Meyer Trioplan 100mm f2.8 LTM

[weihsuan]

Hi all,

I have a Meyer Trioplan 100mm f2.8 in LTM mount, but without RF coupling. I'd like to get some input from the community on how best I can use the lens on a IIIF or a M body AND be able to focus properly.

Are there any external rangefinder accessories which includes a viewfinder? or ways to adapt this to an SLR? or other suggestions?

I use it on a mirrorless Sony, but much prefer to use it on film.

Appreciate any input/advices.

Thanks in advance!

 

[peterm1]

There used to be rangefinders that sat in the accessory shoe of cameras. You would need to find one on the second hand market as I know of none that are available new. Indeed Leica made them in the screw mount camera days (see this one one ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-E-...13.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.Xaccessory+rangefinder.TRS0

Other cheaper ones also become available from time to time.

 

[weihsuan]

Thank you Peter for your reply.

In fact I have one external rangefinder accessory made by Telex. But it does not allow framing of shots. I was wondering if an accessory with Rangefinder + Viewfinder (with framelines, getting greedy) exists?

 

[farlymac]

I don't think there was much of a market for add-on combined range/viewfinders. Though there could be something out there, I've never seen one. Mainly because there weren't that many lenses made without rangefinder cams. It didn't take long before the manufacturers realized they'd sell more cameras if you could reliably frame and focus them.


PF

 

[peterm1]

Thank you Peter for your reply.

In fact I have one external rangefinder accessory made by Telex. But it does not allow framing of shots. I was wondering if an accessory with Rangefinder + Viewfinder (with framelines, getting greedy) exists?

Maybe, but I cannot recall having seen one. This does not mean there is not one but the accessory rangefinders I have seen all require you to (a) use your rangefinder to get the distance (b) transfer this distance to your lens and (c) then compose using the camera's finder. Naturally it makes sense to use a reasonably small aperture to have a decent DOF given the uncertainties inherent in the above process.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

Dozens of firms made accessory rangefinders and you see them from time to time on sale. They can be a little fragile and easily damaged by a knock, so don't expect too much.

Also accurate adjustment may well be possible but who can remember how to do it nowadays?

You can also buy (again, second-hand) double accessory shoes to hold a VF and RF side by side.

Since you have to transfer the RF version of the distance to the lens and the lens may not have the same distance marked, it can get interesting. If you do go ahead and get a RF I'd check it with a tape measure and then check the scale marks on the lenses with a tape measure and the Sony.

Also, your lens and RF must match in both using metres (I think). Nothing's worse than getting a good RF and finding your lenses are marked in metres and the RF is marked in feet...

Finally, I'll wish you luck.

Regards, David

 

[weihsuan]

Thank you all for the suggestions.

Reason for asking for rangefinder+viewfinder is the benefit of framing accuracy. But it is also understandable that market for such accessory is probably minimal. Perhaps best solution is to put on a 90mm ltm-M adapter on the M3 and apply a best guess framing. A bummer on the parallax corrected M3.

I do have the double accessory shoe suggested by David, but the Telex RF i have spans horizontally, hence blocking the other shoe from being used. But do appreciate the input regarding the RF distance not tallying with lens distance, also on getting a RF in metre.

I'll try out the various options and report back.

Interestingly, I also have the Olympus Pen F with the accompanying LTM adapter. Might be interesting to see if it works.

Cheers

 

[YouAreHere]

You could buy a Canon P. LTM mount and built-in frames for 100mm. Plentiful and inexpensive.

 

[peterm1]

You could buy a Canon P. LTM mount and built-in frames for 100mm. Plentiful and inexpensive.

Good thought for framing but does not help with rangefinding due to the lens being uncoupled.

 

[David Murphy]

Meyer lenses generally are excellent in my experience. I am not familiar with this particular one, and it probably rare (certainly not common). It may have been designed to be used on a reflex attachment (of which many were made for LTM bodies long ago, the most famous being the Leica Visoflex) or as a macro lens on a bellows + reflex attachment, or both. If the lens does not focus to infinity on a LTM camera body, and the infinity focus is well beyond the focal camera flange to film distance, this is almost certainly the case.

 

[peterm1]

Photo of camera with accessory rangefinder https://www.flickr.com/photos/ladenla/sets/72157628671032767

Retina 1a by Ladenla Ruit, on Flickr

 

[Fixcinater]

I have the 100/2.8 Meyer Trioplan, but in Exakta mount. Your lens looks more like a smaller cine version, are you sure it covers 24x36? Much of the value in the lens would be it's rendition at f/2.8 or f/4 (for me, as I see it becoming too "normal" at narrower apertures) so scale/guess focus would not be viable or worth much for me.

If it is the same glass as the Exakta mount version, you could unscrew the front of the lens which contains all of the elements and the aperture and get a focusing helicoid of the proper depth to get it to focus at infinity. Or you could find a parts Exakta or M42 mount lens and transfer over your glass assuming it is clean.

A shallow helicoid + an SLR focusing box like the Visoflex or any of the off-brand mirror boxes (I have an early Novoflex in LTM) would allow you to use an RF body and confirm focus, or a deeper helicoid + guess/scale focus.

 

[weihsuan]

Reporting back, I confirm that the lens is in LTM mount as it focuses to infinity on my Sony A7ii (as do my other LTM lenses), and probably 24x36 judging from the image below (straight out of camera Sony A7ii).

I've tried putting it on the Olympus Pen F (film, half frame SLR) with the ltm adapter, but the furthest I can focus is about 1.2m. May be useful for certain type of work.

Also unfortunate that my Telex RF accessory measures in feet. :bang: