charjohncarter
Veteran
That is good information. I hope I never have to do it again. Thanks, I did it on this.
Balda Hapo 66e F-Stop setting?
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Windscale
Well-known
Nice piece you have here. Looks like leather bellows. Will last for ages. Should really give it a hood.
How do you post pictures this way?
How do you post pictures this way?
Abbazz
6x9 and be there!
charjohncarter
Veteran
It may look nice, cherrie and sleek, but it isn't much of a lens, think Holga:
chippy
foo was here
Wow, that's a sleek looking folder
Cheers!
Abbazz
i agree ..very smooooth looking, i remember seeing it in another thread and thought, hmm kinda BMW like, nice finish on the chrome too
chippy
foo was here
yeah well inoticed the lens the first time i saw it as wel and thought ..hmm bit of a bummer. it looks such a swish camera...you could always change it out for something else although i wouldnt, i would just enjoy the Z sports BMW for how it is 😀
Windscale
Well-known
Charjohncarter and Steve,
I would like to interest you with another of my mods. This time an Agfa Apotar 85/f4.5 onto an Agfa Click 6x6. This piece is really light and feels like a toy. It is about 1/2 the weight of a normal Isolette. But I will shortly also post a couple a pics to show you what this camera is capable of. Watch this space as I have to work things out with my cheap cheap scanner. I can tell you the actual prints look much better than the scans. But still!
I would like to interest you with another of my mods. This time an Agfa Apotar 85/f4.5 onto an Agfa Click 6x6. This piece is really light and feels like a toy. It is about 1/2 the weight of a normal Isolette. But I will shortly also post a couple a pics to show you what this camera is capable of. Watch this space as I have to work things out with my cheap cheap scanner. I can tell you the actual prints look much better than the scans. But still!
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Muggins
Junk magnet
Windscale? What an appropriate name for a creator of scary mutant cameras! 😀 Actually, I think they're rather fun, and the Agfa looks very period - think Braun Paxette, perhaps?
So, Charjohncarter, what is that camera? Even with the crummy lens, it's quite a looker!
Adrian
So, Charjohncarter, what is that camera? Even with the crummy lens, it's quite a looker!
Adrian
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Windscale
Well-known
The Click was very much like the Braun Gloria but just lighter because it is a plastic body. I just kept the tube, removed the toy lens and fitted the Apotar. Look back from post #5 and tell me which of my 3 mods shown in this thread is the most scary of them all.
Muggins
Junk magnet
Probably the one in your avatar... The accessory viewfinder makes them look scarier for some reason - not sure why. They remind me of the kid's comment here: http://www.cameraquest.com/argc33.htm
Wish I had the skill to do that sort of thing...
Adrian
Wish I had the skill to do that sort of thing...
Adrian
Windscale
Well-known
My friends called them "Little Monsters"!
Windscale
Well-known
Two handheld pics by the Click/Apotar Mod, the cheapest of my mods. The scans were done using the 8x8 inch prints with my cheapo office Canon scanner and resized.
The parts involved in this camera:
Agfa Click;
58mm metal lens cap (with hole drilled in the centre to fit the lens and glued to lens tube);
Apotar lens with Pronto SV;
Small button spirit level (fitted under the Click's shutter release).
I don't know why some still bother with Holga!!!
The parts involved in this camera:
Agfa Click;
58mm metal lens cap (with hole drilled in the centre to fit the lens and glued to lens tube);
Apotar lens with Pronto SV;
Small button spirit level (fitted under the Click's shutter release).
I don't know why some still bother with Holga!!!
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charjohncarter
Veteran
Muggins, that camera is called a First Six. I think it was a predecessor of the Petri Corp. Windscale, those are great, have you considered a career as an alternate lifestyle inventor. I could use a coffee maker that I actually like.
Windscale
Well-known
That First Six is so cute. Can you take some pics to show us?
A 'lifestyle inventor'! No way. I think all classical cameras are works of art. I only dismantled those which I thought were beyond repairs, mostly leaking bellows or badly scratched or mouldy lenses. The idea would be to try to preserve as many usable parts as possible and use them. Some of the lenses I used were great lenses. As you can see, even the cheapest one, the Agfa Apotar triplet, can turn in a respectable performance. I have another one, a 75mm/f3.5 Planar (from Rolleiflex TLR) onto Agfa Isolette body. This one is a real performer. The TLR cost me only GBP60 in London many years ago as the body was really tatty with bumps all over the place and the shutter was sticky. But the lens was excellent and the shutter was like new after cleaning. Isolettes are always very cheap as most have leaking bellows and stuck focusing ring. So the marriage of the two became inevitable!!! But there is no fun doing these mods as I am forever destroying works of art and creating little Frankinstein monsters! I have done this a few times and as I have a few cameras now, I would try to spend my time on taking pictures instead - much more fun. But I do like using my mods as they are small, relatively light and take good pictures.
Muggins
Junk magnet
I'll second it - duff lens notwithstanding, the First Six is a looker!
Windscale, please tell me you cackle evilly each time you create another one! I usually just create junk from near-junk (though I have created a couple of working cameras from junk...), so I'm in envy here.
Adrian
Windscale, please tell me you cackle evilly each time you create another one! I usually just create junk from near-junk (though I have created a couple of working cameras from junk...), so I'm in envy here.
Adrian
Windscale
Well-known
Well Adrian,
There are really a lot of junk out there which are not really junk in the sense that some parts are good. Isolette bodies are always good (good transport and film pressure plate). So are their lenses, Apotars and Solinars. But never the bellows. Zeiss Nettar bodies are OK but not as good. But I don't like Novar or Nettar lenses. Tessars are good, even those uncoated ones. But always expensive. Also, Ikontas are not worth doing anything to as they are too heavy. Colour Skopars are also very good but again expensive. Perkeo bodies are good and light but they can be expensive. Perkeo I is cheaper if it comes with a Vascar lens which I think is better than the Novar but no as good as the Apotar. I sometimes feel sorry for the junks I picked up and think how did their previous owners manage to get them to such a state. Sometimes I spent a lot more money to buy good parts to do the mods. I am sure you can do very good mods yourself. Get yourself a piece of junk with a good lens and start from there. Bodies are relatively easy to come by. Then all you need to do will be to drill holes and do some cutting. I do have a high degree of satisfaction with my mods. To some extent I do agree with you.
There are really a lot of junk out there which are not really junk in the sense that some parts are good. Isolette bodies are always good (good transport and film pressure plate). So are their lenses, Apotars and Solinars. But never the bellows. Zeiss Nettar bodies are OK but not as good. But I don't like Novar or Nettar lenses. Tessars are good, even those uncoated ones. But always expensive. Also, Ikontas are not worth doing anything to as they are too heavy. Colour Skopars are also very good but again expensive. Perkeo bodies are good and light but they can be expensive. Perkeo I is cheaper if it comes with a Vascar lens which I think is better than the Novar but no as good as the Apotar. I sometimes feel sorry for the junks I picked up and think how did their previous owners manage to get them to such a state. Sometimes I spent a lot more money to buy good parts to do the mods. I am sure you can do very good mods yourself. Get yourself a piece of junk with a good lens and start from there. Bodies are relatively easy to come by. Then all you need to do will be to drill holes and do some cutting. I do have a high degree of satisfaction with my mods. To some extent I do agree with you.
charjohncarter
Veteran
A few from the First Six, some OK and some really show what the lens can do (poorly).
flare time:
flare time:
Windscale
Well-known
I think your First Six is good enough. If you use it for B&W, it will perform very well with a lens hood and a yellow Y2 filter and avoid shooting into the sun. As for colour, you would also need a lens hood and, perhaps, try Fuji 160S. The 160S is supposed to be a low contrast film, but I have always found it producing good results (with plenty of shadow details) with older lenses. I rarely use 160C (the high contrast film). Sometimes I use Kodak Pro160 as it is cheaper, depending on what I would be shooting. For slides, Velvia 100 or 50 are nice. For B&W I always use Kodak BW400CN as I no longer do any home processing. Also, open the film compartment and look for any reflective surface and cover them with Matt Black paint, or line most surfaces with black velvet paper. I can see there are reflecting surfaces (may be not flare) from your Pics 1 and 3 (especially 3) mainly on the left side of the pics. Check your bellows as well (in a dark room with a bright torch shining from the inside and the outside). There are ways to patch them up or get them replaced. But your bellows look like leather ones which are unlikely to leak.
Do up your First Six properly and you won't regret it. Then show us more pics. Pic 1 shows that the lens is sufficient sharp and worth doing up. You will love it.
Do up your First Six properly and you won't regret it. Then show us more pics. Pic 1 shows that the lens is sufficient sharp and worth doing up. You will love it.
charjohncarter
Veteran
Good golly, where do you live and is there a house next door for sale. I think it would be a good move on my part. In other words, thanks for the info. Where do you buy those hoods? I have used the First Six with film. It is OK, but like you say flare is always around the corner.
Windscale
Well-known
The house next door is not worth buying. When I have moved to a better place I will let you know.
But as I say, first sort out your internal reflection. Open your film compartment, look into in. At the same time open your aperture wide, shine a torch (flashlight in USA) from the front. You may be surprised to see there are many patches inside your compartment which really reflect the light from your torch. Get a matt black paint pen and start covering up. Or better, line most surfaces with matt black velvet paper.
Hoods are easy, and you really need one. All my mods have one. There are clip on ones (hoods or filters) available. Once you have a filter holder you can turn it into a hood. But you need to measure the diameter of the front focusing ring. Yours look like a 32mm. Agfa, voigtlander or even the Russians made them. Even if you cannot find one, you can make one using a step up ring. Things are easy to get once you have stepped up to say 37mm. A hood will make all the difference in all the older lenses.
But as I say, first sort out your internal reflection. Open your film compartment, look into in. At the same time open your aperture wide, shine a torch (flashlight in USA) from the front. You may be surprised to see there are many patches inside your compartment which really reflect the light from your torch. Get a matt black paint pen and start covering up. Or better, line most surfaces with matt black velvet paper.
Hoods are easy, and you really need one. All my mods have one. There are clip on ones (hoods or filters) available. Once you have a filter holder you can turn it into a hood. But you need to measure the diameter of the front focusing ring. Yours look like a 32mm. Agfa, voigtlander or even the Russians made them. Even if you cannot find one, you can make one using a step up ring. Things are easy to get once you have stepped up to say 37mm. A hood will make all the difference in all the older lenses.
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