Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/07/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Spectacular! I was tempted by an ex-services camera a year or so back, it was a stereo aerial(?) camera which posessed two 38mm Biogons, as used in the Hass SWC, and the asking price was œ80! In the end I figured that they'd not be an easy job to adapt to something else so I left it, but these things intrigue me. I faxed Reinhold with some questions re: these Elcans, I'm waiting on his reply. But I mentioned that I'd found 3 articles recently on adapting those old 7" f2.5 Aero Ektars for use on Leicas. They were published in 1950/51 in Amateur Photographer over here, and while the forst and last articles dealt with the mechanics of getting them to fit, the second, more sensibly looked at the suitability of the lens for the 35mm format. It concluded that the resolving power of the lens was insufficient to do justice to the rest of the Leica lenses one might use, ie. the lens was great for 5x4(?) or 2 1/4" format/s but below par for 35mm, but it didn't seem to stop an awful lot of people buying the ex war surplus and 'having a go'. In fact there's a nice example in my local dealer's, a lovely helical focusing mount put on it adapted for Viso 1 fit, of course from there its a doddle to put on the Viso3 (whicxh I have) or the SL. He paid much more for it than I would have done, he started asking œ150, has come down to œ100, but maybe I'll give him œ50 without the Leitz adapter that's on it at present... all the best, heck! I wish I could get to Cologne and meet you all! Jem ---------- From: 'leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us' Sent: 28 July 1998 20:32 To: KIMEJ44; 'leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us' Subject: Re: [Leica] FYI: uncommon(?) lens on eBa Jem, the 75/2 ELCAN sounds like it is out of a Vinten Aerial camera. This one used perforated 70 mm film and worked like a slowspeed movie camera. It was mainly used for surveillance flights. The mount is too big to remount on to a Leicaflex as the rear element of the lens is almost "dusting off" the shutter curtain. Impressive piece of glass and the whole camera/lens combo weighs in at 24 lbs. I had one for a while and tried to figure out a way of adapting the lens to a M-camera ( no mirror to get in the way) but it would have required carving a much larger hole in the M-body than the current lens mount. The whole lens/camera combo was bought in UK for 50 pounds.It is not a super rare item as it is military surplus and they must have bought a lot of them in the 70's and 80's. Some of these cameras were used on Harriers during the Falkland "incident". One could probably make a 75mm Hasselblad type camera of the lens, but as the lens was supposed to work in the same fashion as a movie camera lens, the optical quality is suspect. There is a very complex ELCAN made in the 2.5" range for these cameras that is supposed to be extremely good, but again, large mount and filmplane to rear element distance is very short. It would require a custombuilt housing to mount on a still camera. Or use it with the Vinten housing, 24lbs + a 24 volt power supply, that should build up strength in the upper body fast! Tom A