lla speed settings

[eartweeker]

Just got a lla from ebay and I love it. the pictures (on ebay) did not do it justice! beautiful engineering & feel. now to get a light meter...
One question- I have been reading various threads and I see you guys are very knowledgable- the speed settings are cute- they only refer to Kodak products, thats fine and I can figure out most but there seems to be no registry- In other words I can set; for instance Kodachrome- A has almost a 1/4 of the circumference available to set the arrow! Does this matter? and where would I set for 400 B&W? I got two rolls of Ilford HP5 to try out.
Thanks for any help I will probably be back with other questions!

[Bill Snell]

As the IIa hasn't got a meter it doesn't really matter. The names are there only as a reminder as to which film you put in the camera. The choice is yours. Enjoy.

[oscroft]

Just got a lla from ebay and I love it. the pictures (on ebay) did not do it justice! beautiful engineering & feel.

Congratulations! I had a similar experience - I'd seen photos of the IIa but didn't realise just how beautiful they are until I saw one for real - and then I had to have one And I love it - I think the IIa is the best of the Retina line. Which lens does yours have? (They came with either a Schneider Xenon or Rodenstock Heligon, both excellent - mine has a Heligon).

And yes, the film indicator is only there for you to use as a reminder - I never bother using it.

There's some information about the IIa here, if it's of any interest to you.

[eartweeker]

Thanks guys-
I thought I was actually setting something on that speed dial my oops! I have the Schneider lens. I am a couple of frames away from my first roll I will report back although I am guessing on the settings. The camera puts you in quite a "classic" mode I want to shoot B & W of course- right away and I find myself waiting more patiently for a picture to "develop" in front of me. Does anyone know which meter would be from this era? is it the little Kodalux L? I hope so they are great looking.
Alan-
The ebayer I bought the camera from had a link to that site and that is what pushed me to hit the bid button!!

[Spider67]

Actually that the retina model where you can even vary the speeds you can change in Between speeds except between 1/250 and 1/500 (NO!) and better don't try to do that to the slower speeds from 1/15 downward.
Great camereas although I like the viefinder and handling of the II/IIIc.

[rpjasin]

Congratulations on acquiring your IIa, someday I may own one. I've got a Kodalux L meter, the later round one, that I use with my IIC, and I love it! It looks great on the camera, it clips to the flash shoe and, based on the photos I've taken, is very accurate. Bob, proud owner of a IIC, IIIC, IIIS, and a Reflex IV

[eartweeker]

I got the older square Kodalux meter in an estate sale on Ebay. I was dissapointed- it did not work. I took off the mounting plate (four tiny screws) and voila it started working! I put back the mounting plate without tightening the screws too hard & the meter is working fine. It also looks great on the camera. Does anyone have the white plastic diffuser for sale? One came with the meter but the tab snapped immediatly that holds it on the front. Flimsy setup & brittle plastic. Are you guys scanning your negitives to get them on-line? If anyone has a preference for a scanner let me know. that may be an X-mas present if I play my cards right...
Tim

[rpjasin]

I own an Epson Perfection 4990 photo scanner and just love it. It allows me to use my Retina shots as I would a modern digital photo. I take the exposed film to my local Longs Drug photo lab, have them process the fim as negatives only, uncut. It only costs $2.19 per roll (24 or 36). I take them home and scan them, the 4990 will do 24 negatives at a time. They turn out great for the most part, but every once in a while I wil get Newton rings (those rainbow colored artifacts). The fix is to turn the negative over, reverse the image with the software, and rescan. This isn't a common problem, just once in a while, it has to do with the amount of curl in the negative. The 4990 also comes with templates to do 8 slides at a time and also large and medium format negatives. Everything I take gets scanned right away, and I then put the negatives in storage sleeves in a binder. I rarely make prints, as most of my viewing and sending is in the digital realm. The dog picture next to my username is my dog Dakota, taken with my Retina IIC w/Heligon lens on Kodak 100 ASA print film scanned from a negative. Bob