FOBA Baby FOBA

[FOBELIO]

In a previous post I mentioned the Mini-Flamingo stand of Broncolor.

Here an older version of it.
The main difference is the attachment point for the lamp.

The new one (seems discontinued, not anymore on Broncolor website) has a junior pin receiver, using a junior to baby pin adapter (included) you can attach any smaller lamp...

This older model is instead interesting... it has a 3/8" male thread with a extra screw head for prevent rotation.
In some lamp stands distributed by Broncolor but made by FOBA they have the two of this attachment solution (see last image).

It doesn't end here with the features... on this Mini-Flamingo you can also rotate the whole attachment point by 270° in 90° increments.
There is a stud that needs to be pressed in for release and springs back in the notch (there are three of them) when the desired position is reached.

 

[Nokton48]

Nice to hear that the hot pixels are gone! Did you use low ISO for getting a cleaner image?
I love the idea using a 60+ years old camera with new camera tech... 👍😄

The FOBA cones are great! I could get them both before Foba closed in 2024.

Hi Elio!

Yes I usually revert to the lowest ISO, EI 50 gives the best quality. The files right out of the camera look like Kodachrome 25 film to me, very beautiful. Strobe exposures with B&W film are roughly equivalent, most of my LF film stocks are 25-100 ISO, so about the same exposure whether film or digital. ISO 100 is also useable, I sometimes use that outdoors. The images at ISO 200 are NOT good so I never use 200. Blacks are grey-green and the color sucks. Another excellent reason for me to go with Broncolor, in the day many CFV16 Users complained because they did not have powerful enough strobe lights for their shooting purposes. This back is very user friendly; I can guess people keep these to use.

Hasselblad Flexcolor by Nokton48, on Flickr

Hasselblad Flexcolor 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr

The operating system is two levels mismatched to my 2012 Macbook Pro. Macintosh Collector Software Developer next door should be able to help me.

 

[FOBELIO]

in discussion with a forum member about assembly a FOBA column stand I want to share this instruction by FOBA.
For the disassembly just follow the instructions in the reverse order.

It is in German (in the net there could be also an English version, if you find one please post it here) but with a good translator it should be understandable for everyone. Otherwise you are welcome to ask. 😌
It is a simple and almost self explanatory process. 😎
Since I earned some experience during the closure of FOBA I can only recommend to follow these instructions. Don't attempt to do it alone it can be dangerous especially for the heavier AROBE stands! 😣 Gravity can assist you but also send you to the hospital...

In case you have the round tray ASOBE then use something as a spacer for prevent a dent in the tray when laying the column down. A stable box should be fine.

In case you need to remove the inner counter weight in the column be aware it is made in lead metal, use gloves! Wash your hands after operation.
Lead is an accumulative poison, one touch don't kill you but if it gets in your body it will never leave...
but I am sure you don't want to touch it with your bare hands because it is well lubricated with lithium grease 😉

In case you need to add or replace this grease here the product what FOBA used, they told me this in a email when I asked support for disassembly my ASABA:

FETT 190 EP

Mineralisches Lithiumfett mit EP (Extreme Pressure) Zusätzen. Zur Schmierung von Gleit- und Wälzlagern in Apparaten und Maschinen. Für Industrie, Gewerbe, Bau-, Forst - und Landwirtschaft.

motorex.com

 

[Nokton48]

Merry Christmas! Well Samy's in LA has come through bigtime for me. I just bought a Broncolor 32.903.01-07 Fibrolite Unit. Comes with four Fiber Optic Cables, hope they are the long ones. Bonus! comes with four Focusing Lenses. In the olde catalog it's $4752. Got at fair deal I think, about 34% or so at $1600 including freight. Local taxes $152. So now I am in the Fibrolite Club

I have a bunch of Manfrotto Magic Arms, maybe they well work with these for me?

Also looking at the Swiss Volpi Fibre Optic Ringlights that will fit this.

 

[FOBELIO]

Merry Christmas! Well Samy's in LA has come through bigtime for me. I just bought a Broncolor 32.903.01-07 Fibrolite Unit. Comes with four Fiber Optic Cables, hope they are the long ones. Bonus! comes with four Focusing Lenses. In the olde catalog it's $4752. Got at fair deal I think, about 34% or so at $1600 including freight. Local taxes $152. So now I am in the Fibrolite Club

I have a bunch of Manfrotto Magic Arms, maybe they well work with these for me?

Also looking at the Swiss Volpi Fibre Optic Ringlights that will fit this.

Merry Christmas to you all! Stay save and in good health! 🙂💪👍

Your Fibrolite deal sounds great! Good catch!
Ten years ago I paid more (2000 CHF if I remember well) and with just two fibre optic cables... later I was able to add three cables more (one is unfortunately damaged).

In the famous bay there are at the moment many Fibrolites on sale... never saw so many offered...

Be careful with the recycle times! Broncolor told me that the Fibrolite is built for slow recycle times... it is a old lamp and need patience... pairing it to a Scoro and shot 20 pops in a few seconds will not keep it in health. Pairing it to a Pulso 4 will be a better choice.
To be fair, for still life or macro you probably don't need a tremendous speed as in fashion...

 

[FOBELIO]

I saw yesterday this offered... I was in contact with the seller about a purchase and then silence and the offer was removed...

I never found a so old box with the clamps. Probably never used... a missed opportunity for a collector. At least I saved the picture of it...

 

[Nokton48]

Hi Elio! Happy Holidays!

I wasn't expecting to buy a Fibrolite. Samys in LA was SO nice to me, they refunded my money on my Apus A2 that went bang, pretty long after the purchase. Price is fair as it's complete. Do you have the Focusing Lenses? I have four of them, which sweetened the deal quite a bit.

I have a bunch of those rotating Combitube Units, mine are marked WOLF in Marker Pen. Could they have belonged to Reinhart Wolf? Anyway have eight or so of them so I can build stuff. Happy Happy.

[

 

[FOBELIO]

You have a trustful and fair dealer! Being loyal is key for them in this competitive field.

I have the focusing lenses too and also the filter holders, but at the moment I don't remember if I have 4 of them or less... and one of them is slightly dented 😢... so be careful during handling. Probably not easy nor cheap to replace...😞

Can be that you have gear that belonged to a famous photographer... who knows?
Just imagine having a lens or camera that shot a iconic picture... at the end it doesn't matter. Using Leonardo Da Vinci's brush doesn't make you a great painter... 😁😉😌
But I agree that it gives a kind of connection to perhaps somebody which work you admire... and that is fine. I feel similar when I use or just hold my dad's tools or his Nikon F2 in the hand... miss you dad 🥹🥰

 

[Nokton48]

Santa dropped to me FOBA Mounting Plates for 35mm and Medium Format by Nokton48, on Flickr

Santa dropped to me, FOBA mounting plates for 35mm and Medium Format camera mounting. All nicely made , it does make the FOBA Mini Tripod a lot more useful to me. Love the Ball head adjustability even in terms of dialing in the "feel". Very Cool. Broncolor Boxlite 40's left and right 12" away, Broncolor Balloon well below camera left, for underneath fill.

 

[dxp]

View attachment 4883756

I saw yesterday this offered... I was in contact with the seller about a purchase and then silence and the offer was removed...

I never found a so old box with the clamps. Probably never used... a missed opportunity for a collector. At least I saved the picture of it...

Ha...my own message to the seller went unanswered! Perhaps too many replies too quickly had them rethink their low price...

 

[FOBELIO]

Ha...my own message to the seller went unanswered! Perhaps too many replies too quickly had them rethink their low price...

I hoped that at least you got the deal....😂😂😂
I messaged him on a other offered item with a generous offer to be still in consideration but still didn't get any answer...

We will see if the seller will list it again... I am ready for a new offer 😒


Here my newest addition... a early predecessor of the famous RANOO lamp (or F1000) with the "Wegweiser"-logo.
Probably from the 50ies or early 60ies....? One of my oldest FOBA items...

Since the seller restores old lamps I told him to change the red cable with a black one, I don't like this red... so I have to wait an other week or two to bring my new baby home.
I like the metal ring on this model. So you can mount it on a light stand or it can stay on the table... my intended use.
I have to check if the light stand (early model of STAPI) already has a female COMBITUBE connector on the bottom...

 

[dxp]

...
Since the seller restores old lamps I told him to change the red cable with a black one, I don't like this red... so I have to wait an other week or two to bring my new baby home.
...

Uh oh...it's possible you won't approve of the next FOBA project that I share...I've only just completed it today. I'll snap an image later.

 

[FOBELIO]

Uh oh...it's possible you won't approve of the next FOBA project that I share...I've only just completed it today. I'll snap an image later.

I am now very VERY curious! 😁🧐

I once got the idea to create a hexagonal table using parts of a column stand as a shorten column and the caster base...

In one of my early posts I showed some of the saved stuff from the closure...
A buddy of mine took an old FOBA enlarger but not to use it as an enlarger anymore. But it is still in use.
At the end if the stuff is in good working condition and can be used in it original use than nice.
Otherwise reuse it in a new way is also a very good thing, good for the own economics, good for our own creativity, good for the environment saving...


a FOBELIO table... 😜

 

[dxp]

I am now very VERY curious! 😁🧐

I once got the idea to create a hexagonal table using parts of a column stand as a shorten column and the caster base...

In one of my early posts I showed some of the saved stuff from the closure...
A buddy of mine took an old FOBA enlarger but not to use it as an enlarger anymore. But it is still in use.
At the end if the stuff is in good working condition and can be used in it original use than nice.
Otherwise reuse it in a new way is also a very good thing, good for the own economics, good for our own creativity, good for the environment saving...

No, it's nothing anywhere near as ambitious as your table or repurposing an item for something else.

My little mod is best described as 'Pimp your CESRA'...





I'm a bit of a fan of red accenting (perhaps from being a Canon shooter for many years), plus I'm less likely to trip over anything on the floor of a dark studio if there is a bit of colour to help show it.

This handle is also from Elesa, but is the Polyamide version as opposed to default black one FOBA used, which is think is Polypropylene (and not available in any other colours), so I think is a little stronger than the standard handle, not that it really matters for this kind of use.

And I 'upgraded' the screws to longer, black ones with a 30mm thread and the female hex head. I think they look a little nicer and more modern than a slotted head, and match the black of the base itself.

One thing I'll note is that the screws protrude ever so slightly beyond to bottom of the base (a fraction of a millimeter), and the felt pads on this particular CESRA are very worn (I'm currently shopping for some replacements), so the bottom of the screws are very close to scratching my wooden floor. I'll touch them up with a file once my basement isn't so cold to visit...

 

[FOBELIO]

No, it's nothing anywhere near as ambitious as your table or repurposing an item for something else.

My little mod is best described as 'Pimp your CESRA'...

View attachment 4884122

View attachment 4884123

I'm a bit of a fan of red accenting (perhaps from being a Canon shooter for many years), plus I'm less likely to trip over anything on the floor of a dark studio if there is a bit of colour to help show it.

This handle is also from Elesa, but is the Polyamide version as opposed to default black one FOBA used, which is think is Polypropylene (and not available in any other colours), so I think is a little stronger than the standard handle, not that it really matters for this kind of use.

And I 'upgraded' the screws to longer, black ones with a 30mm thread and the female hex head. I think they look a little nicer and more modern than a slotted head, and match the black of the base itself.

One thing I'll note is that the screws protrude ever so slightly beyond to bottom of the base (a fraction of a millimeter), and the felt pads on this particular CESRA are very worn (I'm currently shopping for some replacements), so the bottom of the screws are very close to scratching my wooden floor. I'll touch them up with a file once my basement isn't so cold to visit...

This is a soft and good mod!
But why not yellow? Foba used yellow in some column stands to give a colour touch (ASLAI or AROBI)…

You are a Canon shooter! So yellow is out of question, looks to much like Nikon… 😂😂😜

 

[FOBELIO]

Yesterday I was picking up again some Foba stuff… some stuff is almost new.

I found this box with two RIGIE for the megatrack ceiling system... I don't really collect FOBA stuff for their two ceiling systems but since my recent disappointment (see recent post) this box had to come with me... 😉 What kind of coincidence! 😂

On the left this blue box is a transformer... FOBA built some electric stuff apart of the lamps but the stuff is rare and perhaps most of them scrapped...
I have now two of them and I will see if I can use them... any suggestion?
Does anybody know how this transformer have been used? It's some kind of dimmer for the lamps?







I picked up also this two old style CESRA baseplates, almost new... a good colour match to my RANOO. One of the two diffusor sheet is used but complete, the other one almost unused... I found of course also a RANOO lamp... in pristine condition, no dents, no scratches...
This time I skipped most of the FOBA stuff (all the tubes and clamps and even more of the CESRAs) since I have already a lot of stuff. I was surprised by the almost new condition in museum grade quality...😁

The seller was a very lovely old lady. I helped her to order all the FOBA and photographic stuff (heritage of her father) and gave her some advice. Spent almost three hours with her and we had a good time. Sure I got also a good deal but at the end it wasn't just an exchange of money and stuff.





I bought for some dimes also other photo stuff that she had probably at the end will throw away (old flashed, lens shades, caps, cable release etc.). Stuff that usually sells just for some bucks...
Today I brought this to perhaps the last analog photo shop in Zurich and I sold almost everything for a 60 CHF voucher.
Support the old lady in taking the stuff, support the analog photo shop in selling cheap new old stuff and I also got something.

My luck didn't end here... in the shop I always check the junk box... everything for 5 or 10 CHF...

There was a SINAR loupe for the Norma waiting me!!! 🤩🙃😆
5 CHF is a steal of a deal! In Zurich a coffee cost 5 CHF and even more!
The loupe is hard to find and also expensive. I am happy! Have to go more often in this shop!

 

[FOBELIO]

As I mentioned I took two CESRAs and left five...
I took this photo to show some small differences. Sometimes FOBA used different stickers or decals and there is also some variations of the varnish

 

[FOBELIO]

I ran out of luck...😣😖🥺

In the process cleaning the loupe I broke the weakest part... the rubber hood...
After more than 50 years it was already brittle with a lot of cracks but still one piece...
Now the crack is through the entire ring... perhaps a cable tie can help?

Any ideas? Are there any replacement for such a old part?

 

[Nokton48]

Hi Elio! I was about to post this....... Happy New Year!

Modified Three Ways Norma Monocular Viewer by Nokton48, on Flickr

I modified one of my Sinar Norma Monocular Viewers, by three ways. I trimmed down the rubber eyecup (I wear eyeglasses), and used Goodyear Pliobond to permanently attach it to the monocular. Then I used Brown Military Grade Electrical Tape, to attach the Monocular to the Norma Rubber Bellows. It's not coming apart now. Finally I cut strips of black foam rubber, and added them to the inside of the Rubber Bellows. So now, no light leaks around the outer edges of the bellows. Once I lost an eyecup while photographing an icy cold waterfall, then went back the next time six months later, and I found the Eyecup next to a rock 🙂 This particular viewer works great outside, right now this particular Norma has a 520mm Apo Ronar on it, so about a 4X telephoto or so on 4x5.

 

[Nokton48]

December 2010 Broncolor Calendar by Nokton48, on Flickr

Happy New Year! Toot Toot! 🙂