Welta Perle result

[PaulC]

I finally got a roll through the 1930s Welta Perle I picked up for $25 in September and here is the result:



Not bad, eh? It's on Reala 100.

The only problem is that this was the only shot on the roll which was good, there were a couple of others that weren't too bad and the rest were all blurry from camera shake.

It seems I am not very good at operating this particular camera, which has to be activated by pushing a lever on the shutter.

On the other hand, if I managed to get it right and avoid shake, it is clearly a very nice lens, the bellows are light-tight and the red windows are no problem at all.

So the only challenge is to learn to hold it still....

[Attila]

Great result indeed! Now we can start to think about "designed for B&W films" "un-coated" not good for color film, digital and other blah, blah

[Katastrofo]

Pure crap, Paul, send me the camera, now!

[luisalegria]

The old 6x9 folders are nearly all good and capable of very sharp results even with the cheap triplets.

What you want to do with these is keep the shutter speed high for handholding - 1/100 or better, and consider that the shutter is probably running slow. And maybe get a nice flexible cable release. Even handheld there can be lateral shake when pressing a lever on the shutter. The later 1930's ones from most makers had a body release which is usually steadier, if in good shape.

[greg]

[PaulC]

This isn't a six by nine, it's a nifty little 4.5x6.

There's no doubt that the older, uncoated folders suffer more from flare and have flatter contrast than newer ones. The mere process of scanning images results in an alteration to the contrast that is probably different from what you would get on a traditional paper print, then I automatically adjust things a bit in Photoshop to get a result I like. After that, there is so little indication of what a good colour print would have looked like that I think it is impossible to blah-blah about colour corrected lenses for foleters, if there were such things (you can't get 1960s film or printing paper, either).

If they had really been producing lenses specially for adjusted for B&W, wouldn't they have been using yellow glass or something like that? The glass is always clear, the light itself hasn't changed and needs to focus at a point so CA is not acceptable with either type of film, all that seems to leave is contrast and flare which I think they would have been working on just as much for B&W as for colour.

I can believe that as an advertising gimmick they would proclaim the lenses to be colour adjusted as if it was something new, but then advertisers have been known to proclaim some wonderful property for their product ("now Phosphate -free) as if it was a step forward when nothing has changed.

You've reminded me that I ebayed for a replacement cable release recently... where has that gone?

I'm not the sort of person who palms his mistakes off on others, so you needn't fear that I'll be sending this to you

Oh, yeah - and Reala 100 seems to be a really handy film for these things. It's got plenty of leeway for mistakes or for shutters that aren't quite perfectly timed.

[fish4570]

nice, very nice image.