Monday, February 27, 2012

Agfa Isolette II

The Apotar 85mm, f4.5 is the middle range 3 element lens offering from Agfa. It fits between the cheaper Agnar and the deluxe 4 element Solinar.
Luckily the basic 4 speed + B Prontor shutter is working fine on my sample. But the focus ring was frozen by the dreaded green dried grease which practically cemented the front cell focusing element to the middle lens element ;(

I backed off the 3 set screws just enough and the front focusing ring unmounted without fuss. No need to remove the tiny screws, not easy to remount and there's a greater chance of losing them. Replacement screws of this kind are not easy to find.
Before attempting to remove the front lens assembly, I applied a few drops of Naphtha (lighter fluid) around where the middle element screws into the shutter lens mount and let it sit for 15-20 minutes.
Then I wrapped the front lens element ring with duct tape and then tightened a hose clamp around it. Note: judicious care should be observed in the tension of the clamp - just enough to grip and gain leverage! Beyond that, one runs the risk of cracking the lens elements.

Once the two fused elements were out of the the shutter assembly, I soaked them in Naphtha contained in a 35mm film canister and exposed under the sun for 1 hour. After an hour and a bit of coaxing by hand, the two elements dislodged from each other. As pictured above, all the dried green stuff have to be cleaned out and then the threads re lubricated with lithium grease.

Collimating the lens
Camera mounted on a tripod, shutter held at B, 
in lieu of ground glass at the film plane I used three strips of magic tape, targeted distant objects 500 meters and beyond, focused the front lens element for maximum sharpness magnified through a viewing loupe.
Next time I will try Rick Oleson's two camera method.

Remount the front focusing ring at the infinity mark.

So far, so good but was anxious to shoot and forgot to inspect the bellows extensively for light leaks.
Leaky bellows is another Isolette affliction ;(

After seeing frames with symptoms of light leaks, I went into a dark room at night and shined a flashlight through the back and bellows of the Isolette. Found a few pinholes at the corners of the folds and a missing tiny screw on the side of the lens assembly was letting light through also. A replacement screw was found in my junk box. I used textile paint to seal the light leaks as a temporary fix. I reckon that with constant folding and unfolding, the textile paint fix will not hold. So I contacted Sandeha Lynch for replacement bellows.

Stay tuned...


Sunday, February 26, 2012

Rolleicord III

Getting my feet wet in medium format
Schneider-Kreuznach 75mm, f3.5 lens

It seems like the camera has not been used in a while because initially the slow speeds were sticky but came back to life with a bit of exercise. The finder was still not very bright for indoors after cleaning, but fine for outdoor shooting.

So far I've shot two rolls with this camera. Although the film transport has an auto stop feature, I'm still struggling to avoid double exposures ;)

Sample shot
Fuji Acros 120 - 60 minutes in Rodinal 1:100


Friday, February 10, 2012

Stand Development using Rodinal 1:100 @ 60 minutes

First attempt, semi stand - mild agitation for 30 seconds + 10 seconds @ 5 minutes then 3 gentle inversions at 30 minutes
Zorki 6 + Jupiter
Agfa APX100 @ EI100 
Second try - 3 minutes pre-wash, 1st minute gentle agitation then stand for 59 minutes
Olympus Trip 35
ERA 100 @ EI 50
Starting developer temperature in both = 15C, no tempering bath, ambient room temperature @ 23C

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Winter...

Zorki 1e + Industar 22
APX100/Diafine
Leica II + Summar 50/2
APX100/Diafine

I don't miss shoveling snow to drive to a gig...but beginning to miss cool and dry weather ;)





Saturday, December 24, 2011

Season's Greetings!



Merry tunes played on a Rek O Kut L37 + SME 3012/Denon DL103!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Musician's amplifier...

...title inspired by an article in Audio Engineering, November 1949 ;)


3.758 VAC rms into 8 ohms = 1765mW! 


Happy listening and happy holidays!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Holiday Projects

What's on the bench?

Rofiel's long awaited SE10 mono integrated amp...to be delivered before X'mas, fingers crossed ;)

The last time I did chassis work was in mid 2008 when I built a preamp and amp for my brother. Since I settled in Manila, Joey of Harana Audio and his shop associates have been doing metal work for my projects.

It was refreshing to be reunited with my power tools just like the old days - stress relieving ;)


This amp will be the heart of this system, hopefully before the New Year!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Performance Program Christmas Party 2011

Filipino concert violinist, Hector Corpus was our guest of honor! Hector has pursued a very successful career in Spain as soloist, chamber musician, orchestra player and pedagogue.


Hector coaching Jonathan assisted on the piano by Ruth who is also a violinist in this program.



Hector showing Jobry how to develop a firmer bow grip.



Last time I saw Hector was in the early 80s in NYC when we were still music students.

Dad was the conductor of the Philippine Youth Orchestra where Hector and I got our first experience in orchestra playing.



We look forward to more frequent visits from Hector as a performer and mentor to inspire our audience and young talents!