Ansco Super Memar

[tinrisky]

I picked this camera up at a garage sale for $5 a few months back. I intended to display it (I shoot with a Canon dslr), but I just want to see if it has any value. I couldn't find much information on it, so I thought to myself "there must be a forum for this kind of thing". Lo' and behold, there is! That's the backstory.

I appear to have here a Ansco Super Memar with an Agfa Apotar 45mm f/3.5 lens. It appears to be in working order and the body and glass is in suprisingly good shape. It came with a leather holder/cover. If it's not worth much then I might just use it for fun when the dslr gets a little too heavy. Anyone have any experience using one of these? How do the photos come out? Perhaps some sample photos if anyone has any. Any idea what a "memar" is and what makes this one so "super"? Thanks for any information that you can give me. I really appreciate it.

Here's a photo of the camera:

 

[shadowfox]

I have only experience with it's Medium Format brethren.

I don't have one with the Apotar lens, but the more expensive (back then) Solinar.

The Solinar has a very good contrast and bokeh. Here's an example, mind you, this is MF:

But the Apotar according to what I read isn't far behind.

Give the camera a go with some color or C-41 B/W film that you can drop off a minilab to develop, and have yourself some classic looking pictures this Christmas.

 

[Dean C Williams]

I've worked on a few of these cameras. They're pretty good picture makers, and the Apotar is a good three element design. It's called Super because it has a range finder. Regular (non Super) Memars are scale focus cameras.

 

[FallisPhoto]

I picked this camera up at a garage sale for $5 a few months back. I intended to display it (I shoot with a Canon dslr), but I just want to see if it has any value. I couldn't find much information on it, so I thought to myself "there must be a forum for this kind of thing". Lo' and behold, there is! That's the backstory.

I appear to have here a Ansco Super Memar with an Agfa Apotar 45mm f/3.5 lens. It appears to be in working order and the body and glass is in suprisingly good shape. It came with a leather holder/cover. If it's not worth much then I might just use it for fun when the dslr gets a little too heavy. Anyone have any experience using one of these? How do the photos come out? Perhaps some sample photos if anyone has any. Any idea what a "memar" is and what makes this one so "super"? Thanks for any information that you can give me. I really appreciate it.

Here's a photo of the camera:

Ansco and Agfa were partners for several decades and sold the same cameras under different names. The Ansco Super Memar is the American version of the Agfa Super Silette. The big question, with an agfa or Ansco lens is going to be "can you focus it?" The Apotars in particular seem to be prone to freezing up solid, due to the low grade grease used to lubricate them. When it eventually dries up, it sets up like road tar. It isn't really worth much at all unless it is functioning and CLAd. Functioning, it is a very decent shooter, particularly with b&w film. The Apotars were among the best of the cooke triplet lenses.

To free it up, you have to do the following:

1. mark the position of the ring surrounding the lens.

2. remove the three set screws holding the ring in place and take off the ring.

3. mark the position of the lens ring (front element) in relation to the ring surrounding the rear element.

4. unscrew the front and middle element. They usually come out as a single unit, welded together by that green grease.

5. now comes the tough part: getting the front and middle elements apart. You can either use heat to soften the hardened grease, and then unscrew it with brute force (being very careful not to damage the threads on the rear element), or you can put it in a film cannister with lighter fluid and let it soak for about a month (no, I'm not kidding, it takes about a month). If the grease has softend, and partially dissolved, you should be able to unscrew the two lens elements from one another. If not, back in it goes to soak for another week or two. Eventually they'll come apart.

6. clean out the grease from the threads.

7. relubricate, using a good grease. Here's a tip: synthetic greases won't dry out for many years.

8. screw the middle element down tight into the shutter.

9. Screw the front element into the middle element's ring, all the way down, then back it out until the marks you made line up.

10. reinstall the ring surrounding the lens, with the marks you made on that lined up where they are supposed to be, and tighten the set screws. Be careful, they are made of aluminum and if you overtighten them, you'll break the heads off.

Incidentally, when you have the lens out is a good time to clean the shutter blades. If you know how to do it, disassemble the Prontor shutter and clean it by hand, oiling the friction points very sparingly (about the amount of oil it takes to wet the end of a needle). If you don't know how to do this, then get a big box of Q-tips and some lighter fluid. Set the aperture as wide as it will go and mop the front of the shutter blades with a sopping wet Q-tip. While it is still wet, work the shutter a couple of times and then mop up the mix of lighter fluid and dissolved crud with the dry end of the Q-tip. Repeat, over and over again, about 50 - 100 times. This is not the best way of doing this, because you can only get at one side of the blades. Working the blades a few times between moppings, while wet, will transfer the crud you can't get at to the side of the blades you can get at though. It takes a while but eventually your blades will be clean enough that you'll get your shutter speeds back to normal. When you are done do NOT oil the shutter blades. I mention this only because a lot of beginners do it. Shutter blades are designed to run dry; oil will make them stick together and the shutter won't work at all.

If you do all this, and flush out the shutter with lighter fluid, then you will have at least doubled the value of the camera.

 

[FallisPhoto]

Incidentally, this one is mine:

 

[Luddite Frank]

Thanks for this thread... a friend gave me pretty rocky-looking Ansco Memar this summer... and I didn't have a lot of hope for it...

But thanks to Fallis' input, I may go inside and see if I can clean it up...

The shutter works, and the focus is free, so it might be worth a rainy afternoon of cleaning.


regards,

Luddite Frank

 

[tinrisky]

Thanks for all the info guys! Fallisphoto, I really appreciate the step by step instructions. I'm sure other forum members will also find that very useful. I was thinking of sending it off or maybe finding a local camera shop (I'm in New York) that can check it out and fix it up for me. I don't know if I have the skill or time to do all that myself without breaking something.

Shadowfox, love the blog. It makes me want to invest in a couple more "classics".

 

[FallisPhoto]

Thanks for all the info guys! Fallisphoto, I really appreciate the step by step instructions. I'm sure other forum members will also find that very useful. I was thinking of sending it off or maybe finding a local camera shop (I'm in New York) that can check it out and fix it up for me. I don't know if I have the skill or time to do all that myself without breaking something.

Shadowfox, love the blog. It makes me want to invest in a couple more "classics".

Just take it easy when tightening the set screws and you'll be fine -- if you follow the directions.

 

[shadowfox]

Shadowfox, love the blog. It makes me want to invest in a couple more "classics".

Or maybe start your own blog