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Olly_ympus
Tinkerer
Username: Olly_ympus
Post Number: 42
Registered: 08-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 08, 2007 - 12:02 am: | 
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Is there such a thing? I mean as far as the old 1930s folding bellows cameras that used 620 film. From looking at a few it seems that the entire lens/shutter/aperture assembly simply screws off and another could be screwed onto just about any other camera of the era. Indeed, many models had several options available.
Were the threads standardized for all, or most all of these rigs?
I just scored an Agfa from 1935 in awesome condition, and I plan on using it often, so it would be nice to know that I had some sort of versatility built into my new system. |
Paul_ron
Tinkerer
Username: Paul_ron
Post Number: 64
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 09, 2007 - 12:17 pm: |
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35mm Retinas had interchangeable lenses. There are a few others that I just can't remember off the top of my head but they are out there. |
Rj_
Tinkerer
Username: Rj_
Post Number: 15
Registered: 08-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 15, 2007 - 06:34 am: |
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Hi Olly,
You might have seen this one:
http://www.luxcamera.co.uk/pages/Plaubel/Orthar.htm
The Plaubel Makina IIIR is the same (revised) Camera from the original Plaubel Makina, manufactured in the 1920's based on a folding strut design which accepts 120 roll film. It came with a built in leaf shutter (in the camera body. In the original Plaubel Makina I, the 10cm Anticomar lens fits around the shutter. This arrangement held until the Plaubel Makina IIIR when the lens elements were all moved in front of the shutter. There were 3 interchangeable lenses:
1. 10cm Anticomar f2.9 (fast photojournalist' lens)
2. 10cm Anticomar f4.5 (compact travel lens)
3. 73mm Weitwinkel Orthar f6.3 (wide-angle lens, equating to approximately 28mm on a 35mm film for a 6x9cm film diameter)
4. 15cm Tele-Makinar f4.5 telephoto lens.
Although I suspect the IIIR line evolved well past the 30's, the Plaubel Makina screw mount was specific to these strut-based rangefinders. The threads were definitely peculiar, and I've never seen anything interface with this system, outside of the Plaubel Makina catalogue.
In relation to your 1930's bellow camera, 'versatility' defined the 1930's Agfa folding bellows type Isolas, Isolettes, in relation to larger plate cameras. The folding bellows cameras, apart from the press-type cameras, of a base-board type with a rack and pinion rail, were limited by design and as the bellows had to be fixed at the focal length of the lens, it made changing focal lengths for the folding bellows camera very difficult to design.
There were folding bellows cameras with circular front shutters (Compurs, Prontors etc) and fixed focal length lenses which could be folded into cameras; the German companies; Agfa, Balda, Ernemann, Zeiss Ikon all had models sharing such similarities; in England, this was represented by Ross (of the Ensign fame) and other companies.
Although it might seem that a lens/shutter unit could be transplanted, in reality, only a focal length of the same description could be transplanted without major surgical work to the chassis of the bellows, to reduce its focal length extension accordingly. Even still, the lens would still need to be collimated.
I guess I'm thinking that most of these bellows type cameras were considered 'complete' without the need for modularity nor for systems accessories. If you did wish for a versatile system, a Century Graphic type press camera would be ideal, since any excised shutter/lens unit can be easily mounted on a 2x3" lensboard and focussed using the Graphic's built-in bellows extension.
Hope that helps. |
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