[rollei_list] Re: Pentacon Six
- From: Robert Marvin <marvbej@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2005 18:41:29 -0700
I bought a Pentacon Six a few years ago from "Cupog," a highly regarded
Slovak eBay dealer, and, although the camera body has been something of
a disapointment the lenses are wonderful as is the Arax 60 (a modified
Kiev 60) that I got to replace the Pentacon.
After receiving the THIRD (supposedly CLAed) defective Pentacon from
Cupog I took all three bodies to Eddie Smolov, a highly regarded local
(Brooklyn, NY) repairman, had him pick out the best one, and repair
it.To his credit Cupog sent all three bodies under his warranty AND
credited me with the cost of the repair.
The camera took excellent photographs, but was just too delicate,
needing two more repairs in a few months.(OK--the second repair was MY
fault--my tripod fell over with the camera on it).
In addition, the Pentacon has some minor, but VERY annoying design
flaws. When used without a case the back latch tends to pop open when
taking the camera out of a bag. Also the fittings for the neck strap
are very close to the shutter release and can release the shutter when
the strap is moved the wrong way. Then there are the familiar Pentacon
Six problems. The focusing screen is dim and shows MUCH less than the
entire frame. The waist level finder, while IMO quite beautiful to look
at, hardly shades the screen. While it IS possible to avoid frame
overlap by loading the camera properly, proper loading technique is
finicky and a real PITA.
The Arax 60 (and probably any properly working Kiev 60) avoids these
problems and, in my experience is a MUCH smoother working camera.
The excellent Zeiss Jena Biometar normal lens that came on my Pentacon
works fine on my Arax as do the CZJ 180mm Sonnar and 50mm Flektogon
that I bough from Cupog for the Pentacon.These East German lenses have
been joined by three Ukrainian (30 mm Arsat Fisheye, 65 mm Hartblei
Shift Lens, and 120 mm Vega) and one Russian lens (500 mm Rubinar
mirror lens)--all quite good and remarkably inexpensive.
It's almost worth putting up with a Pentacon Six for the excellent and
inexpensive lenses that fit it, but, since the same lenses fit an Arax
(or Kiev) 60, why bother?
I STILL do more than half of my photography with my Rolleiflex 2.8E,but
its nice having the Arax (and back-up Pentacon)around with all those
other lenses.
Bob Marvin
On Friday, June 3, 2005, at 12:02 AM, FreeLists Marvin Wallace wrote:
> Does any one have experience with the Pentacon 6, bargain or just =
> rubbish, I
> would be interested to hear opinions on this beast and its lenses
> (which
> include the revered Carl Zeiss and Schnider).
---
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