Aero Ektar Speed Graphic Project

[Valdecus]

For AEs, look for the cleanest/clearest one you can find. They all have a few minor issues, not unexpected on a 70+ year old lens. Most will have some yellowing, it can be cleared with a UV flashlight, but takes a while. I've had a few and cleared them all up with UV, over the space of a few days/weeks. if you can find one that has been disassembled and cleaned by a skilled person, that's a nice plus. THey are not too hard to take apart and clean (I've done several) but it does take some time and the right tools.

Ed's advice is right on the spot. Regarding bleaching the Aero Ektar lens, this works fine with a simple IKEA Jansjö LED lamp for 10 EUR/USD. The lamp was placed appr. 1"/2.5cm above the rear element. The maximum temperature reached at the rear element was less than 40°C/104°F.
After 10 days, the bleaching process seemed to be more or less complete, as can be seen in the image below:



Cheers
Andreas

[richardman]

Now I have a strong wish to get a Speed Graphics with an Aero-Ektar LoL

I'd highly recommend contacting Jo Lommen, too. He did a perfect job restoring parts of my Aero Speed combo, and the lens boards are superb. As far as I know, he also sells Aero Ektars and even complete sets from time to time, so you might just want to drop him a note.

Here's my own combo, a Pacemaker Speed Graphic with Kalart rangefinder, Graflok back, AE, and Jo Lommen's board and lens shade, all in perfect condition:



Cheers,
Andreas

[Salmo22]

if you can shoot handheld, a LInhof grip is a superbly useful addition. I have 2 speeds and 2 crowns and use those grips on all of them.

For AEs, look for the cleanest/clearest one you can find. They all have a few minor issues, not unexpected on a 70+ year old lens. Most will have some yellowing, it can be cleared with a UV flashlight, but takes a while. I've had a few and cleared them all up with UV, over the space of a few days/weeks. if you can find one that has been disassembled and cleaned by a skilled person, that's a nice plus. THey are not too hard to take apart and clean (I've done several) but it does take some time and the right tools.

SPend the time to calibrate the rangefinder (Kalart) to the lens. it is way faster to shoot that way (and probably at least as accurate if not moreso) when shooting near wide open. With care, the rangefinder can be calibrated to be spot-on from infinity to minimum focus distance (2-4feet) wide open with the AE. Expect to spend a few hours calibrating one of these, it's a fiddly job.

the JoLo board is the way to go. I find his hood solution huge and unwieldy though. Better/smaller solutions exist.

Definitely get a pacemaker speed with kalart, and get the Graflok back. The graflok is way more compatible with various film holders than either the graflex or spring backs. Make sure to get the fresnel in the focus panel -it is designed to have one.

Thanks Ed; your recommendations on the Aero-Ektar, rangefinder, JoLo, and Graflok back are sincerely appreciated.. I don't anticipate shooting handheld, but I'll keep that in mind. I remember that grip when my dad was shooting Linhof's; definitely an excellent arrangement.

[Salmo22]

Thank you Jeff!!

I would just carefully shop on eBay. If you can find one still attached to the "cone" for aerial shooting you'll likely get it cheaper. There's a thread here somewhere where I inquired how to remove that cone - the screws can get totally locked in place. Your best bet is a reverse drill bit and drill it out if so.

Oh yeah Ed brought up a good point about the RF. Kalarts can be a pain to calibrate but it's doable.

Thanks again Brian, I am watching eBay like a hawk

[Salmo22]

Let me add to the chorus of positive remarks regarding the Jo Lommen products. I have the lens mount, hood and filter holder and all are very solidly made.

As for where to find an Aero Ektar itself, Eb@y is where I've found all of mine as Bryan suggests, but you could also post a "wanted to buy" ad here in the for sale section. If you plan on shooting wide open most of the time you can get away with a lens in somewhat dicey condition (surface scratches or fungus), but if you want the option of stopping down from time to time then clean glass is a plus. The best way to "vet" a lens is to see it in person, but that's not always possible. I've had good luck with my online AE purchases, but keep in mind many sellers will not be photographers and will not know much about the lens they are selling. In that sense there is always some risk involved.

Jonathan

Thanks Jonathan. I've posted a "WTB" for the Aero-Ektar on both this site and APUG. There are a couple of possibilities that have surfaced, but I'm willing to be patient and make sure I get what I want/need.

[Salmo22]

I'd highly recommend contacting Jo Lommen, too. He did a perfect job restoring parts of my Aero Speed combo, and the lens boards are superb. As far as I know, he also sells Aero Ektars and even complete sets from time to time, so you might just want to drop him a note.

Here's my own combo, a Pacemaker Speed Graphic with Kalart rangefinder, Graflok back, AE, and Jo Lommen's board and lens shade, all in perfect condition:



Cheers,
Andreas

Many thanks Andreas for sharing the image of your Aero-Speed - what a great set-up. If you have any more photos you want to share that would be excellent. I've sent Messrs. Lommen's an email about his accessories - we will see where that leads.

[Salmo22]

Here is a full kit selling on FB just posted. No affiliation.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1170024&type=1

Thanks Tim for the heads-up; however, the link does not work for me.

[Salmo22]

that is camera pr0n! Nicely shown.

Bottomline: It takes time to build and calibrate a kit like this. Or, it takes money. If you have more money than time, you can do one-stop shopping and have all you need for $1500-2k. Or, you can assemble it yourself for half that or less, and learn a lot in the process. I've built 3 or 4 speed/crown/fast lens combos and they are tons of fun to shoot, esp. handheld.

-Ed

Excellent points Ed. While I probably have a bag-of-shells sufficient to do the "one-stop shop" method, I also have the time and interest a "do it yourself" project. I do think that learning to build/restore and calibrate an Aero-Speed combo would be fun and instructive. Either way, I'm not going to rush the effort - unless Andreas wants to simply ship me his Aero-Speed

[Salmo22]

Ed's advice is right on the spot. Regarding bleaching the Aero Ektar lens, this works fine with a simple IKEA Jansjö LED lamp for 10 EUR/USD. The lamp was placed appr. 1"/2.5cm above the rear element. The maximum temperature reached at the rear element was less than 40°C/104°F.
After 10 days, the bleaching process seemed to be more or less complete, as can be seen in the image below:

Cheers
Andreas

Thanks again Andreas. That is precisely the type of information that will come in very handy should I take on build/restoration and calibration effort.

[Salmo22]

I wanted to re-emphasize something I said in my initial post. My interest in acquiring a "Aero-Speed" set-up is primarily driven by the wonderful, unique and inspiring images I've seen produced by this combination of camera and lens. I've spent considerable time reviewing the images posted by the "Kodak Aero-Ektar" Flickr group and love much of the work shared therein. I'm also the type of photographer that is more content and creative when my camera system is in pristine working order - both functionally and aesthetically. Accordingly, whether I purchase a "one-stop-shop" system or methodically assemble, restore and calibrate as a longer term project; my ultimate goal is a Aero-Speed that looks like Andreas' and (just as important to me) functions as precisely as it looks.

Thanks again for all your ideas and recommendations - keep them coming