Lens Upgrade for H8 Non-Rex

[Don H Marks]

My H8 Non-Rex came to me with two Yvar three-element lenses. These are ok but since my other two H8 RX cameras all have Switar optics, there was not much reason ever get out the Non-Rex camera. So it mostly sat on the shelf. 

These two D-mount lenses were pretty common back in the day. The Yvar 13mm f1.8 Visifocus is not a bad lens, being already an upgrade from the Yvar 12.5 f2.5 with the standard DOF scale. These lenses fit all the Bolex Dual-8 cameras. 

The bottom lens is the Yvar 36mm f2.8 Visifocus. Slower than a Switar, but still a nice lens. 

 

[Don H Marks]

I'm mostly a still photographer, so even the 12 to 13mm lenses are 'long' to me, so the first upgrade lens I wanted was the 5.5mm Switar f1.8. 

This lens was not particulary hard to find or very expensive. 

Since I use exclusively B&W, and the H8 does not have the behind-the-lens filter holder of the H16, I needed to track down the lenshood so I could use my neutral density filters. It takes series 4.5. 

I got the filter about 15 years ago from Chambless, when it was no big deal to order a new Series 4.5 ND filter. Now it seems these little 'Series'  filters are almost impossible to find on the used market. 

Edited March 18 by Don H Marks

[Don H Marks]

With persistent scouring ebay I was able to get a second Series 4.5 Bolex branded filter. It was in pretty good condition too. I had to pay stupid money for it, however. 

[Don H Marks]

Next lens I found was the Switar 13mmn f0.9 Visifocus. This lens is the key to making the Non-Rex practical to use. The extra wide aperture combined with the slower effective shutter speed (1/50 vs 1/60) of the Rex make the Non-rex a better low light camera. Even more so because the Octafinder is so much brighter than the REX finder. 

 

[Don H Marks]

The optics in the f0.9 Switar were in excellent shape, but the aperture was hard to turn. I did inspect and clean the blades to make sure it was not binding on the blades and destroying them. Turns out all the binding was in the barrel, the blades were moving freely. 

Initially looks a little daunting to get the blades back, but there is a ridge on the end cap that holds all  the blades in position until it is fitted. Once fitted, the blades come out from under the ridge or lip and are free again. So every time you take it apart, the blades do all fall out. 

I guess if not interested in re-assembling the blades, don't remove the end cap!

[Don H Marks]

There is like a 4 blade overlap, but the ends of the blades are held in place by the outer ridge, so the free ends can be rotated to easily see the hidden attachment points. Once the blades are in place, they stay in place pretty well, so it can be re-assembled with just a little twisting to get all the pins in the grooves. 

Edited March 18 by Don H Marks

[Dom Jaeger]

6 minutes ago, Don H Marks said:

Next lens I found was the Switar 13mmn f0.9 Visifocus. This lens is the key to making the Non-Rex practical to use. The extra wide aperture combined with the slower effective shutter speed (1/50 vs 1/60) of the Rex make the Non-rex a better low light camera. Even more so because the Octafinder is so much brighter than the REX finder. 

The 13mm f/0.9 is an amazing lens for sure. 

You know you can use the octameter viewfinder on a Rex camera too?

[Don H Marks]

I think the f0.9 is a little optical marvel. Ten elements in five groups. 

 

[Don H Marks]

Last lens for the turret is the Switar 35mm. 

Again, this one uses the Series 4.5 filters that are held in place by the lens hood. 

I don't have the optical diagram for this lens, but I believe it is 6 element. 

I guess there are a lot of different ways to focus and frame from gestimation, to gate focus, rack-over, etc. 

What I frequently do is to use this lens as a rangefinder and read the distance from the barrel and transfer it to the shorter lenses. 

Edited March 18 by Don H Marks

[Don H Marks]

One more thing to make the camera more useable is a light meter. 

I mounted this little digital meter over the Octafinder. 

It won't read 1/50, but if I set the ISO 1/3 faster, I read off 1/60th. I run all my cameras at 18fps. 

So for Foma ISO100 I set the meter to 125 and read at 1/60. It is also nice the meter reads to f1 and below. 

[Don H Marks]

38 minutes ago, Dom Jaeger said:

The 13mm f/0.9 is an amazing lens for sure. 

You know you can use the octameter viewfinder on a Rex camera too?

Yes, one of my H8 RX even came with an Octameter attached. 

I'm still amazed by the Rex cameras. I got my first simple movie camera in 1972 and at age 11 I did not know much of high--end cameras. I really thought that seeing through the taking lens, like an SLR still camera, was science fiction. I could not even imagine how it would be accompished in such a small space.  

[Simon Wyss]

There are mirror shutter reflex-finder cameras for Double-Eight film. The first one was the ERCSAM Camex 8 Reflex, presented on May 6th, 1955. In 1956 came the Armor 8 C (double-prism block like Paillard-Bolex but slid in and out before a take). Then the Nizo Heliomatic 8 Reflex in 1957, the Beaulieu Reflex 8, 1959, and the Pentaflex 8 in 1960.

[Don H Marks]

That post makes me feel like one of the youngsters. Those cameras were all from before I was born. Though, only by one year. 

 

[Don H Marks]

After years of searching I finally found a second 27mm lens cap. As far as I know only the Switar 36/1.8 and 13/0.9 used that lenscap and I only had one to share between the two of them. I don't think any of the other D or C mount cameras used that size. 

The way I found it was just scanning many images looking for the distinctive relationship between the Kern/paillard text and the size of the cap. It is uniqe none of the other caps look that way. 

The little Switar 5.5/1.8, however,  takes the easy-to-find lenscap common to the Yvar D-mount lenses. 

 

Edited April 2 by Don H Marks

[Johnny Liu]

Have you tried this website? I have bought some filters from them before that were hard to find elsewhere and on eBay:

https://filterfind.net/

 

[Johnny Liu]

I meant to write: "that were hard to find elsewhere as well as hard to find on eBay..."

[Simon Wyss]

The Switar 36 mm, f/1.8, is a five-glass lens. Positive, cemented achromat (flat common surface), thick negative, diaphragm, positive

The filter thread is the M 33,5 × 0,5 mm.

[Don H Marks]

Thank you for the correction on the Switar 36mm 1.8 as being 5-element. 

I also found a Bolex catalog in my collection of physical documents. Its content is a little different from the PDF files I have collected. 

In that physical catalog (November 1952) it is showing the 12mm Yvar 1.9 as six-element. If so, that is the only six-element Yvar I have come across in my stash of Bolex literature. Most Yvars being 3 element with a few exceptions. 

 

Edited April 2 by Don H Marks

[Don H Marks]

Without actually dismantling the Yvar 13mm 1.9, I'm a little suspicious if it is really six element, because in another catalog "February 1952" the same diagram is used for the Pizar and or Switar 12.5mm:

 

Edited April 2 by Don H Marks

[Don H Marks]

I do get 27.9mm when I measure the lens cap threads on the D-mount 36mm 1.8 Switar. Same size as the 13mmm 0.9. 

 

Edited April 3 by Don H Marks

[Simon Wyss]

Alright, M 28 then

The Yvar 13 mm, f/1.9 is a triplet. There must be something shifted between text and images. The lens shown next to The Pizar 12.5mm (½") F:1.9 is the Pizar 26 mm, f/1.9 for 16-mm. film. The Pizar 12,5 mm, f/1.9 is a triplet, too.

[Simon Wyss]

There is no obligation to use Kern lenses with Paillard-Bolex cameras. D-mount optics were also made by Leitz, Laack, Berthiot, Angénieux, Taylor Taylor & Hobson, ILEX, Wollensak, Elgeet, Kodak (yes), Gundlach, Zeika, Ichizuka, Nikon, Arco, Soligor, Simpson, Chinon, Sun, Hermagis, Zeiss, Steinheil, Dallmeyer, Rodenstock, Bausch & Lomb, Meyer, Schneider, Isco, Astro, and others.

[Don H Marks]

Maybe I'm not looking in the right place, but I find it hard to believe there is no big list of D-mount lenses compiled to a table or single website. 

I have collected some pdf files listing D-mount lenses but only for Kern, Berthiot and Wollensak. Even then, I think I have only partial lists. 

Edited April 3 by Don H Marks

[Don H Marks]

I did contact Rafacamera about adapters for these lenses. Based on that outer measurement of the threads he indicated the m28x0.5 to m52x0.75 adapter already in stock might fit. Also, may be able to custom make other sizes.