Saved from the dustbin!

[MattCarey]

In cleaning out my lab, an engineer found an old RHEED camera (think oscilloscope camera). The lens is a Mamiya Sekor 75mm P4, in a copal press number 0 shutter. I thought the shutter was jammed, but it turned out that there was a pin screwed into the shutter release. It is obviously supposed to be there, but I can't tell why. Maybe it was intended to be used on "B" setting?

The back has a graflok-type back, but it doesn't have the pins for the Ground-glass/spring back, jus the sliders. Mounted on the back is a reducing back to a 6x9 (I think) ground glass. Oddly, the GG seems to be off of where I think the film-plane would be. My guess is that some sort of polaroid back would be used, but as noted, the GG is at a different plane than where my polaroid would be.

I don't know what will happen to it, but the shutter is like-new and the lens looks to be in great shape. The lens has the largest screw-in lens-shade I have ever seen. My guess is the lens is a 6x9 lens. The engineer was set to toss it, but I'll see that it survives!

Matt

 

[Lee L]

Many years ago I was given an o-scope camera with polaroid back by a friend. His girlfriend's place of work was throwing them out. It had an Ilex 75mm f:1.9 Oscillo-Paragon lens marked 1:0.85X, which I assume means optimized for a 1:0.85 reproduction ratio. I haven't played with it in a while, but it did (IIRC) cover 6x7 or maybe 6x9 at infinity and may have covered 4x5 (warning: undisclosed mid-sentence unit change) in the 1:1 range. Took a little cleaning to get the Ilex No. 3X Universal shutter working, but it's operational now. Worked great for some close-ups with a 6x7 roll film back last spring. I also want to set up a pinhole for use in that shutter.

Try it, you'll like it.

Lee