The elusive Linhof Technika electronic rangefinder?

[Jac@stafford.net]

Auction site item # 131266745670

It is rare for a good reason. Linhof pulled it from the market due to issues.
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[nm39131]

I saw this too. How does the electronic system work and what were the issues?

[Corran]

How ugly.

[Tony Lakin]

Vorsprung durch Technik:rolleyes:

[Bob Salomon]

The issues were that it did not perform to its' specifications, long lens focus accuracy was not good (over 210mm or so), some patterns that you might have tried to focus on could fool the rangefinder, like a picket fence - especially at an oblique angle to the camera. Additionally it required a PC with a very obsolete OS by today's standards that had to be dedicated to programming the unit for each lens that was to be coupled. I still have the operating and programming instructions in my office but will not be there till I return on the 20th.
All that we sold were recalled and returned to Linhof except for one that the owner decided to keep.

How it worked was via IR. The cameras that were designed to use it had a rectangular port on the top housing that was exposed when the covering was pulled back. A part of the RF system dropped down into this port. A second part plugged into the two holes on the top of the front standard.
The RF sent an IR beam that the rangefinder used to set the proper distance (in theory). On the left side was a knob calibrated with settings from 72 or 75mm (I don't remember if the 72 was available back then) to 360mm. You selected the proper setting for the focal length you were using (and that had been coupled on the computer at service) and a projected frame appeared in the finder window. The frame grew or shrank as you focused to compensate for field size and moved to correct for parallax. Arrows inside the finder indicated the direction to turn the focusing knob to set the proper focus and a readout indicated the distance to the subject.
In order to mount the EMS unit the cameras made for it had no locking knobs on the top of the camera for the back movements. So if you have a Master or a 2000 with the lock knobs on the top of the body this item could not mount onto the camera. All of the back locking knobs had to be on the side of the body housing.
But, it did not work properly. And, if you buy this one you will not be able to program it.

[Sal Santamaura]

Very interesting history Bob. I just asked the seller some questions based on what you summarized. Let's see his responses. :D

[Bob Salomon]

Very interesting history Bob. I just asked the seller some questions based on what you summarized. Let's see his responses. :D

He is selling the proper 2000 for it and the three lenses appear to be properly coupled to it but that 240 could be problematical.

[Sal Santamaura]

He is selling the proper 2000 for it and the three lenses appear to be properly coupled to it but that 240 could be problematical.Here's the exact question text I submitted:


"Has the rangefinder unit been programmed for each of the three lenses you're selling in this listing? If so, how have you found its accuracy to be, especially with the 240mm? Are there any subject types/situations where the IR rangefinder has trouble accurately focusing?

Thanks in advance for your answers."

No reply yet.

[Richard Johnson]

Are you in the market for a Technika 2000 or was that just a public service ~ police action?

[Sal Santamaura]

Are you in the market for a Technika 2000 or was that just a public service ~ police action?The latter. :) As of this moment, there's still no reply from the seller, either privately or posted with the listing.

[EdSawyer]

"All that we sold were recalled and returned to Linhof except for one that the owner decided to keep."

So, is this that specific one, I wonder? would make it pretty unique as a collectors item (one of a kind) if nothing else. Give them (Linhof) credit for trying, at least. It's a pretty cool concept, unfortunate that it didn't work out as planned.

[Sal Santamaura]

"All that we sold were recalled and returned to Linhof except for one that the owner decided to keep."

So, is this that specific one, I wonder?...That's possible, of course, and Bob might have some way of knowing, but he might not either. The "we" in Bob's post most likely referred to HP Marketing. The seller is in Tokyo. The offered equipment could be what Bob's customer kept which was later sold and found its way to Japan or it could have been purchased from another Linhof distributor in Japan or elsewhere.

With just over 10 hours left of the auction, the seller has lowered their Buy It Now price and also received two offers, one of which was rejected and the other is currently pending. Oh, and my questions remain ignored and unanswered, both privately and in the listing. Perhaps the seller is a reader of this forum and saw my post #10. :)

[Jac@stafford.net]

I would consider the camera as a collectible, but not being able to use it due to required obsolete computer hardware and possibly nonexistent software makes it tragically incomplete and useless.
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[David A. Goldfarb]

Not useless at all. It appears to be as good as any MT2000 in good working order, just with a strange appendage that might not be entirely functional. Presumably the groundglass still works, plus you've got a rangefinder that works for two or maybe three lenses (presuming they were programmed as part of the original kit) as long as you're not shooting picket fences.

[Bob Salomon]

"All that we sold were recalled and returned to Linhof except for one that the owner decided to keep."

So, is this that specific one, I wonder? would make it pretty unique as a collectors item (one of a kind) if nothing else. Give them (Linhof) credit for trying, at least. It's a pretty cool concept, unfortunate that it didn't work out as planned.

The one that we sold that was kept was to a woman in Arizona.

[Bob Salomon]

I would consider the camera as a collectible, but not being able to use it due to required obsolete computer hardware and possibly nonexistent software makes it tragically incomplete and useless.
.

The camera is very usable, that EMS system comes right off and then you have a Technika 2000.

[Sal Santamaura]

Well, it closed without a sale, my questions unanswered to the end and the second Buy It Now offer expired. The seller has relisted:


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Linhof-Master-Technika-2000-Large-Format-camera-with-three-lenses-in-EX-/131269281896?

I probably won't bother asking those questions again. Or should I?

[Sal Santamaura]

...The seller has relisted:


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Linhof-Master-Technika-2000-Large-Format-camera-with-three-lenses-in-EX-/131269281896?...That second listing also ended without a sale. Before it concluded, the seller dropped their Buy It Now price to little more than half what was initially asked in the previous listing and received two (declined) offers. There's no re-listing this time.

[Richard Johnson]

Thank goodness you're policing this so some poor Chinese collector doesn't get ripped off!

[Jac@stafford.net]

Thank goodness you're policing this so some poor Chinese collector doesn't get ripped off!

That is funny. Thanks. A poor stupid Chinese bidder. That will be the day. I know you are joshing.

My best Chinese buyers work though USA brokers. When they do not bite then the item is pretty much doomed from hyper pricing.

[Sal Santamaura]

Thank goodness you're policing this so some poor Chinese collector doesn't get ripped off!You sound a bit upset about my posts. You're not the seller, are you? :D

[Richard Johnson]

I just find it odd devoting energy over somebody else's business. If you can't make a valid claim to eBay that the seller is doing something wrong then shouldn't we mind our own business?

[Sal Santamaura]

I just find it odd devoting energy over somebody else's business...There's another thread active at the moment concerning how easy it is to locate information through Google searches. I found it just as simple to visit the eBay auction listing, use the information provided by Bob when formulating a few questions and submit them to the seller. Hardly any energy was devoted.


...If you can't make a valid claim to eBay that the seller is doing something wrong then shouldn't we mind our own business?First, I never claimed, to eBay or anyone here, that the seller was doing anything wrong. Second, this wasn't a FS/Wanted ad on this forum, where the rules prohibit chiming in with negative comments. Third, I submitted those questions directly to the seller, who opted to ignore them and neither answer me directly nor post answers in their listing.

I've been registered at eBay about as long as here. You are free to avoid asking eBay sellers questions about their listings. I am free to ask those questions and discuss them here. If potential buyers are able to increase their knowledge of offered items' characteristics and/or drawbacks by reading this forum, it can only make for more informed purchases. Unless you're the seller and feel that increasing buyer knowledge would hurt your sales price, why would you be upset with my posts or eBay questions?

[Embdude]

So anybody know what EMS is an acronym for? Im hoping for some really big german words ie. Entfernungsmesser-Messsystem Sucher... I'll be really disappointed if it is in english ie. Electronic Measuring System...

[Bob Salomon]

So anybody know what EMS is an acronym for? Im hoping for some really big german words ie. Entfernungsmesser-Messsystem Sucher... I'll be really disappointed if it is in english ie. Electronic Measuring System...

Electronic measuring system. Unfortunately it never worked properly and was recalled after a year or so. One of the ones that we sold through a dealer in AZ was never returned.
But the owner has a big problem, it required a dedicated PC running an early version of Windows to program the lenses to the finder as well as a proprietary Linhof program. None of those have been available for decades and the Technika 2000 mechanically could no longer accept the unit after a few years after it was recalled.

[Tin Can]

Some collect old computers and electronics

Some make a lot of money selling obsolete tools


Electronic measuring system. Unfortunately it never worked properly and was recalled after a year or so. One of the ones that we sold through a dealer in AZ was never returned.
But the owner has a big problem, it required a dedicated PC running an early version of Windows to program the lenses to the finder as well as a proprietary Linhof program. None of those have been available for decades and the Technika 2000 mechanically could no longer accept the unit after a few years after it was recalled.

[Embdude]

Electronic measuring system. Unfortunately it never worked properly and was recalled after a year or so. One of the ones that we sold through a dealer in AZ was never returned.
But the owner has a big problem, it required a dedicated PC running an early version of Windows to program the lenses to the finder as well as a proprietary Linhof program. None of those have been available for decades and the Technika 2000 mechanically could no longer accept the unit after a few years after it was recalled.

Too bad Linhof's “Large Format System of the Future, where Precision Engineering meets Advanced Electronics” did not pan out.

Bob did you get to play around with one when they were new? Im curious what were your thoughts at the time they were new. It seemed to have generated very high praise and excitement in the press when it first arrived.

[Bob Salomon]

Too bad Linhof's “Large Format System of the Future, where Precision Engineering meets Advanced Electronics” did not pan out.

Bob did you get to play around with one when they were new? Im curious what were your thoughts at the time they were new. It seemed to have generated very high praise and excitement in the press when it first arrived.

I played with it from the day it was announced at Photokina until the day I recalled all the ones sold in the USA. It was an interesting concept but awkward to use. Actually it was invented by a couple of guys that sold the concept to LInhof.
Biggest problem was getting the software to work to couple the lenses and then it couldn’t focus on things like a picket fence or a herringbone pattern. To mount it to the 2000 there was a small door hidden under the covering on the top front of the body that a receiver fit through that was part of the finder and an IR transmitter that plugged into the holes on the top of the front standard.

[Greg]

Actually had the chance to use one once by a serious Linhof enthusiast. I have to compare it to a Yugo. Looks great at first but in practice is a complete dud.