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Argus / Geiss modified Sony A6000
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 8:04 pm    Post subject: Argus / Geiss modified Sony A6000 Reply with quote

HI all,

I was puttering in the workshop this week and machined up a nice Geiss modified Argus C4 adapter for Sony E mount. Thus, the Geiss modified Sony A6000 was born! Can't wait to try the adapter on the full frame A7 Mii as well!

As you already probably know, the Argus C4 was the successor of the venerable and best selling Argus C3 camera. It was an upgrade in many ways from the C3, except it had a fixed 50mm f/3.5 Argus Cintar. Argus marketed the C4 as "America's most distinguished 35mm camera", but how could a camera without interchangeable lenses be taken seriously?

Enter Geiss America of Chicago, Ill. which for a fee, would modify the lens mount on your C4, along with your Cintar normal lens so it became an interchangeable lens camera. They also supplied a range of lenses made by Enna in Germany to fit your new camera. these lenses included a 35mm f/4.5 Lithagon, a 100mm f/4.5 Tele-Lithagon, a 135mm f/3.5 and a fabled 45mm f/1.9 speedster.

Alas Argus came out with its own interchangeable lens C44 just a few years later and the Geiss modified C4 faded into camera obscurity.

Enjoy the pics of the cameras/lenses below along with some samples from the 50mm f/3.5 Cintar triplet.

Anyone seen one of those 45mm Lithagons? or the cool glass and metal lens shade for the 135mm? If you have let me know!

Best,

Paul















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PostPosted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 10:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Like 1 Your samples turned out better than mine. I have tried the blue tak route with some of the steinheil lenses (Though these were c44 I believe not Geiss) and they were OK. (but just OK!) With the crazy prices of some Steinheil I guess I had higher hopes.


PostPosted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 11:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great pictures, and a very nice conversion. Like 1 small


PostPosted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 11:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks! I have tried the C44 Steinheils , as well, and actually got fairly decent results. I posted them here at some point in the past, but the links to the photos are all broken - search for Argus C44 for my written reviews. Like you said, they were OK, pretty sharp, but nothing to write home about. The Geiss lenses were made by Enna, imported from Germany, and are all branded as Lithagons. Usually, the Enna lenses were considered a step or two below Steinheil. I shot these photos all wide open on the crop sensor A6000 and already I certainly noticed some weakness in the corners and some purple fringing.

Notice I didn't include any photos at infinity! LOL

Best,

Paul


PostPosted: Sat Jun 29, 2019 8:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good work with the lens adapter!


PostPosted: Sat Jun 29, 2019 11:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the comments on the conversion. I started by removing the lens mount from the Argus, which is just removing the five #2-58 screws and lifting off the mount. Next I removed an M42 mounting ring from a damaged Tamron zoom lens. I then turned the outside diameter of the M42 ring down so it fit snugly inside the back of the Argus camera mount. The next step was to transfer the mounting hole pattern from the camera mount to the M42 ring, followed by drilling and tapping. With the mount ready to go, I turned down the length of a short M42 extension tube and then screwed a tihin M42 -> Emount ring to the back of that. - Mission accomplished!

Cheap M42 extension tube sets can had for about $4 USD on Ebay and the thin M42-> Emount rings are about $2 USD. See below for links. These are great supplies for adaptation.

Click here to see on Ebay


Click here to see on Ebay


PostPosted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 6:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well done!
I love these adaptation fixes.
Yours has to be one of the more exotic ones!

I had a small collection of the Geiss bodies and lenses, but I sold them on years ago. The 135/2.8 is also quite rare, as is the original finder.


PostPosted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 10:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

luisalegria wrote:
Well done!
I love these adaptation fixes.
Yours has to be one of the more exotic ones!

I had a small collection of the Geiss bodies and lenses, but I sold them on years ago. The 135/2.8 is also quite rare, as is the original finder.


Thanks, Luis! I had no idea there was a 135mm f/2.8 lens and a separate 135mms finder. . Steve Gandy's site https://www.cameraquest.com/arggeiss.htm mentions such a lens in the text, but the photograph provided is of the 135mm f/3.5. I thought it was a typo.

All the best,

Paul


PostPosted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 2:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My apologies, I meant 135/3.5.


PostPosted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 3:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In camera collecting there are many holy grails. If a 135mm f/2.8 lens isn't it, just look at the very rare glass and metal bayonet lens hood that Enna made for the Geiss/Argus C-4 135mm f/3.5 pictured above. It's their solution to the rangefinder blocking problem most other lens makers solved by using vented lens shades. Definitely a bit of teutonic over engineering. I have the lens, but not the hood. I would guess not too many have survived.

(Photo from Steve Gandy's CarmeraQuest site)



PostPosted: Sat Jul 06, 2019 3:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

super W&B shots!