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Bill, 70's military B&W
11-Jun-2012, 13:02
It’s me again a Newbie who is trying his hand in LF. I am still in the accumulating stage. So far I have a Toyo View 4x5 and a Hasselblad both with 150 lenses. Hasselblad and lens are not so clean. I do not have a darkroom set up yet.

I went out of town for some work and mentioned LF to someone, next thing I know there is someone selling a lot of stuff. I had to buy it all, to clean out room in the garage. Money was minimal.
Could you please help me out and tell me what is worth a hoot and what is not. "What should I pursue" and what should I get rid of?
There was boxes of stuff, I will not be able to look at it until I get home in about a week.

Anyways here goes with some of the stuff.
Beseler model 45 MCRX ??? Comes motorized (works) with a color head. 35mm, 6x6, and 4x5 neg carriers. Lots of trays, reels and drums, a rotator for the drums (not JOBO) another brand?

3 different focusing loupes for printing. Safe lights including the old barn door one that hangs upside down from the ceiling, many timers, light board.
paper light boxes, a dark box and a bag also for loading film.

3 Enlarger lenses which appear to be pristine
EL-Nikkor 1:4 50mm
2 Rodenstock Rodagon 1:5.6 80mm and a 1:5.6 150mm

Also got a Crown Graphic, looks really nice, came with
Schneider Kreuznach Xenar 1:4.7 135mm clean glass and shutter sounds good.

Here’s some I need help with
!st is an old brass lens, comes apart into 2 pieces….??? Convertible???
Neither of these have a shutter.
Kodak Anastigmat f 4.5 8 ½ inch 5x7 does not have any other f stops???
Bausch and Lomb 8 ¼ inch f 4.5 1:1 Mag (only goes from f 4.5-5.3-6.3-8) ???


Honeywell Pentax 3 ½ degree spot meter, I do not see any movement when I press the button???
A couple of other light meters and boxes of little darkroom things. My truck is loaded and I can’t unload until I get home in about a week.

What use are the Kodak and Bausch lenses without a shutter? The brass Kodak is f 4.5 only. Sell? Trade? Mount in a shutter and lens board and use on my 4x5?

Is a 3½ degree Pentax worth fixing? Or could it be that I do not know how to work it? Is it the one I need to be using?

Any recommendations would be appreciated,
Bill

Jim Jones
11-Jun-2012, 17:24
The B&L 8.25 inch may be from a copier. I've used two of them (different styles) on a 5x7 enlarger. One was adequate in that application. Could the Kodak Anastigmat 8,25" be a projector lens?

Bill, 70's military B&W
11-Jun-2012, 18:25
Jim, I do not know what they are from. I doubt if I will need them, only because it would probably cost more to set them up to fit my camera than they are worth. Neither has a shutter.

Bill, 70's military B&W
11-Jun-2012, 18:54
Jim, another thing, The brassy Kodak actually comes apart into 3 pieces. Glass piece comes off the front, glass piece comes off the back and a hollow funny looking part stays attached to the lens board. Took it apart and cleaned it well, running water and dish soap. left it apart for 24 hrs, then reassembled. Looks much nicer. Glass looks pretty darn good.

urs0polar
11-Jun-2012, 20:36
"I am still in the accumulating stage" -lol, aren't we all!

Unless I missed it in your list, you need some film holders. I would start with that, make sure you like LF, then slowly try things and sell the stuff you don't want later. I have an $80 1920s Zeiss Jena lens I got off eBay, and it's awesome. It cost about the price of it to mount it and CLA it (now that I think about it, maybe it was more), but it was still cheaper than mounting and CLAing a more expensive lens, so whatever.

Bill, 70's military B&W
12-Jun-2012, 03:53
It came with 3 negative carriers, 35/120/4x5,
Also has paper safes, a dark box for loading film, also a dark bag for film.
Film holders? Do you mean something to put your negatives in for storage?

joselsgil
12-Jun-2012, 19:51
Bill,

Nice score, it is always good to find these items and one can only imagine how much of these items have ended up in local landfills.


"Here’s some I need help with
!st is an old brass lens, comes apart into 2 pieces….??? Convertible???
Neither of these have a shutter.
Kodak Anastigmat f 4.5 8 ½ inch 5x7 does not have any other f stops???
Bausch and Lomb 8 ¼ inch f 4.5 1:1 Mag (only goes from f 4.5-5.3-6.3-8) ??? "

The Bausch and Lomb is a copier lens. 1:1 is the clue on that one. The Kodak could also be a copier lens. You will see these lenses go up for auction from time to time. I have seen some sell for a lot of money and others sell for $1. They are heavy and make great paperweights. You can use them with a Packard Shutter, should you ever want to experiment in the future.


"Honeywell Pentax 3 ½ degree spot meter, I do not see any movement when I press the button???"

Have you tried replacing the battery? It may take a 9 volt.

Good luck and don't worry, this will probably be your first of many photo gear discoveries. :-)

Jose

Forgot to mention, the safety light that hangs upside down with barn door is most likely a Thomas safety light. They work great and are real nice to own. They used to be very $$$. I purchased mine for $20.

Bill, 70's military B&W
16-Jun-2012, 11:41
Joselsgil,
What do I do with copier lenses? Any market for them? Is it worth mounting them, using a Packard Shutter to a lens board and use on a view camera? What would that cost? What about image quality?
I just found the battery compartment on the Honeywell Pentax 3 1/2 degree spot meter. It was empty and covered, takes a Mallory M-215 22-SV.
Yes it's a Thomas safety light, looks nice. Looked it up and found a used one, asking price $250.

joselsgil
16-Jun-2012, 13:50
Bill,

The market for the lenses is hard to say. I have seen them sell for a lot of money because of misinformed buyers assume that they are buying a large format lens, based on a misinformed or intentionally misinforming seller. These lenses were not designed for large format cameras, but you can experiment with them. They may be good for closeup work. I have not played with the ones I have, as I have other lenses that I prefer to use.

Packard Shutters can be found for a few dollars. They appear for sale on this forum by members or you can find them on the auction site. You can also purchase new ones, as the company is still in business (I hope).

I don't think you will be able to find a Mallory battery for the Pentax meter. The Mallory battery was most likely a mercury battery and they have been banned in the USA for many years. Try to find a battery with the same voltage that the meter is designed for. Or check to see if there is an adaptor to convert the meter to use alkaline batteries. From what I have read, it can use an Eveready 412 22.5 volt battery. Double check on that to make sure.

The asking price for the Thomas safety light is $250? Well, I used to ask my ex for a Ferrari, but I never got one. Guess it doesn't hurt to ask, but getting it is another thing. :)

Jose

Bill, 70's military B&W
18-Jun-2012, 20:30
Jose, I found a battery store, went in today but their computer was down. I'll go back tomorrow. I'll have to get a Packard Shutter and try these lenses on it.
Bill