i have tried a colour and B&W film with a visoflex I & 135 elmar i am trialling - observations are; 1. all are focussed a little closer than i thought I had focussed? I want to test with a ruler etc but is the distance marking on the base of the bellows the distance from the film plane indicator on the camera body? 2. is it normal for the colour caste to be slightly green compared to my 50/2? (same light etc) thanks for all the prev responces.

-- Charles Curry-Hyde (charles@chho.com.au), March 10, 2001

Answers

and another question - how can I get an copy of an instruction book? ...triaL!

-- Charles Curry-Hyde (charles@chho.com.au), March 10, 2001.

Hi, Charles. The scale on the base of any bellows indicates amount of "focal extension" of the lens. It has nothing to do with distance from the film plane to the subject. The scale is there to help you with the reproduction ratio, not focusing the subject. Focusing the subject has to be done strictly through the viso viewfinder. Old viso units do not have particularly good focusing aids, so you have to be very careful with close focusing on the ground glass. I suggest you start with a book on close-up basics - John Shaw published a good close-up primer in 1987 "Closeups in Nature". It unravels much of the mystery around close-up technique and will start you down the right path. He uses mostly Nikon equipment, but close-up principles apply across all brands of equipment.

Use of a bellows in itself will not cause the green color cast. That is more likely the result of florescent lighting on your subject, or maybe a color shift due to long exposure and reciprocity departure (if your exposure was longer than 1 second). Or it could be faulty film and/or faulty development.

I will see if I can find a source for Viso I instructions and let you know. You might keep an eye on eBay though.

-- Ken Shipman (kennyshipman@aol.com), March 11, 2001.

By the way, from the wording of your question it sounds like you purchased the viso I and bellows together. Be aware that these are not one piece of equipment, but two separate pieces: the Visoflex I is one piece, and the bellows is another. Instructions for one is not going to explain the other, and vice-versa. And no Leica instructions is going to explain close-up technique. The devices are fairly straight forward and simple. Instead of searching for instructions you might better spend your energy on general closeup technique. The rest will come naturally.

-- Ken Shipman (kennyshipman@aol.com), March 11, 2001.