DIY 4X9 wide angle camera made easy

[RFH]

Well, well. I couldn't help myself. I was thinking about an easy compromise between fixed focus and the semi-hassle involved in modifying a helicoid. Lo and behold, there's an obvious solution:
Use a folder with sliding focus. That way you can set the focus anywhere you want.

I removed the lens/shutter from an ancient Zeiss Cocarette and mounted the Agulon 65 from my other DIY camera in a downsized lens board. I just used a random metal ring I had lying around to make the hole smaller. If the original retaining ring had not been so tightly stuck, this operation could have been done in minutes.
I'll shoot a roll and see what happens. It seems to focus down to 30 cm, so I'll do some extreme close-ups for ya one of these days.

Did I forget to mention that it folds? So this is basically the DIY-in-minutes-pocketable-lightweight-wide-angle-MF-camera. Not bad.

 

[ZeissFan]

I thought the Cocarette was 6x9.

 

[RFH]

Oops. You're right. I haven't use the Cocarette much, so I hadn't noticed how to load the film on the right side of the negative mask. Doh. It's actually 53x92 mm.
I'l recollimate tonight.

 

[RFH]

Here's a shot. Out of focus because I loaded the film wrongly, I guess.
At least we know it works.

 

[graywolf]

How do you focus it? By scale, or by guess and by gosh?

 

[RFH]

These old model cameras focus simply by pulling the front board back & forth. There is a distance scale for the original 120 mm lens, but I had to recalibrate the distances for the 65 mm Angulon. The back has a removable plate that allows you to check focus with some matt tape or a ground glass.
Framing is pure guesswork.
I managed to load the film correctly, and the film I just developed looks sharp.
Pics to follow.

 

[besk]

The field of view is approximately equal to a 28mm lens on a 35mm camera.
If you have a 28mm finder you can mount it on the camera.

 

[RFH]

Yeah, a 28 mm finder would do the trick. Just too bad they're so expensive. Maybe I can make myself a suitable frame finder.

 

[batterytypehah!]

Our friend Zorkikat to the rescue: http://jay.fedka.com/index_files/Page358.htm

 

[batterytypehah!]

Whoa, it's a 120 bottom loader! That looks like hours of fun in the field.

 

[RFH]

Here are a couple of shots with the film loaded correctly. Focus seems okay now.
First one focused at about 1m, second one 50cm.
And I found out that the Fedka-style VF I had already made fits pretty well with 28mm.

Plus-x 125 in HC110 H, 14 mins. @ 20 degrees celcius, agitation 30s + 10s/min.