Pics from Perkeo II

[02Pilot]

The Voigtlander filters are excellent quality, however the slip-on portion is quite deep and highly polished. In practice this will sometimes create weird flaring along the top edge of photos as light slips though the spaces and is reflected onto the lens. I used a rubber o-ring on the outside of the filter to cover the gaps, which solved the problem.

Filters are not the easiest to find for these. The deep yellow is good (I usually give +2 stops with it) and seems strangely the most common at the moment. I have slowly accumulated a reasonably full set of filters (some Voigtlander, some not) from all over the world, but it took years.

 

[css9450]

Another from the giant abandoned church:

Next roll will be something different!

 

[css9450]

Here's a quickie train shot just to bump the thread. Perkeo II and Ilford XP2:

 

[hilltime]

I have the Perkeo RF or sometimes referred to as the Perkeo III. I have many folders both German and Japanese 9 Super Ikonta IV, Konica Pearl III, Mamiya Automat II, Olympus VB, and what else?

The Perkeo is hands down my favorite. Color-Skopar 80/3.5 is the best.
Would never give it up.

Gary Hill

 

[hilltime]

Excuse my post as the Olympus model escaped me, I haven't used for such awhile: Chrome Six R IIB, with 2.8 Zuiko.
I guess I shouldn't forget the Minesix 66 and the Certo Six. Never have gotten one of the perennial favorites, the Agfa Super Isolettes... but I guess you can't have them all... Perkeo, still my favorite.

Gary Hill

 

[css9450]

Well.... New roll finished and scanned. I finally got twelve shots on a roll. Turns out the camera's auto-stop and frame counter isn't very accurate so for this roll I skipped them altogether and wound the camera the old fashioned way with the red window.

 

[css9450]

Another.... These are all on Ilford XP2 by the way.

 

[css9450]

Unfortunately several of the shots turned out like this. Is this a light leak? I wonder what is going on here. The location and shape of the washed-out area is consistent on every photo where it appears, to greater or lessor degrees. I used the Voigtlander deep yellow filter and 32mm hood for the entire roll.

 

[css9450]

Here's one where the washed-out area is very faint. Same shape and area of the negative though.

 

[kuzano]

I have the Perkeo RF or sometimes referred to as the Perkeo III. I have many folders both German and Japanese 9 Super Ikonta IV, Konica Pearl III, Mamiya Automat II, Olympus VB, and what else?

The Perkeo is hands down my favorite. Color-Skopar 80/3.5 is the best.
Would never give it up.

Gary Hill

The rangefinder is also labeled as the Perkeo E. I don't recall if there are any other physical differences.

On the Perkeo II, I have had two, but not lucky enough to have a reliable transport and frame counter/stop.

 

[jpa66]

[/QUOTE]

Downers Grove, IL, if I'm correct. My parents live in Downers. The Tivoli is a great theatre!

 

[kuzano]

My best experience with the Perkeo.

The Perkeo (1) usually has a Vaskar 75, and a Prontor shutter. black front standard,

OCCASIONALLY, you find a first gen Perkeo with the Color Skopar 80 ( or 85) and the silver front standards... (ordered originally as an upgrade) Prontor or Compur shutter?

Perkeo II came with a lot of gearing under the hood, film stop and count. I never had a good II. Two failed on me, so because they had Color Skopar and advanced shutter, I stripped out the gearing and shot them like a I.

My best experience was a Perkeo I that was factory upgraded to the silver standards, the Color Skopar, and the advanced shutter.

It was a great shooter, but I dislike square 6x6, so sold it. Best Perkeo configuration I found. Use the ruby window for stop and framing and no double exposure prevention. Memory only.

These two BMW pics came from the Perkeo I which was factory silver standards, Color Skopar, advanced shutter, and NO AUTO CRAP under the hood. My final best configuration. Just takes time to find this upgraded Perkeo I.

 

[kuzano]

Hmmm, that's interesting! I noticed on the Perkeo there's a noticeably greater resistance felt while turning the shutter speed dial from 1/250 to 500, compared to any of the speeds lower than 1/250, which I'm told is due to the additional springs or mechanisms (or something?) necessary for the faster shutter speed. Maybe I should stick to a maximum of 1/250th. I'm not sure the lens is threaded for filters.... Might be time to start looking for the old Voigtlander slip-on filters mentioned in the manual!

One thing I noticed - the film-advance and frame counter aren't necessarily the most accurate things in the world. Two rolls in and I'm only getting nine or ten shots per roll due to occasional uneven and haphazard frame spacing on the negative strip. The frame counter works by having the film roll over a roughened spindle which must turn a certain number of times to click it onto the next exposure number, but if the film slips I wind on a lot more (sometimes) than needed. I think for the next roll I'll try leaving the frame counter disengaged and wind my film based on the numbers in the red window.

The accelerator spring for the highest shutter speed is a common feature on almost all of these old vintage shutters. Often makes the user think something is going to break. Rarely ever had a fail on that in many of these old folders.

I know someone is going to piss and moan on my next comment, because you have a II that appears to work. Frame spacing and film "stuffing/jamming" is relatively common on the II because of the "frail" mechanism in the top. The best combination is the Perkeo I with the upgrade to Color Skopar and shutter. The Perkeo I with the upgraded lens/shutter has no impediments in the gear train under the hood. Therefore using the ruby window gives proper frame spacing AND the film count is irrelivent because you see it in the ruby window.

I would look for a I which was bought with the upgrade lens/shutter, or if I ever buy another II, no matter how good it appears to work, I would pull the top and strip out the mechanism to match a Perkeo I.

I only care if the camera is a good shooter. Nobody would ever know from looking at the exterior if it has the II's crap automation. Sorry. Performance and utility is best for me. A Perkeo I with a Color Skopar, or a stripped out II (the automation) but with the Color Skopar would be reliable and shoot the same Image Quality.. most important to me

Don't know what I would find with a Perkeo III or E, but suspect the frame spacing would still be a problem, not to mention film count.

 

[farlymac]

Unfortunately several of the shots turned out like this. Is this a light leak? I wonder what is going on here. The location and shape of the washed-out area is consistent on every photo where it appears, to greater or lessor degrees. I used the Voigtlander deep yellow filter and 32mm hood for the entire roll.

Could be the film was not loaded correctly in the development tank, keeping the liquid from reaching the entire image area all the time.

PF

 

[css9450]

Downers Grove is correct. Good eye! I live in nearby Glen Ellyn.

This camera has the Synchro-Compur shutter, so it has a 1/500th shutter speed but I'm using the deep yellow filter to keep it at a maximum of 1/250th in bright outdoor daylight. Pesky ASA 400 film!

So just now in a darkened room I found if I open the camera front and back and shine a bright flashlight into the lens I can see light coming through the shutter blades. Not a lot, but thinking of the shots where I noticed a light leak they all corresponded to periods of time while I had the camera open for an extended period of time. Using the filter (and hood), I didn't want to keep removing those things so I could close the camera between shots. It was very bright outside and that might be the source of my leak. Next step - find a lens cap that will slip over the Voigtlander hood!

 

[css9450]

Could be the film was not loaded correctly in the development tank, keeping the liquid from reaching the entire image area all the time.

PF

That was my first thought also, but seeing how the leak was shaped identically every time it appeared, and didn't appear at all on a few other photos, made me think it was something other tha n processing error. Its XP2, so it went through the C-41 machine or at least that is how I think its done.

 

[css9450]

...I would pull the top and strip out the mechanism to match a Perkeo I.

The Perkeo I uses a shutter button on top, like the II has, I assume? Of course on the II, the button isn't working now since I left the frame counter disengaged for this roll. I bent a paperclip into a little hook to reach up next to the lens to trip it manually.

 

[css9450]

The frame counter can be very accurate. Mine spaces perfectly enough that I consistently get 13 non-overlapping frames. Cleanliness is the key. Pop the top plate off an clean absolutely every piece of the gear train and spacing should improve markedly.

I took the top cover off the camera. Very easy on this camera! So far everything looks clean with some evidences of light oil. Supposedly the camera was serviced recently.

I can imagine where drag might be created on the textured roller if there were grit or dried lubricant on the gears. I'll focus my attention there. I also considered the possibility that the rough texture at the top and bottom of the roller has worn off somewhat thus allowing the film to slip. Worst case scenario is I can disengage the lever from the shutter button lock (either by wiring it back, or by removing it) but that's a fallback plan. I could advance film by the red window, if necessary.

By the way, I found a 52mm lens cap fits perfectly on the Voigtlander hood. As a Nikon shooter, I have at least a "few" of those!

 

[02Pilot]

I took the top cover off the camera. Very easy on this camera! So far everything looks clean with some evidences of light oil. Supposedly the camera was serviced recently.

I can imagine where drag might be created on the textured roller if there were grit or dried lubricant on the gears. I'll focus my attention there. I also considered the possibility that the rough texture at the top and bottom of the roller has worn off somewhat thus allowing the film to slip. Worst case scenario is I can disengage the lever from the shutter button lock (either by wiring it back, or by removing it) but that's a fallback plan. I could advance film by the red window, if necessary.

By the way, I found a 52mm lens cap fits perfectly on the Voigtlander hood. As a Nikon shooter, I have at least a "few" of those!

It may look clean, but if it were me I'd blow it out, go over every single surface with Ronsonol, and very lightly (syringe) oil the rotating pins (be sure to keep the gears dry). If the roller is not engaging, I'd suspect that the pressure plate springs are weak (they were on mine) rather than surface wear. I added some light foam blocks behind the pressure plate leading and trailing edges to improve contact.

 

[css9450]

Thanks for posting! All are welcome to contribute. Let's see some photos!