- Joined
- Dec 21, 2010
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I've decided to sell my Rittreck Optika IIA medium format SLR. This camera has an amazing 6x9 waist level finder and can shoot 6x9, 6x7, and 6x6 -- the backs that are included will allow you to shoot 6x7 and 6x9 right out of the gate, and you can manufacture a mask for the 6x7 back to do smaller sizes (supposed to be easy to do -- I never did it though). The 6x7 back works fine and is in fairly good shape; the dark slide sticks a little, but I think it's better to have a stiff slide than a loose one. The second back is a 6x9 single sheet back for cut film (and yes, you can still buy 6x9 cut film, or you can cut your own). I never actually used the single sheet back because I have a Rittreck 5x7 field camera with a 6x9 back -- and the 6x9 back fits the Optika IIA as well (and you may be able to fine one here or on the auction site, if you look around).
Another cool thing about this camera is the fact that you can put just about any lens on it -- with one caveat: the bellows draw is limited, so lenses longer than 150mm may not focus to infinity. However, if you are interested in shooting portraits, this may not be a factor; the other possibility is ultra close macro shots without a stop loss (for instance, you can put a Schneider Angulon 90mm lens on this thing and shoot 2-6 inches away with no light lost).
The lens it comes with is a wide angle Luminon 105mm f3.5. It's sharper than I expected it to be, although there are some cleaning "scuffs" on the front elements (nothing deep). Otherwise it is in great condition, and it has a nice little preset mechanism for the f-stop that allows you to set the stop, open the lens wide to focus, and then set it back to the desired stop with a single turn.
The Copal 0 lens board that it comes with is an extra made by S.K. Grimes. Brand new -- used a few times and in like new condition.
The camera body is in very good functional condition. I never had any problem with light leaks, but I use slow films, so you will want to check the seals (they seem fine to me, but everyone has their own measure of what constitutes a good seal). Shutter speeds appear to be accurate; I never used the speeds slower than 1/50th, but they sound fine (goes up to 400). There are some spots on the mirror that have desilvered -- and they can be seen in the finder if you look hard enough, but that's the only issue I've noticed. The magnifier is in good condition, and there's even a Galilean finder (sport finder) built into the hood, although I can't imagine anyone ever used it.
So here's the one thing that IS a problem on the body of this camera -- the leatherette has dried and flaked off and really should be completely removed. I intended to recover the body with a nice new black leatherette, but, as with so many projects, I never got around to doing that. If you have the time, patience, and materials to do that one thing, you will have an outstanding camera which is relatively rare on your hands. (And it deserves that special treatment -- it really is a pleasure to work with.)
Here are a few links with more info on the Optika IIA system, if you're not familiar with it --
http://www.lallement.com/pictures/Ritt.html
The poorly written manual --
http://www.cameramanuals.org/prof_pdf/optika_professional.pdf
I'd like to get $400 for this plus $15 shipping within the continental US via PayPal. Please EMAIL me if you have questions -- for some reason, I am not getting notifications from APUG when I get a PM.
Another cool thing about this camera is the fact that you can put just about any lens on it -- with one caveat: the bellows draw is limited, so lenses longer than 150mm may not focus to infinity. However, if you are interested in shooting portraits, this may not be a factor; the other possibility is ultra close macro shots without a stop loss (for instance, you can put a Schneider Angulon 90mm lens on this thing and shoot 2-6 inches away with no light lost).
The lens it comes with is a wide angle Luminon 105mm f3.5. It's sharper than I expected it to be, although there are some cleaning "scuffs" on the front elements (nothing deep). Otherwise it is in great condition, and it has a nice little preset mechanism for the f-stop that allows you to set the stop, open the lens wide to focus, and then set it back to the desired stop with a single turn.
The Copal 0 lens board that it comes with is an extra made by S.K. Grimes. Brand new -- used a few times and in like new condition.
The camera body is in very good functional condition. I never had any problem with light leaks, but I use slow films, so you will want to check the seals (they seem fine to me, but everyone has their own measure of what constitutes a good seal). Shutter speeds appear to be accurate; I never used the speeds slower than 1/50th, but they sound fine (goes up to 400). There are some spots on the mirror that have desilvered -- and they can be seen in the finder if you look hard enough, but that's the only issue I've noticed. The magnifier is in good condition, and there's even a Galilean finder (sport finder) built into the hood, although I can't imagine anyone ever used it.
So here's the one thing that IS a problem on the body of this camera -- the leatherette has dried and flaked off and really should be completely removed. I intended to recover the body with a nice new black leatherette, but, as with so many projects, I never got around to doing that. If you have the time, patience, and materials to do that one thing, you will have an outstanding camera which is relatively rare on your hands. (And it deserves that special treatment -- it really is a pleasure to work with.)
Here are a few links with more info on the Optika IIA system, if you're not familiar with it --
http://www.lallement.com/pictures/Ritt.html
The poorly written manual --
http://www.cameramanuals.org/prof_pdf/optika_professional.pdf
I'd like to get $400 for this plus $15 shipping within the continental US via PayPal. Please EMAIL me if you have questions -- for some reason, I am not getting notifications from APUG when I get a PM.
