Pentacon 6 Tilt shift Lens

[Shangheye]

Is anybody aware if such a lens exists and what it is called. Do they come in various focal lengths? I am thinking of buying a Penatoc Six and would like to take advantage of the focal plane shutter (since my Bronica can not accomodate a Tilt/Shift) to control selective focus. Any help appreciated! Rgds, kal

 

[Ian Grant]

Doesn't Arax offer a lens for a Pentacon, look here.

Ian

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I wouldn't invest that much into a Pentacon. I had one for a while, and while there are some really nice lenses for the system, the film transport is notoriously unreliable.

 

[nsouto]

You can use the Pentacon 6 lenses with an adapter on other cameras.

My Sonnar 180/2.8 is regularly used with P6 tubes and an adapter as a long reach macro for the Nikons.
The Flekkie 50/4 is also an interesting lens on 35mm framing.

I'd expect one of the tilt-shift Arax lenses to be usable as well in 35mm bodies. And I'm quite sure there is also a tilt-shift adapter that lets one use any of the P6 lenses as a 35mm t/s, I've seen it for sale on epay.

One hint for the Arax version of the Pentacon, which I use often: when it was giving me problems with banding, a little bit of judicious open heart surgery, spring tensioning and oil spraying fixed the problem in one go.

They are all-mechanical cameras, they need mechanical maintenance! Don't expect them to survive for decades without any lube...

 

[ic-racer]

The Hartblei Super-Rotator 45mm Tilt/Shift lens

 

[Ian Grant]

Very nice, I want one

Ian

 

[Shangheye]

;-)))) Perrfect on the Hartblei. Can anyone please advise on the experience of the film transport mentioned by David? Kal

 

[Shangheye]

By the way ic-racer...do Hartblei do them in longer focal lengths?...off to search! K

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

They often develop overlapping frame problems. Mine was very touchy in this regard.

Hartblei does a number of conversions like this in different mounts. They make the adapter for Hasselblad lenses for 35mm camera bodies that Zeiss markets.

 

[P C Headland]

Not all of the film transport problems on the Pentacon 6s are strictly mechanical - quite often the problems with film spacing are due to incorrect loading.

If, or rather when your camera needs servicing (and all mechanical cameras will, at some point), you can have an indicator fitted that will confirm the film has advanced properly. I've never had any problems with mine.

Apart from the Super Rotator shown, there are some other lens options. Take a look on the Arax site.

 

[Uncle Goose]

Anybody an idea of the quality of the Arax camera's??

 

[Shangheye]

Hmmm apparently Hartblei do not do the super rotator anymore. Looks like Arax is the only choice...does anyone know whether the tilt-shift would work with a 2x teleconverter? Would it effectively become a 90mm f7 Tilt Shift lens or would it behave differently....K

 

[nsouto]

Anybody an idea of the quality of the Arax camera's??

I've got one of these , and it is a much better camera than I expected. Had to oil and adjust the shutter recently, works again like new.

The loading of the film was tricky until I got the hang of it: it needs to be right up against the top edge of the guides and both reels need to be correctly seated all the way in on the spindles at the top of the body. Once I figured that out, no problems whatsoever with the film advance: every frame spot-on and the winding mechanism becomes very smooth.

MLU works a treat to avoid the shakes: the mirror is not as well dampened as for example the rb67.
Flash synch speed - 1/30 - is a bit low by modern standards but then it's the same as the Pentax 6X7, so there! And if you want high flash synch this is the wrong product anyway: you need a leaf shutter.

There is slight variation in fast shutter speeds, around 1/3 of a stop. Not enough to make things real bad with Astia but enough to make a visible difference with b&w. Can live with it, though.

The standard 80/2.8 lens is so-so with slide film, reasonably good with b&w. The meter is centre-weighted and surprisingly, spot-on. Don't quite like the two led indicator: a needle makes a lot more sense to me... Have compared it with an F6 and it's right on the money 9 times out of 10.

It's heavy but nowhere near as much as the Pentax 6X7, for example. Shooting with it is not unobtrusive, sound-wise! Without a doubt a "noisy" camera: sh-KLUnk-sh!


Quality attainable with the Sonnars and Flektogons is just amazing.
Overall taking into account the price and the lenses I can use in this thing, I'm incredibly happy with it.

Of course, all disclaimers up: YMMV, DAMHIKT, no animals hurt while testing this product - except for the dang spider squished while changing film on the park bench...