Filters for color in Noblex 135U: anybody use them?

[pagpow]

Just pulled the trigger on a used Noblex 135U. I know that filters for it are getting harder to track down. I know what filters I might use for B&W.

I'm not a big user of filtes; for background -- with fixed lens cameras and color, I use skylight, ND, and polarizer.

I'm curious whether and which filters people might use for color -- assuming I'm not trying to mask reality. Not which ones I might use, but which ones people have found very useful.

 

[robertdfeinman]

Filters

Filters

I did buy a red filter so I could shoot Kodak High Speed IR film. It worked fine, but I sort of got out of the habit of shooting IR when the larger formats where discontinued.

I also have a +3 which the Canadian distributor made for me. I think he now offers +1 and +2 as well. The +3 allows shooting at about 18" from the subject.

I attach a string with a knot at the right distance to the tripod socket and hold it so that the knot touches the subject. Then I drop the string just before shooting. The problem is finding subjects which are in a semi-circle.

I have some flower closeups made with this technique on my web site.

With the 135U you lose a shot every time you insert or remove the filter and you need tweezers to do it. I now shoot color negative so I can make most color adjustments after scanning in Photoshop. I've never found any value in UV filters, on the Noblex they would just add flare.

It might be possible to tape or hold a large acetate filter in front of the lens mechanism, I've not tried this.

 

[anglophone1]

I have a Noblex ND grad which is great for "holding back the sky" on velvia esp. with lansdcapes.
Alao a red for IR and dramatic b/w as robert.......
Airport secuirity don't like the tweezers though!
Clive

 

[chambrenoire]

pagpow: May I ask how much you paid for your camera?

 

[pagpow]

pagpow: May I ask how much you paid for your camera?

Sure Chambrenoire -- $695 in bargain condition from KEH.

 

[vincen]

Just curious to know where you have been able to find filters for Noblex 135 ? as here in france, distributor of Noblex doesn't want to do business for sure (waiting since one year to get filters 🙁

 

[anglophone1]

Try Robert White in UK or go direct to Noblex, I have done both!
Clive

 

[osullic]

I know this is a super old thread, but it's not good to have incorrect information hanging around online when there's so little information on Noblex cameras to begin with...

Robert mentioned that "With the 135U you lose a shot every time you insert or remove the filter". This is not true. There is a critical step to do, which prevents any lost exposures. Unfortunately this step is missing from the English-language instruction booklet. It's present in the German-language instructions, but somehow got "lost in translation".

The steps are:

1. Switch camera off
2. Set double exposure switch to M
3. Hold the camera upright, with the lens slightly tilted forward
4. Press and hold shutter button. Turn lens drum clockwise. Release shutter button
5. Insert/Remove magnetic filter
6. Turn lens drum back
7. Reset double exposure switch

As long as you do step 3, in bold above, no exposures are lost. I don't know how this feature was engineered, but I guess it relies on gravity somehow. When you tilt the camera forwards, listen carefully - you will hear something falling/clicking into place. There's a cover over the slit in the drum, and additionally some kind of "lock" so that the drum will only rotate enough to install/remove the filter, and not the full way.

I had a Noblex 135S for 20+ years and loved it. Unfortunately it was stolen in Italy early last year. Serial number 104790.

 

[snaefell]

I know this is a super old thread, but it's not good to have incorrect information hanging around online when there's so little information on Noblex cameras to begin with...

The main problem today would be to get hold of a filter. I have been looking for a while but have never come across one. Would it be possible to 3D print the frame and get some fitting filter glass for it? Then we only need the dimensions and a 3D model...

 

[osullic]

I had 3 filters for my Noblex, which got stolen along with it. I had a red 25 filter, ND filter, and the third was a yellow-orange 85 filter that I kind of made myself. Kamera Werk Dresden used to sell the filter frame without any filter preinstalled - so I just bought a polyester 85 filter from Lee and cut a portion of the right size out of it to fit into the Noblex filter frame.

The whole filter assembly is circular, with a circular magnet to fix over the lens. You need an easy way to grab the filter with a set of tweezers, and the filter of course needs to be sized such that it fits through the gap in the Noblex lens drum. There are a number of these filters still out there, so I don't think it would be hard getting an owner somewhere to take relatively precise measurements.

This page shows pretty clearly how they appear:

Noblex 135 S

This is a Noblex 135 S on odd camera extra pages, made by Reinhard Blanck.

www.oddcameras.com