Chinese Red Flag 20 and lenses

[Jocko]

Oh my, Zhang. There is a whole world of fascination in that forum! I spent most of the evening just following links and reading posts... Lovers of history, fine machinery and sheer beauty will find much to relish! It's so good to learn about things of which one knew absolutely nothing!

Communism? Capitalism? I think (if I correctly understand the reference) that I favour the Two Cats watch

Cheers, Ian

 

[zhang xk]

Oh my, Zhang. There is a whole world of fascination in that forum! I spent most of the evening just following links and reading posts... Lovers of history, fine machinery and sheer beauty will find much to relish! It's so good to learn about things of which one knew absolutely nothing!

Communism? Capitalism? I think (if I correctly understand the reference) that I favour the Two Cats watch

Cheers, Ian

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the compliments. Early Chinese watches are a kind of their own. The brand names, the caseback designs, Chinese character logos, etc are something unique in watches.

I also favour the two cats" black, or white, the one catches the rat is the best".

Cheers,

Zhang

 

[longw]

呵呵，你好楼主，

I finally finished this thread, quite educating. Didn't know China camera/optical industry has so rich history. Thanks.

I have a Seagull DF (not DF1) SLR export version with very good build quality. I got it from ebay. Haven't taken any photos with it. But I put it on my desk and play it from time to time.

I planned to get some Chinese RFs next time when I visit China. Early type seagull 205 is the target. Now after reading your post I am thinking more.

tao

 

[zhang xk]

呵呵，你好楼主，

I finally finished this thread, quite educating. Didn't know China camera/optical industry has so rich history. Thanks.

I have a Seagull DF (not DF1) SLR export version with very good build quality. I got it from ebay. Haven't taken any photos with it. But I put it on my desk and play it from time to time.

I planned to get some Chinese RFs next time when I visit China. Early type seagull 205 is the target. Now after reading your post I am thinking more.

tao

Tao,你好,

If you saw a Huqiu 351, Sanyou, Huaxia 821, 822, 823,or Xihu next time, catch them. They are compact, quiet, with a sharp lens, and very low cost. The Xihu(west lake) is rare, and the price could be high as a collectable camera. Huaxia 821 series has a 40/2 Summicron copy lens, and is VERY sharp.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

[longw]

Hi Zhang LZ,

Thanks for the informaiton. I usually go to sy916.com to check the items. They have something you mentioned.

I have a olympus 35 RC. I am also looking for a non-japanese fixed focal lens RF. I hope it is small, quiet, solid and with full manual control. Haven't found any such condidates in FSU RF categories. How do you think about Seagull KJ-1. The photos taken by this camera look good. But I heard some complaints about its quality.

Btw, you might go to xitek.com, I guess.

tao

 

[zhang xk]

Hi Zhang LZ,

Thanks for the informaiton. I usually go to sy916.com to check the items. They have something you mentioned.

I have a olympus 35 RC. I am also looking for a non-japanese fixed focal lens RF. I hope it is small, quiet, solid and with full manual control. Haven't found any such condidates in FSU RF categories. How do you think about Seagull KJ-1. The photos taken by this camera look good. But I heard some complaints about its quality.

Btw, you might go to xitek.com, I guess.

tao

Hi tao,

Sorry for the long delay. I have owned a Seagull KJ-1. My example was a poorly made camera. I bought it new, but it developed some problem soon after I bought it. The 40/2 Summicron copy of my Huaxia 821 is very sharp. I wish it was made in LTM mount.

Here is a rare 16mm cine zoom lens witha s/n of 001! This thread is a good source for rare Chinese phtographic products.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

[zhang xk]

Finally found another one this rare 1000mm F6.7 mirror lens with a Hassylbald attached as a rear lens cap. So at least two examples are found.

 

[zhang xk]

Beijing Nr.608 factory's cine optics catalogue

Beijing Nr.608 factory's cine optics catalogue

Here are some images of Beijing made cine optics. This factory still offered these until 2005, may be until now.

 

[zhang xk]

Rare Seagull 58/4 lens.

Rare Seagull 58/4 lens.

Another very rare Seagull 58/4 lens. It can be focused but without a distance scale. It is well made with a solid brass barrel, and is packed in a well made wooden case. But I don't know what it is for. Perhaps for some special cameras.

 

[rxmd]

Another very rare Seagull 58/4 lens. It can be focused but without a distance scale. It is well made with a solid brass barrel, and is packed in a well made wooden case. But I don't know what it is for. Perhaps for some special cameras.

Looks like it's meant as a wideangle for medium format. What kind of lens mount does it have?

Philipp

 

[zhang xk]

Looks like it's meant as a wideangle for medium format. What kind of lens mount does it have?

Philipp

It has a screw mount like any other barrel lenses for LF cameras. It is not a modefied 58/2 Biotar. It seems to have more lens elements. The registration distance is very short. Perhaps it could be used on a Fuji 6x9 type cameras?

 

[zhang xk]

Here is a group shot of some Chinese 35 mm cine primes. The Ganguang 28/2 is superior to Cooke Speed panchro that it has a very large image circle that almost covers full 135 frame. Colour rendition, contrast, and resolution of this Ganguang 28/2 is also superb.

BTW, 凤凰光学(Pheonix Optics Corp.) asked my sister to find a foreign partner. Should anyone has a connection, or is interested, please let me know. This is one of the largest Chinese optical products company.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

[zhang xk]

Here is a group shot of some Chinese 35 mm cine primes. The Ganguang 28/2 is superior to Cooke Speed panchro that it has a very large image circle that almost covers full 135 frame. Colour rendition, contrast, and resolution of this Ganguang 28/2 is also superb.

BTW, 凤凰光学(Pheonix Optics Corp.) asked my sister to find a foreign partner. Should anyone has a connection, or is interested, please let me know. This is one of the largest Chinese optical products company. My sister is an official of China Association of Machinary Producers.( the translation of the name may be incorrect)

Cheers,

Zhang

Sorry, I forgot to attach photos. I have compared Ganguang 28/2 with a Cooke Speed panchro. The Chinese 28/2 might be a copy of Zeiss 28/2. It should be good for Leica M8 for its 1.3 crop senser.

 

[zhang xk]

Smallest vintage wooden field camera

Smallest vintage wooden field camera

Here is a no name wooden field camera with a size of 160x170x80mm when packed. The owner siad it was made in Shandong province. I have Seagull one that I posted before that is 215x215x80mm.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

[sebastel]

last saturday, i found one red flag 20 for sale. price was 100.000,- yuen RMB.

well, at least i saw the real thing.


cheers,
sebastian

 

[zhang xk]

last saturday, i found one red flag 20 for sale. price was 100.000,- yuen RMB.

well, at least i saw the real thing.


cheers,
sebastian

Hi, I heard that a record price of 480,000 euro was set by a famous auction house in Europe for a camera! Some fine cameras might catch up with vintage violin soon? That Hassylblad mount 1000mm F6.7 missle tracking lens is very rare and unique.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

[zhang xk]

More than 22,500 hits. This must be an interesting thread.

Here is another brand new rare Chinese lens, an Arriflex standard mount 85/2. It is a 5g/6e design made by Beijing Nr.608 factory in 1979. I don't know how many Chinese 35mm cine cameras were made. They could be rarer than Red Flag 20.
This lens could be modefied for 135 SLR or a Leica M rangefinder, and covers full 135 frame.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

[zhang xk]

Hi,

Perhaps many of you has seen this image. It is the first moon image shot with the 30 kgs CCD camera on the moon prob satelite-Chang-e.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

[zhang xk]

A simple test image of my Ganguang 75/2 cine prime. I mount it on a DSLR and shot at about 60cm on a stone carving. the 2nd one is a 100% crop. Both images are without sharpening. This lens is very sharp even wide open.

Cheers.

 

[zhang xk]

A simple test image of my Ganguang 75/2 cine prime. I mount it on a DSLR and shot at about 60cm on a stone carving. the 2nd one is a 100% crop. Both images are without sharpening. This lens is very sharp even wide open.

Cheers.

Hi,

I shot a few more images under better lighting condition with the same lens. The stone carving is at about 70 cm, and the lens is mounted on a Canon 300D.
At F8, it has enormous resolution. No sharpening for both images. The 1st is resized, and the second is a 100% crop. I have two of these 75/2, and the quality seems very consistant. Unlike the Changcheng 85/2, this lens focus much closer at a little more than 1 meter.
It could be even sharper with a high resolution film on a film camera. This lens covers full 135 frame. I feel this lens is up to old Cooke or Zeiss quality for Arriflex satandard mount cameras. These were made at the end of 1970's.

Cheers,

Zhang