Retina Automatic III filter and hood size?

[82univega]

Hi all.

I recently acquired a Retina Automatic III, and I'm trying to figure out what filters and hood will work with it. Googling and searching this forum haven't turned up anything that clears it up for me.

The user's manual (scan attached to this post) says "Filters ... are available in screw-in mounts for your camera. The Retina-Xenar f/2.8 45mm lens requires Retina Filters of 32mm."

"Screw-in" implies threads to me, but there don't appear to be any threads on this lens. Does anyone know how these filters attach?

Regarding a hood, it refers to a "Kodak Retina 45 Lens Hood" that "slips over the 45mm, f/2.8 lens mount or over the 32mm diameter screw-in lens accessories...."

I've seen a hood on eBay fitting that description, but the 45mm part of the lens has a black, knurled protrusion (see attached photo), and the eBay hood didn't appear to have a cutout to accommodate that.

Does one remove the knurled protrusion from the lens to accommodate the hood, or is there a hood that accommodates the protrusion?

Thanks in advance for any information about this.

Andy

 

[farlymac]

It might look like there are no threads for the filters, but trust me, there are. Kodak for some reason measured the outer diameter of the filter to come up with 32mm, but in actuality it is a 29.5mm thread size. You can find plenty of filters made by other brands. The hood is a push-on, and they tend to get loose over the years, so just get a generic hood in 29.5mm, and thread it in.


PF

 

[Solinar]

On the older Retina II and III - if it is a push on filter or hood, then the 32mm diameter comes into play.

If the above photo is correct, your Automatic III does not have a provision for 29.5mm screw in filters.

The image below shows a f2 Heligon from a 1949-50 Retina II. Look by the H in Heligon for the barely visible 29.5mm filter threads.

RetinaHeligon by xyz2physics, on Flickr

 

[82univega]

Thanks PF and Andrew.

Further inspection with a loupe reveals that the incredibly-fine grooves just inside the "Schneider..." text on the lens do look like threads after all. The first time I looked they didn't appear to have an ending on either side, and I thought they were just light baffles parallel to the front of the lens.

Searching for a 29.5mm filters on eBay doesn't turn up a lot of cheap options. The camera's manual mentions the 629A adapter for Series 6 filters, which seems like it might broaden the selection of filters available, and I see one 629A for sale that comes with a hood. Do you have any thoughts about the 629A adapter and hood?

Thanks again for your help.
Andy

Edit: The threads are inside of the fine silver accent ring, which is inside of the "Schneider..." text. Just about two turns of threads so they're almost invisible in the picture I attached.

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

Since the subject is Retina cameras and filters and adapters, I thought I could just drop this here: Tiffen Series 6 filter adapter for the Retina iia with f2 lens. If anyone can use this, drop me a PM, free for shipping.