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Trying to identify maker of an unusual(?) 3rd-Party A36 Filter Set.


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A strange little thing which I ordered on-line arrived today. It is a variation of the clip-on A36 filter but, as can be seen, the unit features three colour fiters, the cinch-clip fitting ring plus a lens-cap as one complete assembly.

It was advertised as "Unbranded ('S')" but as it is clearly engraved 'Made in Scotland' I was wondering if the 'S' stands for 'Stewartry'?

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Any comments / suggestions would be appreciated! A couple more snaps to follow in a minute or so...

Philip.

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Two more shots with it fitted to an Elmar prompts my second question;

If anyone has experience / knowledge of this accessory I'd love to know where the grub-screw should be sited! This might sound an idiotic question - and it's really not important one little bit - but there are some things which I find a bit odd.

In terms of filter-stability the sensible place to have the pivot-bolt would be at either 12 o'clock or 6 o'clock; in this way the unused filters would be least likely to swivel out of position through gravity. The screw is exactly the right length to act as a prop-rod keeping the camera level when on a flat surface (see image 1 below) but if affixed in such a manner and if being actually used on a flat surface it is impossible to use any filter as the unused portion will partially block the front element (hand-held, of course, it doesn't make a difference). On the other hand if the screw is set to the top it partially-blocks the finder-window.

All this shows that the best position in use would be either at 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock but if so then why is the 'S' on the cap positioned as it is because in this position the 'S' is at 90 degrees to the vertical?

Anyhow; a couple of gratuitous snaps of the thing fitted;

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Philip.

Edited by pippy
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I suspect I've worked out the answer to one question. Having had a play with the set my guess about the grub-screw is that it would normally be used in the 6 o'clock position. Placed there the unused filters would simply hang down (and the 'S' would also then be in the correct orientation) which makes a lot of sense as the filter frames are crafted from surprisingly weighty chromed steel (brass?) and spin / slippage could not be ruled-out altogether. Obviously the Elmar barrel turns with varying the focus but, still, it seems the most likely scenario.

The 12 o'clock idea is a non-starter as the unused elements would (of course!) tend to block viewer / RF windows.

I'm slightly surprised - from the pics I saw of it prior to purchase - by the quality of the unit; it really is nicely crafted from quality materials.

Anyone with better information on its use please do comment and, similarly, anyone with ideas about the creator please do likewise!

Philip.

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Looks like the sort of thing that Stewartry would have made. They seem to have speialised in machined aluminium. I haven't seen the logo of the S in a circle, but as it was a tradename (not a maker's name) I would think that it may well be one tried out for the Stewartry name. Stewartry items are the only photographic items that I have come acrss marked 'Made in Scotland'!

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Thank you, Arnaud, Pyrogallol and Paul, for your comments. Much appreciated.

Even with my own paucity of knowledge regarding Stewartry's output I agree that this seems like the sort of thing which they might have thought would be useful to the average 'Smudger' of the times.

I wasn't aware that Stewarty specialised in machined aluminium so thanks for that tid-bit. From the photographs I had seen posted I did initially think that the item was aluminium-framed - and a fairly low-grade stamped/pressed piece at that - but it certainly feels far heavier than an aluminium framed item could possibly be - but could that simply be down to the mass of the brass lens-cap part? A really heavy pivot-bolt?

The whole thing (glass and cap excepted) appears to be chrome-plated and not simply very highly polished aluminium and to chrome-plate aluminium is not a simple - nor inexpensive - process. Uncoated aluminium tends to oxidise and as this article is likely to be around 70 years old? Another riddle.

(Ten minutes later...)

Having just carried out a 'Ferrous' check (i.e. I used a Magnet!) things are getting rather strange and confusing...

Front-to-back;

Lens-cap? Negative (no surprise; it's clearly made of brass).

Foremost (green) filter-frame? Mildly positive (as in the magnet was attracted - and did stick 100% - but not strongly).

Second (orange) filter-frame? Nope. Absolutely uninterested.

Third (yellow) filter-frame? Nope. Bugger-all.

Cinch-clip? Mildly positive and magnet stays in place yet again.

So what is the story here? Green and cinch-clip rings made from different, harder, more-ferrous alloys? Heavier chrome-plating of 'foremost' and cinch-clip to help protect against rubbing-wear? But as Chromium is added in the manufacture of Stainless Steel - which is, by its nature, non-magnetic - I'm not sure the science stacks up.

Any ideas?

Philip.

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45 minutes ago, pippy said:

I wasn't aware that Stewarty specialised in machined aluminium so thanks for that tid-bit.

So what is the story here? Green and cinch-clip rings made from different, harder, more-ferrous alloys? Heavier chrome-plating of 'foremost' and cinch-clip to help protect against rubbing-wear? But as Chromium is added in the manufacture of Stainless Steel - which is, by its nature, non-magnetic - I'm not sure the science stacks up.

Any ideas?

Philip.

I'm only going by what I've seen/researched myself. There are some very brightly polished Stewartry lenses to be seen if you search. I wonder if the effect is a very bright, polished anodisation? As for the magnetic signatures of various parts, well whilst its tempting to think that each filter section is built identically it may not (and obviously is not) so. The retaining ring on one filter may be steel, the others aluminium. Stweartry products are very poorly documented but they seem to have made more of a range of photographic products than we might assume. Lenses (well the mounts anyway), copy units, viewfinders, filters and more. As a small engineering firm they probably experimented and constantly modified depending on what sold best.

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Thank you again, Paul, for your very helpful suggestions.

I suspect that the answer to the question of 'metals used' is going to be difficult to resolve and, in any event, rather immaterial (pun). Perhaps my initial impression was coloured by my expectation of a flimsy aluminium-framed item and was surprised by the relatively heavy weight of the piece when it arrived?

Whatever the story; as the 'Scottish Connection' hadn't been mentioned anywhere in the description it was a delight, being Scottish myself, to see the engraving and I'm very much looking forward to using it in the field sometime soon!

Philip.

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