Soft & blurry corners on photos taken with Aires 35 IIIL

altair · Feb 13, 2011

Hi all.

Several months ago I received my Aires 35 IIIL. This one used to belong to Marion Carpenter (see here). The camera arrived to me dead, it had a non-working shutter, kaput rangefinder & as I recall a dirty lens. So off it went to my local professional camera repairman. He had a tough time repairing it, taking more time than usual.

About a month or so afterwards, I received it back from him. I was happy with his work, the camera is now very clean and all functions work correctly as it should. I eagerly loaded a roll of Legacy Pro 400 (bulk loaded) into the Aires and proceeded to finish the roll quickly during a family picnic. After development, a quick look at the negatives told me that the pictures are basically alright (no light leaks, etc) but there was something 'wrong' with them. Hard to tell without scanning it. The next morning, I scanned the negatives and lo and behold...

All the photos seem to be alright in the center of the frame, but everywhere else (left, right, top & bottom edges & corners) it's all blurred out, almost like a swing/tilt movement in LF. See the attached photos.

Suffice to say I was disappointed. This particular Aires model supposedly has an excellent lens and I was looking forward to seeing them myself.

I've never encountered this before. What could be causing it? Is the lens to be blamed? Taking a look at the film pressure plate, I kinda suspect it's the culprit. Can film flatness issues cause this kind of photos?

When viewed from the top of the camera, the film pressure plate appears to be higher at one end compared to the other, i.e it's not straight. See photos below.

I'd appreciate any feedback or opinions. Thanks very much in advance!

Best,
Dani

Ian C · Feb 13, 2011

The photo of the child was obviously shot with the aperture wide open. Thats why the extremely shallow depth of field. Probably the rest were too.

So long as the pressure plate spring is okit looks like it isthe plate should hold the film flat against the film rails.

I think that the problem is that the aperture is wide open. Possibly its stuck. It should be checked to verify that it stops down as its supposed to.

Ian Grant · Feb 13, 2011

It's possible a lens element is not correctly seated. The film pressure plate looks OK so I'd check with your repair guy, he'd have had the lens apart to fix the shutter etc.

Ian

altair · Feb 13, 2011

Ian C said:
The photo of the child was obviously shot with the aperture wide open. Thats why the extremely shallow depth of field. Probably the rest were too.

So long as the pressure plate spring is okit looks like it isthe plate should hold the film flat against the film rails.

I think that the problem is that the aperture is wide open. Possibly its stuck. It should be checked to verify that it stops down as its supposed to.

Thanks for your feedback Ian. A quick check reveals that the apertures blades aren't stuck and that they stop down correctly. It was a very sunny day when those photos were taken, so I doubt that they were taken wide open. Probably at f/5.6 or so. Even if those photos were taken wide open, it shouldn't result in such an extreme 'softness', should it? I've heard of lenses giving soft photos in the corners when wide open, but this is a bit much.

Anyway, thanks for your input!

altair · Feb 13, 2011

Ian Grant said:
It's possible a lens element is not correctly seated. The film pressure plate looks OK so I'd check with your repair guy, he'd have had the lens apart to fix the shutter etc.

Ian

You're probably right, but this is what I feared most. It's going to be my last resort. If all else fails and the consensus here is that it's the lens at fault, then I will certainly be sending it back to him. Thanks again Ian!

RustedChrome · Feb 13, 2011

I got the exact same sort of look with a Rolleiflex where the lens elements had separated. It's the first thing I thought of when I saw your pics. Good luck with the camera.

removed account4 · Feb 13, 2011

wow, just my kind of images !

good luck getting it fixed ...

john

Nicholas Lindan · Feb 13, 2011

The usual culprit is a lens element was put back in backwards.

Funny that people pay good money for Petzvals when the same effect can be had by taking a junker lens and reversing or removing an element.

rawhead · Feb 13, 2011

Nicholas Lindan said:
The usual culprit is a lens element was put back in backwards.

Funny that people pay good money for Petzvals when the same effect can be had by taking a junker lens and reversing or removing an element.

+1 for this. Got the same effect on a Yashica-Mat where the second element was put in backwards after a CLA.

pinhole_dreamer · Feb 13, 2011

And to think that I bought a Lensbaby Muse just fir that very purpose!

Valerie · Feb 13, 2011

That's the look I get from my Hawkeye after I flipped the lens.

altair · Feb 14, 2011

@RustedChrome: Thanks for your input, and thanks for wishing me luck Did you ever get the Rolleiflex fixed?

@jnanian: Thanks for that, John!

@Nicholas Lindan: I dare say that Petzvals have a nicer effect than what this Aires Coral H lens has to offer. That's why so many years on, they still cost good money. Thanks for your feedback!

@rawhead: Somehow, it's getting kind of comforting to know I'm not the only one in this boat! Thanks!

@pinhole dreamer: Lensbaby? Whazzat?

@Valerie: Ahh yes, the flipped lens of a Brownie Hawkeye. I'd rather have sharp photos though Thanks for sharing your experience, Valerie.

I think I'll be revisiting my repairman soon, and ask him to rectify his mistake. Isn't there a quick & easy way to know if one has put in a lens element backwards or swapped it inadvertently?

M. Valdemar · Feb 14, 2011

Isn't there a quick & easy way to know if one has put in a lens element backwards or swapped it inadvertently?

Yes, take a photo like the one you posted and look at it.

elekm · Feb 15, 2011

I also believe that a lens element was put in backward. It happens. I did this with an Ikonette and got nearly the same results that you did.

elekm · Feb 15, 2011

To follow up, some lens elements appear to be visually symmetrical but aren't. I often will mark the lens edge with a small pointer to note which way the lens element needs to point, if the edge is thick enough.

altair · Feb 15, 2011

M. Valdemar: Very succinct, yet precise & practical answer.

elekm: Thanks! That's a good way to mark the elements...one that my repair guy needs to use

Anyway, I found a lens diagram for the H Coral 45/1.9 lens of this camera, it's attached below. This may be a very foolish question, but..here goes:

Which end (left or right) of the lens diagram shows the outer lens element (the one that faces you when you look at the lens from the front of the camera)?

elekm · Feb 15, 2011

I would guess that it's the rear element. But it depends on how the lens elements are held in place and whether two or more are part of a single assembly.

He did a very nice job on the camera. Looks really nice.

rawhead · Feb 15, 2011

Optical diagrams always show the front element to the LEFT.

altair · Feb 16, 2011

Thank you elekm & rawhead.

Kino · May 8, 2017

Hey! What happened here Altair? I need closure!

Soft & blurry corners on photos taken with Aires 35 IIIL

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Soft & blurry corners on photos taken with Aires 35 IIIL

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