, 07:56 PM - **5 Likes**

Meet my two half frame shooters . . .

Of course the Konica has the option to switch back and forth between full frame or half at any point in the roll which can makes scanning a little complicated . . .

wkraus · 07-01-2021, 03:35 AM

Originally posted by K-Three

Wow,
That is a monster,
reminds me of the Rollei SL66, with a built in bellows, and some limited up/down tilt capability.

How short of a lens can you still get to infinity with this rig? thinking about for architecture, 135mm on 6x6 is a bit long for most tall buildings.

In theory you can use any original lens with infinity focus, but I have not yet tested how exact it is. The thing is that you need some amount of extension for the movements, so it is mostly useful for the near range, all the more so with shorter lenses. So no shift functionality at infinity except with longer non-original lenses. The EL-Nikkor 135mm allows for 3 or 4mm but not more at infinity. With a shorter barrel lens such as the 135mm Xenar that I also have it might be slightly more. But this is no alternative to a view camera or a proper shift lens.

**tonyzoc** · 07-01-2021, 08:28 AM

Originally posted by K-Three

Wow,
That is a monster,
reminds me of the Rollei SL66, with a built in bellows, and some limited up/down tilt capability.

How short of a lens can you still get to infinity with this rig? thinking about for architecture, 135mm on 6x6 is a bit long for most tall buildings.

The Bronica S/EC platforms have lenses from 40mm to 1200mm... So the 40mm f/4 (Nikkor or Zenzanon) is the widest lens equivalent to 24 or 28mm I think.

Huss · 07-01-2021, 08:48 AM

Originally posted by LesDMess

Meet my two half frame shooters . . .

Of course the Konica has the option to switch back and forth between full frame or half at any point in the roll which can makes scanning a little complicated . . .

I have an Olympus Pen FT - superb camera - just now found out (thanks to you!) about the Konica. That option to switch between formats from shot to shot does drive those who scan your film nuts. I did that with an Xpan, and the shop was not happy... Now that I scan the film myself it's no big deal.

**tonyzoc** · 07-01-2021, 04:38 PM

Originally posted by LesDMess

Meet my two half frame shooters . . .

Of course the Konica has the option to switch back and forth between full frame or half at any point in the roll which can makes scanning a little complicated . . .

I always wanted a Konica Autorex and I did pick up a parts body many years ago...hoping I could get it back into shape...but I couldn't. I did a few Olympus Pens ..the Pen F and FT and some EEs. I used to have an Exakta to pen F adapter and I could mount any of my German lenses on it...and with the FT stopped down metering worked with anything. The FT was a masterpiece for sure.

LesDMess · 07-01-2021, 05:16 PM - **1 Like**

The Konica Auto-Reflex is very cool specially regarding the ability to shoot half of full frame at will by just throwing the lever . . .

The meter and shutter speed autoexposure doesn't work but good thing about is all speeds are available because of this. It is a substantial camera born of that era!

Great writeup on it at Stephen Gandy's CameraQuest - Konica Auto-Reflex. If you're not already familiar with his site you may want to avoid it as it can drive your search for more cameras . . .

**K-Three** · 07-01-2021, 06:48 PM

Originally posted by wkraus

But this is no alternative to a view camera or a proper shift lens.

Yes, I realize that, without film plane movements, it's not going to give you a lot of control,
Was thinking the ability to shift the lens up would be useful for architecture (though limited).
Does look like it's aimed more at studio, table top use.
Does it use a standard lens board (like a Linhof maybe?), or a proprietary Bronica? Could you mount a large format lens w/shutter in it?
Looks to be in very nice shape for a piece of gear that old

wkraus · 07-02-2021, 03:57 AM

Originally posted by K-Three

Yes, I realize that, without film plane movements, it's not going to give you a lot of control,
Was thinking the ability to shift the lens up would be useful for architecture (though limited).
Does look like it's aimed more at studio, table top use.
Does it use a standard lens board (like a Linhof maybe?), or a proprietary Bronica? Could you mount a large format lens w/shutter in it?
Looks to be in very nice shape for a piece of gear that old

The S2 and EC Bronicas use a large bayonet for mounting the focusing helicoid on the body and a smaller bayonet for mounting lenses on the helicoid. The latter is combined with a M57 x 1 female thread for extension tubes and so on. Same with the bellows unit which replaces the helicoid. RafCamera makes several adapters to use with the M57 thread, such as the M42 one I am using together with a M42 to L39 adapter. They have special adapters to use with shutter-mounted LF lenses. Part of the fun of the old Bronicas with their focal plane shutters is that you can experiment with a lot of different lenses. The downside is that the flange focal distance is relatively long.

**WPRESTO** · 07-02-2021, 05:09 AM

Originally posted by wkraus

The S2 and EC Bronicas use a large bayonet for mounting the focusing helicoid on the body and a smaller bayonet for mounting lenses on the helicoid. The latter is combined with a M57 x 1 female thread for extension tubes and so on. Same with the bellows unit which replaces the helicoid. RafCamera makes several adapters to use with the M57 thread, such as the M42 one I am using together with a M42 to L39 adapter. They have special adapters to use with shutter-mounted LF lenses. Part of the fun of the old Bronicas with their focal plane shutters is that you can experiment with a lot of different lenses. The downside is that the flange focal distance is relatively long.

I had a Bronica S2 with 75mm Nikkor, 250mm f4 short-mount Nikkor (made for the 35mm rangefinder cameras + reflex housing) and a set of extension tubes. I gave up on the camera in part because it was too heavy for the way I did photography, but especially because the complex mirror/light-shields/shutter mechanism began to malfunction when the camera was only two years old. The mirror would not come back up fully unless the camera was inverted and thumped to get it moving again. Did not give me much confidence in the longevity of the camera, and more than a little exasperating when the camera was atop a tripod (I was using a Graflex Speed Pro tripod at the time - sturdy with a permanently mounted pan-tilt head that was strong but poorly designed).

LesDMess · 07-03-2021, 03:12 PM - **4 Likes**

A parade of SLRs with clean viewfinders taken on Kodak TMAX 100 . . .

. . . by that I mean there are no accessory shoes to attach a flash on to it.

As far as I know, the LX - with the FA-2 viewfinder, was the last one produced with a clean viewfinder.

Huss · 07-03-2021, 08:42 PM

Originally posted by LesDMess

A parade of SLRs with clean viewfinders taken on Kodak TMAX 100 . . .

. . . by that I mean there are no accessory shoes to attach a flash on to it.

As far as I know, the LX - with the FA-2 viewfinder, was the last one produced with a clean viewfinder.

Both the Nikon F3 (base model did not have an accessory shoe on the prism) and the LX were produced until 2001.

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06-28-2021, 10:17 PM	#7861
Huss Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2020 Posts: 629	Originally posted by LesDMess At least in my collection, the XE-7 seems to have the smoothest film advance and the magazine reviews and Minolta brochures highlight this particular characteristic. . My XK felt very very similar to my XE-7. Or was it XE-5? Not sure now because I gave it to a co-worker's son a few years back who was just getting into film photography.

06-29-2021, 07:22 PM - 7 Likes	#7862
LesDMess Pentaxian Join Date: May 2011 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Photos: Albums Posts: 3,235	Minolta XK with some Kodachrome slides taken on Agfa Ultra 100

06-30-2021, 08:35 AM - 7 Likes	#7863
wkraus Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Near Vienna, Austria Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,059	Meet the monster: Zenza Bronica S2 with prism finder and tilt-shift bellows attachment with EL-Nikkor 135mm 1:5.6 [A].

06-30-2021, 06:11 PM	#7864
K-Three Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: May 2014 Location: Pugetopolis, WA Photos: Gallery Posts: 938	Originally posted by wkraus Zenza Bronica S2 with prism finder and tilt-shift bellows attachment with EL-Nikkor 135mm 1:5.6 [A] Wow, That is a monster, reminds me of the Rollei SL66, with a built in bellows, and some limited up/down tilt capability. How short of a lens can you still get to infinity with this rig? thinking about for architecture, 135mm on 6x6 is a bit long for most tall buildings.

06-30-2021, 07:56 PM - 5 Likes	#7865
LesDMess Pentaxian Join Date: May 2011 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Photos: Albums Posts: 3,235	Meet my two half frame shooters . . . Of course the Konica has the option to switch back and forth between full frame or half at any point in the roll which can makes scanning a little complicated . . .

07-01-2021, 03:35 AM	#7866
wkraus Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Near Vienna, Austria Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,059	Originally posted by K-Three Wow, That is a monster, reminds me of the Rollei SL66, with a built in bellows, and some limited up/down tilt capability. How short of a lens can you still get to infinity with this rig? thinking about for architecture, 135mm on 6x6 is a bit long for most tall buildings. In theory you can use any original lens with infinity focus, but I have not yet tested how exact it is. The thing is that you need some amount of extension for the movements, so it is mostly useful for the near range, all the more so with shorter lenses. So no shift functionality at infinity except with longer non-original lenses. The EL-Nikkor 135mm allows for 3 or 4mm but not more at infinity. With a shorter barrel lens such as the 135mm Xenar that I also have it might be slightly more. But this is no alternative to a view camera or a proper shift lens.

07-01-2021, 08:28 AM	#7867
tonyzoc Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2018 Posts: 992	Originally posted by K-Three Wow, That is a monster, reminds me of the Rollei SL66, with a built in bellows, and some limited up/down tilt capability. How short of a lens can you still get to infinity with this rig? thinking about for architecture, 135mm on 6x6 is a bit long for most tall buildings. The Bronica S/EC platforms have lenses from 40mm to 1200mm... So the 40mm f/4 (Nikkor or Zenzanon) is the widest lens equivalent to 24 or 28mm I think.

07-01-2021, 08:48 AM	#7868
Huss Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2020 Posts: 629	Originally posted by LesDMess Meet my two half frame shooters . . . Of course the Konica has the option to switch back and forth between full frame or half at any point in the roll which can makes scanning a little complicated . . . I have an Olympus Pen FT - superb camera - just now found out (thanks to you!) about the Konica. That option to switch between formats from shot to shot does drive those who scan your film nuts. I did that with an Xpan, and the shop was not happy... Now that I scan the film myself it's no big deal.

07-01-2021, 04:38 PM	#7869
tonyzoc Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2018 Posts: 992	Originally posted by LesDMess Meet my two half frame shooters . . . Of course the Konica has the option to switch back and forth between full frame or half at any point in the roll which can makes scanning a little complicated . . . I always wanted a Konica Autorex and I did pick up a parts body many years ago...hoping I could get it back into shape...but I couldn't. I did a few Olympus Pens ..the Pen F and FT and some EEs. I used to have an Exakta to pen F adapter and I could mount any of my German lenses on it...and with the FT stopped down metering worked with anything. The FT was a masterpiece for sure.

07-01-2021, 05:16 PM - 1 Like	#7870
LesDMess Pentaxian Join Date: May 2011 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Photos: Albums Posts: 3,235	The Konica Auto-Reflex is very cool specially regarding the ability to shoot half of full frame at will by just throwing the lever . . . The meter and shutter speed autoexposure doesn't work but good thing about is all speeds are available because of this. It is a substantial camera born of that era! Great writeup on it at Stephen Gandy's CameraQuest - Konica Auto-Reflex. If you're not already familiar with his site you may want to avoid it as it can drive your search for more cameras . . .

07-01-2021, 06:48 PM	#7871
K-Three Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: May 2014 Location: Pugetopolis, WA Photos: Gallery Posts: 938	Originally posted by wkraus But this is no alternative to a view camera or a proper shift lens. Yes, I realize that, without film plane movements, it's not going to give you a lot of control, Was thinking the ability to shift the lens up would be useful for architecture (though limited). Does look like it's aimed more at studio, table top use. Does it use a standard lens board (like a Linhof maybe?), or a proprietary Bronica? Could you mount a large format lens w/shutter in it? Looks to be in very nice shape for a piece of gear that old

07-02-2021, 03:57 AM	#7872
wkraus Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Near Vienna, Austria Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,059	Originally posted by K-Three Yes, I realize that, without film plane movements, it's not going to give you a lot of control, Was thinking the ability to shift the lens up would be useful for architecture (though limited). Does look like it's aimed more at studio, table top use. Does it use a standard lens board (like a Linhof maybe?), or a proprietary Bronica? Could you mount a large format lens w/shutter in it? Looks to be in very nice shape for a piece of gear that old The S2 and EC Bronicas use a large bayonet for mounting the focusing helicoid on the body and a smaller bayonet for mounting lenses on the helicoid. The latter is combined with a M57 x 1 female thread for extension tubes and so on. Same with the bellows unit which replaces the helicoid. RafCamera makes several adapters to use with the M57 thread, such as the M42 one I am using together with a M42 to L39 adapter. They have special adapters to use with shutter-mounted LF lenses. Part of the fun of the old Bronicas with their focal plane shutters is that you can experiment with a lot of different lenses. The downside is that the flange focal distance is relatively long.

07-02-2021, 05:09 AM	#7873
WPRESTO Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Massachusetts Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 59,104	Originally posted by wkraus The S2 and EC Bronicas use a large bayonet for mounting the focusing helicoid on the body and a smaller bayonet for mounting lenses on the helicoid. The latter is combined with a M57 x 1 female thread for extension tubes and so on. Same with the bellows unit which replaces the helicoid. RafCamera makes several adapters to use with the M57 thread, such as the M42 one I am using together with a M42 to L39 adapter. They have special adapters to use with shutter-mounted LF lenses. Part of the fun of the old Bronicas with their focal plane shutters is that you can experiment with a lot of different lenses. The downside is that the flange focal distance is relatively long. I had a Bronica S2 with 75mm Nikkor, 250mm f4 short-mount Nikkor (made for the 35mm rangefinder cameras + reflex housing) and a set of extension tubes. I gave up on the camera in part because it was too heavy for the way I did photography, but especially because the complex mirror/light-shields/shutter mechanism began to malfunction when the camera was only two years old. The mirror would not come back up fully unless the camera was inverted and thumped to get it moving again. Did not give me much confidence in the longevity of the camera, and more than a little exasperating when the camera was atop a tripod (I was using a Graflex Speed Pro tripod at the time - sturdy with a permanently mounted pan-tilt head that was strong but poorly designed).

07-03-2021, 03:12 PM - 4 Likes	#7874
LesDMess Pentaxian Join Date: May 2011 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Photos: Albums Posts: 3,235	A parade of SLRs with clean viewfinders taken on Kodak TMAX 100 . . . . . . by that I mean there are no accessory shoes to attach a flash on to it. As far as I know, the LX - with the FA-2 viewfinder, was the last one produced with a clean viewfinder.

07-03-2021, 08:42 PM	#7875
Huss Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2020 Posts: 629	Originally posted by LesDMess A parade of SLRs with clean viewfinders taken on Kodak TMAX 100 . . . . . . by that I mean there are no accessory shoes to attach a flash on to it. As far as I know, the LX - with the FA-2 viewfinder, was the last one produced with a clean viewfinder. Both the Nikon F3 (base model did not have an accessory shoe on the prism) and the LX were produced until 2001.