Nicht immer nur Kaviar ... (English Version)

[romanus53]

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vor 3 Stunden schrieb thomas_schertel:

It depends ...
The NOOKY might have the besser pictures, because no supplementary lens is used. On the other hand does the Proximeter need no longer exposure. Ih have Proximeters for different cameras, and they are good.

Yours sincerely
Thomas

I'm afraid you are right as the Elmar/Tessar-type lenses are known to give a good quality over a large image scale. The Proximeter seems to be uable even on the M10 with Elmar, Summitar looks slightly off focus. Perhaps I'll check that later.

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[Ambro51]

(Just a mention....this thread is about things not “Leica”.  

[romanus53]

at least the Proximeter is made by Herman Schneider, Hamburg, for Leica and others, not by Leica, just a comparison in the picture

[willeica]

16 minutes ago, Ambro51 said:

(Just a mention....this thread is about things not “Leica”.  

The Proximeter is 'not Leica'. I recent showed a Leica with a Dallmeyer lens here. The posting was more about the Dallmeyer lens and indeed other non Leica lenses eg Ross and Meyer Kino Plasmat used on Leicas to produce the first interchangeable lens Leicas in the UK, rather than in Germany which some might think was the case. I was tempted to post in another thread, but I reckoned that most collectors would see the items here. There is a whole series of items which were produced by other manufacturers for Leica cameras. Equally Leitz produced items for other manufacturers eg Elmars for Nagel Pupilles and even a special FOFER rangefinder with an N mark for the same camera. 

William

Edited December 18, 2021 by willeica

[Ambro51]

In the earliest days of photography, the original Daguerreotype process used only iodine to sensitize the polished silver clad plate.  Later, “the Quick”, was developed, using Bromine (!) as a second sensitizer.   What this done, was to shorten average exposure times from more than 30 seconds to a quite manageable 4 seconds or so.....enabling portrait photography.•••••••So, then, as now, slow film needed Light, and the cameras of the day used lenses approximately f 12-18.     Alexander Wolcott, in 1840, went another route, using a first surface spherical mirror to gather light, with the plate held at focus central to the mirror on an adjustable for focus stalk.   The mirror can work at f 1.5 and make images of acceptable clarity.  Interestingly, the plates taken by a Wolcott camera are “ true to life, not reversed like tintypes.  The camera proved short lived, as “the Quick” appeared and this need of an ultra fast mirror system waned.  The “concept” of the big fast mirror with a photographic plate in the center did prove very practical in a sense....much larger, think ‘200” Hale Telescope” or the Hubble ST.   •••••Some years ago I had a small stock of 5” x 8” spherical mirrors and built several working Wolcott Cameras.  These were sold far and wide, one went to the Eastman House where it was used for experimentation into solaraized daguerreotypes.     

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Edited December 18, 2021 by Ambro51

[Ambro51]

Most have seen the small patent model Wolcott built.  It was shown in the popular Time/Life series of books on photography.  Here’s my replica of it, along with Niepces and Talbots Cameras.  

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[willeica]

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Contessa Nettel Luxus Picolette camera from the 1920s with a case for the camera. It uses 127 film and is about the same size as a Vest Pocket Kodak. It is a much more sophisticated camera with a Zeiss Tessar 7.5 cm lens with apertures from f4.5 to f45. It has a Compur type shutter with speeds from 1 sec to 1/300th sec. It also has a pressure plate which is made from what looks like brass, which I need to compare with what is in my other Contessas.

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Contessa cameras were made by Dr August Nagel who sold that business to Zeiss. He then made cameras under his own name and sold that business to Kodak. He was involved with Kodak in the production of the Kodak Retina and the first reusable 35mm cassettes. He may not be as significant as Barnack, but he should be better remembered among camera collectors and historians.

William

Edited December 18, 2021 by willeica

[zeitz]

38 minutes ago, willeica said:

August Nagel who sold that business to Zeiss

William, have a look at Lawrence Gubas' book Zeiss and Photography, page 120. The evolution of German camera companies into Zeiss Ikon is not so clear cut.  Nettel had several partners.  Robert Mayer sold part of his majority stake to Nagel.  Gotthilf Lufft's heirs later sold their shares to the Carl Zeiss Stiftung, and soon after Robert Mayer and others may have done so also.  Quoting Gubas "it is clear that Nagel is in no way the leading partner in the firm as of this date."  This date being the beginning of the merger of the various camera makers (Contessa Nagel and Ica in this case) largely owned by the Stiftung eventually into Zeiss Ikon.  Nagel declined a position inside Ica leading to the creation of his own firm.  Also August Nagel, having received an honorary doctorate, use the term "Dr. Phil. nat. h.c." in his correspondence.  Nagel does need to be better remembered; he was the primary force inside Contessa Nettel.

[willeica]

1 hour ago, zeitz said:

William, have a look at Lawrence Gubas' book Zeiss and Photography, page 120. The evolution of German camera companies into Zeiss Ikon is not so clear cut.  Nettel had several partners.  Robert Mayer sold part of his majority stake to Nagel.  Gotthilf Lufft's heirs later sold their shares to the Carl Zeiss Stiftung, and soon after Robert Mayer and others may have done so also.  Quoting Gubas "it is clear that Nagel is in no way the leading partner in the firm as of this date."  This date being the beginning of the merger of the various camera makers (Contessa Nagel and Ica in this case) largely owned by the Stiftung eventually into Zeiss Ikon.  Nagel declined a position inside Ica leading to the creation of his own firm.  Also August Nagel, having received an honorary doctorate, use the term "Dr. Phil. nat. h.c." in his correspondence.  Nagel does need to be better remembered; he was the primary force inside Contessa Nettel.

Thanks, Zeitz. I was aware of some, but not all, of that. The cameras first of all were marked as Contessa and then Contessa Zeiss and then migrated towards being just Zeiss Ikon. I now have 6 Contessa cameras from between 1920 and 1929 all with Zeiss lenses and with various stages of 'Zeissness' on the bodies. I need to take them all out some day and work my way through them by serial number/date sequence. Some of them have a number of serial numbers on them for the camera, the shutter and the lens. I have seen Zeiss lens serial numbers identified by year. Have you got any details of actual Contessa camera serial numbers?

I also have quite a few of Nagel's later cameras, 3 Vollendas, 3 Pupilles (one with a Compur type shutter marked Kodak) and two Kodak Retinas.  3 of those cameras have Leitz Elmar lenses. One of the features of the Nagel cameras of all types is that body furniture details can change from one example of the same model to the next, which also makes them interesting. 

On 30th January next I am doing a Zoom presentation for the Photographic Collectors Club of Great Britain ( PCCGB) on German cameras with Compur mounts from the 1920s and 1930s  and I will try to address the degree of universality of that mount. I have had issues swapping lenses around between cameras with Compur mounts. Too long to discuss here, but I may post about that here again when I receive the wisdom of the hugely knowledgeable PCCGB members after my talk. 

William 

[zeitz]

19 hours ago, willeica said:

Have you got any details of actual Contessa camera serial numbers?

Camera serial numbers, other than Leica and Contax, are hard to find.  I have never seen a Contessa list.  At least the Carl Zeiss lens serial numbers are fairly well known.

19 hours ago, willeica said:

then migrated towards being just Zeiss Ikon

Zeiss Ikon was founded in 1926.  Gubas has a detailed diagram of the 16 to 4 to 1 conglomeration of German camera companies into Zeiss Ikon on page 199 of his tome.

19 hours ago, willeica said:

I will try to address the degree of universality of that mount.

I am glad you are tackling this topic.  I am very interested in your research.

[thomas_schertel]

Proximeters again.

The ADVOO is for comparison, maybe under license of Schneider, Hamburg

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yours sincerely
Thomas

[cary]

My 1st Nikon F with 85mm f1.8 Nikkor lens. I used this camera in high school as a yearbook photographer and in college at Brooks Institute of Photography:

 

 

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[pgk]

Here's an odd one! I'm a fan of the Super-Angulon - excellent central sharpness (even by today's standards) but poorer corners, good close focus performance too (semi-symmetrical). I'd be loath to be without a copy. My current copy is this one - a Schneider design built for the early (mirror-up) Leicaflex cameras - identical optically to the M version and with a minimum focus of 20cm. Its not a popular version but actually fits, is fairly compact on and works reasonably well on the Sony A7 series cameras which can give it a new leases of life. Hidden 'Kaviar'? Well I would say so. And whilst not exactly a Leica lens it is marked as being one. (iPhone snap!).

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[willeica]

On 12/7/2021 at 10:54 PM, willeica said:

Howard Grubb Aplanatic lens for 12x10 plates made in Dublin c mid to late 1890s. The lens is made from aluminium, which was a relatively new material at the time, and it is considerably lighter than the 7 earlier Grubb lenses in my collection, which are all made from brass.

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My earlier Grubb lenses, dating from the 1850s to the 1880s,  either have washer or Waterhouse stops. This one has a diaphragm, shown here at f22.

The aperture range goes f 11.3, f16, f22, f32, f45, f64. The Royal Photographic Society aperture scale, introduced between 1895 and 1902, included an 11.3 setting. I feel that the lens was probably before 1900 and, so, I am saying mid to late 1890s.

The lens itself is orange tinted. This is not a balsam issue, which some of my earlier lenses have, albeit with no optical problems arising. This is quite different. I suspect that the lens was used for a specialised application requiring high contrast. Possibilities are astronomy, science, industrial or military. By this time, Grubbs had started making items for the military such as rifle scopes and, later, periscopes. 

Finally, the lens came with nice cap with plush lining.

This is a really lovely piece which compares well with lenses made by other great optical manufacturers in Britain and Germany.

William 

 

 

And now for something completely different, a photo of the building of the factory, where this lens was made about 20 years later in the 1890s. I have several lenses made in this building plus some of the production records showing the writing of both Thomas and Howard Grubb. This is from a recent book by Seamus O Maitiu, on the Rathmines area of Dublin, which has been published by the Royal Irish Academy.

This photo is courtesy of the University of Vienna. The Vienna Observatory equipment was made here and the domes of the observatory once sat on the grounds of a cricket club beside the factory. The coelostat machine which was used to prove Einstein's Theory of Relativity in 1919 was constructed here. The factory was also once visited by the Emperor of Brazil who was keen on astronomy. 

Any distortion in the above photo is from my iPhone and the book. Mr Grubb's lenses are almost distortion free despite their age. 

Wouldn't it be nice to have photos of the building of the Leitz factory in Wetzlar?

William 

 

[pgk]

And just to illustrate that the f/3.4 Super-Angulon R is still a capable, if quirky, lens on digital (although files need some adjustment - this one is rough and ready so far) here is an illustration from today's very dull overcast conditions:

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[wlaidlaw]

I think I may as well sell my 21/4 Super Angulon lens. Since I got the 21-35 Vario-Elmar-R about a year ago, I have not used the Super Angulon once. 

Wilson

[nitroplait]

2 hours ago, Al Brown said:

My classic brick 35mm half frame Taron Chic. Had a color coded metering system (selen) and a matching dial around the lens, used letters for the distance (S-scenic, G-group, P-person).

 

Wow- what a beauty!

I love the convenience of half frame cameras.

My preferred compact camera is an Olympus Pen S.

If I have to travel light, this is the film camera I bring.

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[cary]

Black Nikon F with first generation Photomic meter and 45mm f2.8 GN Nikkor:

 

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[pgk]

1 hour ago, cary said:

..... and 45mm f2.8 GN Nikkor:

I remember using one of those! Fascinating idea but it didn't catch on.

[thomas_schertel]

Some Contarex lenses have a similar system.
yours sincerely
Thomas