1920's Contessa-Nettel Conastigmat on my Pentax K-x

[zelda_n64]

Today (Sunday 21st April 2013), I spent £2 on a Contessa-Nettel Conastigmat 1:6.3 F=10.5 lens

This evening I wondered what I was going to do with it, when I had a brain wave:



And the result using the flash, iris on Contessa-Nettel set to 15, camera 1/50, focal length 100:



The above was the second photo taken with this setup, with a little refinement with the settings and fixing the Contessa-Nettel into position rather than holding it with my hand, the results should improve.

Over the moon, too right

Hope you like aswell.

[luisalegria]

Use a hood, its essential for most of these.
It will make a huge difference.

Also, check for haze. Most of these triplets have haze on the surfaces by the iris, but also sometimes behind the front element.

[zelda_n64]

luisalegria,

Thank you for the comment, yes there is haze inside, I will have to work out how to take it apart.

But for 93 years old, I can't complain hood recommendation noted.

[zelda_n64]

I got home after 6pm to drizzle and grey skies, but I wanted to get in the garden and at least get one good shot using the Contessa-Nettel Conastigmat 1:6.3 F=10.5 lens on my Pentax K-x.

The setup is as follows:

Pentax K-x, Minolta to PK mount adapter, original set of Minolta extension tubes, lens taped to tubes.

The picture below was taken with flash, no lens hood, shutter 1/40, iris on lens set to f8 ish (just past 7.7) - straight of the camera, no adjustments.

Result:



I don't have infinity, although removing one of the sections of tubing allows infinity but no way to focus. It looks as if I will need to design and develop a little system or buy a set of bellows.

Any how, I hope you like the result.

Lens has a small amount of dust/fungus, but I am happy with the sharpness.

[luisalegria]

The contrast will improve a lot after you clean the haze.

Cheapest and simplest option for you -

Third party M42 bellows - Spiratone, Accura, Kopil, etc. I like the small Kopil folding ones for the little lenses.
M42-PK flange adapter. Ger the cheapo aluminum kind. Should be FLANGE, because otherwise it will be a pain to use with bellows.
Plastic M42 body cap, drilled to act as a lens board.

Simple as pie, versatile, foolproof.

[zelda_n64]

luisalegria,

Thanks again for the info!!

When I find out how to take the elements out then I can proceed with cleaning, they may remove by somehow undoing/unscrewing the rear element. although I did read earlier that someone took theirs apart and couldn't get the pistons back into the lens.

I don't want to ruin this little lens as it will cost me more than £2 to replace it.

The first photo I took last night was of a keyboard I got out of the loft:



As a note, I have never used the tubes before, the flower shot was hand held and the bush kept moving in the breeze, it was raining (fine drizzle) and my camera is not waterproof.

Please do comment as the more input will allow me to improve and it may also make you go and check out some strange looking old glass that may be laying to waste somewhere.

[philslizzy]

I have an old Helios 44-2 lens that was fungused up. The whole lens block can be removed leaving a focusing helical. I have glued an m42 thread inside and using different extension tubes can make almost any non focusing camera lens work on it - including an old Voigtlander lens, a 6 inch large format lens and a 1912 meniscus from an old kodak folder. All focus well. I have at times cut a length of 1.5 inch drainpipe to suit. Painting the inside matt black

Perhaps you could do the same

Focusing helicals are available on ebay from big_is. Bit they're different sizes so I don't know which will be suitable

my home made mounts:



My adapter at the back and L - R Kodak meniscus, Voigtlander 11cm f4.5 Voigtar and 6inch f4.5 S.O.L



Voigtar mounted up. It focuses from infinity to about 4 feet

[zelda_n64]

philslizzy,

Thank you, I like your idea.

It is a way to use old lenses on new cameras although it seems not everybody agrees with this, especially when the old camera in its whole state is attached to the camera, as some versions I have seen over the last couple of days since investigating.

As mine was purchased as just the lens element/housing, then I do not have a problem with trying out various options so I can use it on my camera. I would not however damage/break up a perfectly working old camera to get the lens as that is not a good thing to do.

I will clean the glass - after I have removed the elements, the removal probably needs a sink plug or something as there are no slots in the rear to use those spanner wrenches. It will improve the shots, but so will my trying all sorts of settings to bring out the best contrast, sharpness etc.

The flower above could have benefitted from either a faster shutter speed or a different F/stop, but the rain forced me to stop photographing. However, today it is sunny, if it is still like this this evening when I get home from work, this setup will be mounted on a tripod and I will shoot and take notes of the settings using the same plant. I am hoping to get a great image with the lens as it is - if this should happen I will of course post it here. I do not adjust my images in photo editing software, they are all straight off the memory card.

Thanks again for all the input and assistance, it is appreciated.

[philslizzy]

Another idea for you!

But first...

It is a shame to break up a camera, something I'd never do unless it really wasn't worth keeping it as it is.

The donor Voigtlander was kaput. Bellows in bits and not worth repairing. The shutter has something missing so it wont work but it will stay open on T, which is why I can use it. The meniscus is from a 1912 Kodak, the shutter is on the outside so Youn can't even tell the lens is missing - not that I'd ever use the camera. But the lens is just hot glued into the adapter and can be reenstated in minutes.

I used the lens from an old Konica compact that had been dropped (rangefinder shattered, lens hanging off etc) on my NEX with surprisingly good results.

The other idea, before I got my broken lens which I use as a helical, I experimented using a telescopic focus tube.

I cut a piece of drainpipe to length so I could just focus past infinity i.e too short by a few mils, then wrapped strips of black paper tightly round the tube*, glueing it together as I did so. I made a tube with walls about 2mm thick which slid nicely up and down the drainpipe tube. 2mm is plenty stiff enough to mount a lens such as yours. Cap the end and cut a hole just wide enough for the screw thread at the back of the lens and if you have the retaining ring just attach it with that, if not, hot glue it in place. Perhaps attach the lens to the 'cap' and glue it onto the tube afterwards.

Focus by telescoping the paper tube. Paint all inner surfaces with matt black paint, I use blackboard paint.

*line the first few inches with adhesive tape stuck to the paper, this gives a slick surface and makes it easier to focus as paper will tend to 'grab' while you're focusing.

They call me the...

[zelda_n64]

philslizzy,

Again, thank you for your invaluable input - certainly food for thought.


As I am so busy at work, I thought I would take 4 minutes out and look at the contrast/brightness on the flower image above, this is how I think the image should have looked:



All I did was turn down the brightness and adjust the contrast - the colours and other things have not been changed.

[zelda_n64]

Having got home from work on a sunny but breezy afternoon. I took some more photos with the Contessa-nettel Conastigmat 1:6.3 F=10.5 lens.

The plant kept blowing around in the breeze, but I tried to be patient. To my untrained eye, a dusty/fungus lens I don't think the results are that bad.

As always photos are straight off of camera memory card.

This photo was shot at 6.6 (lens markings) with a shutter speed of 1/500 sec, ISO 400:



This photo was shot at 7.7 (lens markings), with a shutter speed of 1/250 sec, ISO 400:



This last photo was taken at 11 (lens markings), with a shutter speed of 1/320 sec, ISO 400:



The lens needs a clean, no doubt about that, but as it stands for an un-cleaned lens, a few test shots and moving the camera back and fourth to get the object in focus, I myself am very happy with this lens.

[philslizzy]

Lovely results. Cleaning or not, some of these old lenses have low contrast, even really good ones. I usually try 'auto contrast' in photoshop and that generally comes up with the goods.

Here are some photos of a 90 odd year old camera and some photos taken with the lens. I wasnt going to take the lens off this little jewel, but where theres a will theres a way. You can see the effect auto contrast has.

http://forum.mflenses.com/ica-icarette-b-t57273.html

[zelda_n64]

Thank you philslizzy,

I will also check out your 90 year old lens page.

As I o not have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, I loaded up an old version of Serif Photoplus that I have.

The image below was just auto adjusted and I decided to crop a certain area, from the photo shot at 7.7 (lens markings), with a shutter speed of 1/250 sec, ISO 400:



Having just looked at all the images above, on computer monitors at work, they all show completely different colour renditions. I know they are not colour calibrated due to the work done on them, but it is very noticeable.

For those with non colour calibrated monitors, it is worth doing as the images above look very good on my 40" monitor at home (officially a TV, but it is only connected to my PC) via DVI/HDMI, plus it was only a £100 more than a 23". Purchased earlier this year.

[zelda_n64]

I have been meaning to get around to this for ages, the whole purpose of me buying those Asahi Pentax Bellows II was to attach the 1920's Contessa-Nettel Conastigmat.

As usual I was in a rush, got the Bellows stuck to my Pentax K-x, so decided to go and have some dinner. Panic over I figured out how to remove the bellows without a saw.

Next I went and got my tripod, but where was that release plate - it should be attached, not in my camera bag that's for sure, after what felt like eternity, found it in my other camera bag that is never used, I am unsure why I put it there, perhaps for safety in case I forgot where I put it.

Anyway, as I have yet to fix an M42 mount to the Contessa-Nettel, I fixed it to the bellows using sellotape, probably visibly in the photos taken with my mobile phone:







I have yet to de-haze this lens as I am unsure how it comes apart.

This set-up gives me infinity focus, which is what I was expecting, as there really is not much difference to how the original 1920's camera was setup. Fully extended bellows give really good macro.

I am pretty happy with the results.

All taken wide open and resized, no lens hood:

ISO 200, 1/200 sec, levels auto adjusted



ISO 200, 1/200 sec, levels auto adjusted - this one closer to the Honeysuckle



ISO 200, 1/80 sec, levels auto adjusted



ISO 200, 1/320 sec, levels auto adjusted



ISO 200, 1/160 sec, straight off of memory card (only resized)



ISO 200, 1/125 sec, levels adjusted (brightness & contrast only) - about 8 inches away from the flower



A little bit of practice, and this may well become as addictive as the Welmy.

[Lloydy]

the more you try, the better it gets. This is worth persisting with I think.

[mo]

I am enjoying this adventure,there is so much fine detail in the images.

[izvar]

[zelda_n64]

Thank you for the comments, I will of course continue along this avenue and improve technique and quality as I go (hopefully quality will improve). And post here as this develops. I will also look into cleaning the lens, but it seems a shame to try and dismantle when all functions of it work.

All we need is Pentax (or someone else) to develop the official bellows digital camera using the contents of the Pentax Q, maybe with a little larger sensor.

[Farside]

Also, bear in mind most/many of those old lens/film combos were only ever used in the summer and would commonly be shooting at f:8 or f:11, so to get a representative feel of the typical results you could try stopping it down to where the lens is likely at its best anyway.
The other major advantage of f:11 shooting for the average user was the DOF it yeilded and many family snapshots were rescued from ruin simply because of that.

[zelda_n64]

Farside, Thank you for the tips, I will do my best to get out this evening and try this setup at f:8 or f:11 and post the results.

The haze doesn't exactly help, but it does give it that slight aged look, albeit in full colour. Maybe I will set a higher ISO to get some grain in the shot and set the camera to B & W. We will see later, good job I have plenty of sellotape.

[zelda_n64]

Earlier this evening (around 6.15 UK time), I re-assembled the Contessa-Nettel, and went into the garden to try F7.7 and F11.

All was going great, but the sellotape didn't like the heat and after a while, the lens dropped off. Luckily it was onto grass, but as I took the shots of the foxgloves I noticed that the lens was wide open again.

ISO 200, F7.7, 1/100 sec, contract only adjusted, resized



ISO 200, F7.7, 1/100 sec, resized only



ISO 200, F7.7, 1/80 sec, resized only



ISO 200, possibly wide open or F7.7, 1/250 sec, levels auto adjusted, resized



ISO 200, possibly wide open or F7.7, 1/250 sec, levels auto adjusted, resized



The image below is a crop from the one above



By this point the sellotape had completely given way, the lens was being held on by my hand.

ISO 200, Wide open (again), 1/320 sec, resized only



ISO 200, F7.7, 1/200 sec, resized only



ISO 200, F11, 1/30 sec, levels auto adjusted, resized - the plant was in the shade



These next 2 shots are ISO 200, resized only, completely forgot F-stop due to lens fall, but likely to be wide open or F7.7

1/200 sec. (F7.7 ?)



1/320 sec - (wide open ?)



I must mount the lens properly, as it will be a lot easier on my concentration.