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Thanks for the link, it details the shutter tester i was describing on a previous post above. Also, check out this British Intelligence report: 35. The timing of the fast range of the shutter is carried out with the aid of a stroboscope of somewhat antique design. By means of this the 1/200...

The film cartridge gives you 36 exposures, so you can easily take a picture of 14 or more places, "zones", landscapes, etc.

I think it was here, and yes, it was such a flame war...

Zones = Check out the Ansel Adams Zone system. The "dedicated silvermax developer" probably is tailored to the emulsion in a way that it gives good shadow detail and it's also able to fully develop the darkest areas. This is my guess. Probably other developers can do the same, but maybe the...

These electronic shutters (the ones on the ETR and SQ series) are very simple to service due to having few mechanical parts. I had a 75/2.8 MC with firing problems (i.e. shutter opened but never closed). I opened up the lens, got into the shutter from the front, cleaned the switches and...

I can't imagine this assembly working without a spring. It needs friction (it requires some slip) thus, i guess, it MUST require a spring to work correctly. Latest models (i.e. 4AM) have a fixed spool so maybe the slip is provided in a different way.

I can vouch that the film spool advance spindle has a lot of tiny parts: lots of washers, spring, etc. And on a Contax and a Kiev 4A i disassembled, it was completely dirty, grungy, you name it. A full disassemble is important for getting smooth operation.

You mean, before electronic testers? There's a leica shutter speed tester. It's essentially a stroboscope. A light source is inside a slotted cylinder. The cylinder rotates to a constant speed thanks to a synchronous motor. You observe the slits through the camera shutter and interpret the...

Thanks for advancing film emulsions 100 years into the future, despite what the flat-earthers believe. TMax and all flat-aspect-ratio-grain B&W films are great!

Search "Photo Engineer" (Ron Mowrey) posts on the subject.

Aha! This is also what I was thinking. The only folder I kept, after having many, was a 6x4.5 folder with a tessar-type lens. Also,it has true film rails. It did give very sharp results. So from my point of view this is due to a combination of (1) better aligned front standard, (2) flatter...

This is interesting. I guess one would have to evaluate RF base length and magnification. A 50/1.5 and even 50/1.1 can be critically focused with a rangefinder like a Contax or NIkon, where the base length is big. Those are lenses with small DOF.

Triplets can be great, however what I mean is that the folders, and moreover the 6x9 folders, have some mechanical drawbacks -- it's very very difficult to keep a perfectly aligned front standard when the front standard is so massive and so far from the film plane, yet the machine needing to be...

Yes, they do. But very close results could've gotten with a good 35mm camera. At a lower film cost.

I disagree. What i see, for example by examining the last photo, confirms my own experience after buying many folder cameras and selling almost all of them: Due to the big negative size (i.e. 6x9), they are capable of getting a sharp 4x6" or 8x10" print, no problem. However they are almost...

I have two Kiev cameras, none working due to various reasons that have more to do with how well were they cared for. Also a fully working Contax Ii; i put the rangefinder prism of the 4A, which was remarkably clear, into my Contax Ii. Based on my Contax, I would say a working Kiev is probably...

Neither the original Contax II and III are up to the quality level of the postwar IIa and IIIa. They're a step up in fit and finish, as well as internal quality.

Hi dear Mr. GOMZ, Congratulations on your Medalist II, someday i'll own one. I was about to buy a Texas Leica (fuji GSW690) at a good price, until I thought "i want a medalist instead". Then I didn't buy a Medalist (at a really really good price) because I thought "well i'll have to respool a...

Camera tech here, so maybe I can offer some comments. The first thing you need to look is if the technician you are hiring is really a good one (look for feedback around) or a bad one. TONS of bad camera technicians are out there and they can (and will) ruin perfectly fine cameras. Then they...

Yes. Don't buy electronic cameras. Leave all of them to me, so I can buy them at ridiculously low prices and make them work splendidly for years.

"Mechanical" = "More reliable" is a myth that should die, the sooner the better. There are satellites out in the space working for years non-stops. I can assure you their control systems are not made using gears and levers. Professional electronics are as reliable as they need to be. I've...

Brand association of course = marketing = better sales = success, return of investment. Really, and I know i will put my flame-suit on, I don't think there's too much of actual R&D contributed by Hasselblad itself over the last 20? 30? years. The last time they did apply their...

This is also great advice. I own MANY lenses, for example for Nikon i have 20, many 28, many 35mm, 50, 85, 105, 200, and in the past i've have had even more stuff like 24mm, 180 ED, 300/4.5, zooms, macros, etc. For practical purposes you can't carry all lenses, and three is good enough. A 24...

This is great advice. A 105/2.5 lens can totally replace a 85/1.8, it gives similar images, for practical purposes. In fact the 105 will give stronger "shallow DOF" effects.

+1 The Seiko electronic shutter on RZ lenses have a proven record of reliability on not just the RZ67 but also on the Bronica ETR and SQ series.

The shutter release is mechanical on both the RB and RZ. On the RZ the closure of the shutter is electronically controlled, not the opening. Thus both shutters (the ones for RB and RZ lenses) open via a mechanical signal.

For starters, it is lighter. Then, it has more lenses available for it. Then, it cocks the shutter and advances the film with the same lever, this one is a BIG advantage over the RB series.

The H system was really designed by Fujifilm (yeah, Hasselblad says it was done "in cooperation" but so far everything points out most of the hard work was done by Fuji.) Fuji has a long long long tradition of optics, in fact they were the first japanese company to build an electronic computer...

It's best to fully disassemble the camera and let it go through a CLA. Don't attempt to do it yourself, it's risky. I can recommend you this technician on Europe, he's a friend of mine, he's very technical, serious, and applied. https://www.instagram.com/lzfotomehanika/

This is a great post, food for thought. Thanks