Graflex.org

Bill_L · Joined: 28 May 2004 Posts: 8

Hi All,

I recently got a 3x4 RB Super D with a Kodak 152 Ektar, and I'm trying to figure out how to attach filters to it for B&W. If I understand correctly, the lens would normally take series VII filters, and I believe I need a slip on retaining ring or slip on adapter, but I'm not sure how I can tell if the slip on portion of either would fit the lens. Is there something I should be looking for to know that I have the right part?

I also just got a polaroid 405 holder for the camera (it has been retrofitted with a 4x5 Graflok), and got to try my first (and most likely last) pack of 672 B&W film. Love the results, which is unfortunate with the demise of polaroid instant film. Sigh.

Thanks!
Bill

45PSS · Joined: 28 Sep 2001 Posts: 4081

Take a fine graduation ruler or a caliper and measure the outside diamater of the lens front barrel. next look for a Series ? adaptor that adapts that diamater to a series filter. An adaptor that is .5mm larger can be made to fit by reforming the tabs on the edge of the adaptor. Grafers tape, leather, and or fiber tube can ge added to the inside edge of an adaptor to reduce it so that it will fit the lens. Common size adaptor are hard to find as they are in use.

See http://graflex.org/helpboard/viewtopic.php?t=264&highlight=series+filters lens diamater to series? conversion.

See http://graflex.org/helpboard/viewtopic.php?t=1727&highlight=series+filters for series retainer ring threads.

Bill_L · Joined: 28 May 2004 Posts: 8

Thanks, 45PSS!

I think it is slowly starting to sink in. So if I see an XXmm series VII adaptor with an obvious slip on side, the XX is the size of the slip-on side, and not the size of the threaded end for the filter (just checking that I've got this right before I go shopping).

Bill

pv17vv · Joined: 22 Dec 2001 Posts: 255

Yes. If you want to be really sure, do a search on ebay with keyword "series vi" and you'll see pics.

Bill_L · Joined: 28 May 2004 Posts: 8

Thanks!

Bill

45PSS · Joined: 28 Sep 2001 Posts: 4081

And most are marked in inch and mm. The Ektar is around a 1 1/2 inch a very popular size that is hard to find.

bertsaunders · Joined: 20 May 2001 Posts: 577

Bill,
Fuji makes 405 pack film! By the way, that retrofitted Graflok back may be one that I fabricated, dont know of anyone else that made the modification for the 405 pack....the 405 pack is not centered properly to expose the film properly on the 4x5 Graflok.....seems Polaroid could not satisfy all the possibilities necessary to include the Graflex/Graphic line of cameras!
Have a nice day.......Bert

Bill_L · Joined: 28 May 2004 Posts: 8

Thanks, Bert! You've got me curious - I picked up the camera with the retrofit off of that auction site - any way to tell if it is your work? The 405 holder is not quite a perfect fit in the frame of the 3x4 shutter opening- the left ~3/8" of the film frame is covered and doesn't expose, which in the grand scheme of things isn't a big deal to me. The camera is a blast to use with the 405 holder, and the registration on the graflok back seems perfect by my eyeball.

I've got the Fuji 100 color and 100 and 3000 B&W on my list to try, although I have developed a fondness for the tonalities on the Polaroid type 72 film from the 4x5 sheet film, and I'll miss the 400 ISO for handholding. Only problem is, I have to expose the last 4 sheets of 672 film I'll ever shoot (presumably) in order to load the fuji (sniff).

Excuse the melodromatics about polaroid. I've been reading Bruce Barlow's "Finely Focused" CD, where he keeps repeating the mantra that the demise of polaroid instant film is just a bad dream.

bertsaunders · Joined: 20 May 2001 Posts: 577

Bill,
Not mine, as I slotted the adaptor plate and centered the 405 on the 3x4 opening, to avoid the black line associated with the unexposed portion of the instant film! The adaptor could be shifted to use the 405 or standard holders and get full exposure on both! My conversion is adaptable to the 3x4 and the 4x5 RB SLR bodies! The miss-alignment is obvious only when you raise the pack high enough to see the location of both openings, then you can see the problem!
Have a nice day.......Bert

45PSS · Joined: 28 Sep 2001 Posts: 4081

Bill,
What is the diamater of that 152?

Bill_L · Joined: 28 May 2004 Posts: 8

Thanks, Bert! I'll take a look and see if realigning the back is within my (somewhat meager) skills.

45PSS - I don't have calipers, but by tape measure I get 1-11/16". Converting to metric gives me ~43 mm. I found something that said the 152 needs a 44.5mm slip on, which I found one figuring that it wasn't too far off of what I measured, and it turns out that it is roughly a mm too big (it looks like that duct tape will come in handy). Since the 44.5 was as close as I could find anyway, I wasn't too concerned about the mismatch in the filter adapter size.

Bill

45PSS · Joined: 28 Sep 2001 Posts: 4081

and a spare 40mm is as close as I can get.