New Glass, Old Eyes

Morning folks - well, indeed, it is something like that. 

On a whim I recently went mad and bought another rangefinder camera to take away on holidays - I feel the M2 is just too darn valuable these days (shame and all that, but true). 
I could easily have taken any number of my old manual Nikons, however I wanted something smaller and lighter - a place which the M2 fills nicely. 

I could also have taken the (now infamous) car-boot-sale-soaking-wet-non-stopping-down-Pentax K1000, which I have bought back to life (it's a Hong Kong one by the way) - £10 for a chunk of timeless metal and glass - marvellous. However, I've really enjoyed using a rangefinder this year, so I started looking around. Actually, a proper Barnack would probably have done the trick, but I fancied a change. 

There's no pleasing some people is there!

Underpass

Anyway, after much research, I got a Canon L2. 

It is from the mid-1950's and loosely modelled on a Barnack, but looking a bit more modern; it was also only produced for a very short period of time as the lever-wind version of the VT. 
It's a nice camera, simple to use and very very compact. 
Looks a hell of a lot like the desirable Canon P too.

 

It has a yellow rangefinder patch (they last better than the silver ones by all accounts) and a tri-lens system that lets you swap between 35mm, 50mm and 'RF' which is basically a magnifying bit.

On first couple of goes I found it to be pretty intuitive and fast to use - obviously it isn't an M2, but then it is a tenth of the cost, with nearly . .70-80% of the build and feel.

I had to marry it with something - and again, looking around the Canon 28mm f3.5 I usually use, is now vanishingly rare and getting stupidly expensive, for all that it is a little gem of a lens.

I fancied something 35mm, but couldn't find anything Voigtlander-y. 

I did consider a Russian Jupiter 12 and might well go that route in the future, but for the moment narrowed my choices down to a 35mm Elmar . . . erm . . . . gosh, they've gone up in value . . . same with the 35mm Summaron - crazy prices. 

So after more hunting,  I lucked out and found a Nippon Kogaku Tokyo 3.5cm, f3.5. It was reasonably priced and (barring no caps at all) is in fantastic condition . . . considering.
You're probably not daft enough to not realise that NKT (does that work or have I insulted you?) were none other than Nikon in an early incarnation. 

Canon L2, NKT 3.5cm, f3.5

It's an interesting lens. 
Looks a bit out of place though, doesn't it. 

It is identical in optical layout to a 35mm Elmar, but it has Nikon's coating which crosses the ground between contrasty and just that hint of oldy-worldy soft greys.

 
In its initial iteration it was a f3.5 to f16 lens, then it changed to a f22, but still kept the same formulation. Apparently the change occurred around the time they had to stop engraving the lenses with "Made In Occupied Japan". 

Mine is engraved just plain old "Japan" however it is an f16, so must be just on the cusp. 

That dates it to around 1952/3. 

Oh and I forgot to mention that it is a Leica Thread Mount too. 

Pretty rare by all accounts, which, to my mind makes it all the more a bargain. 

Anyway, that's enuff o' me guff,  . . what's that? 
Pictures? 
You want PICTURES?
You got it. 

Film was HP5 at EI 200, developed in Dilution B HC 110. I rather like that combo too.

Dundee On A Sunny Day

My Old Photo-Test.
This was at f4

A Patient Subject

Underpass
(With New, Improved, Bromide Drag)

Same again.
(Left The Darkroom And Forgot About It!)

Fouled Embryo Poster

It is a very sharp lens for its time and does it have a certain look to it? 

I'll leave that to you.

I guess that's what I was wanting though - something characterful.

Its only downside in use is that the aperture is not click-stop and easily FUBAR'd, and the f-scale on the lens is impossibly small to see. 

Allied to that . . you try finding a lens hood or even a lens cap.

Forget about an original NKT rear one. 

For the front, a standard Leitz 36mm will work, though I opted to go for a nicely anon-e-mouse Schneider domed job.

As for filters . . there is a screw-in bit, for ****21.5mm**** filters! 

Yes, you try and find some . . . . and unlike the Nikon Bayonet mount ones, I don't think it will take Kodak Series retaining rings.

Of course it might take Kodak Retina-sized filters . . . but that is a risk, which I shall leave until I have researched it further..

Failing that, I reckon Leitz A36 clamp-on filters would work - the NKT is the same diameter as a 50mm Elmar (old style). 

Watch this space.

The camera? 

Yeah, nice to use, though the 35mm frame (no brightlines or parallax compensation) is a touch on the narrow side, so you must always account for more border. 

I actually ended up buying a finder too - the much disparaged Helios. I have no idea why this has become a hate object over the years . . maybe because most people are trying to use it on a mirrorless camera for which it was not designed. 

Anyway, that's about the long and the short of it. 

These older rangefinders can still be had for somewhat of a bargain price - probably because people are scared of film! 

As for the lenses, well a L39 anything keeps heading skywards.

This being said, the old 50mm Elmar is still a comparative bargain. 

Regular readers might remember that I use one every now and then. It's from 1934 and marked in meters so will have probably witnessed the rise of Hitler's Germany and some momentous events. 

It takes a lovely photograph. 

The NKT comes from a time when the Korean War was in full swing. 

I think it takes a lovely photograph too.

I can direct you to some very interesting articles on NKT early adopters (David Douglas Duncan and Margaret Bourke-White) and very early post-WW II Japanese manufacturing: 

https://mikeeckman.com/2020/06/kepplers-vault-65-assignment-korea/

https://mikeeckman.com/?s=Rotoloni+report

Mike's articles are as fascinating as they are well-written and well-researched. 

Highly recommended as is the rest of his site.

And that. as they say, is that.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Remember, if they tell you that bed is free, don't believe them. Have you never seen Soylent Green?

TTFN

H xx