New toy: Super Paxette kit - any "don'ts" ?

[Luddite Frank]

Just recieved a neat little Braun Super Paxette kit from the UK...

Camera body plus following lenses:

38 / 3,5 Staeble-Choro

50 / 2,8 Steinheil-Munchen Cassarit

85 / 5,6 Staeble-Telon

135 / 5,6 Roeschlein-Kreuznach E Telenar

Braun 38 / 85-90 finder

Braun (TEWE) 35-135 Polyfocus finder 😀

Couple of shades

Eveready case plus system case


Cute little outfit; body seems to work okay...

Any cautionary "dont's" as far as operating or servicing this camera ?

Thanks ! 😎

Luddite Frank

 

[zniv]

Must be lovely to have such a comprehensive kit of quality german craftmanship. Don'ts in operating this camera are not using the Staeble lenses without hoods, or better even not to use them at all. Nearly total consensus is that they are crap. Is the rangefinder coupled?
The Steinheil and Roeschlein lenses should be decent, and I hope you enjoy the camera. It's not a world class system, but just too cute...

 

[radi(c)al_cam]

is your camera a thread mount?

is your camera a thread mount?

Do your lenses have an aperture ring of their own or is your camera a thread mount?

I have a similar outfit with my Braun Paxette Super III automatic -- a.f.a.i.k., mark III meaning the bayonet-version, "automatic" is a cross-coupled exposure meter.

The bayonet has allowed faster lenses, with a maximum aperture of either 1,9 or 2.

I know of these two:
Ennalyt 1,9/50 (Enna, München; soft, but not bad)
Quinon 1,9/50 (Steinheil; a very fine permormer)

CAVE: operating my cameras (all are double-stroke) I had to learn to cock the stutter carefully, otherwise instead of film transportation the (very sharp) sprockets tear the film.

 

[Luddite Frank]

My Super Paxette is a thread-mount ( M-39?).

No meter, coupled RF.

Film advance is a double-stroke.

Will probably run a roll through it this week.

Too bad the Staeble lenses are reputed to be dogs... the 38 mm WA glass is FULL of bubbles / seeds... never saw so many in a lens.

Were there "good" 35mm, 85mm, 90mm lenses to fit the Paxettes ? If so, what are the make / model...

Thanks !

LF

 

[Uwe_Nds]

My Super Paxette is a thread-mount ( M-39?).

Yes, the Paxettes are M39, but a different register than Leica.

Enjoy the camera!

Cheers,
Uwe

 

[batterytypehah!]

There's a nice write-up about the Paxette on retrography.com. Mind you, this guy got so frustrated with his Braun bodies that he's now using the lenses on a DeJur (made by Neidig).

 

[Toyoca 35]

excuse me for coming in late on this thread, but my info may be useful.

Braun made a huge range of Paxettes and Super Paxettes. The nomenclature (e.g., Braun Super Paxette II BL) all has meaning. See this page to help sort out which you have:
http://www.ukcamera.com/classic_cameras/braun1.htm
It is the most comprehensive list I've found online.

It annoys me a little when received wisdom on lens quality is passed on by people with no 1st hand knowledge of the lens itself.

Staeble lenses are of varying quality - in both glass and build. In my experience, these lightly built lenses tend to bind up due to degraded grease. They never seem to run quite as smoothly as some of the competition, but a thorough clean works wonders nevertheless.

Older/cheaper Staebles such as the Katagon 50/2.8 and the Choro, which you have, are infamous for flare. I've had postive results from the former, nevertheless. This winter-morning photo was taken without a hood in bright conditions. Some haze may be from the lens, but most is atmospheric.

The Staeble Color-Ultralit 50/2.8 is a Paxette M39 screw mount lens which delivers nice, contrasty results. It is my favourite Staeble (so far) both for its results and its modern looks and ergonomics. A very usable lens:

As is the Staeble-Lineagon 35/3.5:

Not great art (blame the photographer) but not bad lenses. No lens hoods were used for either of these examples.

My advice for anyone wanting to know the quality of a Braun M39 mount lens is "suck it and see". Playing with these cameras/lenses is fun, cheap and can deliver surprising results.

 

[Luddite Frank]

Very helpful, Michael !

Thanks for your input !

 

[Toyoca 35]

No Problem.

Despite the bleak prognosis on Retrophotography, I've always found Paxettes reliable and repairable. The rangefinder mechanism is agricultural and not difficult to adjust. I made a simple film advance spring tensioning tool by slotting a piece of 1/4" steel tube. This is invaluable for refitting the top plate on Super Paxette II after rangefinder cleaning/adjustment.

 

[MIkhail]

My Super Paxette is a thread-mount ( M-39?).

No meter, coupled RF.

Film advance is a double-stroke.

Will probably run a roll through it this week.

Too bad the Staeble lenses are reputed to be dogs... the 38 mm WA glass is FULL of bubbles / seeds... never saw so many in a lens.

Were there "good" 35mm, 85mm, 90mm lenses to fit the Paxettes ? If so, what are the make / model...

Thanks !

LF

It is M39, except not Leica M39... Different thread pitch. Dont force it on your Leica.

BTW, if anybody interested, I have one Super Paxette on sale, 100% working condition. All speeds are accurate.

 

[Luddite Frank]

Is is common for the Staeble lenses to have lots of "seeds" or bubbles in the glass? (Or am I just lucky?)