RAPID OMEGA 100 - EXTENDED LENS??

[pdelrosario]

I recently got a Rapid Omega with a 90mm lens and noticed that the focus patch was way off. I sent the seller the following video to confirm whether or not the camera needed calibration.

I took the film back off, taped a piece of ground glass to the film plane area and checked the focus to compare with the patch in the finder. As seen in the video, the patch is off when compared to the focus on the film plane.

I sent the video to the seller and he responded, "Are you sure that the lens is fully extended?" Fully extended?? Am I missing something? Does anyone know if this lens extends out in a similar way that a Mamiya Super 23 twists then pulls out? Any info appreciated.

 

[mgb74]

I had a K-O many years ago. As I recall, the lens does not retract/extend as you described for the Mamiya (and, again as I recall, one one Mamiya lens did that).

The lens focuses by the entire mount moving forward and back as your video shows.

It's not at all unusual for these cameras to have an RF patch a bit out of whack. Of course, that should have been disclosed by the seller. And sounds like your's is significantly offl.

 

[Andrew K]

I can't recall if there was a collapsible lens for the KO, it's been a while since I had one.

I had a look at your video - it looks like the rangefinder will need adjusting. Honestly it's not a big deal, and is a common adjustment on many rangefinder cameras (yes I was/am a camera tech).

First thing you need to check the focus on infinity. If the ground glass is in focus with the lens set to infinity and the rangefinder is out you then need to adjust the rangefinder. If the ground glass is out of focus then you need to adjust the focus so infinity is correct by loosening the screw in the focus knob and adjusting the focus so the stop is at infinity. Then (if needed, and it probably will) you need to adjust the rangefinder accordingly.

It's not hard to do (regardless of what people say...but they do have a few quirks that can catch people out) - this may interest you

http://web.archive.org/web/20030327210120/http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/infinity.html#rfadjust