Something about Auto-Ups

[jlw]

Recently I bought some Canon RF accessories from fellow RFFer Flamingo, and the lot included a couple of Canon Auto-Up close-up devices for the 50mm f/1.2 lens.

Now, I knew about Auto-Ups from "back in the day," but never before have I had any to play with. A lot of modern RF photographers don't seem familiar with them at all (even though they were made by several manufacturers for a variety of camera/lens combinations.)

So today, when I had some extra frames at the end of a roll in my Canon VI-T, I got out the Auto-Ups, attached them, and did some experimenting -- along with snapping some digital photos of the setup in the process.

If you'd like to read the resulting "close-up" mini-review, here (click) is a link to it. And here's a teaser image:

 

[gregarpp]

So thats what those things do... I have an Auto-Up for my Canon 50mm lens..
This will probably only work on a specific Canon RF camera?

Great review!!

 

[jlw]

Maybe not a specific camera, but a specific family of cameras. You can see why this would be the case: Think about a "Barnack-type" Canon such as a IVSb. Its viewfinder is a small window between the two rangefinder windows, so an Auto-Up for this camera family would need to have its corrector prism positioned to match. The V- and VI-series cameras have the viewfinder window on one end, and the rangefinder window positioned a specific distance inboard, so their Auto-Up needs windows that match.

 

[back alley]

i have one for the 50/1.5 that is in good shape. it even came with case and original instructions.
it's the only one i've ever seen for the 1.5.

i have yet to try it...

 

[laptoprob]

The marvellous but unobtainable Quinon can focus down to 60cm without tricks. I modified the lens mount on my IIf a little to give the rangefinder arm enough space to cover the needed distance. Guess what? It works! No pictures yet, because the IIf is still waiting for her new strap lugs.

cheers, Rob.

 

[John Shriver]

The little black mark (sqaure) in the corner of the viewfinder window is your parallax correction mark. The image is cropped in width and height to the inner corner of that square at the closest focus.

The Auto-Ups for the bottom load Canons only have a tick mark for parallax, since their viewfinder isn't so far off to one side. So you mostly crop off the top.