Saturday, December 01, 2012

Moving along with the Patent Etui

I took the Patent Etui to the Nuclear Museum after doing a little more work on it.


I cleaned the lens again, replaced a missing light seal at the hinge in the film holder and smoothed out the film path a little to avoid film scratches.


The Tessar lens is really a great performer.  Combined with the 6x9 negative size it is capable of producing some great results.  Below is a crop of the rocket nozzle at 100% enlargement.


All the shots suffered to varying degrees from a couple remaining light leaks.  I'm pretty sure the bellows is leak-free at this point, but the camera body and the film back still need some work on the light seals.


Like the Rada that I use with the Recomar 18, the Rollex film back has a removable internal frame for mounting the roll film and the take-up spool.


Because of the way the film back is constructed, the film feeds onto the take-up spool against the existing curl of the film.  That means that when you remove the roll from the holder, the film and the paper backing spring outward and unroll.  So, it is a good idea to perform that operation inside your light-tight film changing bag.  Because the Rollex is a bit rougher in its design than the Rada, I think it is going to be a little more difficult to get it leak-proofed.  It is unfortunate that sheet film is no longer available in this size as I think the use of a sheet film holder would be a help in diagnosing problems.

7 comments:

Jim said...

Superb work with this interesting camera. Keep it coming; I look forward to more.

Normusarms said...

I have just restored a Patent Etui with a Rollex film back, any tips on film loading/unloading would be most appreciated.

Mike said...

The basic loading process is shown in the illustrations. You just need to be sure to load the film so the sensitive side faces the interior of the camera.
My Rada has two red windows for viewing the frame numerals on the backing paper. The window in the middle is for getting 12 exposures with the use of a 6x6 mask. The window on the right is for making half-frame shots and lets you see all the numerals from 1 to 16. If you are shooting full-frame you just use the odd numbers, 1,3,5,7,9,11,13 and 15. My Rada came with a cardboard mask for 6x6, but I have only made full 6x9 exposures with mine. When I am shooting roll film in my Rada I just take out the dark slide and put some black tape over the opening to avoid any light leaks from that source.

Mike said...

By the way, I don't use the RADA film back with my 6x9 Patent Etui because the rails on the Rada are too thick to fit into the slots on the camera. I use a Rollex film back on the Patent Etui which fits fine, though it is kind of flimsy compared to the Rada. I don't know which backs might work with the 9x12 models.

Normusarms said...

Hello Mike, I loaded my Rollex Patent film back and wound the film on anti-clockwise, the film backing paper ended up with the black side showing on the outside, is that how it should be?

Mike said...

It is a little hard to describe the loading process in words. If you look at the illustration you will see that the printing on the paper film backing is visible through the window. So, when you roll on the film, the frame numbers will become visible. It might be helpful if you are in doubt to just sacrifice a roll by doing the process once in daylight to be sure you have it right.

Normusarms said...

Thank you for your comments, great to see that you are collecting and using film cameras, good to know that I am not alone.