Oh Man! Plaubel Makina III!

[Col_001]

Discovering the 19cm Makina Lens by Nokton48, on Flickr

Actually I have two of these, one focuses closer than the other. Both look excellent on the ground glass. I've finished a roll of Eastman 5222 XX 120, in a 6.5x9cm Makina Film Back. To focus you set the camera focus to infinity, then rangefinder focus and note the distance. Then set the body back to infinity, and then rotate the helical on the lens to whatever distance you noted. I've been doing this and it's very accurate and precise, I'm planning to shoot more tests. So far I have shot with the lens on the right, with #1 Yellow Makina FIlter and Makina Lens Hood. Easy and user friendly process, I think i like using this, lots of uses for telephoto photography. The viewfinder glass it gridded out to use the 19cm and very price as a way to frame. I'm having fun discovering this lens. Next I'm trying Kentmere 400 and Foma 200 pushed as far as possible. New addition is Foma Retropan 320 Soft developed in the Retropan developer.

If I've understood right you and you are saying once rangfinder distance is found, camera is set back to infinity and distance set on lens? This is contrary to the Makina manual which says focus distance should be found on rangfinder, left as is but transferred to the lens. This is what I've been doing and focus is spot on. But curious that you get accurate focus your way too.

 

[rknewcomb]

" Makina manual which says focus distance should be found on rangfinder, left as is but transferred to the lens. This is what I've been doing and focus is spot on. But curious that you get accurate focus your way too."

This is the correct way as far as I know.
Robert

 

[xya]

" Makina manual which says focus distance should be found on rangfinder, left as is but transferred to the lens. This is what I've been doing and focus is spot on. But curious that you get accurate focus your way too."

This is the correct way as far as I know.
Robert

Yes, that's what I do as well and it has worked fine on mine.

 

[Nokton48]

OK

I'll switch to doing that, after trying it first. I did make a few exposures testing, on a roll of Eastman XX movie film I've been wanting to finish. Looked sharp on the glass, but maybe not? Also one less camera movement to go through!

I do enjoy using the 190mm's

 

[Vaughn]

retirement is a wonderful thing. I'm currently enjoying the 13th year of it and hope it never ends, but remember, being a retiree is the most dangerous job of them all; nobody gets out alive. I hope you take good care of yourself.

I retired from my day-job on the day of that post in Aug 2015, but I've kept the job of living, seeing, and making images. I've always steered towards work that I enjoy (and usually seasonal and/or part time...can't let work interfer too much with life.)

I still need to dig the Makina and lenses out of whatever box they are in and play with them...or sell them. The shutter/s will be all cranky due to being idle for so long.

 

[Nokton48]

Hi Vaughn,

Yeah you should play with it. Plaubel called it "The World's Smallest View Camera" and "The Rolls Royce of Photography". You should give it a go!

 

[Nokton48]

Plaubel Peco Junior 100mm Bag Bellows Adjustable Viewing Unit by Nokton48, on Flickr

The lens is a 100mm Plaubel F3.9 Supracomar, it normally would be attached to a 9x12cm Avus folder. On the Peco Junior the circle is plenty big enough for full camera movements. The Adjustable Magnifer on the back, allows me to see right side brightly, or with a shift, left side brightly. Leitz Ball head attached to an early Leitz Tiltall, notice I JB Welded a Bubble level to help level the legs. I could hike for miles with this thing if I wanted to, folded up it's easy to carry around with one hand! A small padded bag for holders and backs, and I am set. I also have a custom made E Sony Digital APSC Back for this camera, which also works quite well in the field.

My point is, Makina Backs 6x6, 6x9, and Makina Plate Holders, also fit my Makiflexes and Peco Juniors. So my Makina Backs can rotate around on these three cameras, which finishes off the 120 rolls QUICKER. LOL

 

[Nokton48]

1936 Plaubel Makina II Brochure 1 by Nokton48, on Flickr

1936 Plaubel Makina II Brochure 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr

1936 issued Plaubel Makina II original brochure. Lots of good info regarding all the bits and pieces I don't yet have. Searching for olde Plaubel stuff is kind of like searching for buried treasure.

 

[PercyMcfly]

A while back i mentioned that i had a Makina III R that needed repair.

The past weeks i have successfully disassembled the entire camera and lens, cleaned it, lubricated and adjusted if.
The speeds are working nicely now and all thats left is to patch some holes in the bellows.

A few weeks ago, i also got my hands on a back for 35mm film. Would someone be willing to share the dimensions for the 35mm viewfinder mask? I would like to use it to make a 3d print of it so i can compose my images properly for 35mm film.

 

[Col_001]

A while back i mentioned that i had a Makina III R that needed repair.

The past weeks i have successfully disassembled the entire camera and lens, cleaned it, lubricated and adjusted if.
The speeds are working nicely now and all thats left is to patch some holes in the bellows.

A few weeks ago, i also got my hands on a back for 35mm film. Would someone be willing to share the dimensions for the 35mm viewfinder mask? I would like to use it to make a 3d print of it so i can compose my images properly for 35mm film.

It's a lovely camera to service once you work out how it get it apart. I had a new set of bellows made for mine.

It's a great idea to print a finder mask, i was thinking of doing the same for the other masks, Just need to find someone who has all of them to get the aperture dimensions.

 

[Nokton48]

Years ago my friend Alex here sold me a Focal Plane Shutter for my IIIR. He said "it has pinholes" but of course I bought it anyway. Geoffrey Berliner at Penumbra in NYC told me he has two of them in his basement treasure trove, but they too have pinholes. Had a pleasant conversation with Geoff (he called me back six times LOL) about using the FPS. To me the advantages are the shutter speeds to 1/1000, which allow larger f/stops when shooting outside with high speed film, and he agreed with me regarding that use. It was an exciting conversation. He said "You're a man after my own heart".

I have just now sent to WIZCAM (Mr. Binder), my IIIR Focal Plane Shutter. He has now moved to Florida, he says the weather is better there just now, so off it went to him. Curtain replacement is a big job, he says he can do it, so I figured better hurry up and get the CLA while I still can.

Looking forward to using the shutter when it returns. This is a big deal to me.

 

[Chuck1]

I didn't know fps shutters existed for the iiir, they mount on the rear and would also fit a ii?
I'd love to see pics of it.

 

[Chuck1]

I didn't know fps shutters existed for the iiir, they mount on the rear and would also fit a ii?
I'd love to see pics of it.

My bad, google led me to page 5

 

[Nokton48]

Makina Focal Plane Shutter 1 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Makina Focal Plane Shutter 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Makina IIIR with Makina Focal Plane Shutter. I've also attached a ground glass back here, in lieu of the Makina Roll Film Back.

 

[Nokton48]

Zoo 3 Makina III FP4+ by Nokton48, on Flickr

This thingee MOVED FAST. Had to click at the "decisive moment". Not so easy to do, finally got it

 

[PercyMcfly]

Years ago my friend Alex here sold me a Focal Plane Shutter for my IIIR. He said "it has pinholes" but of course I bought it anyway. Geoffrey Berliner at Penumbra in NYC told me he has two of them in his basement treasure trove, but they too have pinholes. Had a pleasant conversation with Geoff (he called me back six times LOL) about using the FPS. To me the advantages are the shutter speeds to 1/1000, which allow larger f/stops when shooting outside with high speed film, and he agreed with me regarding that use. It was an exciting conversation. He said "You're a man after my own heart".

I have just now sent to WIZCAM (Mr. Binder), my IIIR Focal Plane Shutter. He has now moved to Florida, he says the weather is better there just now, so off it went to him. Curtain replacement is a big job, he says he can do it, so I figured better hurry up and get the CLA while I still can.

Looking forward to using the shutter when it returns. This is a big deal to me.

Been searching for the FPS for about a year now with no luck. It‘s indeed very rare.

Looking forward to reading your thoughts on using the FPS!

 

[PercyMcfly]

Regarding the 35mm mask for the viewfinder:
I did make a mask that attaches and allows for closing the view finder by comparing the 6x9 and 35mm windows on the actual backs.

I‘ll unfortunately not be able to test or work on the design until i‘m back from my vacation, but if anyone is interested i could share the STL file.

(unsure how i can share single images on here, so i‘ll just share it as seen bellow for now)

—- — has shared 2 photos with you!

www.flickr.com

 

[Nokton48]

Good to know abut the 35mm Mask! I have a 35mm Back (Miniature Back) loaded with Eastman XX 5222 Cine film. Gritty stuff retro 1958 formulation, seems appropriate! Need to shoot more with it.

Plaubel Makina III Efke 100 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Shooting some Efke PL100 (my alltime fave) 6.5x9cm Cut Film, in a Plaubel Makina Planfilm Holder. These holders are heavy suckers but make for an extremely compact but heavy Makina footprint. Shooting small cut film is a joy. I have accumulated over fifty Makina Planfilm Holders, through numerous bundle deals. I do love the bokeh of the F2.9 Anticomar, it's quite unique wide-open IMO. This neg was scanned years ago with my 4490.

 

[PercyMcfly]

Good to know abut the 35mm Mask! I have a 35mm Back (Miniature Back) loaded with Eastman XX 5222 Cine film. Gritty stuff retro 1958 formulation, seems appropriate! Need to shoot more with it.

Plaubel Makina III Efke 100 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Shooting some Efke PL100 (my alltime fave) 6.5x9cm Cut Film, in a Plaubel Makina Planfilm Holder. These holders are heavy suckers but make for an extremely compact but heavy Makina footprint. Shooting small cut film is a joy. I have accumulated over fifty Makina Planfilm Holders, through numerous bundle deals. I do love the bokeh of the F2.9 Anticomar, it's quite unique wide-open IMO. This neg was scanned years ago with my 4490.

Here is the STL file, if you would like to give it a try.

Plaubel Makina (III R) 35 mm View Finder Mask by PercyMcfly

Snaps into place but requires a little bit of convincing.

www.thingiverse.com

 

[PercyMcfly]

Wooden 120 film spools by Nokton48, on Flickr

I have just decided I will no longer attempt to load modern plastic 120 spools into Plaubel Makina film backs. I shot a rather important roll a couple of weeks ago, using a plastic spool I wrapped with duct tape. Well when I opened the back to change film, it did not load evenly onto the spool, and the roll is fogged! Luckily I was able to switch backs and reshoot my important photos but I am not going through this again!

I bought another dozen wooden spools for the take up side in these backs, which will solve that problem! Onward and upward!

I am opening and re-loading all of my Plaubel backs with wooden take up spools as of now.

Film advance with these old wooden spools is smooth as butter. Very nice!

I encountered the same issue lately when shooting a test roll on my Makina III R.
I used similar backs as illustrated here, but i also own plaubel 6x9 backs which are a little thinner and come with a frame counter window.

I am testing the back with the window today.

I would also like to 3d print some spools that are a little thicker, which would work similarly to the wooden spools you are using. Would you be able to share the diameter of the wooden spools, so i can make sure that my 3D prints match them?
What i could find was a value of 11.9mm, modern spools have a diameter of about 11.4-11.6.

 

[Nokton48]

I encountered the same issue lately when shooting a test roll on my Makina III R.
I used similar backs as illustrated here, but i also own plaubel 6x9 backs which are a little thinner and come with a frame counter window.

I am testing the back with the window today.

I would also like to 3d print some spools that are a little thicker, which would work similarly to the wooden spools you are using. Would you be able to share the diameter of the wooden spools, so i can make sure that my 3D prints match them?
What i could find was a value of 11.9mm, modern spools have a diameter of about 11.4-11.6.

The diameter of the wood spools seems to vary quite a bit. As an average I would say 11.4mm to 11.8mm would be a good range. My spools are quite olde and have been used a lot. The spool diameter does seem to make a difference. Making modern spools bigger using silver duct tape did not work for me at all. So I bit the bullet and went back to using the olde wooden ones, like were in use when these backs were in their heyday. The spools are are expensive on Ebay. So now it's a rare occurrence to get overlapping frames with Makina Backs. But it has happened! I'm going to cut notches in my Makina backs so I can identify the ones that are misbehaving. And slowly testing them all with dummy rolls and sharpie markers. It's worth doing. The Repair Guy Paul Ebel worked on some of mine long ago. Shooting sheet film in some ways is easier and more trouble free. Downside is that a pile of Makina Planfilm Holders weighs a ton!

 

[PercyMcfly]

The diameter of the wood spools seems to vary quite a bit. As an average I would say 11.4mm to 11.8mm would be a good range. My spools are quite olde and have been used a lot. The spool diameter does seem to make a difference. Making modern spools bigger using silver duct tape did not work for me at all. So I bit the bullet and went back to using the olde wooden ones, like were in use when these backs were in their heyday. The spools are are expensive on Ebay. So now it's a rare occurrence to get overlapping frames with Makina Backs. But it has happened! I'm going to cut notches in my Makina backs so I can identify the ones that are misbehaving. And slowly testing them all with dummy rolls and sharpie markers. It's worth doing. The Repair Guy Paul Ebel worked on some of mine long ago. Shooting sheet film in some ways is easier and more trouble free. Downside is that a pile of Makina Planfilm Holders weighs a ton!

I have made takeup spools with a diameter of 12.5mm today. The ends are made to fit perfectly into the plaubel back and i made the slit just 1mm thin.

While testing i discovered something interesting. The image spacing did not overlap with the regular spool i tested today, but it did overlap when i took photos with the back on Sunday.
The additional 1mm to the diameter still seems to make a difference, but i assume that the problem was mainly caused by not advancing the film far enough before setting the counter to 0.

Rolling up more, before setting the counter to 0 will basically have the same effect as having a bigger diameter spool.
At what point to you set the counter to 0?

I wanted to test with the new 12.5 mm spools tomorrow, but i will instead test with a regular spool again.

I would definitely prefer to shoot sheet film, but it doesn‘t seem to be sold anywhere. It would probably need to be cut from 4x5 sheets?

 

[nosmok]

...I would definitely prefer to shoot sheet film, but it doesn‘t seem to be sold anywhere. It would probably need to be cut from 4x5 sheets?

Ackshually, Freestyle has 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 sheet film, in both Ilford and Arista, in stock. Should fit in Makina sheet film holders, unless they're (ETA: even if they are) the dreaded 6.5 x 9cm format My recollection from shooting sheet film in a Makina II series is that it works, and the Arista stuff is cheap and it's good film.

 

[PercyMcfly]

Ackshually, Freestyle has 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 sheet film, in both Ilford and Arista, in stock. Should fit in Makina sheet film holders, unless they're (ETA: even if they are) the dreaded 6.5 x 9cm format My recollection from shooting sheet film in a Makina II series is that it works, and the Arista stuff is cheap and it's good film.

You are right!
I remembered looking for 6x9 sheet film about 2 years ago and only finding old posts explaining that it‘s basically not available anymore. Fomapan seems to be available in 6,4x8,9 here in germany.

 

[PercyMcfly]

Makina Focal Plane Shutter 1 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Makina Focal Plane Shutter 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Makina IIIR with Makina Focal Plane Shutter. I've also attached a ground glass back here, in lieu of the Makina Roll Film Back.

I recently read the manual for the III R again and saw that you might need a separate „catch spring“ which is identical to the spring used for the Wide Angle Orthar.

You will need to move the front of the makina back to the Focal Plane position and then set the focus to the one determined in the Anticomar position.

If you don‘t have the spring installed in your makina, i would assume that it‘s nearly impossible to get one, but you should in theory be able to make one.

You can find the into on page 19 of the manual for the Makina III.(the one with the Makina iii on the cover that does not habe the brown triple flash connections on the front, the other manual doesn‘t mention the focal plane shutter as far as i could see)

https://www.photo-manuals.com/manual/plaubel/film-compact-camera/makina/download