Leica III 1938 + Hektor 13.5 - 150 cms portrait - vertical - body own viewfinder parallax

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

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Hello there,

I want to take portraits with Hektor 13.5 - 150 cms setting. Body is III and will be held vertical. I want to use body own viewfinder. How to correct it for parallax ?

 

[Michael Geschlecht]

Hello Mustafa,

Welcome to the Forum.

A Leica III does not have an adjustment for parallax in the viewfinder. A good viewfinder that fits in the accessory shoe on top of the camera is code letter SHOOC. 

This viewfinder is for 13.5 cm lenses & it has adjustment for parallax down to 150 cm.

Best Regards,

Michael

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[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Hello Michael , I know these tele lens viewfinders and I know there is no parallax correction in Leica III.

I had been used FED body with Hektor with pointing the lens with holding toward the subject with lots of guessing and the result was unbeliviable.

I am looking for a better way or tip to use the lens and the body without SHOOC.

I will learn to hack the may be body focusing finder but I want to get a tip without burning good film and time.

Thank you,

Umut

 

 

 

 

 

[Reini]

It's just an idea. Try to make a small mask for the viewfinder window on the camera out of black adhesive foil. 😏 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Hello Reini,

Thank you very much, I need someone tells me where must the mask be on the viewfinder ? I need someones experience and I know its hard to answer.

Umut

 

 

[Michael Geschlecht]

Hello Umut, 

Take photos of a wall with the SHOOC finder set to 150cm on the camera to make sure that the finder is adjusted so that it accurately shows the area covered by the 13.5cm lens set to 150cm. Adjust the finder if necessary.

Then get the black adhesive foil that Reini suggested: Put the camera close to a wall on a tripod with the viewfinder set to 150 cm/5 feet.

Mark on the wall the corners of what the finder shows adjusted to 150 centimeters.

Look thru the camera viewfinder & mask off the appropriate area. 

Looking at the camera from the FRONT: I would only mask the TOP of the viewfinder window & the RIGHT side.

OR, you could use the same lens with an adapter on an M3 which has the best range/viewfinder system for 9cm & 13.5cm lenses built right in. No tape, etc. necessary.

Best Regards,

Michael

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

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Thank you very much Michael.

[Reini]

I've just tried it with a IIIf and a VIOOH. The window was masked with black tape. The mask becomes very small. 2.6x1.3mm.

If you make the mask a little bigger (+ 0.1mm?) you have some space to crop. The problem of parallax remains, however. Especially over short distances.

[ironringer]

Or shoot wider/longer and crop. An easier way to achieve good pictures using the 13.5cm lens is to take photos from a bit further away, then crop the view that you want from the digital scans of the negatives. Then you don't have to worry about exact framing. A cropped image of 1 MB size has enough resolution for 4x6 inch prints, or 4 MB is plenty for 8x10 inch prints. Even a 1930s Leica lens will produce good-quality images, giving you enough "real estate" from which to crop and print your desired images.

From experience, since focusing a long lens accurately is not so easy, take the portrait photos at f8 (for depth of field) and use a tripod (needed for slower shutter speeds). The attached picture of my mother was cropped from a larger digital image, taken with my M240 and a 1955 13.5cm Hektor, at f5.6 and 1/8 second, using a tripod. Your film Leica will produce very good portrait results with the old Hektor lens, when used the same way.

 

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[Reini]

Or best of all, use a nice 90mm lens.

[Pyrogallol]

Yes, the perspective of the 90mm lens is said to be better for portraits and it will be easier to focus and correct the parallax. But if you already have the 135mm lens then use that with a clip on finder that has parallax adjustment.