Questions on this vintage 5x7 from Germany?

[keithostertag]

I have borrowed this 5x7 view camera from a friend who bought it at a market while in Prague about 7 years ago.

Is this a plate camera? I have never seen a back like this one. Might there be a simple way to adapt it to use a modern film holder?

I'm puzzled by the knob on the front as the front does not slide.

The brass lens-in-barrel is marked:
En Gee Prima
"Doppel Anastigmat F:6,8" "F= 150m/m"
F-stops are marked "4,6 6 9 12 24 48 96 192 384"

As you can see in the photos it has no standard movements.... so this was a portrait camera? Bellows is in very good condition, extends to about 300mm.

 

[AgX]

Wünsche made a back for their proprietery cardboard filmpacks, but it does not seem related yet to your camera:

 

[cowanw]

I see this in Wiki, the students apparatus for plates
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Emil_Wünsche_Schüler-Apparat
Does the front knob have anything to do with a built in shutter? I see it in the Wiki photo but on the diagonal corner.

 

[AgX]

This"knob" is most likely a arresting nut for a rise of the front panel, though the exact mechanism is not clear from those photographs.

 

[keithostertag]

@cowanw: thanks for the link. @AgX: well, one would think so. But the front seems glued and does not rise/slide. Perhaps it once did but someone altered the camera? I am not familiar enough with these type cameras to evaluate.

 

[Tel]

This looks like it might simply be a plug that closes a hole used for the rubber tube that would fire a pneumatic shutter behind the lens. Can you unscrew it and see what's behind it?

 

[Two23]

I suspect that there is a slot on the front standard that allow(ed) the front standard to move up and down. I suspect this camera was originally for 13x18 plates.


Kent in SD

 

[AgX]

This looks like it might simply be a plug that closes a hole used for the rubber tube that would fire a pneumatic shutter behind the lens. Can you unscrew it and see what's behind it?

From the look it is a nut on a threaded bolt which is protruding from the inside. Such is used as locking device on several Wünsche cameras, even on the model in question as the photos show.

 

[Ian Grant]

Reisecameras nearly all have some rise like this and some have front shift as well usually a sliding lens board. As mentioned above it's a 13x18cm camera, 7x5 film (in a sheath) or 7x5 plates will fit a 13x18 holder but notvice versa.

The original plate holders would fit in the same way as the focus back. Register will be different betwen the focus back and modern film holders. Because of the design it'll be very difficult to adapt.

Ian

 

[keithostertag]

Here are a few more detailed photos. Maybe the front did rise at some point, but it does appear to be glued on the long edges now, although not on the top and bottom edges.

 

[Tel]

Yeah, it's clearly a locking mechanism. Looks like it pinches the riser to hold it in place. I expect that the edge you've marked as glued is supposed to be free to move. Doesn't offer much movement, though, and apparently only upward. That plate in the center has to be a riser. If you look at the seams, they're beveled as they would be if it was meant to move vertically. Best guess is that at some point someone refinished the front standard and gummed up the riser channels with varnish or something.

 

[Tel]

Looks like some variant of the "Meteor". And the front plate does seem to slide downward...

 

[Ian Grant]

It's quite different to the Meteor above as it;s a Reisecamera they tend to use quite a differen style base board system using tongue and groove sliding parts and the rear focuses on the track.

Ian

 

[keithostertag]

@Ian: Yes, I didn't show the base, but as you say it does have the type of base you show in your above photos.

@Tel: the weird thing is that that knob does not pinch anything- it only goes through the front board (as now configured). Maybe reconfigured after manufacture?

 

[AgX]

@Tel: the weird thing is that that knob does not pinch anything- it only goes through the front board (as now configured). Maybe reconfigured after manufacture?

That threaded bolt with the nut ends at the rear of the seemingly sliding front panel in a circular plate. At twisting the nut this plate is pressed with its outer diameter to the static part of the standard. By this locking the sliding part in case of a rise. This is what I make out of those photos.
If the sliding part has been glued by now and that circular plate too, then of course that bolt cannot transverse and turning this nut has no other effect than arresting itself.

 

[keithostertag]

@Ian: Actually, the threaded bolt does not end or pass through the wood plate with the circular cutout. Hope this photo shows that. The wood plate with the circular cutout has had a small section trimmed to a recess the end of the bolt. So the threaded bolt only passes through the front board and cannot lock anything (as currently configured). The additional circular beveled piece merely functions to hold the bellows to the front standard.

 

[Tel]

That threaded bolt with the nut ends at the rear of the seemingly sliding front panel in a circular plate. At twisting the nut this plate is pressed with its outer diameter to the static part of the standard. By this locking the sliding part in case of a rise. This is what I make out of those photos.
If the sliding part has been glued by now and that circular plate too, then of course that bolt cannot transverse and turning this nut has no other effect than arresting itself.

Exactly! There is nothing missing from the locking mechanism. When you tighten the nut on the shaft, it pinches the side frame of the standard and locks the riser into place. This is what I meant by "pinching". The beveled edges along the sides of the riser are the giveaway that it was designed to slide up and down--it's standard woodworking practice to "break" a sharp edge by rounding or beveling to prevent the wood from splintering when it moves against another surface. Some careful work with a sharp knife along the beveled edge might free the riser to move, if there's glue or varnish in the groove.