Some Updates

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I just created three pages to the right – Graflex Optar page 3 / VPK Meniscus Images 003 / B&L Rapid Rectilinear

Our trip to the Statue of Liberty, for several small reasons, all added up to a cancellation. Perhaps next Spring.

I am rapidly learning to enjoy the Olympus E-510 and its ability to work with my old lens collection. The Fuji S2Pro needs the Nikon AF lens line, it doesn’t work well MF. The Pentax *istD has a nice feel to it, but I have yet to warm up to it. The Canon XTi, due to the wide range of good glass available to me, is the first to be grabbed for general shooting.

A Pleasant Sunday Morning

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The Sun was out for a change and I have been waiting to try out some of the many old lenses. I grabbed the VPK meniscus and the 1A Autographic lenses and headed out to a local private garden. Every day there are new displays and the flowers are usually rotated from one place to another to vary groupings, as a bonus the building is painted a bright orange and they sell a whole line of home supply items. I pulled right into a spot up front and proceeded to snap away for about thirty minutes.

Then I went to a local Erie Canal Park and took a couple quick shots with the 1A Autographic lens to get a feel for it.

The meniscus shots are on the VPK Meniscus 002 page and the page named 1A Autographic has the others.

Pre 1940 Lenses

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Below is a picture of the lenses I currently (June 2009) am playing with:

This is a listing with the lens descriptions. The top two are the aperture blanks. The others are numbered from the top left to the bottom right.

A Replacement For The Damaged Fujifilm S1

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In a moment of extreme weakness, I bought a Fujifilm S2 on the Bay. It will complement my Canon XTi, and Pentax istD. Now I can use just about any lens made for 35MM format cameras by simply mounting a non-optical adapter to one of the three cameras.

I await its arrival to set up a shootout with my lenses; to be posted here. I have several M42, a couple Nikon and a dozen custom mounted pre-1939 uncoated lenses to try out. I am figuring at least three hours will be needed to finish it all. Perhaps three segments by aperture settings, to keep the lighting somewhat even, on a very clear day. 10:30AM to 1:30PM seems a goal.

Nearby my house is a small park that has a nice section where there are trees, shrubs, buildings, play ground equipment, etc to allow DOF to be apparent. The results will be posted here on separate pages. Maybe within a month I will get it completed.

Spring Is Here ! At Least Until Tomorrow …….

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We got a reprieve today. Last night the forecast was for 1-3 inches of snow and overcast for today. The snow did not fall and the Sun has been out all day. I took the time to take a few pictures with my Canon XTi with a Sears 50/1.4 M42 lens mounted with an adapter.

These were all taken at f1.4 to try out the small depth of field. I guess I am not going to have to spend money on a new EF Canon 50/1.4 lens. The Sears lens had been pushed into the back of a drawer after I compared it to my Canon EF 50/1.8 metal mount in relation to the additional brightness available. I just never considered using it seriously for actual photography. The DOF difference and the brightness have made me a believer, also it is nice to have a metal lens.

Anyone know the years of manufacture/sale for the Sears lens? Also, what company manufactured it ?

The New Pinhole Project Is Complete

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The pinhole is mounted in the M42 lens body to be used via an M42 to EOS adapter on my Canon XTi. There is about 20mm of focus movement available. A few test shots with ASA 1600 and a rainy day indicate that the focus range looks good. The proof will come when we get some Sun.

This again, is for the upcoming Pinhole Day 2009 on April 26, 2009.

CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER ADAPTER INFORMATION ON MY BLOG
CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER PINHOLE INFORMATION ON MY BLOG

Kodak Bimat Lens Is Finally Mounted and New Pinhole Lens Almost Done

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It took longer than anticipated due to my midstream change to using a bellows for future mounting of old lenses to my Canon XTi.

The original method I was using involved purchasing an old lens, then removing all the optics, then getting the focal length set correctly, then taking the optics out of the old lens, and mounting the old optics. This was very time consuming.

Now I have a M42 screw type bellows mounted to the XTi via a focus confirming adapter (soon to be replaced with one of the new custom settings version). Then all that is needed is to directly glue the lens to an M42 screw type macro tube. Then screw on the lens to the bellows and shoot. Much easier and cheaper. As a bonus the lens is not harmed except for the glue used in the mounting.

Today I have finished the old M42 135mm mount for the pinhole project. All that is left is a quick visit to Mr Pinhole’s Website to get the dimension for the pinhole itself and then just get it mounted to try it out. I hope to be able to use this for Pinhole Day 2009.

Photos will follow when the Sun comes out (sometime in June I believe).

New M42 to EOS Adapter With User Changeable Custom Settings

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CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER ADAPTER INFORMATION ON MY BLOG

Today I received the user changeable adapter. The first hint that it wasn’t the ’standard’ chip was the default f1.4 rather than the f2.0 on the screen.

The directions say it can be used to set aperture value, focal length, calibration for front and back focus, and switch between AF/MF mode. I am only interested right now in the focal length and aperture – but the others I will play with later.

(eBay item #350132914444 – you have to ask for the new chip and pay a small premium for it.)

I quickly programed it by the use of my one right hand and my two left hands, both with two thumbs. In all, I was successful after the 16th attempt (I kept count on a stroke sheet). The first 15 were just getting used to the instructions. I finally got a handle on it when I tried the alternative method of entering the command mode using the AI SERVO mode.

Now I had an adapter set for 65mm focal length (EXIF info only) and f5.6. I mounted the old M42 lens body containing the VPK Meniscus lens and no aperture mechanism. This being the reason I wanted the adapter – the fixed aperture value.

The Sun was almost set, so I was able to shoot in AV mode against the Sun and every other direction and then to top it off, a shot at the side of the house in very dense shade. I shot with RAW and JPG (I was using the XTi).

Last week I did almost the same thing with my earlier f2.0 adapter and one half of the RAW were seriously dark to full black. The results tonight were very well exposed RAW in all shots. The EXIF showed the 65mm focal length, the aperture of f5.6 and the varying shutter speeds. AND it is also a focus confirming chip.

I am very happy overall and I will be ordering two more as soon as the pension check is deposited next week. This adapter is black anodized aluminum.

To prove it wasn’t a fluke, I dismounted the adapter and lens, mounted an AF lens, shot some with it and then remounted the MF adapter and lens. The settings were still there.

Now I have to wait for a decent day to go out and have some fun with this 90 year old lens.

A few new images

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I went out yesterday with the HawkEye 2A lens and the VPK meniscus lens. Both were used via an M42 to EOS focus confirming adapter. I visited the Fairmount Cemetery and the Erie Canal Park, both in Camillus, NY. There are pictures in both pages.

Pinhole Update

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CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER ADAPTER INFORMATION ON MY BLOG

Since I have been ‘collecting’ quite a few M42 135mm lenses to use as ‘host bodies’ with the various old Kodak lenses, I find myself with an ‘extra’. I am going to put a pinhole holder inside on the helical focusing section. This will allow me to easily use various size pinholes at different focal lengths with my Canon XTi. The dismal body cap pinhole images I have gotten after several tries at pinhole sizing are making me rethink how best to use a DSLR and a pinhole. I am going to make sure that I use the RAW format in an attempt to circumvent the JPG software gremlin inside.

The very best images from any of my pinhole cameras come from the Yashica A conversion. I am fairly sure this is due to the twin lens system it has. I am able to focus and frame the shot with the top lens. I feel that since both lenses move on the same platform and both lenses are very close to the same distance from the film plane, that the focus does actually work. Using this premise, I will build the above mentioned lens for use on the DSLR’s.

With the upcoming Pinhole Day 2009 on April 26, 2009, I have a month to build and experiment with the concept. How to make the changeable holder for the pinholes seems to be the toughest part of the project.

This pinhole project and putting the Kodak Bimat lens in a 135mm host body are on the ‘to do’ list today.

CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER ADAPTER INFORMATION ON MY BLOG