Sinar Norma 4x5 Twin Lens 240 Xenars

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Nokton48

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AgX said:
-) How did you connect the extension rods to the original rods? By a threaded bolt? -) What kind of rods are the extension ones? They look like being intended for building stands or such.
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The red rods are original Sinar Norma Riser Extension Rods. Yes they are threaded and infinitely extendable. Marked in mm's so very precise to use.
 
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AgX

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Thank you. I never saw them before.
But now I see them text-listed at their old catalog (Frame Stabilizers). Always read the small letters...
And just now I see them in photo in the Norma manual, at the end. How embarrassing.
 
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Nokton48

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No prob. Thnx for commenting.
 

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By this the Norma was unique in offering stabilizing of the front and rear standards between each other at their tops
 
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Nokton48

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Sinar Norma 5x7 TLR 520mm Apo Ronar focused close up by Nokton48, on Flickr

"Construction Unit Design" means that I an extend the camera using extra Norma parts. Here I have added a second Norma 4x5 Rear Standard and added a couple of the 4x5 Regular Bellows. Camera is solid and will be useful. Tripod is FOBA C40 which is also in the Norma catalog. This is a heavy tripod beast. A lot to move around but doable.

Here's I'm setting up my Sinar Norma 5x7 TLR with my longest lens so far; the Rodenstock Apo-Ronar 520mm F9 Norma matched pair. Focused on a very small area extreme close-up. Keith at Custom Bellows in the UK, is making a matched pair of original Sinar Norma 5x7 Extra Long Bellows (50% longer than standard 5x7 Bellows). At the same time, I asking for an extra long (50% longer again) 8x10 Sinar Norma Bellows. The bellows frames are going out the door today. Shouldn't be long shipping has been quick from the UK on some things. 4x5 Regular Bellows and 5x7 Norma Bellows fully extended in this digishot. XTRA long bellows will suit my upcoming uses very well.
 
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Nokton48

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520mm 20 inch Apo Ronar Pair XTRA long 5x7 new bellows 1 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Keith at Custom Bellows UK just made this 5x7 Extra Long Norma original bellows pair. I told him I wanted the original Norma pattern but 50% longer than the regular Norma 4x5 bellows. The camera is focused on a target the size of a Norma lensboard. And of course the camera can be infinitely extended if need be
 
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Nokton48

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520mm 20 inch Apo Ronar Pair XTRA long 5x7 new bellows 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr

My 5x7 Twin Lens Reflex Sinar Norma testing and comparing groundglass views. Yes there is a difference in viewpoint but that is minimal in my opinion. The bottom is the view lens and you can see the "flash pop" on the groundglass for a micro second in the taking lens, hence you can catch the exact peak moment. The option is viewing the image obliquely at an angle and it's just not the same. This is the 520mm 20" Rodenstock Apo-Ronar matching pairs, my longest pair (but not longest LF Apo-Ronar lens) that I own. To get nearly identical views, simply use the front and rear rise and fall to tweak both images exactly where you want them.
 
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Nokton48

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Ring Around F16 to F45 HP5+ 4x5 Norma TLR 520mm Ronar pair by Nokton48, on Flickr

Testing the 5x7 TLR Sinar Norma (reduced to 4x5) 520mm f9 Rodenstock Apo-Ronar matched pair, HP5+ EI 400 2/3 stop bellows extension, and 103mm Light Yellow Sinar Norma Filter. From top left: F16, F22, F32, and bottom right, F45. Developed in D:23 1:1 Unicolor 8x10 black Unidrum with Uniroller. Developed 12 minutes at 70F. Four perfect negatives. For silver printing I would pick F45 or F32. For Alt processing F22 or maybe even F16. Useful test. Soft lighting, soft development, and hard raw optical sharpness are the first goals

BTW I am viewing continuously the lower ground glass, so I can watch the expression and see the "flash" in the groundglass so I can see if I got "it" or not. Which is the whole point of this odd rig, this is unlike any photography I have done before. Good for anything involving "Action"
 
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Bob S

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OK, I’ll bite. What action are you capturing here?
 
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Nokton48

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Once the lighting and exposures are refined to where I want it I'll be doing some portrait assignments.

Really I think learning the camera and getting proficient with it is best started with static subjects

As I stated this is unlike any other type of camera I have ever used
 
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520mm 20 inch Apo Ronar Pair 4x5 HP5 D23 F32 one pop by Nokton48, on Flickr

Testing my new 5x7/4x5 Sinar Norma Twin Lens Reflex with my longest matching lens pair set/ 520mm 20" F9 Rodenstock Apo Ronars. These are 45 degree Dialyte process type lenses offered by Sinar Norma in the day. F32 one pop YG Sinar Norma 103mm glass yelow green filter D23 1:1 Unicolor Unidrum and Uniroller. 4X 8x10 Aristo #2 RC print developed in Multigrade dev. Omega DII with Omegalite diffusion head

520mm 20 inch Apo Ronar Pair XTRA long 5x7 new bellows 1 by Nokton48, on Flickr
 
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New Lens Pairs for Sinar Norma TLR by Nokton48, on Flickr

Three New Sinar Norma Lens pairs for my Twin Lens Sinar Norma 5x7 and 4x5 cameras. From the left, Sinar norma Schneider Symmar 300mm Symmar matched pair, with Auto Aperture Controls on both. In the little plastic bag is a set of Sinar Norma parts to attach the barrel lens to the automated Sinar board. I will have to have some micro machine work done to accomplish this. In the center, the 300mm Schneider Xenar matched lens pair, I used Sinar Norma lens cones to configure these. Held together with brass hobby screws. On the right a matched pair of 165mm f6.8 Schneider Angulons. I had the shuttered lens for decades and it's an old fave. Produces a good looking negative for me always.
 
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Nokton48

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480mm Apo Ronar matched pair SK Grimes Flanges by Nokton48, on Flickr

I've owned the top 480mm Apo Ronar nearly forty years and it's an old friend. Just recently I bought a second one (took a while to buy one cheaply) but now I have a matched pair for my TLR 5x7 Norma Reflex camera. 5x7 is something new for me I am slowly investigating. S K Grimes made the matching pair of flanges

BTW I discovered that if you remove the threaded ring on the front of these Apo Ronars, they can be directly reverse mounted onto the flange! Something I just now realized, this info could be useful to some!
 
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Nokton48

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Final Version 4x5 5x7 TLR Sinar Norma by Nokton48, on Flickr

This is my final version of the 4x5/9x12 and also 5x7/13x18 Twin Lens Reflex Sinar Norma. Very new in the front is Riser Rods which I made from some excess Norma Riser Rods, I cut them down with my Lil' Machine Shop Band Saw, then flipped them over, and inserted a bolt (also cut with Band Saw). So now I have a custom made "Shorty Riser Rod Set" which is perfect for my uses. I went through my Normas and selected the best pieces, and put them together for a really tight working and smooth Norma which I will leave set up permanently in my studio.

The new lens matching pair I have been looking at on and off for six months. It's a matching set of 360mm Schneider Tele-Xenars" same vintage. It took a while to find cheaply a second barrel lens, the flanges I got stock from SK Grimes. The Top Hats came from China (Wista clones) which I cut down with Electric Coping Saw and a LOT of hand filing. Then 32 holes drilled with drill press to hold the hobby modeling nuts and bolts, and steel metric machine bolts to secure the lenses. It took a while to cut and fit the TOP Hats to the flat Norma Boards, which needed some extra holes plugged firstly.

Now it just needs final finishing; shortening the hobby bolts, and touch up color front, and Flat Black Krylon Back. So this one took a good while but good to have it in the arsenal
 
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Nokton48

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300mm F4.5 Xenar matched pair TLR Norma by Nokton48, on Flickr

Here's another Norma TLR matched pair which has taken a lot of time to finish. 300mm F4.5 chrome Schneider Xenars, I had a couple of Norma 300mm Symmar Tophats which I neatly removed with electric coping saw, then attached to flat Norma boards with hobby brass modeling screws. Xenars are attached to the tophats for now, with Hollywood Gaffer Tape (LOL!) Eventually I may have SK Grimes machine custom Xenar Cones on their CNC machines. All this pair needs is final painting with flat black Krylon, on the exterior of the cones, as they have some marks to cover up, from when I drill pressed the cones. Good enough for now. This set is excellent for 5x7/13x18 and 8x10/18x24 head shots, a classic for this type of photo job
 
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Nokton48

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5x7 TLR Norma 300mm Symmar matched pair by Nokton48, on Flickr

Matched Pair Sinar Norma 300mm f5.6 chrome Symmars 5x7 TLR Norma camera great for portraiture. 4x5 Reducing Backs and Reflex Viewfinder make it true TLR. I'm leaving this camera set up in the studio.

New canvas background from David Maheu like it "Tim Kelly Gold Plaster"
 

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Incidentally - an impressive piece of equipment and almost an work of art in its own right.
 
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Nokton48

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Thanks Lorbitar!

Painting Matched Norma Lens Pairs by Nokton48, on Flickr

These are matched pairs of Sinar Norma lenses I have put together recently. The final steps are to paint the back of the shiny parts with Flat Black Krylon sprayed onto cardboard then brushed on with a fine brush. A couple of coats, let it dry in the sun, and it's all totally and finally ready to use. Lots of drill pressings as you can see. As well as scroll cutting, and a lot of hand filing. I enjoy doing this work. Many of these boards had multiple holes that required filling and touching up with Norma colored green paint
 
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SK Grimes CNCed Rear Mount 360mm Barrel Componon by Nokton48, on Flickr
  • Arrived today, shown lower right, SK Grimes CNC'ed this duplicate of my Rear Mount (Is it Schneider or Durst??). The original is lower left). It's been in the que for a few months but worth the wait and worth every Penny. These items will go on a couple of flat Norma boards, still have a few with big holes to use for these projects. Drill press some mounting holes and it is ready to use.

    I had an extra one of these lenses which had bad interior fog. I traded it out with Jason Lane, he has an optical polishing machine and can de-fog milky cells. So he will end up a killer lens, too. These two will go on my TLR 5x7/4x5 Reflex Sinar Normas.
 
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Nokton48

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360mm f5.6 Schneider Componons matched pair 4x5 by Nokton48, on Flickr

  • After months of waiting finally finished! 360mm barrel Schneider Componon 360mm f5.6 matched pair. I also have a pair of Sinar 360mm Symmar lenses, you can not tell these two apart from a distance. Certainly does perform favorably against the Symmar, Schneider did recommend it for taking photography (not just enlarging 8x10 negatives). Lengendary Repair Guru Ken Ruth (he always had the inside back cover of Shutterbug for decades) suggested to me to get the entire set of Componons, YES they are great and cheap as dirt. I paid $150 for each of these which I think is quite good for what these are. Getting a matched pair of rear mounts was the difficulty. SK Grimes came through 100% even better than the original. For 8x10 Head Shots these lenses are about as good as you can get. A bonus is that they perform quite well wipe-open. Back in the 60's people were shooting 8x10 Handheld so wide-open is a help!
 
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