Mamiya C TLR alternative lenses - Project log & open to lens suggestions

[JohnLikesPhotos]

Hello,
I'm getting pretty bored, a lot of my projects have wrapped up during this quarantine/social distance free time bonanza.
I'm going to start experimenting with some Mamiya C330 TLR lens swaps, It'll be slow going but I'm going to keep a log here.

If you have any suggestions for lenses to try, links to similar projects, etc, I'd be very interested.

Right now I'm looking at 6x9 folders to harvest lenses from, kodak ektar 127mm, enlarger lenses.

 

[Christiaan Phleger]

Fun Idea! I'd try widening the lens standard of the TLR and then mounting a large copal shutter in front and then try some old 16mm cine and projector lenses ala Petzval. I did something close to this when I wanted to know how much coverage a Nikkor 300mm f/2 had (yes the F/2 monster).

 

[JohnLikesPhotos]

That's a great suggestion, thanks! I'm scraping together parts from beater mamiya tlr lenses, I'll look into mounting different shutters. I'm thinking about making a few lens/shutter mount things out of wood... hmm lots to think about

 

[JohnLikesPhotos]

Small update

I've gathered some lenses, I'm going to experiment with coverage and adapting them to shutters. These weren't really on my first list but I got some really favorable deals on ebay. 4 kodak printing ektars, 1 kodak 127mm 4.7 which I think came with Speed Graphics. This one was lens cells only, but just $25 and since I need 2 I jumped on it.
My plan is to figure out which lenses fit what shutters, any info here would be appreciated. Then I'm going to look around for some kodak printing lenses with adjustable apertures for the taking lens, remove the aperture disk from the viewing lens.



I forgot to ask in my last post, will c-mount lenses cover 6x6? I thought their coverage was much smaller.

I hope everyone's projects are going well!
-John

 

[reddesert]

C mount lenses are usually designed for cine or video cameras that have a format much smaller than 35mm, like 16mm film or at most micro-4/3. They also have a back focal distance that is small - 17.5 mm - so they will never focus on a Mamiya TLR.

Matching focal lengths will be a bit of a challenge since you need the viewing and taking lens to be the same focal length - two lenses marked "100mm" might be slightly different in true focal length. You will want to put a ground glass on the film rails to check focus at two distances (like infinity and 10 feet, or 20 feet and 5 feet - whatever range you think you might be using most), and it may be a compromise, require shimming one lens, etc.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Not to be a complete idiot or anything or to deny the joy of tinkering, but how do you plan to focus your replacement lenses?

 

[JohnLikesPhotos]

The Mamiya TLRs focus on camera, there's a knob that extends the bellows and the lenses don't move by themselves but together. I'll focus with the ground glass on top. I'm planning on getting 2 identical lens pairs for each experiment. That's one reason I'm trying to find bargain lenses, I'm going to need 2 of everything.

 

[Dan Fromm]

The Mamiya TLRs focus on camera, there's a knob that extends the bellows and the lenses don't move by themselves but together. I'll focus with the ground glass on top. I'm planning on getting 2 identical lens pairs for each experiment. That's one reason I'm trying to find bargain lenses, I'm going to need 2 of everything.

I know how TLRs work, have one hiding in the closet. Fixed lens, though.

About getting two identical lenses. TLR manufacturers got lenses in quantity, matched taking and viewing lenses. This because there's some variation in production. There's no guarantee that two randomly selected lenses of the same make, model and even batch have focal lengths close enough to be usable on the same TLR.

If your goal is to try out unlikely lenses, you'd be better off buying a camera that will let you focus through the lens and not bother with trying to match lenses for the TLR you already have. Since you're happy with 6x6, a 2x3 (6x9 in metric) press camera with a 6x6, 6x7 or 2x3 roll holder might be a better starting point. Century Graphic, for example.

 

[JohnLikesPhotos]

Good insight, thank you. I'll do some testing, I guess I could set up a range or something and take photos of objects at different distances. This is for fun so it's ok if it isn't as precise as a camera makers standard, but I am set on using the Mamiya TLR.

 

[grahamp]

Since you will not be using the Mamiya Seikosha/Seiko/Copal shutters, you could make a substitute lens panel to mount one lens, and focus with it one way up, then invert it to do the exposure. It will limit you to fairly static subjects or cases when pre-focusing applies.

If your lens is slow, the internal lens change baffle would make a passable shutter - I used that technique with a pinhole at one time.

 

[JohnLikesPhotos]

Since you will not be using the Mamiya Seikosha/Seiko/Copal shutters, you could make a substitute lens panel to mount one lens, and focus with it one way up, then invert it to do the exposure. It will limit you to fairly static subjects or cases when pre-focusing applies.

If your lens is slow, the internal lens change baffle would make a passable shutter - I used that technique with a pinhole at one time.

That is very interesting, I hadn't considered a single lens. I'm going to have to give is some thought, thank you for the suggestion