Up Close with the Exa

Mos6502

Mos6502

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extennnnd by Berang Berang

Several years ago I bought a big box of Exakta stuff on ebay. I was after the lenses, a 24mm Westrogon and a 40mm Jsogon. There was a lot of extra "junk" that came along, and has been sitting in a box in my closet since. There were a couple different extension tube sets, and a close-up bellows set up. Somehow I had ended up with sunk-mount Schacht Travegar 3.5/105mm lens, which has (I think?) an M42 thread on it, so it wouldn't fit on the Exakta bellows directly. However, one of the extension tube sets had the right size thread on one end, and the Exakta bayonet on the other, so I could adapt the lens to the camera.

I had film in the Exa already, so that is what I used. This of course is not to be advised, as the peculiar construction of the Exa shutter causes vignetting with lenses over 100mm focal length. You can sometimes get away with a slightly longer focal length so long as you keep it stopped down, but mount it on a bellows and all bets are off.

steam engine by Berang Berang, on Flickr

workshop by Berang Berang, on Flickr

whistle by Berang Berang, on Flickr

And a shot with the Xenon 1.9/50.

Untitled by Berang Berang, on Flickr

The film used was Kodak Ektar. I did not take any light readings or make any calculations, just sat the tin toys in a sunny area, and made my best guesses. I'm really surprised by how contrasty the results are. I don't know anything about the Travegar lens. I'm assuming it's a Tessar design, but for all I know it could be a triplet. Excellent results either way.
 
Stunning shots, very nice! I found a bellows for Exakta mount in a second hand shop a few years ago, I think I paid around 15 pounds for it. It's in a grey/blue hammerite finish and marked Ihagee Dresden on the side. It came with a film copy attachment, which I don't think I will use. I have not used it this far, but I must find an occasion to test it out. Thanks for posting this!
 
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