# A recent restoration



## IanG (Dec 10, 2016)

This is an un- named British half plate camera I was asked to restore.












Mid restoration






Finished.









I made new lens boards, mounted the TP shutter to one and then the lens.

Ian


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## Peeb (Dec 10, 2016)

Nice!  Can it actually capture images again?

If so, do share!


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## IanG (Dec 10, 2016)

Peeb said:


> Nice!  Can it actually capture images again?
> 
> If so, do share!



It could. it's not my camera though.

These British cameras take book form plate holders, I make adapters to shoot 5x4 film in modern DDS or make a new back for a current format.

Ian


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## Peeb (Dec 10, 2016)

Surely you took a couple of test shots when you were finished. Do you have any scanned in?


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## IanG (Dec 11, 2016)

It's not so simple, Half plate film is only available via Ilford's yearly ULF special order and is expensive as a consequence.  I have made an adapter to use modern 5x4 DDS with my own Houghton Duchess half plate camera. However unlike US plate cameras there was no common standard fit before WWII for book form Plate holders in the UK, so my adapter didn't fit this camera.

Earlier this year I tested 4 old lenses all in shutters after acquiring a mint 120mm Dagor that had never been mounted on a camera, I was really looking at contrast with uncoated lenses and added a  Rapid Rectilinear to the test (similar to the lens on this camera)

The other lenses were a 165mm f5.3 CZJ Tessar, a Meyer WA (dialyte)and a 135mm Ihagee-Goerz (dialyte) and then an RR as well.  The results were quite interesting, all were of course uncoated, the Dagor and the Rapid Rectilinear lenses had very significantly better contrast compared to the Tessar (another mint condition lens) this is down to the two lenses only having 2 internal air/glass surfaces compared to the  Tessar's 4, the Ihagee-Goerz lens had even less contrast, being a dialyte it has 6 air/glass surfaces, the Meyer WA was the worst in terms of low contrast.

My point is that with modern films some older lenses like Rapid Rectilinears, Dagors, Protars etc will gives results that barely differ from modern lenses.

Ian


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## Peeb (Dec 11, 2016)

I'd love to see that!  In any event, a lovely instrument, as restored.


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## jcdeboever (Dec 11, 2016)

Nicely done

Sent from my XT1254 using ThePhotoForum.com mobile app


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