Alpa - the unRF/Alpa - the unSLR

The Pentax mount-flange is of course a bit further out from the film plane, so I have no doubt that the MSW will fit there.



My experience was with the M42 to EF mount adapter and even though the Px mirror has more space to move, the EF mirror may be different.


An examle is the Leica R: its flange is much further from the film plane, but still the EF mirror tries to hit the rear of one of my R lenses.



I do not have the Canon 5d II at hand , but when i tried my M42 mount MSW on it with an ordinary MFT to EF adapter it did have problems which for instance my 50\4 M-Takumar does not have. I will make another test soon and will report back here.



On my MFT camera it does of course work.


p.
 
A couple of photos from a few months ago made with the 100mm Kinoptik mounted on the Alnea 5.

IMAGE DETAILS:
Camera: ALPA Alnea 5 35mm SLR.
Lens: Kinoptik 100mm Apochromat f/2.
Film: Ilford FP4 Plus.
Shutter: 1/500.
Aperture: f/2.
Focusing Distance: 9 feet.
Other Details: ID-11 1 + 3 20m/20C.

31553672598_0424b73040_b.jpg



IMAGE DETAILS:
Camera: ALPA Alnea 5 35mm SLR.
Lens: Kinoptik 100mm Apochromat f/2.
Film: Ilford FP4 Plus.
Shutter: 1/500.
Aperture: f/8
Focusing Distance: 9 feet.
Other Details: ID-11 1 + 3 20m/20C.

44513937625_6dfcf430a6_b.jpg
 
one small addendum ad rangefinder+ leitz adapter.

the alpa 7 rangefinder uses an angled piece of metal to couple with the lens helix. So if someone has been too violent with this it might affect accuracy.

Pignons made a LTMadpter called "alplei" in order to fix large-bayonet lenses on to leica SMbodies- Probably something similar for the small bayonets, but i do not have those original catalogues. No sign of an A to M adapter anywhere, but taking apart an A and a LM extension ring and using some Araldite might serve if y9ou are able to hit the right back focus distance and can manage without rangefinding. There is however an adapter for 16mm camera C mounts. One might have a look at the Novoflex range at the time.

p.
 
7gtpsKB.jpg


got this one last Friday, and already on Saturday I had finished a roll of Velvia with it. Taking pictures was a blast, we'll see on Thursday if I shot anything acceptable.
 
I love the look of that camera -- I think of the 6b as the quintessential Alpa, but I barely know anything about these. My late uncle had a succession of Alpas -- he'd trade up as soon as the newest model hit the market. I'm sure he had one of these along the way.
 
Hey Brett, great write up - but what about the lenses? How do they compare to lets say, the Macro Switar to the Summicron DR?
 
I love the look of that camera -- I think of the 6b as the quintessential Alpa, but I barely know anything about these. My late uncle had a succession of Alpas -- he'd trade up as soon as the newest model hit the market. I'm sure he had one of these along the way.

I am embarrassed to notice that I said more or less the EXACT SAME THING in post #4 of this thread. In my defense, that was four years ago, but still.... I would love an Alpa one of these days, but I am not hanging by my thumbs, that's for sure.
 
A bit off topic, but I found an Apla 6 and 50mm f1.9 lens at the local antiques store. Price was reasonable compared to what I have seen online and at cameras stores, but the shutter looked a bit worn (may have had cracks or pin holes but it was had to to tell). The body and lens were in near perfect condition The shutter and mirror seemed to work very well focusing ring was rather stiff but moved. I am seriously thinking of buying it is there anything I should look out for aside from shutter ware?
 
A bit off topic, but I found an Apla 6 and 50mm f1.9 lens at the local antiques store. Price was reasonable compared to what I have seen online and at cameras stores, but the shutter looked a bit worn (may have had cracks or pin holes but it was had to to tell). The body and lens were in near perfect condition The shutter and mirror seemed to work very well focusing ring was rather stiff but moved. I am seriously thinking of buying it is there anything I should look out for aside from shutter ware?

If the lens is actually a late-model Kern Switar, that's where 85% of your market value lies, so check for damage to the lens. If the focusing ring is stiff due to dried grease, who cares because the whole outfit needs servicing anyhow. "Auto Alpa" branded lenses would fetch considerably less $$.
 
If the lens is actually a late-model Kern Switar, that's where 85% of your market value lies, so check for damage to the lens. If the focusing ring is stiff due to dried grease, who cares because the whole outfit needs servicing anyhow. "Auto Alpa" branded lenses would fetch considerably less $$.

The lens was a Schneider Xenon 50mm f1.9. both camera and lens were in great shape with the exception of the RF was hazy.
 
61VvgaW.jpg


Kern Switar 50/1.8, Velvia 50.

I messed up the exposure on most of the shots and lost highlights, and because the lens is quite significantly yellowed all shots look like orange garbage. It was a lot of work in PS to make the colors kinda ok.

To make things worse left side of the camera is bit bend and I have lightleaks, luckily most ot the time only between frames. And 1/1000 make uneven exposures.
All of this makes me really upset, I had perfect conditions, the lens has a wonderful rendering, but in the end from whole roll I have zero usable images.
Only good thing is I have a local repairman who knows how to work on those cameras, so some of the issues could be possibly solved.
With my sloppy metering I'll deal the easy way- let negative cover up my mistakes instead of using slide.
 
Kern Switar 50/1.8, Velvia 50.

I messed up the exposure on most of the shots and lost highlights, and because the lens is quite significantly yellowed all shots look like orange garbage. It was a lot of work in PS to make the colors kinda ok.

To make things worse left side of the camera is bit bend and I have lightleaks, luckily most ot the time only between frames. And 1/1000 make uneven exposures.
All of this makes me really upset, I had perfect conditions, the lens has a wonderful rendering, but in the end from whole roll I have zero usable images.
Only good thing is I have a local repairman who knows how to work on those cameras, so some of the issues could be possibly solved.
With my sloppy metering I'll deal the easy way- let negative cover up my mistakes instead of using slide.

None of these cannot be repaired by a simple service. And then you will have a fully functional classic. For the yellowing of the lens, you can buy online UV LED lamps - a couple of pounds from eBay.
 
Of course Pan you're right, I'm just pissed at myself I managed to screw up this so badly, and camera not working properly made it even worse.
Lens is already sitting under UV light, thanks for the tip!
 
I was offered a discount so I bought that Alpa 6 with the 50mm Xenon f1.9. I know the image I posted is not great, but the camera is in great condition save a lot of duct in the finder. even had a case in good shape not shown in the image.
 

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The depth of field indicator system may well be unique to these lenses? As the f stop is selected, small brass or copper strips progressively appear, or disappear, beneath a series of small holes drilled through the lens barrel to indicate the current aperture. …

It's very impressive to adjust the aperture ring and see the dots change colour as the f stop is decreased or increased, but I doubt it's really as usable as a conventional DOF scale.
I wonder if they did this to circumvent the Zeiss method of moving red indicators, which to me is the best and most intuitive way of showing depth of field.



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I know nothing about Alpa but that depth of scale display as on Derek Leath's lens is exactly the same as those found on Swiss Bolex movie cameras, many of which were Kern Paillard and made in large quanties.
 
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