Using barrel lenses on a Bronica S2a

rpatterson · Apr 17, 2014

I am new to APUG so I'm not sure what has already been discussed on this subject, but I am looking for advice on mounting barrel lenses onto a Bronica S2a.

I recently purchased a Bronica S2a package with three lenses and some extension tubes. The Nikon lenses are great, but I have become fascinated with finding old projector lenses and trying to use them on the Bronica. Does anyone here have experience with what type of barrel lens works (or doesn't work) on a Bronica S2a? Also, any pictures of the actual mounting set up would be helpful.

Thanks!

BMbikerider · Apr 17, 2014

Is it going to be worth the effort? There is no way of closing the apperture down and to be honest the quality of even a modern Zeiss projection lens wide open will be quite poor. In fact almost unusable for anything except to see what it does.

darkosaric · Apr 17, 2014

I think it is not about quality - it is about the look and imperfections. I played with some old projector lenses on my nikon F3, they give unique dreamy and unusual look.

@rpatterson: every unusual lens will have different focus distance from film plane, find some bellows and some wide tape (like duct tape or similar), and do good old "test and try".

gone · Apr 17, 2014

I share your admiration for the images that the old barrel lenses are capable of making. Your easiest and probably cheapest solution is to buy one of the old Kodak or other LF cameras that actually have one of these lenses on them, or buy a Graflex Speed Graphic (which would give you a focal plane shutter) and adapt a barrel lens to it, which would be relatively easily w/ the Graflex lens boards. The Speed Graphics are available from 2x3 to 4x5 if memory serves me correctly, and you can easily put a roll film back on them for 120 film in different size formats if you don't wish to deal with sheet film.

The post above yours here on old school lens repair options gives you an idea of what the LF cameras look like w/ barrel lenses. They're beautiful, but a Speed Graphic would give you more options. If your particular barrel lens has a shutter, then all you'll need is a Crown Graphic, not a Speed Graphic.

Or buy one of these. Very cool looking, and legendary photographers owned them. I was not comfortable leaving the house with mine. Talk about attracting attention!

https://www.google.com/search?q=gra...ape.com%2Fcolumns%2Fsm-sept4-05.shtml;394;404

rjbuzzclick · Apr 17, 2014

Also keep in mind that many of the imperfections of barrel lenses will be stronger towards the edge of the image circle, and may not show up as well within the Bronica frame. It really depends on the lens and how large the image circle is. As stated above, the best advice is to just mock something up and tweak from there. Generally barrel lenses are pretty cheap. I have Buhl projection lens I found at thrift store for around $7 that I occasionally use on a Speed Graphic with nice results.

gone · Apr 17, 2014

I forgot about the National Graphic cameras. I'd love to have a working one. Pretty scarce finding one though. I understand that the shutters were the weak points, and not that reliable. If someone made a modern version of one of these I'd buy it in a minute.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Graflex-Nat...471?pt=US_Vintage_Cameras&hash=item1c30948a9f

rpatterson · Apr 17, 2014

It sounds like I will just have to buy a few cheap lenses and experiment with different set ups. I am new to all of this, so I'm unsure of the coverage of these projection lenses. The Bronica negative size is 6cmx6cm so ideally I would want a lens that would just cover a 6x6 negative and still give me 3" distance from the film to the rear of the lens (so the mirror in the Bronica doesn't hit the lens) I agree with (there was a url link here which no longer exists). Too large of an image circle will negate the effect I am looking for. Let me know if you have any pictures taken using a projection lens on a Bronica or Hasselblad. I would be interested in seeing any examples of what can be done with these lenses.

I will try to find a few projection lenses, grab a roll of duct tape and shoot a few rolls of film.

Thanks again for your help.

darkosaric · Apr 17, 2014

rpatterson said:
I would be interested in seeing any examples of what can be done with these lenses.

Take a look on post #6 from Gandolfi on thread:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

rpatterson · Apr 17, 2014

Thanks

John Koehrer · Apr 17, 2014

With extension tubes you can be pretty versatile.
The shorter lenses <75-80mm will give the more difficult clearance problems. I've used a 135mm uncoated Tessar on a Nikon bellows & gotten some pretty nice effects, but wasn't looking for swirlies.

You could make a simple adapter with a slot to fit some waterhouse stops and mount a lens forward of that.
The stops can be calculated for any focal length and for what you're doing, close is good enough.
If the adapter is wide enough, you could use a slip fit lens adapter. Mailing tube or PVC will work but cardboard slides much better than PVC. Well you could line PVC with felt or velvet, that would allow smooth adjustment.

Timing, small stops and a lens cap, Galli shutter, or drop shutter will work.
I built a drop shutter with two speeds. IE: two drop plates with different openings, one twice the size of the other.

Steve Smith · Apr 18, 2014

John Koehrer said:
Galli shutter, or drop shutter will work.

The S2A's own focal plane shutter will work even better!

This is something I have been thinking about. I will probably buy a spare S2 focussing helical to modify into a barrel lens mount.

Steve.

John Koehrer · Apr 18, 2014

Ooops. Didn't realize.
That does simplify things a bit doesn't it?

rpatterson · Apr 18, 2014

I did a little more searching online.

This is what I was thinking about doing,

https://www.flickr.com/photos/aleczab/5294827591/in/set-72157625554672583/

I'll try to experiment with a few options and post some photos in the future.

Using barrel lenses on a Bronica S2a

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