Leica LTM Haber & Fink Lens Turret

[Vince Lupo]

Hello from a new member -- are there any other lunatics out there with either a Leitz or Haber & Fink lens turret for their TM Leica? I have a Haber & Fink model that's mounted on a Leica III, but I haven't had the guts to use it yet (talk about extreme male compensation in having THREE lenses mounted to your camera at the same time!). If anyone's had any experience with it, I'd be interested to know about whether the lenses stay in focus. as the mount flexes a bit. Thanks!

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Vince,

I don't think the Leica version was ever made for screw mount: it used screw lenses on an M body, with the 1mm difference in body thickness allowing infinity focus. I used to have one: it's on the cover of A History of the 35mm Still Camera (Focal Press, 1984). I swapped it for a new 90/2 Summicron, because the weight was intolerable and it was hard to keep the camera steady. The lenses were however perfectly mounted. The sequence on the single control knob went unlock lens-jump forwards-rotate-reverse twist-pull back-lock lens. I'm not familiar with the Haber & Fink though I dimly recall having heard the name.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[LeicaTom]

I think that wild set up came to be about 1948/49 with Leitz New York lenses, I remember reading about them in an old postwar issue of Leica Photography some while ago.....here`s one from a German auction from like 2004

http://auction-team.de/new_highlights/2004_10/O0059700_scroll.html

Ok I`m brave but not that brave! 😀

Let`s make it a real challenge and put a 90 Thambar a 73 Hektor and a
"black paint" 85 Summarex on it ALL AT THE SAME TIME and see if you can even pick it up afterwards! *heavyduty neck strap not included*

But that MIGHT? be the most expensive combination of Leitz lenses ever put onto one piece of equipment, add a "Half Race" IIIC body and it`s a "FrankenLeica"

You could call it the "super portrait maker" or the "back breaker"

*the craziest thing I`d ever consider using would be a Mooly C
and I`ve heard that they were NOT RELEIABLE*

Tom

PS: Now I KNOW that I`m tired, writing all this silly stuff - Goodnight Ya`ll!

 

[Vince Lupo]

I pulled the beast out of storage this morning and mounted some lenses on it. It is a cumbersome combo, indeed. I'll try it this weekend and see how it does, but I have a feeling that there will be some focus issues. In order to mount this turret (which has a baseplate incorporated with the unit), you have to remove the lens mount from the camera body, and as you rotate the turret each attached lens snaps into the lens hole on the camera. The problem is that the lens mount on the turret doesn't always sit flush against the camera (you can usually push the top part of the mount against the camera and it slightly changes the focus in the rangefinder). But, you would look very impressive walking around with this contraption hanging from your neck, and that's the important thing!

If I have time to post a photo of it and some results, I will....

 

[Vince Lupo]

Tom -- I checked that Haber & Fink outfit on the link you provided. Yep, that's it alright. The only problem with the lenses that they have is that that 50mm lens doesn't work properly on the turret. The infinity lock button touches the metal on the turret, and you can't push it in to release it from infinity -- I mean, you CAN use it, but it means that either you can't focus it to infinity, or it is locked at infinity. A 35mm Summaron won't work either because of the same issue. You could use a Summar, a Xenon or a Summarit, because the focus ring places their infinity locks further away from the lens mount....does that make sense???

As far as the MOOLY-C goes, don't know about them, but the regular MOOLY's are great!

 

[bob cole]

Haber & Fink Lens Turret

Hello from a new member --

Vince, here's a JPEG of :
... 1. -- The Leica turret from Jim Lager's accessories book..

... 2. -- A 1949 ad from Leica Photography magazine of the Haber & Fink Turret "outfit" of the camera, 3 lenses, hood, Imarect finder and the turret -- at $559.50usd +$75 to install it .

... 3. -- A 1939 ad from American Photography of a Mooly [wind-up motor] published in "Leica Ads,"Comon & Evans... [I almost got one from a former C.I.A. lawyer but he died before I was able to convince him to sell it]...

[Haber & Fink had a big camera shop around 1950 on Warren Street in downtown Manhattan where I used to shop...I met Morty Haber years later when he was a salesman in a hi-fi store in mid-Manhattan where I bought a Dual German record player from him that lasted forever...]

 

[BillBingham2]

Interesting approach taking the approach used for movie cameras (c mounts) and bringing it to still cameras.

Thanks for sharing!

B2 (;->

 

[dexdog]

What a behemoth! I can't imagine trying to use anything like that even on a large-bodied camera, much less a barnack leica. Very interesting, but looks too unwieldly to use. As a previous poster stated, I had seen these for 8mm movie cameras, but never for a 35mm camera

 

[Vince Lupo]

Bob -- thanks for the awesome info! I think I'm going to take the plunge this weekend and give the turret a try. As I say, the MOOLY's are really great -- of course, you have to wind the sucker up every 12 exposures, and reloading on run means you either have to load your pockets, or you end up holding the transmission arm between your teeth as you also juggle the motor, film, takeup spool and lens (I do the old remove the lens and open the shutter method to load the film). Don't know how photojournalists could work quickly with this thing, unless they only shot one roll per spot news assignment!

 

[Solinar]

That's a very impressive rig for such a small camera body. I'd guess it was the late 1940's, early 1950's equivalent of a zoom lens. If you are going to try it out, bring a beefy tripod.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I think -- and I could very easily be wrong -- that Rectaflex offered the first turret on a 35mm still camera. There is a picture on page 86 of A History of the 35mm Still Camera (ISBN 0 240 51233 2) and on page 85 there is a picture of the Leica version.

The enormous handles on both make it clear that this was not a tripod-oriented accessory, and indeed, why would it be? If you have time to use a tripod, you have time to change lenses properly.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Roger Hicks]

Bob -- thanks for the awesome info! I think I'm going to take the plunge this weekend and give the turret a try. As I say, the MOOLY's are really great -- of course, you have to wind the sucker up every 12 exposures, and reloading on run means you either have to load your pockets, or you end up holding the transmission arm between your teeth as you also juggle the motor, film, takeup spool and lens (I do the old remove the lens and open the shutter method to load the film). Don't know how photojournalists could work quickly with this thing, unless they only shot one roll per spot news assignment!

Dear Vince,

There's an easier way, or at least, a way that involves reloading less often.

Buy a 250 with electric motor.

Buy an Me 109...

Cheers,

R.

 

[bob cole]

Bob -- thanks for the awesome info! I think I'm going to take the plunge this weekend and give the turret a try. As I say, the MOOLY's are really great -- of course, you have to wind the sucker up every 12 exposures, and reloading on run means you either have to load your pockets, or you end up holding the transmission arm between your teeth as you also juggle the motor, film, takeup spool and lens (I do the old remove the lens and open the shutter method to load the film). Don't know how photojournalists could work quickly with this thing, unless they only shot one roll per spot news assignment!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vince, if you ever decide to dispose of the Mooly, I'd be interested, for old-times sake...

I've got a Leicavit and that doesn't have batteries, either...

Whatever you do, don't lose the transmission arm; without that the Mooly won't work...


Re: the Leica 250:

That's a great idea... Tamarkin is auctioning one right now on Ebay with an estimated price of between $5,000 and $8,000 usd...

Here what one looks like {not Tamarkin's}:

 

[landsknechte]

Looks like some sort of anti-aircraft gun.

 

[cmedin]

I really wish I'd been around during the days where they'd come up with off-the-wall weird stuff like this. 🙂 These days it'd probably get shot down (with good reason) by the marketing department and/or beancounters before it even made it past concept.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Bob -- I'm actually looking to get a THIRD MOOLY, believe it or not. A MOOLY without an arm will work, by the way, but you have to trip the shutter with the shutter release button on the camera, and separately advance the film with the lever on the motor. And the Haber & Fink turret is definitely hand-holdable. Heck, If I can hand-hold a Rollei SL-66 I can certainly hand-hold this!

Just a boy and his turret....such a beautiful thing!

 

[Vince Lupo]

Well my wife and I went for the proverbial 'walk in the woods' on Sunday and I tested the turret contraption with a roll of XP2. The lenses that were used were a 1950's 90mm f/4 Elmar, a 1930's uncoated 50mm f/2 Summar, and a 1940's (?) Steinheil 35mm f/4.5. Everything came out nice and sharp, so my concerns about focus problems were relieved!

Here's three shots (scanned from prints from the photo lab) -- not reinventing the creative wheel by any extent, but more like 'doing my scales'.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Just found a 127 f/4.5 Wollensak from KEH to complement the turret and the NY Imarect finder...only need two more NY lenses to complete it (did they make NY bodies???)!