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kalart focal length limit
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greg*o



Joined: 16 Nov 2008
Posts: 1
Location: tx

PostPosted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 2:10 am    Post subject: kalart focal length limit Reply with quote

I have recently picked up a speed graphic with a kalart side rangefinder. My plan was to calibrate the rangefinder with a Nikon 360mm.

I have been able to reset infinity stops and get good focus with rangefinder at infinity.

When I try to set focus at 25' on the ground glass, the "long" adjustment does not go far enough.

I have tried to search and see a potential reference to a focal length limit, but nothing specific.

Have I not done enough, or is there a focal length limit with the rangefinder?

Is a 15" Wollensak tele optar any easier?

Thanks
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john wilton



Joined: 26 Aug 2008
Posts: 26

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you check the Kalart user manual (free at butkus.org) you'll see that 165mm setting is 19. 150mm is 17, and the scale only goes to 21. I've been told that the maximum focal length that can be calibrated for is 203mm.

15" is ~375mm so it will be worse; both far out of range.
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bertsaunders



Joined: 20 May 2001
Posts: 577
Location: Bakersfield California

PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:11 pm    Post subject: RF limits Reply with quote

Greg,
The new fellows forget that these cameras are not new technolegy, the company went out of busness many years ago! The cameras in spite of their age, are very functional but require carefull planning and setup for every shot taken with them! There are a few limitations, but the cameras from this era and back to the invention of the camera, are the ancestors of every camera and most every inovation and improovements found on your modern film camera and much of the digital world!
Have a nice day, and enjoy the inovations of the old timers and their wonderfull cameras!...........Bert
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troublemaker



Joined: 24 Nov 2003
Posts: 715
Location: So Cal

PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 1:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Naw, those lenses are just way too long.
The Kalart starts to get fussy even with 162mm normal lens but they do set well up to about a 7-1/2" lens and then get weird. They are really good with the semi-wide 127 and 135mm lenses the press guys and crime photographers used a lot. A 203mm lens is too long and will cause the calibrator fits.
Sooooooo, I think what they used to do ( I was young then) was keep the Kalart set for the standard lens, and add a scale or two on the bed, and used the safe set method.
So if your stuff is set up correctly, and the long lens is set for the say fifteen feet marks, so too should the standard lens scale and the RF be in synch. You just move in or out until the RF is alligned and take the shot.
But even the 15" Tele lenses that allow less bellows draw will probably suffer camera shake without added support. I've only shot mine with a tripod focussed on GG and I use an added support plate under the camera as the front standard gets shakey with all that glass up front. Don't know what you are doing with the lens, but if protraiture and shallow DOF I would think it too critical to use RF focussing anyway.
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Top



Joined: 06 Apr 2002
Posts: 198
Location: Northern New England USA

PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

FWIW, the manual for the Kalart 'F' says 'adjustable for use with lenses of 10.5cm to 30cm. But I don't think the OPs camera is equipt with this model.
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troublemaker



Joined: 24 Nov 2003
Posts: 715
Location: So Cal

PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

E-6A 4x5 standard probably.
What does your catalog call out for the limits for it?
I pretty much already know by way of setting them up, but would like to know the factory spec anyway.
Thanks
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glennfromwy



Joined: 29 Nov 2001
Posts: 903
Location: S.W. Wyoming

PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 1:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

At 360mm the rangefinder is a moot point. Your camera doesn't have enough bellows draw to utilize a 360mm lens.
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Glenn

"Wyoming - Where everybody is somebody else's weirdo"
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troublemaker



Joined: 24 Nov 2003
Posts: 715
Location: So Cal

PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 5:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Isn't it a Tele?
But yeah, pretty moot anyway.
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Top



Joined: 06 Apr 2002
Posts: 198
Location: Northern New England USA

PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 3:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

troublemaker wrote:
E-6A 4x5 standard probably.
What does your catalog call out for the limits for it?


Kalart E:


Kalart F


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Last edited by Top on Wed Mar 18, 2009 12:47 pm; edited 1 time in total
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renes



Joined: 13 Feb 2009
Posts: 42
Location: Warsaw

PostPosted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My Century is equiped with Graflex 103mm f/4.5 lens but I am going to replace it for Voightlander Heliar 105mm f/3.5 I also have.

Do I need to adjust Kalart rangefinder? The difference is only 2mm...
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Dan Fromm



Joined: 14 May 2001
Posts: 2147
Location: New Jersey

PostPosted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

renes wrote:
My Century is equiped with Graflex 103mm f/4.5 lens but I am going to replace it for Voightlander Heliar 105mm f/3.5 I also have.

Do I need to adjust Kalart rangefinder? The difference is only 2mm...


YES
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renes



Joined: 13 Feb 2009
Posts: 42
Location: Warsaw

PostPosted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks.
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Les



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 2682
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 3:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Notice that the 30cm lens is a tele.
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willysmb



Joined: 28 Feb 2004
Posts: 128
Location: France _ Europe

PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 7:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear Sir,
How is it possible to make the difference between a Kalart E and a Kalart F.
I do not find any inscriptions on my differents rangefinders.

(I want to adjust my new Pacemaker with a 10" Tele-Optar)

Cheers
Laurent
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Les



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 2682
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 12:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The first digit of the serial number is the best place. The F is the 'tubular' rangefinder used on early Annys and late model Pre-Anns. I say tubular because there isn't a cover like the E, the scales and adjustments are on the outside and the body is a tube.

Before that came the K which was longer and had external linking (around through the body/bed opening.

There are six versions of the E, Well I know there is at least an E6 wether they went through all the numbers in between I don't know. I think the firs model E has a silver cover. One version need's a special sheet metal wrench to adjust and the later models used a prism at the bottom instead of a mirror.
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