..... a nice pair!

[tonyj]

Forgive the hastily shot 'point and shoot' efforts taken on a very windy and too sunny a day, here in Alberta. And me having the nerve to post on a photography forum too. Oh what the heck eh?

Allow me to share with you this 'nice pair' that I was given at Christmas. One, as a surprise, by my very sweet wife, and the other, one that she had 'helped' me to acquire. I'm totally thrilled, as these two Retina IIa's appear to be in excellent shape (forget the dust on the lenses ... I told you it was windy), and represent both the Rodenstock and the Schneider lens versions of this camera.

The one, with the Xenon lens, is the 'EK' North American version (EK698***), and the other, with the Heligon lens is a European version (611***). From all appearances and what I see and hear I am hopeful that I may even get some results from these two before too long.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

Tony, that's a nice pair. Looks like it was a nice day in all respects!

 

[Chris Sherlock]

G'day Tonyj,

I'll be interested to see how you find the images compare from these two cameras. I've always believed the two lenses to be quite similar.

Regards, Chris

 

[Corto]

Man this thread didnt go where I thought it would.........

Great looking cameras tho!

 

[kzphoto]

Man this thread didnt go where I thought it would.........

Great looking cameras tho!

You and me both. I was looking for a pair of Leicas!

😀

In all seriousness, I know zero about the Retina camera(s). Any good resources or places to read up on them?

 

[farlymac]

Ain't the holidays wonderful, Tony? Since you have two, you should be able to at least have one in working order at all times.

One of the things you have to look out for is not to let the winder lever snap back into position. Always use your thumb to retard the motion. This model had a weakly designed shutter cocking rack that is prone to failure if you don't slow the return on the winder. But the good news is, there is a ready supply of new replacement racks that are more robust than the original. And once you replace the old one, it should never need that repair again.

Some sites you might want to look at:

http://www.mwclassic.com/articles/rare_retina/rare_retina.htm

http://www.nwmangum.com/Kodak/index.html

http://kodak.3106.net/index.php

Have fun! It's a great camera to have, and unlike the Bic C version, no dead meter to haul around or snag on your jacket.

PF

 

[je2a3]

Congrats on the beautiful pair!

 

[chodgson45]

Bully Pair of Retinas you've got there!

 

[colyn]

These are fine cameras. I have one and another on the way..

 

[Chris Sherlock]

That story of weak cocking racks in the Retina IIa is just often repeated rubbish. There is nothing wrong with the cocking rack mechanism in the IIa. In many years of repairing retinas I don't think I have ever had cause to replace rack in one of these cameras. Retina IIIc types are another story.

Regards, Chris

 

[farlymac]

So, I got it mixed up with another model. Sorry about that, Tony. The memory is not what it used to be.

PF

 

[tonyj]

Not to worry farlymac, it can happen to all of us, and thank you for the great links you suggested earlier.

Thank you to those others who offered information and kind words.

........ and to those who expected to see a 'pair of leicas' (yeah, right) ..... I'm sorry! Maybe next time.

To Chris Sherlock from 'down under' many thanks to you for your brilliant websites, which I referred to often, before putting a Retina on my Christmas list.

see http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~Srawhiti/index.html

Hopefully over the next few months I am hoping I will be able to use the Retinas and will then perhaps be in a position to share some comparisons - that's if they turn out to be 'runners'. Fingers crossed.

Meanwhile Happy New Year to all!

Oh, and there may be a nice pair on here somewhere - if you look real close.