Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/01/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]For about fifty years, I have had a few old lenses stashed away, mostly forgotten. The best of these is a Ross London No. 6 Symmetrical lens, which was manufactured around 1890, according to the SN. It has an 8-inch focal length and rotary Waterhouse stops equivalent to f/16 through f/64. These were manufactured in various focal lengths over a period of years to use on the wet plate and dry plate cameras also manufactured by Ross. The lens and flange are shown in this image: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Ross+Lens+2.jpg.html I decided to see what this lens could produce. I fabricated a spacer/adapter, which has the Ross flange on the front, and an M42 flange on the back, to mount on a Honeywell Pentax bellows. http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Lens+Flange+to+M42+Adapter.jpg.html The lens and adapter were mounted on the bellows, as shown here. http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Lens+Adapted+to+Bellows.jpg.html The bellows assembly was mounted on my Olympus E-1 using an M42 adapter. http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Final+Assembly.jpg.html All of these photos were made with a Leica Elmarit-R 60mm Macro on my E-510. I tried a few hand-held photos this morning, when it is 32 deg F. and ice on the water, with a strong breeze. Most were unsteady, because of the cold. The best example is shown below, showing battle flags at a local Confederate Cemetery. This was made at ISO 200, 1/400 at f/16, RAW, converted to B&W using a PhotoPlugins converter. http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Flags+BW.jpg.html The bellows and spacer allow focusing from 15 feet to infinity. My next effort will be to get a set of M42 extension tubes to achieve closer focus. Comments and critiques welcomed. Jim Nichols Tullahoma, TN USA