DIY repair a SCNOO triggerwinder for Barnack Leicas

Some time ago, I suddenly was certain I needed a trigger winder on my 1938 Leica IIIa. Not having a transport lever on the camera made it a bit slow in use when I am shooting in the streets.

The Leica-made trigger winder is in fact a trigger bottom plate. It takes the place of the normal bottom plate, it has a spring to make the trigger return and that construction has one flaw: the trigger is connected to the film winder axle with the spring by means of a silk ribbon. And these ribbons sooner or later always snap.

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Groothoeklens en zwartwit-film

Johan Niels Kuiper Fotograaf in Assen - straatfotografie Groningen

Onlangs kwam ik in mijn mappen met foto’s een drietal foto’s tegen waarvan ik vind dat ze wel een eigen blogje waard zijn.

Het is alweer even geleden dat ik in mijn fototas een Leica M3 met een Leitz Super-Angulon 21mm lens meenam. De Super-Angulon is een bijzondere lens. Het was in zijn tijd een extreme groothoeklens, een 21mm lens maken was in de jaren vijftig geen eenvoudige opgave. Het was zo ingewikkeld, dat Leitz de opdracht uitbesteedde aan Schneider-Kreuznach, een andere beroemde Duitse lensmaker met een decennialange reputatie op het gebied van lenzen voor grootformaat-, middelformaat- en kleinbeeld-camera’s.

Het verhaal gaat dat toen de mensen van Leitz de lens testten, ze aan Schneider-Kreuznach terugmeldden dat er iets mis moest zijn met de lens, omdat de testresultaten de theoretische maximale scherpte overschreden. Het antwoord kwam van Schneider: “Mooi, dat was de bedoeling.”

Alle theoretische babbels over ontwerp en scherpte op een stokje, het is gewoon een bijzondere lens in hoe hij het beeld vastlegt. Erg scherp, maar vooral in het midden van het beeld. Ondertijd is het verlies aan scherpte heel natuurlijk voor het menselijk oog, waardoor de lens een uitzonderlijke dieptewerking lijkt te krijgen.

 

Groningen, Noorderplantsoen. Mei 2011. Leica M3 en Super-Angulon 3.4/21mm. Rollei Retro 100 film. 

 

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Ricoh GXR, the piccolo Leica M240 and Monochrom

The Ricoh GXR is a remarkable camera. It is built by a unique concept, where changing a lens means you also change the sensor.

Ricoh Launched the GXR in november 2009. It was designed to be a Compact System Camera (CSC), which means it is a small camera and it featured exchangeable lenses. But Ricoh decided to not just manufacture exchangeable lenses, but incorporate lens and sensor in a single unit, called a ‘lensor’. The idea behind this was simple: different lenses could benefit from different sensor sizes.

The A12 GXR Mount lensor isn’t quite a lensor, in that it has no lens incorporated! Instead it has a Leica M mount in the unit that also houses an APS-C 12MP sensor.

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Barnack Leica: true or fake? A comprehensive guide

Every now and then you see them surface, those expensive and rare Leicas. The Leica Luxus, for instance. Only three of those gold plated Leicas were ever made, and only one of those is known to be in existence today. Or the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffen or Kriegsmarine engraved Leicas of the second World War. But most of the time these ‘rare’ cameras are fakes. How can you tell the true Leicas from the fake ones? A small guide.

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Komura lenses for Leica cameras, overview

Komura 28mm 3.5 on Leica IIIa

The history of the Komura brand lenses is little-known. Information on the company and the lenses it produced is difficult to find online. But, many of the Komura lenses are very good, both in build quality and in optical results! This page lists the Komura lenses for Leica cameras, to facilitate finding those lenses online so you can shoot them on your Leica screw mount camera.

The company started out with making lenses for Large Format cameras. But in the 1950s they also started manufacturing rangefinder lenses for Leica thread mount cameras, and switched over to making lenses for Nikon rangefinders in the 1960s. Later, they also manufactured enlarging lenses, lenses for various medium format systems and also briefly produced lenses for various models of SLRs. Komura probably was the first brand to build a 1.4/85mm lens in Nikon F mount!

 

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DIY: Cleaning a Canon 1.2/50mm rangefinder lens

On the net you can find all kinds of stories on this lens. Most say its very soft wide open, prone to flare and what else. But most of the time this is merely a side effect from shooting a 50+ year old lens that has gotten hazy inside. Most of these lenses have scratches in the front element coating, which cannot be remedied with this pictorial, but image quality still can be improved a lot by cleaning the lens up.

 

Wanna see how to get the most out of this lens again? Read on!

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