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(I thought there was a topic for Kaviar on the English side of the Forum, a companion to the Kariar topic on the German side of the Forum.  But I could not find it.  My apologies if I started a duplicate thread.)

In James Lager's book Leica An Illustrated History Volume III - Accessories, he does an excellent job of capturing versions of Leica's RIFLEs.  On pages 111 and 112, Jim shows a PLOOT modified with a long eyepiece viewfinder that would be used on a gunstock.  Jim says "The illustrations show a modified PLOOT housing with the dovetail groves accepting the viewfinder.  Note there is no gunstock but the PLOOT modification was unquestionably done by Leitz Wetzlar."

The 40th Tamarkin Rare Camera Auction, Nov 13, 2021, offered Lot 177 which included the Leitz dovetail with the long eyepiece.  I had Adam and Joel Dau, proprietors of SK Grimes, perform a PLOOT modification for the Tamarkin viewfinder.  I had them use a flat glass PLOOT instead of the convex condenser PLOOT that was paired in the auction lot.  SK Grimes worked only from the pictures in Jim's book.  Now I am looking through websites searching for an appropriate gunstock and trigger parts.

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If you need part dimensions or close-up photos of individual piece parts, you can PM me and I can provide them from my RIFLE.  Just an aside, reportedly the brass gears used in the mechanism to connect the trigger pull to the film winder shaft, were sourced from the Boston Gear catalog and are still available. Other parts will have to be custom made of course.

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9 hours ago, alan mcfall said:

If you need part dimensions or close-up photos of individual piece parts, you can PM me and I can provide them from my RIFLE.  Just an aside, reportedly the brass gears used in the mechanism to connect the trigger pull to the film winder shaft, were sourced from the Boston Gear catalog and are still available. Other parts will have to be custom made of course.

Alan, thanks for the offer and the information, which is very interesting.  It is beyond my intentions to replicate the RIFLE film advance mechanism.  A single trigger for shutter release will be adequate for my use.  The real Leica RIFLE is a piece of engineering art.

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  • 1 month later...

without words

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yours sincerely
Thomas

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On 8/2/2022 at 2:14 PM, zeitz said:

(I thought there was a topic for Kaviar on the English side of the Forum, a companion to the Kariar topic on the German side of the Forum.  But I could not find it.  My apologies if I started a duplicate thread.)

In James Lager's book Leica An Illustrated History Volume III - Accessories, he does an excellent job of capturing versions of Leica's RIFLEs.  On pages 111 and 112, Jim shows a PLOOT modified with a long eyepiece viewfinder that would be used on a gunstock.  Jim says "The illustrations show a modified PLOOT housing with the dovetail groves accepting the viewfinder.  Note there is no gunstock but the PLOOT modification was unquestionably done by Leitz Wetzlar."

The 40th Tamarkin Rare Camera Auction, Nov 13, 2021, offered Lot 177 which included the Leitz dovetail with the long eyepiece.  I had Adam and Joel Dau, proprietors of SK Grimes, perform a PLOOT modification for the Tamarkin viewfinder.  I had them use a flat glass PLOOT instead of the convex condenser PLOOT that was paired in the auction lot.  SK Grimes worked only from the pictures in Jim's book.  Now I am looking through websites searching for an appropriate gunstock and trigger parts.

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English Kaviar is here, it seems to have dropped down the list.

 

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4 hours ago, Pyrogallol said:

English Kaviar is here, it seems to have dropped down the list.

There are two different topics - Kaviar (Caviar) for Leitz products and Nicht immer nur Kaviar (Not always caviar) for non-Leitz products.  I wanted to put the reflex housing with extended finder in the Leitz product topic.  Thomas made a nice addition today.

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17 hours ago, 250swb said:

Have you ever heard of the Oozlum bird'? It can fly around in ever decreasing circles until it despaired up it's own anus? Perhaps it's time to give a little breadth to discussions so people can learn other things? 

Pyrogallol was just trying to make sure I had not missed the "Nicht immer nur Kaviar" thread.   Or are you saying that there was already a "Kaviar" thread on the International side and I did miss it?  

The German side has had "Kaviar" and "Nicht immer nur Kaviar" threads for quite some time; both seem to be very popular. 

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1 hour ago, zeitz said:

Pyrogallol was just trying to make sure I had not missed the "Nicht immer nur Kaviar" thread.   Or are you saying that there was already a "Kaviar" thread on the International side and I did miss it?  

The German side has had "Kaviar" and "Nicht immer nur Kaviar" threads for quite some time; both seem to be very popular. 

I thought the “nicht” was the only “Kaviar” thread. 

Why is it called “Kaviar” ?

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5 hours ago, Pyrogallol said:

I thought the “nicht” was the only “Kaviar” thread. 

Why is it called “Kaviar” ?

It is something only a German can come up with. Comparing Russian precious salt-cured roe, a sign of gourmet prestige, to the family of Leica cameras, all else being "not caviar". Kinda goes along with Leica philosophy, no?

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5 hours ago, Pyrogallol said:

I thought the “nicht” was the only “Kaviar” thread. 

Why is it called “Kaviar” ?

All this reminds me of the old joke about a silent order of monks arguing about the heat of the porridge once every 7 years. Maybe the ‘Kaviar’ arguments should be subject to a vow of silence for the next 7 years 😇

William 

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  • 3 months later...

Pocket bellows 

Leica CL (19301) | M-Adapter L (18765) | OTZFO (16464K) | 16473 | Focotar-2 1:4.5/50mm (17582) 

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This works for a range of object sizes between about 6.7cm and 2.7cm on the long side. 

Provided one can find the rare 16473 adapter, this pocket bellows is a cheap alternative to the Macro-Adapter-M (14652), which others (@FDS) have been using with their CL and Focotar-2. My setup leads to vignetting on full frame, but no such problems on APS-C.

Note that the M-Adapter L removed the red dot from the OTZFO because the release button is protruding. For the same reason, the black version of the OTZFO does not work at all with the M-Adapter L (same holds for the bellows II). A very poor design choice from Leica. The black OTZFO also does not connect well with 16473. 

I posted an example from this setup earlier. The Focotar-2 is great.

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  • 4 weeks later...

My Nikon Rangefinder 35mm f2.5 lens just got upgraded to Caviar. I bought another with a consecutive serial number.

Strangely the first one is unusual in that the focussing scale is in metres, presumably for the European market, I bought it from Germany, The new one is scaled in feet and has a different infinity indicator.

If they started life in 1952/3 sitting alongside each other when their serial number rings were attached they have spent 70 years apart, now to be reunited.

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27 minutes ago, Pyrogallol said:

My Nikon Rangefinder 35mm f2.5 lens just got upgraded to Caviar.

You might find this interesting: https://imaging.nikon.com/history/story/0008/index.htm. The Nikonos 5 stayed in production until 2001 with its slightly modified version of the 35mm supplied with it. By 1963 the eleven year old 1952 Rangefinder lens was considered 'somewhat old-fashioned' but its updated version survived in production for a further 38 years without apparently being deemed in need of a re-design.

Edited by pgk
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