Differences between Polaroid MP3 and MP4?

[mikebarger]

Boy this is a tough one to google as there are so many references to media players the camera info is hard to track.

Anyway, I came across a Polaroid shutter and Tominon lens set. The shutter does not say it's a MP4 or MP3, just that it is a Polaroid. What little info I found on the net makes me think the MP4 shutters are marked as such.

Can someone point me to reference materials on these? I'd like to figure out what the differences are between these two and what I actually have.

Heck, what I have may not be either......


Thanks


Mike

[Dan Fromm]

Mike, most of the lenses made for the MP-3 were Rodenstock Ysarons in Prontor Press shutters with no shutter cock/release lever and a pair of cable sockets, one for cock/release, the other for press focus. The big exception is the 35/4 Eurygon, which front mounted on a Prontor Press with no diaphragm. My MP-4 material shows only Tominons in barrel, to be front mounted on a diaphragmless #1 Copal Press marked Polaroid MP-4, and shows only that shutter.

Does y'r Polaroid shutter have a diaphragm? The MP-4 shutter doesn't, most other Copal Polaroid shutters do.

One exception is the shutter delivered with the CU-5 version of the 17/4 Tominon; that lens is in barrel, its Copal Polaroid shutter (# 1 Press) has no diaphragm. I once bought a CU-5 17/4 without shutter from KEH so don't know whether its shutter opens to the full #1 30 mm. The MP-4 shutter does, not all Copal Polaroids delivered with lenses in them do.

[mikebarger]

Thanks, now I'm thinking it's not a MP-3 or MP-4 kit. Shutter does have an iris, and has a 127mm f4.7 Rodenstock - Ysaron. The Tominon lens are 50mm f4.5, f75mm f4.5 and a 135mm f4.5. The three Tominon do fit the front of the Polaroid shutter.

So I'm thing it might be Tominon lens from the MP-4 and shutter/Ysaron from an MP-3 set.

Thanks again for the info.

Mike

[Dan Fromm]

AFAIK, the Tominons in barrel (17/4, 35/4.5, 50/4.5, 75/4.5, 105/4.5, and 135/4.5) were all, except the 17/4, only for the MP-4. Ysarons in shutter were all for the MP-3.

One of the many important changes between MP-3 and MP-4 was that MP-4 lenses were made to be front-mounted, thus allowing the customer to buy one shutter for the system instead of one shutter for each lens. Considerate. But everything sort of interchanges and over the years users have swapped many bits around. Inconsiderate, but on the other hand, why not?

[mikebarger]

Dan if I could bother you with one question....Will the Ysaron or any of the Tominon lens cover 4X5...any movements? These are all a lot smaller physically the my other 4x5 lens.

Thanks for all the information!

Mike

[Joseph Dickerson]

Mike,

The 135 Tominon covers 4x5 but not with any movements. I seem to remember that the MP-4 had a sliding carriage that allowed the film holder to stay installed. You simply shifted the whole carriage mechanism to put the film behind (over) the lens. The shutter was automatically closed by the carriage.

If I remember correctly, the MP-3 lacked this feature. I owned an MP-4 for years, bought and sold an MP-3 one weekend so my recollection may be incorrect.

JD