Kodak Retina IIIc Analog Film Camera Video Manual, How to Use, Take Photos, Light Meter, & Operation
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- Опубліковано 2 бер 2020
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Dr. August Nagel's line of Retina cameras built on the accepted 35mm film standard by creating a high-quality camera with exceptional build and optics that used the new invention by Dr. Nagel, the Kodak pre-loaded 35mm film cassette. Dr. Nagel designed the cassette so that Leica and Contax cameras, already using similar-sized home-loaded cassettes, could use the new Kodak cassettes that would be sold in stores individually. This revolutionized the accessibility of, and start-up costs for, shooting 35mm cassette film. Dr. Nagel's line of Retina folding cameras used that invention to great advantage by taking exceptional images in a small and reliable body. The Retina IIIc, both the little c and Big C bodies, were the best of the Retina folding cameras and, arguably, the best cameras to ever carry the Retina name.
Video Index:
Skip the Intro: 0:15
Kodak Retina IIIc Overview: 0:29
Kodak Retina IIIc Features -- Top: 4:56
Kodak Retina IIIc Features -- Front: 6:42
Kodak Retina IIIc Features - Lens and Shutter: 7:43
Kodak Retina IIIc Features -- Back: 10:48
Kodak Retina IIIc Features -- Bottom: 10:58
Kodak Retina IIIc Features -- Inside: 11:10
Using the Kodak Retina IIIc’s Auxiliary Lenses: 12:43
Loading and Unloading Film from the Kodak Retina IIIc: 13:36
Flash use with the Kodak Retina IIIc: 18:14
How to Read the Kodak Retina IIIc’s Light Meter and Exposure Value Calculator: 23:25
How to take a Picture with the Kodak Retina IIIc: 28:55
Notes on the Kodak Retina IIIc: 32:20
Things NOT to do with your Kodak Retina IIIc: 34:12
References:
retinarescue.com/retina3cdiff...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodak
camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/K...
retinarescue.com/retina3cchan...
www.thatvintagelens.com/blog/...
camera-wiki.org/wiki/Kodak_Ret...
camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/K...
camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/K...
www.photoethnography.com/Class...
filmadvance.com/2015/10/favou...
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Thanks, I can finally understand my grandfathers old camera!
Thank you!
thank you - a most excellent presentation of a classic vintage Retina camera.
explaining 'everything' is exactly what these cameras deserve and what we the viewers desire to see and learn.
great --- thank --- Bo
Thank you!
What’s fascinating is the light meter on my 3c functions perfectly. I can’t say that about other cameras I own from that era. It’s an amazing time piece. Thanks for the video.
Thank you!
Thanks for the info! I just inherited an IIIc (small c) and your video really helped me understand this camera much better. !
I have the big C model, it was my grandpa's camera and he took thousands of amazing photos with it. I can't wait to get some film and get some use out of it again. Thanks!
Nice! These still hold up today. They were great cameras.
just happened to find a version of this camera stuffed in the used bin section of my local film shop. Incredible light meter set up it so smart. i love older gears and things. thank you for this video!
Thank you and nice find!
Thank you for this terrific video! I purchased a Retina IIIc a couple of years ago, and just love it. I've used it for some street photography, with good results. Your video has helped me more fully understand and appreciate the capabilities of this fine tool.
Thank you!
IIIc is my favorite of the Retinas I own. With practice, the setting process is much faster than you can demonstrate in this video. It's my favorite street shooter; well done!
Andy
Thank you. Yes, this is definitely a quick camera to use. I think it's the best of the folding Retinas for sure.
I found mine in a storage container of a few old cameras I have. Forgot I even had it. Since I want to go back to shooting some film again It crossed my mind I had an old camera stored away. I pulled it out. It belonged to my father. It's in great shape...looks almost new. I put a roll of film in the other day and I'm off and running. Pretty exciting. So solid. Great build. Can't wait to see the results.
Fantastic! I'm optimistic that the results will be great.
What a great video Thank you!!
Thank you!
Thanks so much for making this. I just inherited a 3c that was my great-grandfathers...it came with the available accessory lenses too!
Nice! That will be a lot of fun to use.
Thanks for the tutorial! I just inherited my grandma's Retina IIIc and thought it was such a unique camera that I need to figure it out and test some photos!
Nice! That's going to be a lot of fun to use.
The folding Retinas are great.I have a I,II,IIc,and two IIIcs.If I remember right,these cameras have a quirk that many of the German Kodaks have.When the counter gets to zero,the camera locks up until you reset it.It takes some getting used to.
I recall that on the IIa, not sure if that's the case with this one, but it sounds correct. If I recall correctly, the Retina Club (assuming it still exists) requires that members own 10 Retinas. You're halfway there!
@@DavidHancock That's just my folding Retinas.I also have a Retina Reflex,Retina IIIs and a Retinette.
Hehe, just got my IIIc delivered today and off course started playing with it before reading the manual. After a while it locked up and I got anxious I had broken it. Luckily this video explained the counter rewind and after doing that it was ok again. I really like its mechanical quirkiness and look forward to shoot with it.
Thank you :)
Thank you!
The Ev light meter reading confused me in the beginning, but thanks to you, I got enlightened. :-D
Very well made in depth tutorial for this beauty. 😁👍
Thank you!
Your review was very thorough and I have to commend this camera to anyone interested in classic film cameras. I have a II and it's nice. It's interesting to note that Selenium meters don't generally fail because a chemical is depleted but because an alien chemical (water) has entered the closed circuit of UV + Selenium and oxidized the Se. Selenium meters, if sealed, are "forever." I have an L28C2 Sekonic that dates from the Fifties and it's perfectly functional and as accurate as it ever was. Like all collector driven products, the Retinas has undergone some serious price justification strategies and chief among them is lens snobbery. No one actually tests these lenses but Schneider is better than Rodenstock (or unlikely, R is better than S). I have heard protestations from owners who claim to have the Holy Grail of lenses but do not even own a tripod! There were some seriously engineered cameras made in the Fifties and when the plastic and consumer cameras crowded the market in the Sixties there were those who spoke of the end of an era. From this perspective it certainly was. Go buy a piece of quality and history and take some photographs!
Thank you! I did not know that about selenium meters.
Thank you for your thorough videos this helped me understand a Reflex 025 I just bought. But, question about setting the light meter value on the lens. Does Aperture wheel ought to be at a specific position to set the exposure value?
Thank you and the aperture setting will depend on lighting, film, and shutter speed. So if we assume a situation where a 100 ISO film needs f/5.6 at 1/125th and that's your last shot and your next roll of film is 400 ISO, it will need either 1/500th and f/5.6 or f/11 and 1/125th in the same lighting. There are some good light meter apps for smartphone. The one I use is just called light meter. I'd say pick one up and use it to figure out your exposure settings when you take photos. That should help ensure the exposures turn out well.
I just used some lighter fluid on a Q-Tip and that worked well for my stuck shutter. Really easy to access too due to the lens design.
Nice! These are pretty easy to maintain in so ways.
May I ask how exactly you went with that solution. I am probably left with the same problem, a stuck shutter and do believe it is due to the glued/jammed lens.
@@lolafischer7777 you just have to remove the front lens element and the. Swab the shutter blades with lighter fluid until the oil is gone. Just be careful not to leave any cotton bits behind.
I found your video so helpful! Just acquired my great grandfather's camera who lived in Berlin and I cannot wait to use it. I am wondering though, it seems the black needle that is supposed to move when more or less light hits the lens does not adjust - therefore, I am unsure of where to turn the top dial and furthermore place the red needle. Are there standard or general numbers that I can estimate with when deciding where to place the exposure reading (based on how sunny the day is)? For instance, when it is very sunny out would the honeycomb arrow be placed at lower numbers, and when it is darker out should the honeycomb arrow probably align more with higher numbers like 13 and 12? And one more question, should the ASA always be set at 200? Thanks so much, I hope those questions made sense
Thank you! For your meter question, it sounds like the meter has died (not uncommon.) The easiest solution is to get a light meter app for your cell phone or use a hand-held light meter (like an old Sekonic or similar) and then have that figure out the shutter speed and aperture settings to use.
That exposure calculator is pretty cool. Do you know if those old fashioned solar powered light meters can be repaired or rejuvinated in any way? I have a Retina IIa that does not have a meter but I know that Kodak made accessory meters that mounted to the accessory shoe (the Kodalux meters).
To the best of my knowledge, there is no repairing the selenium meters.
@@DavidHancock - There are some UA-cam videos showing how to replace selenium cells on these meters using the modern versions used in solar powered toys. However the majority of selenium meter fails are due to resistance and wiring, so careful repair persons may be able to unsolder and resolder the connections to repair the meter. I've done this on a number of in-camera and hand held meters. Also, the metering stops indicated by numbers are not the only usable ones - there are two in-between stops between each numbered ones, which are set by the detents at the dash markings. So setting a 400 ASA/ISO is one click up from 320 and 200 is one up from the indicated 160.
Thanks for this very well done video! I have a IIIc with both the auxiliary lenses and the shoe-mounted viewfinder for both.
Andy
Great fucking video David! I just got one today and your video totally got me in the swing of things. Except the whole fstop dials etc. Can you elaborate how to properly use it? If I select "12" on the bottom how do I know what to set my aperture to?
Thank you, Ben! I think I can help a bit. So the first thing to do is to make sure that you have your ISO number set in the ASA dial. ASA and ISO are the same thing. That's key to having a proper exposure reading. Once you have that and match up the red and black needle in the meter you'll have your exposure value (the red numbers on the dial). When you dial that red number into the lens, any shutter and aperture combination that you have available will give you a proper exposure. So for instance, 1/125th at f/5.6 is the same as 1/60th at f/8 or 1/250th at f/4. That's in terms of the amount of light reaching the film.
To answer your question about the lenses, the Rodenstock and Schendier auxiliary lenses are NOT interchangeable with each other. So if you have the Schneider lens on your camera you need the Schneider auxiliary lens.
FYI: C-Lenses (Convertible) for the Retina IIc, IIC, IIIc, & IIIC cameras.
They all share a common set of three elements at the rear of the lens.
List of convertible Schneider-Kreuznach Retina lenses:
Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Curtar-Xenon C 35mm f/4
Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Curtar-Xenon C 35mm f/5.6 (6+3 elements in 6 groups)
Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenon C 50mm f/2 (3+3 elements in 4 groups)
Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenon C 50mm f/2.8
Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Longar-Xenon C 80mm f/4 (6+3 elements in 6 groups)
List of convertible Rodenstock Retina lenses:
Rodenstock Retina-Heligon C 35mm f/4
Rodenstock Retina-Heligon C 35mm f/5.6
Rodenstock Retina-Heligon C 50mm f/2
Rodenstock Retina-Heligon C 50mm f/2.8
Rodenstock Retina-Heligon C 80mm f/4
Thank you!
Hey David, I have 2 questions about this camera. I typically shoot on ISO 400 or higher but it seems that I have an older model that only goes up to an ASA of 320. Should I just leave it at 320 and hope for the best or is there a way I can compensate for that?
Also, my model lists the aperture settings on the bottom side of the lens and the numbers are in a fixed position so they don't automatically adjust along with the red light meter readings the way that yours does. Will this have a negative effect on my exposure value or will it just take some extra work to manually adjust both the red light meter readings and the aperture setting? Thanks!
For the aperture placement, just to check, are you using a IIIc? But in short, it won't affect anything. Aperture and shutter speed are the same regardless of camera. For the film, you can shoot 400 ISO and pull it 1/3 of a stop. Or not. 1/3 of a stop is well within the forgiveness of 400 ISO color negative and black and white films. If you shoot 800 ISO film then you'll need to pull it slightly more than a stop when you develop.
What are some good recommended settings ? I just got one and it’s my first vintage camera
Given that it's fully manual, your best bet will be to take the mater readings of the scenes and select a good shutter speed and aperture that work well for your image.
I have a 3c aswell. However the two images of the rangefinder never line up perfectly, I can always see 2 seperate images. Is my rangefinder not working properly?
Interesting. When the lens is focused do the images move at all? If not then the connection from the lens to the camera is likely damaged or disconnected somewhere, or the mirrors inside the rangefinder (specifically the rangefinder mirror which moves) have become disconnected. Either way that's a repair that's likely best done by a repair professional unless you're comfortable disassembling and tinkering with things like these.
My best guess is that it has to do with the mirror in the rangefinder mechanism under that scenario.
If the image does move then the mirror is just out of calibration. I forget how to calibrate it on these cameras but there ought to be a tutorial online for that. most if not all high-end rangefinders had a means to calibrate the rangefinder mirrors as a user.
I have a iic and there is no ISO setting for the EV calculator like the iiic has. How do I figure out what number to set my camera at for the ISO I am using? I do have the manual with a light table but it only goes up to ASA 100. I believe that ASA and ISO are the same. Anyway, it's a little confusing, especially if I shoot a higher ISO film.
So yes, ASA and ISO are the same. For figuring that out, the iic was, I think, intended for use with a hand-held light meter. You can, if you're in full sun, use the Sunny 16 rule which is at f/16, your shutter speed should be the number closest to your film speed (for instance, 1/125th for 100 ISO.)
Nice review. I like that camera. I think the name Retina spellling is German, because Kodak AG which is the German Stuttgart- Wangen Nagel Werk. Not as you speaks Retna. Phonatic spelling of Re-ti-na is: re sounds like ray - ti sounds like me - na sounds like papa or mama. Together sounds raytena -> Retina. I hope it will helps you better.
Thank you!
The American pronounciation is fine.
Thanks for the great video, my 125-250-500 speed unfortunately don't work :((((((( Evertything else looks like working great, even the meter
Ah, that's a bummer. If you use really slow film, like Adox CMS 20 II or Fantome 8, you can still use this outside.
Hey, I dont know why but I cant use the shutter on my camera. I just cant push it down. Do you know how to fix this?
Thanks
I do not, but there are Kodak Retina forums, Photrio, and the Manual Focus forum all of which may have people who know how to fix that.
Since yo put in a 24 frame film cassette I would think that the film counter would be set to 24. Please correct me if I am mistaken. Great presentation though.
If the counter counts down, you are correct. It's been so long since I sold this camera that I can't recall if the counter counts up or down.
Is it not possible to adjust aperture and shutter speed seperately on this camera?
It's been years since I sold this camera so check my memory on this, but IIRC, the aperture and shutter can be adjusted separately but once dialed in for a specific lighting condition are meant to be adjusted together.
@@DavidHancock thanks!
I believe that you can change lenses by unscrewing the element.
Thank you! That is also correct.
You set it for 200, but your film said 400 ISO. Wondering if this was a mistake or need to convert for some reason?
It was just dummy film that I use over and over in videos. The idea was to show how to load it and how to adjust the ISO reminder.
heyy, my camera has a problem when i try to shoot the photo, the button doesn´t spin. What should i do to fix it?
Which button doesn't spin?
@@DavidHancock the one where you put the film
Nice video... but this is not a fixed lens as you can change the lens or at least part of it... Also they were manufactured in Stuttgart..not Berlin If I remember well
Thank you! Yes, the front element has a bayonet mount, different by the two lens makers, and the front element groups can be switched for different focal lengths.
Send your Retina to RetinaRescue for a CLA. I just purchased a IIc. I'm sending mine as soon as this Covid crap is over.
I was able to fix it, thankfully. But everything I've heard about Retina Rescue is positive, without a doubt.
@@DavidHancock I have worked on many cameras , most of them Medium Format. I have never worked on 35mm stuff. I figured for $113 plus shipping both ways to Australia it's a bargain to have a knowledgeable person restoring the IIc I bought.
It's arriving in it's original box. I'm pumped.
I inherit an obscure camera and you make a video about it. uncanny. How many freaking cameras do you have?!
oh wait. mine is a III S
Not that many any more. I sell them after I make the videos now. At one point I had around 1,500, but they take up space, I couldn't possible use them all, and I didn't enjoy them or keeping them clean and working. So I'm in the process of getting down to around five or eight that I really, truly love to use.
The S is somewhat different but I haven't used one to be able to say what the differences are.
Respect for being able to amass such a collection and be able to part with it. I also inherited an argoflex argus over the weekend but the shutter appears to be stuck on that and the retina :( oh well. Thanks for all the content! Overly informative as always.
I just realized the ring with the aperture is upside down, all the numbers are on the bottom of the camera, not on the top. Dang it. Edit: I was wrong, I just have a different model of iic? Idk what it’s called.
No problem. That happens. A lot of these look alike. I often get confused about which model is which, too.
35mm f/4 Schneider Curtar-Xenon or Rodenstock Hologon C
35mm f/5.6 " " " " "
80mm f/4 " " " " "
Thank you!
And now, "Kodachrome" on piano: ua-cam.com/video/ZNWJPrQPlRo/v-deo.html
using that fuji 400 hurts my soul
Yeah, not a house favorite here, either. Great stuff, but a different aesthetic than I like.