Thoughts on close-up filters for a TLR?

[BHuij]

I've basically always dismissed close-up filters as not worth my time, mentally relegating them to the pile of "gimmicky cheap Amazon kits that will kill your image quality." I figured for my 35mm and digital shooting that if I wanted to get close, a real macro lens was Plan A, and extension tubes were Plan B.

But now I'm breathing new life into a Zeiss Ikoflex TLR with a very good 75mm Tessar lens, and I frequently find myself wanting to get closer than its ~1 meter minimum. Back in the 20-teens when I was shooting my dad's old Yashica Mat 124, I found a Bay 1 close-up filter, I think on eBay. I only ever found the one, so I had to put it on the viewing lens to compose, then remember to swap it to the taking lens, and raise my tripod column a bit to help fix the parallax error in the composition. There were more ruined/blurry frames from messing up this operation than I care to admit, but when I got it right, it produced results that never seemed to be lacking in sharpness, at least at the enlargement sizes I actually make in the darkroom (generally no larger than 16x20).

The Ikoflex has a 33.5 threaded filter size, but since I already have a good collection of 49mm filters, I have already ordered a 33.5 to 49mm step-up ring. So now I can use my yellow, red, CPL, NDs, 720IR, etc. etc. Cool. I'm considering finding a set of 49mm "close-up filters" or "close-up lenses" as well. It's not hard to find some by Tiffen or Hoya at reasonable prices. I'm just nervous they're going to arrive and make for mushy, bad images due to inferior optical quality.

Anyone have any experience with these? Or I guess perhaps the broader question here is, does anyone have suggestions for the best ways to get closer to my subject using a TLR?

 

[BrianShaw]

With a Rollei TLR the closeup lenses worked good enough with a tripod and cable release. With a Nikon SLR a Vivitar closeup lens kit was a total waste of time even with tripod, mirror lockup, and cable release. Good results have been obtained with Kodak Retina II/III and the Retina closeup kit for 50mm lens.

 

[dpurdy]

I have Rolleinars for my Rolleis but in the beginning I got a couple of cheap close up filters and they worked surprisingly well, I couldn't see any loss of sharpness. I also use a Kodak closeup diopter for the 355 on my 8x10 camera. Sharp as a tack. I think if you have a line on some that aren't much money, it is worth a try.

 

[ic-racer]

I think the close up lens 'sets' would only be available bayonet mount. The prism on the viewing lens would likely not be aligned correctly if it were to screw on.

So, probably, as you had done in the past, use the close up lens on the viewing lens and swap it to the taking lens and raise the camera to complete the picture. As others have mentioned, you should be able to get good results.

 

[BAC1967]

Without the proper closeup attachment for the viewing lens you're going to have to guess on the parallax compensation. You can get a good idea of what it will be by moving the camera up and down the same distance as the lens separation. Not sure what the adapter will do since it will push the closeup lens further from the taking lens.

I have a few cheap closeup lenses for bay 1 that I like, Rondo I & II and a Kalt +3.

Rondo II on a Baby Rolleiflex. It works the same on the 120 Rolleiflex.
Fall by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Rolleiflex Automat with the Rondo II
Russula Mushroom by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Kalt +3 on a Ricoh Diacord L
Dog Bone by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

 

[Dan Fromm]

Think Mamiya Paramender.

 

[GregY]

Rolleinars are suprisingly good

 

[MattKing]

There appears to be a lot of different models bearing the description "Zeiss Ikoflex TLR".
To do this, you would normally want duplicate close-up attachments - one for the taking lens, and one for the viewing lens - and a camera model that features matched taking and viewing lenses.
Some TLRs economize on the viewing lens, which makes it less reliable when making decisions based on the image viewed.
I'll let those with more expertise in optics correct me if necessary, but I would be concerned that the close-up attachments might interact differently with lenses that differ between taking and viewing.
Plus something akin to the Mamiya Paramender recommended by Dan.

 

[blee1996]

Ikoprox like this?

Shop : Buy Zeiss Ikon Ikoprox Close up Filter for Ikoflex: MJT1124/24865 : Blue Moon Camera and Machine

Blue Moon Camera & Machine: Buy Zeiss Ikon Ikoprox Close up Filter for Ikoflex online or in store at Blue Moon Camera & Machine, Portland, Oregon.

bluemooncamera.com

 

[Dan Daniel]

Actually, the Minolta Paradjuster would be a better choice for the Ikoflexes than the Mamiya Paramender. Its 'lift' distance is the same as on a Rolleiflex or Rolleicord, and either matches or is very close to on the Ikoflexes. I am under the impression that the Mamiya's lens spacing is more than on smaller non-interchangeable TLRs.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

Andrew, there are two different Ikoprox. Each for a different distance. They also have parallax correction so they are worth having. They have the same 35.5mm thread size on the front for filters as well.

 

[ic-racer]

Ikoprox ! Nice, I have never seen those before. These would fit the OPs camera?

 

[infrar3d]

There was also a third party solution called the Instant Parallix. I have a full set of these I use with my Ciro-flex. You need to make sure you get the right model - there's a two-letter code stamped on the side (CI for Ciro, RO for Rollei, etc.). And just like the Ikoprox, you can add filters to the front.

 

[Sirius Glass]

My go to filter place is filter.find at filterfind.net

 

[reddesert]

Closeup lenses are mostly single element meniscus lenses (with a few pricier achromat exceptions) and the optical quality among single element lenses is likely pretty similar regardless of the name. Clearly with a TLR, a TLR-specific set would make life easier for composing and focusing. These simple lenses will have aberrations, but for a lot of closeup photography where everything outside the central subject is way out of focus anyway, they can be acceptable.

However, different main lenses will interact differently with the closeup, and some main lenses perform better at or below their minimum focus distance than others (IOW one might have two 50mm lenses that are equal at 3 meters focus distance, but one is ok at 0.5 meters and the other starts to fall apart). It's not real easy to predict performance without trying a lens in real life, although IMO slower lenses are likely to be less bad at closer distances.

 

[runswithsizzers]

The only TLR I've ever used is a Mamiya C220 which has a very generous bellows extension and therefore can focus closer than I would ever want without needing closeup lenses. However, I find the TLR to be very frustrating to use at any film-to-subject distance closer than about 3 ft. due to parallax errors. I never got a chance to try a Mamiya Paramender, but unless that accessory successfully solves parallax errors in framing and focus, I would not even consider a TLR for closeup work.

As for the "filters" (actually lenses), I have used a variety of screw-in closeup lenses with my 35mm cameras over the past 50 years. Oftentimes those were fairly inexpensive, the kind that comes in a set of three from the likes of Vivitar and Hoya. I thought my results using the screw-in closeup lenses were pretty good when used for three dimensional objects at moderate focusing distances. I never had a true macro lens which I'd guess would be much better than the screw-in kind if you need a flat field of focus, or if you want to get much closer than about 0.5x magnification.

More recently, I discovered acromat versions of screw-in closeup lenses which have two elements, usually cemented together. Acromat closeup lenses are harder to find and more expensive to buy, but I like mine better than the single-element kind.

 

[BHuij]

That Ikoprox looks like the actual complete package answer! And reasonably priced to boot. I will have to give those a try!

 

[BHuij]

I ended up picking up the 0.5m version of the Ikoprox, as well as hunting down a deceptively uncommon 35.5-49mm step up ring on eBay.

Initial results are very good! This photo was taken with the Ikoprox and a yellow filter on FP4+, developed in Pyrocat HDC, and cropped in a bit to print an 8x10. Shallow depth of field (on purpose), but very sharp. I'm warming up to this camera quickly. Now I have my eye on the 1m version of the Ikoprox as well.

 

[runswithsizzers]

Like @BHuij's Zeiss Ikoflex, my new-to-me Rolleicord V focuses to only about a meter without help. I just got a Rollinar 1 kit, and I think it's going to work out very well. With the Rollinar 1, I can focus in the range of 39 1/2 down to 17 3/4 inches. I love the ease of the bayonet mounts (Bay 1) compared to screwing filters on my 135 camera lenses. And the Parallax correction provided by a combination of the Rolleicord's tilting viewing screen and the correction provided by the Rolleinar viewing lens is pretty slick. A lot more fun than trying to figure out how to frame closer objects with the Mamiya C220.

This bird's nest is a little smaller than my fist. And the front of the skull is about 24-inches from the film plane. So far, I have not tried to get down to the minimum focusing distance of the Rollinar 1.