Amateur Photographer - UK (2021-03-06)

Twin Lens Contafl ex

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk 47

Testbench

Twin Lens Contafl ex

speeds from 1/2–1/1,000sec by a knob on

the side of the body, which is also turned to

tension the focal plane shutter, another rarity

in a TLR. The shutter is released by a lever

also on the side of the body.

In a traditional roll  lm TLR, the focusing

screen is the same size as the  lm image.

That’s  ne for a 6x6cm format, but when the

camera’s format is 24x36mm, it’s a little

small for practical use. The Conta ex gets

round that by using lenses of different focal

lengths for shooting and viewing. The

shooting lens is 50mm, the standard focal

length for a 35mm camera. But the viewing

lens is 80mm, which means the image on the

viewing screen, found under a fold-up

focusing hood, is around twice the size of the

negative image. The two lenses are focused

in tandem by rotating a lever to the side of

the viewing lens, but they are geared so that

the viewing lens extends further from the

body than the taking lens. So despite the

different focal lengths, focus is matched

between the two.

The viewing screen is not ground-glass as

in a traditional TLR, but a rectangular fresnel

lens which gives a brilliant image. For critical

focusing, a magni er is swung into position

from behind the hood. The full size of the

screen gives the view for the 50mm lens, but

it is etched with guidelines for 8.5cm and

13.5cm lenses. Similar guides also appear

in the eye-level view nder. This takes the form

of a semi-silvered mirror on the front of the

focusing hood, through which the

photographer looks via an aperture on the

back. The lens format guide lines are actually

on the inside back of the hood, from where

they are re ected in the back of the semi-

silvered mirror. As a result the guides

appeared to hover over the scene being

viewed. From the front of the hood, the

semi-silvered mirror re ects the same  eld of

view as the camera lens does, making it ideal

for self-portraits, when the delayed action

device is activated.

Those guides in each view nder indicate

the next feature rarely found in a TLR:

interchangeable lenses. The Conta ex was

sold with a choice of 5cm f/2.8 Tessar,

f/2 Sonnar or f/1.5 Sonnar standard

The meter cell under a flap above the lens and,

below it, the controls used to measure exposure

The match-needle window that indicates when

the correct exposure has been set

With the back removed, showing a focal plane

shutter, rarely seen in a TLR

‘Sure it has two lenses,

but that’s about its

only similarity to a

traditional TLR’

The plate back in

position with its

plate holders and

focusing screen