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Post by John Parry on Nov 25, 2005 6:42:45 GMT -5
Hi All,
Well I said I wanted a camera with a waist level finder. And I always fancied a TLR (although I must admit I was thinking of a Yashica 'D'). I now am the owner of a Montanus "Del Monta" - so my question has to be 'Does anyone know anything about them?'
It seems to be the standard camera from the only reference I've been able to find, but it does have a Velio shutter as opposed to a Vario. Anyone know what the difference is? Also, not sure whether it takes 120 or 620 film.
In the same package I've also acquired a Brownie Reflex, although I haven't seen that yet. Not even sure which Reflex it is. Apparently the film type changed throughout the Reflex range, so I don't know what the film type of that one is either!
Will be getting the latter on Monday, so I'll keep you posted.
Regards - John
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Nov 25, 2005 8:09:53 GMT -5
Hi John.
All I know about the Montanus company is that they were in Solingen in Germany and were originally a plastics company called Potthoff . They made cameras, mainly TLRs I think, from about 1950 to around 1960, first under the name Potthoff and then, in about 1953-ish changed the company name to Montanus. They made several plastic bodied TLRs but later changed to metal bodies. One of their TLRs, not sure which one, was brought into the UK by Amplion and called the Amplion Reflex. I've got a vague feeling the Del Monta had a compartment somewhere in it for a spare roll of film (or maybe a focusing magnifier) but I may be mistaken.
Velio was one of a whole range of shutters made by Gauthier - Vario, Vero, Velio etc - all based on the Prontor and using the same body but with different ranges of speeds. The Velio was a sort of halfway house in the range with speeds from 1/10 to 1/200.
I doubt very much if Montanus made any of their own lenses. They used Steinheil lenses on some of their cameras. Their own-brand name was Pluscanar but whether or not this was a Steinheil lens I don't know.
Probably not a lot of help, but the name doesn't crop up very often. There was a Del Monta on ebay UK a few days ago. Was this the one you got? Wherever you got it I hope it turns out to be OK. My recollection is that they were considered to be in the mid-quality range of TLRs, better than some but not as high as Yashica, Rollei, MPP and so on.
Peter
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Post by John Parry on Nov 25, 2005 20:38:06 GMT -5
Thanks Peter,
Had a better look at it now. It's 120, so that will save a bit of hassle. The shutter doesn't work at 1/10 - sticks fully open until you select 'B'. Strange, because it doesn't seem lazy - there's absolutely no sign of it trying to close, and 1/25 is crisp as you like. Will give it a good clean up and post a picture of it.
Regards - John
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Nov 26, 2005 14:56:13 GMT -5
Hi John, I haven't stripped a Velio shutter but it's based on the Prontor (both made by Gauthier) and I would expect the internal layout to be very similar. If the same fault happened on a Prontor (blades staying open at 1/10 and slower) I would almost bet that it was caused by a sticking pallet. Perhaps if I describe the speed control arrangement on a Prontor this will make more sense. At the fastest speed the blades close under the action of the main spring only. For 1/100 sec and slower, turning the speed control ring brings a retarding gear train into action to delay the time before the blades close. At 1/100, 1/50 and 1/25 the control gear train runs for progressively longer times, but to control speeds slower than 1/25 needs something more. So for 1/10 and slower a rocking pallet is brought into engagement with the final wheel in the train, which is an escapement wheel, so the train runs progressively slower down to 1 sec. If this rocking pallet is stuck so that it doesn't rock, it locks the escapement wheel and the gear train cannot run, so the shutter blades stay open. When you move the speed control ring to B the retarding gear train and the pallet are disengaged so the blades can close again. If you listen to a Prontor, or to a Compur which has a very similar retarding gear train, you can hear the pallet controlling the escapement, the typical 'zizz' sound. Probably all that's needed on your Velio is a drop or two of Ronsonol lighter fluid on the pallet and its control arm to free it from old oil and dirt. You have to take out the front element of the taking lens to get at the speed control ring and take that off, but if on the Del Monta the lens and shutter move bodily to focus you won't have to worry about resetting the front element at infinity when you replace it. Just screw it back in. Daniel Mitchel has an excellent website on camera repair with lots of pictures that deal in detail with overhauling a number of shutters including a Prontor. The address is: daniel.mitchell.name/cameras/index.htmlScroll down the left hand side to find the shutters. Hope this helps. Peter
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Post by John Parry on Nov 26, 2005 19:35:29 GMT -5
Thanks for that Peter. Yes that makes sense. By the sound of it it's similar to the Vario, and I have one of those on an Isolette I. That one gives the 'zizz' just as you describe, so if I get stuck I will open that and watch what happens at 1/10. The Del Monta's focus is also as you describe.
Regards - John
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