EXAKTA 66 lenses

menos

menos

Veteran
Local time
12:16 AM
Joined
Sep 13, 2009
Messages
2,635
Location
Shanghai
View My Gallery
I just received my first Schneider lens in EXAKTA 66 mount, a 80/2.8 Xenotar MF.

I am looking forward, to use this lens adapted on Mamiya 645 and the Leica S2 but I see one issue, I need some help with.

As I understand, the Schneider lenses in E66 mount should have a functional stop down lever on the lens, that permits to stop down the aperture.

My lens arrived with the aperture always stopped down to the selected value (as if there is no auto aperture function) and the stop down lever has no function at all.

If I press the aperture linkage pin on the lens' rear mount, the selected aperture will open completely, but again, the stop down lever has no function.


Is this normal behaviour?
Unfortunately I have no Pentacon Six/ Exakta/ Kiev camera body around to test the aperture function.
 
When not mounted, the lens should be stopped down, but when the pin is pressed (which is what the body does to open the aperture) the lever should work.
 
FWIW, I know, that for Leica S this might be a superfluous (but very cheap) option,but I shot with a P6 when I was a boy, and when I scanned recently some images made at that time with the 80 and 120 Biometars I was quite amazed: the 80 was hellishly sharp in the center - maybe even more than a Hassy Planar, and the 120 was just plain brilliant. Obviously, they weren't exactly luxuriously made. On the other hand, the 50 Flektogon was not anything special.

Here's a shot with the Biometar 120 I like particularly - taken in 1976 !


B.B. by mfogiel, on Flickr
 
Marek, thank you for the input and honestly, there is no superfluous lenses.
I love old lenses and the character they offer.
Using the Leica S lenses only would be missing all those wonderful lenses.

I have looked through many photographs, made with the CZJ Biometar lenses and so far I do not prefer the background look of this 80 and 120mm lens.
When I can find a nice sample, I might try it though.

I am very, very impressed by the Schneider 80/2.8 Xenotar (I bought it, as I heard only good things about it, being highly regarded challenging the CZ Planar).
I never got really warm with the Planar on the Hasselblad and thought I see, how different the Xenotar is. It is a lot nicer than the Planar ;-)

I am looking now to find a suitable 6x6 film body to use the Pentacon Six mount lenses also on film. I understand that many people who went the Pentacon Six road at some point gave up on them as of reliability. I will see where it leads me.

It's a long road ahead I see …
 
If you do not mind all the limitations of 645 and stop down, then a fantastic and cheap film body, that you should find the adapters for, is Pentax 645N ( the non N one has a dim VF).
This is really a very handy camera.
I have also seen cases of Pentax 67 bodies modified to take Hasselblad or P6 lenses, but I believe these are very scarce.
On the other hand, for the S2 you can get the adapters for both the 80/2 Contax and 110/2 Hasselblad F Planars - wonderful stuff for selective focus.
 
Thanks for the tip Marek,

I do have already a Mamiya 645, which I intent to use with the 80 Xenotar.
I am in search though for my dream 6x6 camera to use this lens on.
The Exakta 66 looks really nice with upgraded Rollei screen and plain prism - a pity, they seem so hard to come by.

I think, second hand prices of modified Pentax 67 are really on the high side (at least around here).
I remember a modified Pentax 67ii with Hasselblad mount going locally for as much as you could buy a nice condition 203fe body !!!

I have already adapters to use the Contax and Hasselblad lenses on the S2 - the Contax lenses being my favourite so far.
From what little I have seen from the Xenotar though my favourite could be changed soon.

I stopped using the heavy Hasselblad lenses on the S2 quickly after the novelty wore off - it is simply not a convenient combination.

I have now used the Xenotar in Exakta 66 mount on the S2 briefly and really like this lens:


night scene with Oriental Pearl Tower by teknopunk.com, on Flickr


midnight snack by teknopunk.com, on Flickr

I hope to get out with this lens, having some daylight soon …
 
I used to have the 60mm Curtagon, 80mm Schneider Biometar (not the Xenotar), 150 Tele-Xenar, and the 250mm Tele-Xenar. All original EX66 lenses. And I had a couple of EX66 MK2 bodies and accessories.

The Pentacon Six is the same camera. The Pentacon factory even added EX66 advance levers to my P6's. But I sold them all (while they still worked well).

I liked the Exakta 66 Schneider lenses.
 
I don't know, if you can get adapters for S2 for Pentax 645 lenses, if yes, then you should try some of these, particularly if you are a bokeh junkie. I like a lot the 55/2.8 - some vignetting wide open, but otherwise a very pleasant rendering. This Xenotar looks very nice indeed, I see no coma anywhere.
P645 55/2.8
MF20130104 by mfogiel, on Flickr
 
About the time the Exacta was being made, one of the magazines tested most of the lenses available in the P6 mounts, and found the CZJ to be exceptional once stopped down by one or more stops? The Schneiders tested better, but only at full open.

I used to have them repaired in Prague, I generally got the Pentacons back with a small bag of broken parts, some took a couple of extra trips -- but I liked them and if you knew someone in Prague, you could find an experienced repairman.

Lord knows how many bits I still have, I began to use the lenses on the Mamiya 645 which themselves are going for very reasonable (hell, cheap) prices now, and collected some adapters when I found them at Foto Skoda-- even finding a LTM to Pentacon-- though you had to shoot very close-- the later adapters would work for both P6/Kiev 88 mounts (both) to Mamiya. I still have the big Russian fisheye which is amazing-- and probably the 50 CZJ, and some huge Kiev lens, probably a longer 2.8?.

I preferred to shoot the Pentacons/Kiev 66 with the normal WL viewfinder, just thought the prisms were too heavy, and I like the perspective of the WLF. I think I still have a Kiev 66, which was gone over in LA by repair, and has a bright finder, which makes it a very usable item. The local shop gave me a lens from their used display as I was the only one who knew what camera it fit.

The Kiev screens made for the 88 were very bright and dropped in to Hassys, plus I had a few cut down for Pentacons by an optician.

I must have had more time in those days.

I ended up with a number of Mamiya 645 lenses which I need to send along one day, including some NIB, and even a mint 50mm shift. Come to think of it, I probably have a few bodies , and this is after giving several to my protege / model / photography student.

Still very good cameras.

Early Pentacons are collected-- and sell I am told.

Regards, John
 
I'm not wrong. Aside from sync speed (I'll give you that) you can put Rollei screens into any P6 or Ex66. Any P6 or EX66 can be fitted with Rollei screens, some I got from the factory, I still have at least a dozen different ones. Bought extra spring clips from the factory, too. And the factory put mirror lockups into all my P6's, that was no big deal. And I never recall ever using the MLU. They also installed EX66 advance levers in my four P6's, and gave me free extra EX66 advance mechanisms. Expensive work but worth it to me at the time. Unfortuately the Gentlemen who was upgrading these cameras at Pentacon Dresden passed away several years ago. Last I heard they were no longer taking in work. Rolph Dieter Baier also did quite a bit of work for me, also Herr Olbrich in Oberkoken.

The MK3 I never owned but I know the EX66 and P6 system very well. Always wanted an EX66 Meter Prism but never had the opportunity to find one at a decent price. I used to own two Exakta 66 MK2's but I sold all of it off to fund other projects.
 
culturesponge said:
hello!
do not take my quoting you as a personal attack!
do you honestly think you are sharing useful knowledge or experience here on this public forum about photography with your post i am quoting above?

Trevor has a really great website with all you could want to know about the Pentacon Six (circa 1960's) and various Exakta 66 models (circa 1990's) - my humble advice to you would be to have a good look : http://www.pentaconsix.com/TheCameras.htm

chill
alex
Click to expand...

I'm chillin'. I've known Trevor for many many years (from the Delphi Forum) and consider him a friend. Take care and enjoy your equipment.
 
Dirk,

Trevor Allin has a fantastic website as indicated by both Alex and Dan. I know Dan and Trevor from the Kiev Report on DelphiForums. Trevor has helped me get my (3) Exakta 66 bodies (MK1 to MK3 conversion, MK2 to MK3 COnversion, and a MK3) overhauled and brought up to spec. I use the Xenotar 80mm MF, Curtagon 60mm, Xenotar 150mm, later CZJ MC version of 50mm, 80mm, 120mm, 180mm, 300mm, and finally the Big Boy Pentacon 500mm.
The Schnieder lens are fantastic and if you are looking for another test of P-6 mount optics, look for Rick Denney's Mother of All Tests. Several years ago Rick was up in NJ area and several members of the Kiev Forum met up to participate in his optic test. The results are quite interesting. Rick has his own website he host, so if you Google his name, you should be able to find this test.

My wife and I are in talks of visiting Shanghai next year, if it comes to fruition, I will let you know. I still have all of my Exakta equipment.
Evan
 
Evanjoe610 said:
Dirk,

Trevor Allin has a fantastic website as indicated by both Alex and Dan. I know Dan and Trevor from the Kiev Report on DelphiForums. Trevor has helped me get my (3) Exakta 66 bodies (MK1 to MK3 conversion, MK2 to MK3 COnversion, and a MK3) overhauled and brought up to spec. I use the Xenotar 80mm MF, Curtagon 60mm, Xenotar 150mm, later CZJ MC version of 50mm, 80mm, 120mm, 180mm, 300mm, and finally the Big Boy Pentacon 500mm.
The Schnieder lens are fantastic and if you are looking for another test of P-6 mount optics, look for Rick Denney's Mother of All Tests. Several years ago Rick was up in NJ area and several members of the Kiev Forum met up to participate in his optic test. The results are quite interesting. Rick has his own website he host, so if you Google his name, you should be able to find this test.

My wife and I are in talks of visiting Shanghai next year, if it comes to fruition, I will let you know. I still have all of my Exakta equipment.
Evan
Click to expand...

Hey Evan. Good to see you here. Hope All Is Well. Happy Holidays and Best Regards. -Dan


Dirk,
Back on topic the Schneider Exakta 66 lenses are fantastic. I used to own the 60mm F3.5 Curtagon, the 80mm F2.8, the 150mm f/4 Tele-Xenar, and the 250mm f/5.6 Tele-Xenar. Very Highly Recommended lenses. In the Kiev/P6 lenses the 30mm F3.5 Zodiak Fisheye and the CZJ 180mm F2.8 Sonnar are two of the main reasons alot of people buy into this system.

These are old but here are some of my P6/Exakta 66 images: http://hassydan.tripod.com/
 
Nice one BW400CN !
It seems like a crazy deal to buy such a nice MF camera!

I really love that 80 Xenotar a lot and decided to look for a 60 Curtagon and a 150 Xenar as well, so much do I like these Schneider lenses.
It's a pity, not more were made in P6 mount.

@ Dan, thanks for the link! That 180 Sonnar look is indeed special!
 
menos said:
Nice one BW400CN !
@ Dan, thanks for the link! That 180 Sonnar look is indeed special![/QUOTE


Man this is bring back some memories.

I sent both of my Exakta 66's to Rolph Dieter-Baier in Germany, and he overhauled and increased body film flatness for me. Also used his adapters to use the much brighter K60 prisms on all of my hot-rodded P6 cameras. http://www.baierfoto.de/flatness_K6_E66.html

The 86mm Zeis Softar 2 I had to special-order from B&H, and as I recall, it was over $400US and it took a while to get. It was phenominal on the 180mm F2.8 MC CZJ Sonnar. I still have the 86mm Softar in my studio.
I would always take a few frames without the filter, and a few with the Softar 2.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks guys!
I seem that I found my cam and that´s why I wend crazy today - send the misses out and did a bit online shopping 😀

I bought a TTL prism and a nice big 2,8 180mm CZJ MC Sonar 😱

Baierfoto is a very good adress for the P6 and Exakta as well as Kiev 60 - mine is going there in February to repair the frame counter and maybe the film spacing.

Btw - I run a Porta 160 throu it at the moment - could wait to see the results how this film draws with the Biometar.
 
Rolph-Dieter is a Super Nice Guy and is an expert on the P6 and EX66. You make an appointment well in advance, and then send the camera when your time comes up. I bought alot of P6 screens and EX66 screens from Rolph-Dieter. Still have some ultra expensive Rollei HD ones he custom cut for me. At least a stop brighter than anything I've ever used, except for the Maxwell screens. I've used every screen Rollei ever made in the EX66 and P6. Figured out how to make them myself after special ordering a few from the Pentacon factory and Rolph-Dieter.

I always liked the P6 TTL Meter Prism, always found it to be quite accurate. Trevor has an excellent writeup on how to use it effectively on his great website.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
OM to Pen F 35mm adapter
Replies
1
Views
576
splitimageview
splitimageview
S
Help me know more about this lens AllFotar 105mm 1:2.5
Replies
5
Views
975
Sifralens
S
caila77
Mamiya SX lenses compatibility solutions?
Replies
5
Views
258
das
das
das
Favorite and/or Recommended 28mm Lens in M42?
Replies
13
Views
4K
caila77
caila77
stephen_lumsden
Exakta repair in the UK or Europe
Replies
3
Views
836
Valkir1987
Valkir1987
Back
Top Bottom