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Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 03:46
I've just purchased a gorgeous Linhof Technika 13x18cm that Bob Salomon has dated to 1955. I'm still in awe at its amazing build quality (and weight) but have a few questions about the camera itself and some of the accessories it came with.

1) Does it offer front tilt? I see you can drop the bed but can't find any knob or tang to tilt the standard.

2) When I pull the front standard out and it engages the first stop on the bed (for 120mm lenses), the focusing indicator thing seems to point at 1m, not at infinity, whereas when I pull it further out to the second stop (for 210mm lenses), the indicator points to infinity.

3) One of the lenses that came with it is a beautiful 300mm Symmar convertible, is there enough bellows draw to focus it in 500mm mode? Apparently, it needs 61cm.

Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 03:50
Now it came with some accessories, a few of which I'm not exactly sure what they are.
Is this a neg holder for enlargers? There's 13x18 engraved on it.

Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 03:52
Here's another, but only one plate plus 9x12 reduction rather than the previous one, which is a jointed double plate. Again, for enlargers?

Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 03:55
It came with this massive lens hood, 86mm thread, the only thing written on it is Nr 35, would this be from Linhof or Schneider? It fits the 300 Symmar but was it designed for a wider angle lens?

Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 03:57
There's also this lens hood which has 68 engraved on it, with a case which has BW on it, I've never seen this type of mounting system, any info?

Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 04:00
And it also came with this 86mm Schneider "grun" filter, it has Nr 35 engraved on it like the huge lens hood. I've never seen such a solid filter, it weighs 160g! It's pretty dark green, would it be suitable/designed for B&W work?

Many thanks for any advice and info.
Simon

Cor
1-Jul-2011, 05:03
Hi Simon,

Congratulations with the camera, I held one once, it's a beauty both hand held it isn't, much too heavy.

It looks (by the looks and the date) as an TechIII, I think you do not have forward tilt, but only backward tilt. At least that is the case with my Tech II (why on earth only bw tilt ??..Bob..?)

Anyway if you drop the bed and tilt the lens plane back, both "standards" are parallel. Apply a little raise to put the lens in the optical centre again, and now you can use the tilt function for a fw tilt again. Not the best way (be careful when you have applied tilt, and stop down the lens and cock the shutter, you'll easily move the tilt plane..) but it works..

See also:

http://www.cameraquest.com/techs.htm


Enjoy, run some Foma through it!

Cor

Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 05:17
Thanks for the link Cor but I still can't find how to tilt the front standard, perhaps Bob will pop in.

Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 05:23
Another question, it came with some Linhof 13x18 film holders, there's a little lever on the side, is that to ease out the film?

rknewcomb
1-Jul-2011, 05:46
"2) When I pull the front standard out and it engages the first stop on the bed (for 120mm lenses), the focusing indicator thing seems to point at 1m, not at infinity, whereas when I pull it further out to the second stop (for 210mm lenses), the indicator points to infinity. "

The focus track is made up of two tracks I believe - upper and lower. Try sliding the top track backwards towards the camera body until it clicks into a notch. I believe there is a little silver tab on the lower track that if you press down on it will let you push the top track back towards the camera body and a different notch & tab should lock it in the correct place. This may reset the tracks so the focus scale lines up correctly for the 120mm lens at infinity. Working from memory here....
Rbt

Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 06:00
Thanks Robert, that's done the trick.

Cor
1-Jul-2011, 06:07
Thanks for the link Cor but I still can't find how to tilt the front standard, perhaps Bob will pop in.

It's hard to tell from your picture, perhaps post a close up of the front standard (bottom part)?

On my 4*5 Tech III there are 2 black "knobs" (lack of a better description), left and right on the bottom oif the front standard, which have to be squeezed together to do a backward tilt. Perhaps that is a bit hard on the 5 inch width..but Bob is really the man for this..

best,

Cor

Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 06:18
Here you go Cor. Also can't find any holes to slot a compendium hood into, not that that's a problem.

Cor
1-Jul-2011, 06:34
Here you go Cor. Also can't find any holes to slot a compendium hood into, not that that's a problem.

You're fast..that is a clear picture, it looks a bit as my TechIII, but not completely.
Here are my guesses, and never force things: :)

The lever on the left (the flat chrome tongue) can be pressed to be able to apply swing (takes some force on my tech, be careful)

The knurled knobs are for raise/fall and left/right, but you have found out these already I guess.

Interesting is the chrome lever on the right side, attached to the black piece. I hope/guess that that lever somehow operated the (backward tilt), try it

Calling for Bob...:p

Good luck,

Cor

Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 06:42
That dogleg lever doesn't seem to move, I think you're just meant to use it to pull out and push back the standard. The chrome tab below it is what you press inwards to slide the standard.

boris
1-Jul-2011, 08:10
between the knurled knob and the dogleg you can see a lever, pull it town and you can aply back swing. you should open the camera a bit, otherwise the compressed bellows would imped the movement. hope it helps, boris

Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 09:08
I can't see any other lever there Boris apart from the tab to slide the standard, and that only moves inwards.

boris
1-Jul-2011, 09:38
enjoy it

Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 09:51
You mean the dogleg Boris? That doesn't move at all, I've tried it in all directions.

boris
1-Jul-2011, 12:07
buy a insulin-syringe and wd-40. fill the syringe with a few drops of wd-40, inject a very small amout of wd-40 in both slots, turn the camera in all directions and wait for 24 hours. the camera is 60 years old...;) be patient.

Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 12:53
Aha, thanks Boris, will do that, it's in such good condition I forget it's pretty old. Can you enlighten me on any of the other questions?

Ole Tjugen
1-Jul-2011, 12:54
Another question, it came with some Linhof 13x18 film holders, there's a little lever on the side, is that to ease out the film?

Those are "Universal" holders, for film OR plates. The little lever is an "Auswerfer", meant to help push the plates out. I find it very useful with film too, mostly just giving it a little tap to check that I have actually remembered to LOAD the film! :)

Flynnie
1-Jul-2011, 13:24
Thanks Ole, those holders are beautiful too, so I just press down on the spring plate when loading film I suppose?

boris
1-Jul-2011, 14:08
"One of the lenses that came with it is a beautiful 300mm Symmar convertible, is there enough bellows draw to focus it in 500mm mode? Apparently, it needs 61cm."

even if you would succeed to focus at infinity, it wouldn't be fun :p .
if you can, buy a dedicated tele lens. fuji, nikon or schneider made them. i have a tele xenar 500mm and it is still very tricky to shoot outside with 1/8 of a second.

Ole Tjugen
1-Jul-2011, 15:21
It would be fun, I promise you.

The longest converted Symmar you can focus at infinity on a Linhof Technika 13x18 is the 240/420. I used that with good results on mine, when the 360 Tele-Xenar had too little coverage for the movements I needed - almost full front drop!

Flynnie
2-Jul-2011, 01:56
300mm will be plenty long for me anyway so won't bother converting it. Ole, do you reckon those items in posts 2 and 3 are for enlargers and would there be any interest in them?

Susie Frith
5-Jul-2011, 04:24
Hi Flynnie,

I checked with my copy of Linhof Practice of 1958. Yours won't have front tilt You'll need to rotate the whole camera onto it's side and use the front swing as tilt, or mount the camera upside down and use the backwards tilt as a forwards tilt, or tilt the back of the camera (ground glass) using the stalks and tilt the whole camera backwards to keep the ground glass vertical, if all that makes sence!

The back tilt of the lens panel is to re-align the lens panel to the vertical if you drop the bed into the second notch. I think with your 120mm lens, you will have to do this anyway. Drop the bed, tilt the lens panel back so it is now vertical again, depress the catch and slide the upper track back into the body of the camera. The infinity mark (black dot) should now align and the lens should be at infinity focus.

The camera has enough extension for a 300, lens or a 500mm tele. although it is listed as having 560mm extension.

Hope all this helps. I have a Mk5 which solves a lot of these problems!

Best wishes,

Susie

Ole Tjugen
5-Jul-2011, 11:06
I wonder if those "neg holders" are for some kind of "Technika enlarger conversion". I think I've seen something similar, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if I have one of those in a box somewhere!

But I really have no idea what they're for.

And by the way - my little pic here is myself with a hand-held Technika 13x18, with a 300mm f:4.5 Xenar on it. It works, after a fashion - but I can't really recommend that combination for hand held photography!

Flynnie
5-Jul-2011, 12:10
Susie, many thanks for the info, just have to free up that tilt lever and will try out your suggestions.
Ole, all I've found so far on Google is reference to the Linhof Reprocord kit but no pics of my actual neg holders, also found that they did make enlargers.
Can't see your pic but I think I know which one you're talking about, wonder if they ever made a 13x18 with rangefinder.

Bob Salomon
5-Jul-2011, 12:34
..... wonder if they ever made a 13x18 with rangefinder.

Of course they did. The 18x24cm Technika camera didn't have a rangefinder. But that one weighed over 10kg without a lens! The 57 Technika III only weighed 4.8kg.

Valdecus
5-Jul-2011, 12:59
The 13x18 Technika III without a viewfinder attached was simply called "Technika III", the version that included a viewfinder was called "Technika III E". Later on, the 13x18 models that included a viewfinder were called "Super Technika", i.e. "Super Technika IV" and "Super Technika V".

Cheers,
Andreas

Flynnie
5-Jul-2011, 13:12
Thanks for the info guys, are the rangefinder 13x18's pretty rare? Andreas, have you seen anything like those neg holders?

Bob Salomon
5-Jul-2011, 13:28
The 13x18 Technika III without a viewfinder attached was simply called "Technika III", the version that included a viewfinder was called "Technika III E". Later on, the 13x18 models that included a viewfinder were called "Super Technika", i.e. "Super Technika IV" and "Super Technika V".

Cheers,
Andreas

Not according to the Linhof Story Book. Both the E and non-E versions had a rangefinder. None had a viewfinder. That was an optional accessory as were the Linhof wire sports finders.

Ole Tjugen
5-Jul-2011, 16:28
Can't see your pic but I think I know which one you're talking about, wonder if they ever made a 13x18 with rangefinder.

Mine had: http://www.bruraholo.no/Cameras/Linhof_Tech/Linhof_Tech.html

I didn't use it here, though - didn't have a cam for the 300mm Xenar.

http://www.bruraholo.no/bilder/minime.jpg

And the picture I took:

http://www.bruraholo.no/bilder/handheld.jpg


Nice camera, and built like a tank. Weighed like a tank, too...

Valdecus
5-Jul-2011, 23:25
Not according to the Linhof Story Book. Both the E and non-E versions had a rangefinder. None had a viewfinder. That was an optional accessory as were the Linhof wire sports finders.

Bob, you are right when you say that none had a viewfinder, this was indeed an optional accessory. I had inadvertently used the term 'viewfinder' instead of 'rangefinder', and 'rangefinder' is what I actually meant to say.

However, the 'Linhof Camera Story' book has two references regarding the differences between the "Technika III 13x18" and the "Technika III E 13x18":

1- On page 102 of the second edition describing the Technika III in detail it states that "... The Technika III was also available without a rangefinder." This indeed implies that the model 'Technika III' (non-'E') had a coupled rangefinder, so one could deduct that both the E and non-E versions had a rangefinder. Did you refer to this section of the book?

2- In the 'Technical Data Summed Up' section on page 140, the two different versions (E and non-E) are described as follows:

-- Technika III E 13x18/5x7 : Folding camera with built-in rangefinder; made 1950 to 1956

-- Technika III 13x18/5x7 : Similar to model III E, but without rangefinder; made 1954 to 1956

I was referring to this information when I was trying to say that the non-E version did not have a rangefinder. BTW, I always believed that the "E" stands for "Entfernungsmesser" ('rangefinder'), but couldn't find any references for this assumption so far.

Cheers,
Andreas

Valdecus
5-Jul-2011, 23:49
Thanks for the info guys, are the rangefinder 13x18's pretty rare? Andreas, have you seen anything like those neg holders?

I don't think that the rangefinder Technika III E 13x18's are particularly rare, they turn up on eBay in Europe once in a while. Here's my own Technika III E 13x18cm/5x7" from around 1955:

http://www.linhof-forum.de/bilder/data/media/14/linhof_technika_III_13x18.jpg

I believe that the negative holders are most likely for the additional enlargerer unit for the 13x18 Technikas ("Kaltlicht-Beleuchtungsansatz"), but I am not entirely sure.

Cheers,
Andreas

Flynnie
6-Jul-2011, 00:37
Thanks for the info Andreas, am searching for Kaltlicht-Beleuchtungsansatz, will see what I can find.

carbo73
18-Jul-2019, 17:32
I've just bought a 1947 13x18 Technika II (dated by Bob Salomon). The sr. number is just a 3XXX. When it arrives and after holidays I'll share pictures of it. I know it's a postwar camera, but just barely, maybe it helps.

Bob Salomon
18-Jul-2019, 17:42
I've just bought a 1947 13x18 Technika II (dated by Bob Salomon). The sr. number is just a 3XXX. When it arrives and after holidays I'll share pictures of it. I know it's a postwar camera, but just barely, maybe it helps.

Not sure that it was really made post war. That particular model is listed as 46 to 48. It might have been left over parts or cameras from wartime. The Linhof factory was destroyed late in the war so regular production could not have started again in 46 until the factory was rebuilt.
In a stairway at the factory there are a series of pictures of the factory after it was bombed. Not much was left!

If you look at a picture of the front entrance to the factory you will see that it was built to look like a farmhouse to try to protect it from bombings. It almost worked!