doubice Posted December 23, 2009 Share #21 Posted December 23, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) This was a fantastic idea and I immediately got the project underway…… My Visoflex now has a screen from an older Ricoh SLR and I just wanted to share some tidbits of information about the procedure, particularly with respect to the M8 crop factor. I found a piece of thick cardboard, measured the exact dimensions of the screen and cut out a same-sized rectangle in the cardboard, using an Exacto knife. Than, I marked the sides of the rectangle with the M8 cropped frame, sat the screen into the cardboard cut-out, which prevented the screen from moving and scored the upper (shiny) side of the screen with the Exacto knife. This gives an indication of the cropped M8 field, while leaving the whole screen area available should I ever decide to use the Visoflex on my M6 or M7..... First photo below is of the cardboard guide; second photo is of the finished Visoflex. I ended up with plenty of screws and springs from the Ricoh that may come in handy for another project! Thanks for the hint! Best, Jan Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/107037-5-japanese-split-prism-focusing-bright-screen-for-m9-slr/?do=findComment&comment=1161770'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 23, 2009 Posted December 23, 2009 Hi doubice, Take a look here $5 Japanese Split Prism Focusing Bright Screen for m9 SLR. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
wlaidlaw Posted December 23, 2009 Share #22 Posted December 23, 2009 This was a fantastic idea and I immediately got the project underway…… My Visoflex now has a screen from an older Ricoh SLR and I just wanted to share some tidbits of information about the procedure, particularly with respect to the M8 crop factor. I found a piece of thick cardboard, measured the exact dimensions of the screen and cut out a same-sized rectangle in the cardboard, using an Exacto knife. Than, I marked the sides of the rectangle with the M8 cropped frame, sat the screen into the cardboard cut-out, which prevented the screen from moving and scored the upper (shiny) side of the screen with the Exacto knife. This gives an indication of the cropped M8 field, while leaving the whole screen area available should I ever decide to use the Visoflex on my M6 or M7..... First photo below is of the cardboard guide; second photo is of the finished Visoflex. I ended up with plenty of screws and springs from the Ricoh that may come in handy for another project! Thanks for the hint! Best, Jan Jan, Very clever idea. I am waiting for a Nikon repairer to send me an F301 screen. I will do the same as you when I get it. Having got into the screen thing, I am also now going to replace the rather dingy screen on my Rolleiflex as well, with a Rick Oleson screen. Not as good as a Maxwell Bright Screen but I can't really justify buying a $300 screen for a $400 Rolleiflex. Rick's ones are $30. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModernMan Posted December 25, 2009 Share #23 Posted December 25, 2009 Hats off to the OP. Very cool. I'm prospeciting for "donor cameras" right now to do screen transplants on some of my Viso's. As soon as I got my M9, the second thing I tried (after confirming the my 35/1.4 fit ok) was the M9/viso dslr config. Its just plain fun. Visos rule! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaques Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share #24 Posted December 28, 2009 very glad to see that others have taken up my idea. I am sure I was not the first to think of it... but I did think of it all by my lonesome... I like your work Jan- and very nice markings for the M8- looks like you saved yourself 200USD from brightscreen :-) My m9 arrived finally and I was keen to mount up the Viso and post a few images here. Unfortunately I seem to have been mislead when I purchased my Viso: I grabbed a III as I read that only the three has a viewfinder that will mount on the m8/m9. Unfortunately my viewfinder was a Viso ii finder and does not fit on the raised M9 top. So I need to find a suitable Viso III viewfinder. It is almost useless trying to use a Viso without the finder attached... Anyone out there have one and want to swap it for a VisoIII finder? My finder is a really nice one- and from what I have seen the Viso ii finders seem to be nicer than the III model, with a very good diopter magnifier set up... so if you are using a film M then the Viso ii finder will be a good choice I am going to borrow my local techs chimmney finder in the meantime and will post a few pictures here isf anyone is interested. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaques Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share #25 Posted December 28, 2009 Wilson: If you rolleiflex is an older one you are going to love a new brighter screen. It is amazing the difference- the early rollei screens are really very dull and the view through the finder is a revelation when you put a brighter screen in. I am not sure if they would fit straigh off- but a Minolta accu matte DD screen from a hasselblad should be the correct size for a rolleiflex and they are wonderful screens. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted December 28, 2009 Share #26 Posted December 28, 2009 Wilson: If you rolleiflex is an older one you are going to love a new brighter screen. It is amazing the difference- the early rollei screens are really very dull and the view through the finder is a revelation when you put a brighter screen in. I am not sure if they would fit straigh off- but a Minolta accu matte DD screen from a hasselblad should be the correct size for a rolleiflex and they are wonderful screens. Jaques, I was going to go down to my local camera repairer and see what He had in the way of suitable or convertible medium format screen, Hasselblad, Mamiyaflex etc, as I could not justify the cost of a Maxwell or the even more expensive Beattie. Certainly not for the 3 or 4 rolls I put through my Rollei a year. Then I came across Rick Oleson's website. I like the attitude, where he immediately admits his screens are not as good as a Maxwell or Beattie but at $30 including W-W postage and a choice of scribed framing lines, you cannot really go wrong. The screen on the Rolleiflex is really the only evidence of cost cutting. Rollei's were amazing cheap in the 1950's or 60's. My 3.5E would have cost around $325. At the same time, my Leica IIF with 50/2 Summitar would have cost around $700 and my Contax IIa with 50/1.5 Opton Sonnar, a staggering $1200 - that was enough to buy a decent mid sized new car in the 1950's and is the equivalent of $10,000 now. Oops, that is just what an M9 and 50 Lux costs;-}} Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 28, 2009 Share #27 Posted December 28, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Well, yes, but it would hardly buy you a mid-sized car now. Maybe a Daihatsu Cuore (shudder;)) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted December 28, 2009 Share #28 Posted December 28, 2009 I have just got hold of a good quality original Leitz English language manual for the Visoflex III, including the three adapters charts. I have done a 600dpi scan and saved it as an Acrobat 7 document. It is available here MobileMe if anyone needs a copy. Wilson 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaques Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share #29 Posted December 28, 2009 thanks for that Wilson! downloaded and reading... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaques Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share #30 Posted December 28, 2009 while we are talking Visoflex: can anyone identify this Viso for me? It is M Mount on the camera side. Is this a rare model? Will it work on an m9? I just purchased it on a whim. I feel I will have to find a 6x6cm plastic MF fresnel for this one and cut out a circle... or how bright are these old visoflex's? what lens heads will go straight on this one? I have 65 elmar, 90 tele-elmar, 135 hector, 135 elmarit and 200 telyt f4... a penny for your thoughts... Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/107037-5-japanese-split-prism-focusing-bright-screen-for-m9-slr/?do=findComment&comment=1166283'>More sharing options...
jaques Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share #31 Posted December 28, 2009 I found a picture of what looks to be the same Viso on a german forum mounted to an m3- looks very nice... what is the lens set up here: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/107037-5-japanese-split-prism-focusing-bright-screen-for-m9-slr/?do=findComment&comment=1166295'>More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted December 28, 2009 Share #32 Posted December 28, 2009 That looks very like a piece of Leitz laboratory equipment of which there was a huge range in the 1950's and 60's. You would probably need to look in one of Von Hasbroeck's books (Leica: Rare and Unusual 'M' Series Cameras and Accessories) to absolutely identify this one. I don't have my copy in the UK or I would look it up. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubice Posted December 28, 2009 Share #33 Posted December 28, 2009 (edited) while we are talking Visoflex: can anyone identify this Viso for me? It is M Mount on the camera side. Is this a rare model? Will it work on an m9? I just purchased it on a whim. I feel I will have to find a 6x6cm plastic MF fresnel for this one and cut out a circle... or how bright are these old visoflex's? what lens heads will go straight on this one? I have 65 elmar, 90 tele-elmar, 135 hector, 135 elmarit and 200 telyt f4... a penny for your thoughts... Jaques, That is a 'standard issue' Visoflex I with a 45 degree prism finder and a double cable realease (I think it is mising it rubber eye-cup). That was how reflex photography was done up to the mid-50's, before the Visoflex II came out. The Viso I's front thread to film plane distance is longer than the Viso II and III; the shortest lens that will fit it (and provide infinity focus) is a Hektor 2.5/125mm - an expensive collectors item today. The more 'pedestrian' lenses that offered infinity focus (with appropriate adapters) were the Elmar and Hektor 135mm, Telyt 200, 280 and 400mm (earlier versions with Leica thread mount). It will fit the M8/9 but, will be very limited in the number of lenses that you can use. It is more or less an outfit that has to be used on a tripod (some Leica users with more than ten fingers will disagree ....) while the Visoflex II and III can be handheld. Best, Jan Edited December 28, 2009 by doubice Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaques Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share #34 Posted December 29, 2009 Hello Jan, are you sure it is a standard issue viso i? I only ask because it is M mount and I read somewhere that that is a rare bird... also the viewfinder looks different than others I have seen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
giordano Posted December 29, 2009 Share #35 Posted December 29, 2009 (edited) I have just got hold of a good quality original Leitz English language manual for the Visoflex III, including the three adapters charts. I have done a 600dpi scan and saved it as an Acrobat 7 document. It is available here MobileMe if anyone needs a copy. Thanks, Wilson. As a matter of interest (he said hopefully) there's also one on Mike Butkus's Orphan Cameras site (along with a Viso II manual). Mike's is of a different, presumably later, edition of the manual, covering the little extension piece you have to remove from the shutter release before mounting the Viso III on an M5 and with instructions for using the M5 exposure meter. Until I looked at the version you uploaded I never realised that the Visoflex III came in pre- and post-M5 versions: I thought they all had the extension piece. Edited December 29, 2009 by giordano Sense. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted December 29, 2009 Share #36 Posted December 29, 2009 John, Mike must have put the Viso III manual on recently. The last time I looked, there was only a Viso II one. What a great resource Mike's manuals are. I recently downloaded a Contax IIa one and sent him the very reasonable $3. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSplash Posted December 29, 2009 Share #37 Posted December 29, 2009 Thanks for this OP ....what a great idea! I shall certainly try to do the same. I have often been critiqued in this forum for being positive to Visoflex photography....it seems others agree with me. I also suggested that The original Visoflex III could be improved with todays technology...here I see that it can be improved with yesterday's technology also. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaques Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share #38 Posted January 13, 2010 I have transplanted another viso- I can now confirm that the screen from the cheap Ricoh KR-5 SLR fits the viso very nicely and is a very bright bright screen. Nice split prism too. The screen needs one minute of light filing with a nail file at edges to make a perfect 100% fit. You will need shims as well to hold the screen flat. Using the visoflex with the split prism works very well in the field- I could not imagine trying to focus without this feature now... here is the microscopic tip of a succulent leaf- nothing special but confirmed the focusing on the new screen: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/107037-5-japanese-split-prism-focusing-bright-screen-for-m9-slr/?do=findComment&comment=1185739'>More sharing options...
jaques Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share #39 Posted January 13, 2010 This shot was hard- I focused on 3 grains of pollen on the head of the bee- I almost nailed it: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/107037-5-japanese-split-prism-focusing-bright-screen-for-m9-slr/?do=findComment&comment=1185768'>More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted January 13, 2010 Share #40 Posted January 13, 2010 Now happily using my Viso with a Nikon F301 screen. Big improvement - thanks for the tip Jaques. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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