Did Bill Maxwell tell you about his buddy who does custom work in North Carolina (I believe, I forget the mans name unfortunately)? This man will convert your back to accept a Maxwell screen and install it for you - Bill works it out with him. One of these days when I am feeling flush I'll send my Berheil back off to him. The Avus back is very similar and shouldn't present a problem.
Rob On Aug 29, 2009, at 9:53 AM, Jan Decher wrote:
Patric,My "Rollex Patent" back has an arrow on the take-up compartment that tells me to turn counterclockwise and it makes sense when your see how the film has to run through it against its natural curl. I might put pictures on my Camera Notes Blog when I get the film back.No, that shouldn't be. The winding key should be turned clockwise, and the film will be wound normally. I just checked my Rollex back to be sure.3,5 Tessar? I find the 4,5 Tessar on my Avus (it originally had a bad Skopar) easy to focus, and even my 6,8 lenses.You are correct, it is a 4,5/135mm Tessar.Is the ground glass clean? A little dishwashing liquid and good water can make a big difference. I made new focusing screens for my Avus and Bergheil cameras, and used old glass plates that I grinded with 800 grit silicon carbide. The results were screens with finer grain and a half stop brigther than the original screens.Good idea to clean the groundglass, if I can figure out how to get it out of the frame in one piece. It also has a paper mask for the 6x9 back attached right now. Would make more sense to etch the 6x9 frame onto the groundglass. I am not up to grinding my own screens but I am wondering if anybody sells opaque glass or even fresnel material for less of a premium than Maxwell and Beattie etc. Bill Maxwel said however, the challenge was that his delicate bright screens need a protective cover glass that is too thick for my back...The last Avus I bought was an early one with a smaller shutter and a 6,3 Voigtar. I swapped the lens for a Steinheil Orthostigmat 6,8/13,5 cm in a Compur (size "0" I think) and was impressed. A sharp and contrasty little lens.It would be interesting to find the Skopar 1:4,5 4 1/8" (105mm) wideangle or even the bulkier Tele-Dynar F/6.3 No. 3 (no focal length provided) mentioned in the Avus manual. Not sure though how easy they would be to exchange against the retrofit 4.5/13.5 cm Tessar on my camera.Jan
