Old-timer

Pete Askew said:
It's looking better than me, and I'm younger that that!:(

Looking forward to seeing what images you make using it - I'm assuming no hack-saws will be involved!
Click to expand...
Lol I’m sure that’s not the case ☺️. I’ll post some results as soon as I have them, assuming there are no unforeseen issues. Rest assured, no hacksaws, chainsaws, hammers or other instruments of torture will come within a mile of it 😎😁. There is a slight haze inside the lens and what might be a small spot of fungus (not yet sure on that one, it may just be a small spot of grease/oil), but none of this serious enough to cause any major issues. I’m in the process of thoroughly zapping all external surfaces with a UVC lamp held at close quarters. Hopefully this will be enough to see off any potential nasties on the outside even if it doesn’t fully penetrate the glass. I look forward to getting out with it.
 
I have another slightly younger Sport with the Cassar f4.5 lens and Prontor-S shutter which does a fair job, although there appears to be a fair bit of softness down one edge. When I got it, the poor thing was infested with the dreaded, not just in the lens, but all over the pressure plate of all places (probably elsewhere too). I gave it a good clean and it doesn’t seem to have come back since then (2-3 yrs ago). Btw I never spend much on these old beauties, usually no more than around the £20 mark. Sometimes your lucky, sometimes not, all part of the fun, I guess.
 
Many thanks, Pete. It’s our neighbour’s place up the lane. You could well be right regarding the pressure plate, I haven’t investigated as yet but will do so. You may have noticed I have a distinct liking of these old folders (despite my recent vandalism towards a certain Ensign)🤓
 
The Adox looks very clean. And based on the images you made with the Cassar it seems well-worth the effort to shoot more with it. Are you scanning with a digital camera, Ralph?
 
@Brian Moore yes, I mainly camera scan. For 6x6 upwards, to get a single scan of the whole neg means I have to alter how I have my rig set. No major deal, just a little bit inconvenient. The other option is to scan in sections and stitch. This is a little time consuming as I like to do my major editing in 16bit but PSE6 will only stitch in 8bit. It’s do-able and can give superb results (though as you can imagine the files are huge). I also have the option of my old Epson 4870 flatbed, which can give very good results although it’s tonal gradation isn’t always as smooth and is ok but not brilliant with 35mm, particularly transparencies. The link below will give you a description of my rig and it’s original arrangement. Being able to have a camera I can dedicate to the purpose is great as I can leave the rig permanently set up.

www.35mmc.com

A Digitisation Rig with a Nod To Mr H Robinson and a Surprise Along The Way - by Ralph Turner

I’m not quite sure what triggered it, maybe a number of small mental prods: my son’s interest in film (he uses his Mum’s old Pentax K1000), being given a roll of Fuji C200 and a desire to try out my late cousin’s old Minolta XG-M with said film.
www.35mmc.com
 
The Adox (the latest addition) is indeed in very good shape for its age. I might put a roll in it tomorrow , see how it goes.
 
Thank you, Pete🙂. Needed to nip out to the post office this morning so took the opportunity to run a roll of Kentmere 100 through the ‘new’ Adox. It’s a delight to use (even with the additional clunky 645 marker frame in the viewfinder). Exposure and focus precision calculated by ‘Sunny 16’ and a finger in the wind🤞
 
Thanks for the detailed response, Ralph. Also thanks for the link to the article which I just read and enjoyed. Just to be clear, the Pentacon 3.5/30 you are using on your camera scanning rig is NOT a macro lens?
 
No, it’s the re-badged version of the well known Meyer Lydith. I was quite shocked when it produced such crisp results. It wasn’t perfect, though. To be fair, this was only on a MFT sensor, I’ve not tried it on anything beyond. I suspect distortions would become rather pronounced on a bigger sensor. There was already an issue with softness along the bottom (long) edge of the frame. Luckily by shifting the 35mm neg to the top of the frame mostly avoided this. After I’d written this piece, I tried one of the old 50mm f4 Componons. This worked very well. Central sharpness wasn’t vastly different but it was much more consistent into the corners. About 18 months ago I upgraded to a Fuji X-A3, mainly because there was an odd colour shift on the Panasonic’s sensor, from very slightly magenta on one side to green/cyan on the other. Not an issue with transparencies but with the ‘stretched’ histogram more or less inherent in negative scans to achieve the correct brightness range, the minute differences
became noticeable as a variable cast. Had it not been for this I might still be using the little GX1. Having said that, having seen what the Fuji can do with it’s larger, higher res sensor and electronic shutter in conjunction with one of the ‘newer’ 6-element Schneider Componon-S lenses…
Well, that turned into more of a ramble than I’d intended.. hopefully it hasn’t sent you to sleep 💤😊
 
Ralph Turner said:
No, it’s the re-badged version of the well known Meyer Lydith. I was quite shocked when it produced such crisp results. It wasn’t perfect, though. To be fair, this was only on a MFT sensor, I’ve not tried it on anything beyond. I suspect distortions would become rather pronounced on a bigger sensor. There was already an issue with softness along the bottom (long) edge of the frame. Luckily by shifting the 35mm neg to the top of the frame mostly avoided this. After I’d written this piece, I tried one of the old 50mm f4 Componons. This worked very well. Central sharpness wasn’t vastly different but it was much more consistent into the corners. About 18 months ago I upgraded to a Fuji X-A3, mainly because there was an odd colour shift on the Panasonic’s sensor, from very slightly magenta on one side to green/cyan on the other. Not an issue with transparencies but with the ‘stretched’ histogram more or less inherent in negative scans to achieve the correct brightness range, the minute differences
became noticeable as a variable cast. Had it not been for this I might still be using the little GX1. Having said that, having seen what the Fuji can do with it’s larger, higher res sensor and electronic shutter in conjunction with one of the ‘newer’ 6-element Schneider Componon-S lenses…
Well, that turned into more of a ramble than I’d intended.. hopefully it hasn’t sent you to sleep 💤😊
Click to expand...
Hahaha. No, not sleeping. Just trying to keep up. Thanks for the detailed response.
 
Ralph Turner said:
Sadly the end results were a tad disappointing. I know my focus guestimates aren't always what they coould be, but the focus on this unit is some way off, focussing closer than it should. These two are probably the only useable frames from the roll. I need to check it out. Once the focus is fixed, I think the camera may well produce some pleasing images.
Click to expand...
I think so, too. The foreground looks pleasingly sharp in both pictures.
 
Thanks folks. Indeed, bits that are roughly in focus do look quite sharp. I’m hoping I can adjust the focus by repositioning the scale ring around the front element. The bokeh in these images is also quite pleasing so I think it’ll be worth pursuing at some point.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
Spit ‘n’ polish
Replies
0
Views
355
Ralph Turner
R
Gary R. Smith
New Guitar Day
Replies
1
Views
293
Gary R. Smith
Gary R. Smith
R
Old timer, revisited.
Replies
4
Views
393
Ralph Turner
R
Paul Taylor
Fired up the printers....
Replies
14
Views
297
Paul Taylor
Paul Taylor
Charlotte Ortelli
Fixing up an old Brownie in poor condition
Replies
4
Views
160
Gary R. Smith
Gary R. Smith
Back
Top