Oh Man! Plaubel Makina III! Back to RF.

Here is a Plaubel Makina "action shot". I was rocking back and forth while looking through the rangefinder, trying to get the left eye closest to me in sharp focus. And of course the horses were excited and constantly moving about, not so easy to do with this type of camera! But here it is.......... I think I was using the 100mm F4.2 lens, I was trying it out for the first time.


Plaubel Makina III Ilford FP4+ by Nokton48, on Flickr
 
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Wizcam (on Ebay) is replacing the rangefinder cam in my Plaubel Makina III. I have more work for him in the future, I am thinking. Not many have experience repairing Plaubel Makinas............

Frank Marshman overhauled this unit last year, but did not have any rangefinder parts. Wizcam has Makina III parts! :)
 
Stefan,

Excellent that you got a Makina III. In my opinion, the III is the best of the best! :) The II's and IIIR's are OK, but the III was the pinacle.

Seriously, sometimes it blows me away, how low these are selling for these days. Twenty five years ago (when I was in College) I worked with Bernie Mehl at Columbus Camera Group. I sold Leicas and Large Format. Oh Man, those were golden years!

Well, we had some Makinas, and they were priced in the $1000-$1800 price range. Now you can pick up a NICE one with accessories for $300-$400!!! It's just amazing.

What a gem of a camera. REALLY..........
 
Agreed. There is something about the form and use of this camera that makes sense to me more than most cameras. Which is odd because it isn't a toss a film roll in and fire away type of camera, but more akin to large format cameras, which I have only started to use.
 
Yes I think you are right, this camera requires a different mindset. After you become used to it's quirkiness, it becomes second nature and very intuitive. Yes more of a large format camera experience, yet can be a speed demon where necessary.

No wonder it was so popular for reportage.
 
From the internet, here is a very beautifully clean Plaubel Makina lens set. Notice the 10cm F4.2 Anticomar lens on the far left; It is quite rare. The are several hundred F2.9 Anticomars, for every F4.2 Anticomar. I was lucky to find one last year. I am still getting familar with it.

Plaubel Makina lens set by Nokton48, on Flickr
 
Wizcam called me two days ago, and we had a pleasant conversation. My Makina III is done, "clean, bright, and beautiful", and is now on it's way to me from Staten Island NYC by USPS Priority with tracking.

He was concerned about my ground glass back, it was kind of homemade. He replaced the generic groundglass with another full sized ground glass, and made a few repairs including installing a forward mounted fresnel screen. An extra charge for this, but did a beautiful job worth every penny. He also replaced the rangefinder cam with a new Makina III unit. So it appears he has the last stash of original Plaubel Makina parts on the planet!

I may have more work for him. :)
 
My newly CLA'ed Plaubel Makina III. Panorama Camera (Wizcam) in NYC did the work.

Also 6.5x9cm cut film from a dealer in Bulgaria. 125 sheets of Orwo NP20, and 75 sheets of Fotopan FF 6.5x9cm is not easy to find in the USA When I find some I try to get it to stock up

DSC05884[1447] by Nokton48, on Flickr
 
Test photos taken by dealer in Bulgaria, 6.5x9cm FOTON FF, Orwo A-03 8:15@22C, Mamiya RB67/sheet film back, ISO 50

Wonder what developer to try with such old FOTON FF?

FOTON FF no 1 by Nokton48, on Flickr


FOTON FF no 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Looks good to me for such old film stock. VERY OLD SCHOOL. I have seventy-five sheets to play with :)
 
An Ocean of Soybeans

Foggy morning light

Plaubel Makina III, 73mm Ortho Wide Angle lens. Camera focused hyperfocally using Makina DOF charts engraved on camera rear cover. F11 Neopan 400 120 roll film, Mic-X dev 400 speed film (or even higher ISO film!) is necessary in order to use the 73mm Plaubel Orthar wide angle lens for handheld photography. But I have plenty of HP5+ and Delta 3200 in 120 sizes. :)

Makina III 73mm Ortho Neopan 400 120 Mic-X by Nokton48, on Flickr
 
This one was taken at a local park, during a driving rainstorm. My Wife and I were soaked to the skin! Makina III didn't care. Use of high speed HP5+ 120 film allows for new photo possibilities with the old old Plaubel Makinas.

HP5+ 100 F2.9 Anticomar at F5.6 Mic-X dev

Makina III F2.9 HP5+ Mic-X by Nokton48, on Flickr
 
Makina Full Outfit for travel by Nokton48, on Flickr

Here I have packed all my Plaubel Makina stuff into one of my Domke F2 bags. This will work for day trips I am hoping. It is very heavy but I have a Domke shoulder pad on the bag and I will manage. I also use this F2 to haul my Makiflex on day trips, so I guess I am kind of used to the weight of it.

In the bag:

1) In the end pocket, Makina IIIR body with 73mm Orthar wide angle and back, ready to go. Hyperfocal focus, point and click. Still need the W/A viewfinder for this!
2) Inside the bag, Makina III body with 100mm F4.2 (sharp!) lens and 6x9 back, ready to go. More like using a view camera with a rangefinder, seems to me.
3) In plastic bag, 100mm F2.9 lens with lens hood. High Speed lens.
4) 190mm Makina tele in leather case. Slow and tedious but it works like a charm!
5) total of four 6x9 film backs, including what is on the cameras.
6) Seven rolls each, Fomapan 200, Ilford FP4+, Ilford HP5+, and Delta 3200.
7) In the other end pocket, a plastic bag of Plaubel filters.
8) thrown on top inside the bag, Zone VI spotmeter, and extra film spools, spools wrapped in duct tape.
9) Sunglasses, cell phone.


I will be trying this out at the Columbus Zoo today, if things work out for us. Yesterday we got some free tickets, so why not?
 
Dan, fits pretty well, but does sound heavy. Why two bodies?

Looks like a nice day here in Cbus, have fun at the zoo. Those Zebra stripes should be a good focus target.
 
Hi Larry,

I have a lot of film backs. But actually, I bought the second Makina body, in order to get the ultra rare 100mm F4.2 lens. The package price was low enough to basically pay for the lens (what I thought was fair) and the body was a free bonus. So now I have two Makinas.
 
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