The one picture I liked from the last roll through my KW Patent Etui was this shot of the UNM Zimmerman Library.

Most of the other frames included a substantial portion of bright overcast sky.  The uncoated lens elements in the Tessar tend to produce a lot of flare in such light which washes out tonal values and destroys detail.  A lens hood may have helped avoid some of the flare I suppose.

I was pleased nevertheless that all the negatives had good overall density thanks to a new bottle of Kodak HC110 developer.  I had been using LegacyPro L110 for some time before with good results, but the last two bottles gave me negatives that looked a couple stops under-exposed.  I have not seen similar complaints from other users of L110, but I was not willing to gamble on another round of poor results.  I decanted the liter bottle of HC110 into four small glass bottles to avoid oxidation, and I'm hopeful that will keep me going for a good while with the Tri-X, Kentmere and Fomapan which I am currently shooting.

 My Patent Etui plate camera went with me for a morning stroll through Albuquerque's Rio Grande Zoo.  

I used a roll from the recently acquired batch of expired/frozen Tri-X which I processed back home in Rodinal 1:50.  The morning light was subdued by some California smoke.  The Zoo was pretty crowded with children and parents, due no doubt in part to the presence of a newborn hippo.  I walked by the hippo pond a couple times, but the closest I got to seeing the newborn was an image on the phone of one of the attending volunteers.  Plenty of other exhibits to see, of course.

The Rollex film back for the camera is the most practical way to make pictures with it, but it does add some bulk to very compact Patent Etui.  The ten-shot film packs were a better fit and very popular in the 1920s and '30s, but I think Kodak quit producing them in the 1980s.  Knowing I would have the eight 6.5 x 9 frames of Tri-X shot well before my zoo visit was complete I also took along my Mercury II CX loaded with a roll of expired Fuji 400 color.  I managed to use most of that at the Zoo and will try to process it and post the results later this week.

I walked around downtown Wednesday morning and visited the Roadrunner station on 1st St.  I was carrying the KW Patent Etui plate camera with the Tessar lens and loaded with Arista Edu Ultra 400. I was pleased to see in the pictures that I had gotten a bit better in framing my shots with the camera's wire frame viewfinder.  I processed the film with semi-stand development in Rodinal for one hour at 1:100 dilution.



The Rodinal processing gave me tonalities and grain that were not a bad fit with the subject, but I liked my results with this film better with the PMK Pyro developer that I used in my last outing with my other Patent Etui.  I have one more roll of the Arista film and I think I'll try it with HC-110 to see how that compares with the Rodinal and PMK processing.

I recently purchased a few rolls of 120-size Arista Edu Ultra 400 to shoot in my medium format cameras.  I decided to start off with one of my KW Patent Etui plate cameras with the f4.5/10.5cm Trioplan lens.  I shot the roll at 200 ASA with the intent of processing in PMK Pyro.  I did not find any guides to using that combination of film and developer, so I looked around at similar combinations for which there were reported results, and I decided to develop for twelve minutes at 24C.  I was happy enough with the outcome, but I could also see that my results were not optimal because of the length of time elapsed since I last used the camera.
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Cottonwoods

Downtown

Conservatory

* * * Plate cameras were very popular in the 1920s and '30s.  All the major manufacturers made them and all had essentially the same set of features, often using the same Compur shutters and Zeiss lenses.  The folding plate cameras were very compact compared to other popular styles available in those days and the KW Patent Etui (KAWEE) and the Bentzin Primar were notable for their extremely clever design which allowed them to be folded up and easily slipped into a pocket.  When folded, the Patent Etui occupied about the same space as a packet of three plate holders, or a filmpack adapter.

Accessory roll film holders were available for all the plate cameras; the two most common being the Rada and the Rollex.  Because of the thin slots on the back of the Patent Etui, only the Rollex will work with my 6.5x9  KW cameras.  While the roll film back did provide a relatively easy way to use commonly available roll film cartridges with the plate cameras, it did also negate the plate camera's compactness to a large degree.

It is possible even today to purchase glass plates for use with the plate film cameras, but the multi-sheet film packs have not been available for decades and cut film is hard to find in the 6.5x9 size.  I have so far only used my plate cameras with the roll film adapters.

All of the plate cameras come with three options for viewing the subject to be photographed.  The ground glass backs are essential when high precision is required for framing the subject as in close-up work.  The need to switch out the film back with the ground glass back makes for a rather awkward and time-consuming process and a sturdy, stable tripod is essential.  The little reflex finder and the wire frame finders make hand-held operation possible and are quicker to use, but still require some careful alignment to yield a good result.

I sometimes use the reflex finder and it works, but the image is pretty small and easily obscured if the head is not held precisely in the right position relative to the finder.  The bubble level next to the finder is helpful in keeping the image properly angled.

On the Patent Etui a little post is flipped up to use in conjunction with the swing-out wire frame finder.  With the round tip of the post properly centered, the wire frame will enclose the portion of the scene which will be recorded on the film.  It takes some practice to get good framing with such an arrangement.

So, while good results from any of the plate cameras do require some time and practice to achieve, their features can provide a great deal of versatility and deliver images of excellent quality.  Even with relatively simple 3-element uncoated lenses like the Trioplan the big 6.5x9 or 9x12 negatives will provide sharp pictures with a deep range of tonal values.  If you need further convincing of the picture-making capacities of the little plate cameras, just take a look at the work Brassai did with his.

I've been doing a little repair work on my two Patent Etui plate cameras.  Both had some pinholes in the bellows which some black fabric paint took care of. Soon after I got my first one I dropped the back and broke the ground glass.  I purchased a replacement glass panel, but did not know how to put it in place.  A couple years later I got to looking more closely at the back and realized that I just needed to take out the four little screws in the  back corners which released the glass and the two little brackets that hold it in the frame.



Both cameras seem to be working well now.  I'm going to order some 120 film which I will use with the Rollex roll film back.

These pictures were made on some expired Tri-X in my Minolta X-700.

I got a roll of Tri-X through my Patent Etui plate camera after considerable effort.  This one of a sculpture in the art museum courtyard was the only one I liked.


The Trioplan lens easily lived up to my expectations.  The focus adjustment and the Rollex film back gave me some problems that are yet to be fully resolved.

I found another KW Patent Etui plate camera on ebay. It has had quite a lot more use than my other one judging from the worn condition of the covering, but the shutter, the lens and the bellows are all in shootable condition.

The first-acquired camera on the right came in nearly faultless condition and produced excellent quality images.  It has a 120mm Tessar lens.

The recently acquired camera to the left is equipped with a 105mm Meyer-Gorlitz Trioplan.  That is a three-element design rather than the four of the Tessar, but I always liked the images I got from the Trioplan on my Certo Dolly Super-Sport and I'm looking forward to seeing what this one will do.

My Patent Etui is performing well, but requires some care in use.

As with any of the ruby-windowed cameras, it is important to only open the frame counting view port briefly while advancing the film, and that must be done away from direct sunlight.  Even with strong reading glasses it can be difficult to discern when the numerals crawl into sight in the window.

Since I was shooting with the Rollex rollfilm adapter and not planning on using the ground glass for focusing, I left the adapter's dark slide at home and just put a strip of black tape over the slot where the slide is inserted to avoid any light intrusion that way.  I also put a strip of tape over the hinge on the Rollex, though the back closes up very tightly, and the cloth curtains over the film spools also seem to be doing their job of keeping out any stray light.  The bellows have remained light-tight, thanks to the application of some dabs of black fabric paint to a few pinholes.

Getting the image properly framed is something of a challenge with the Patent Etui.  The little reflex finder has a mirror that is slightly deteriorated, though it does allow accurate framing with care.  The wire frame finder with the rear flip-up pin provides a very poor guide to framing, certainly not adequate to ensure full-frame display of the final image.

The fine Tessar lens easily makes up for any of the inconveniences of shooting the camera.  I shot the whole roll at 1/250 and f-22 in bright sun at the air show, and every exposure was tack sharp.

We enjoyed a light plane air show this morning at Albuquerque's Double Eagle Airport.

KW Patent Etui (6.5x9 Model), 12cm /f4.5 Tessar Lens in Compur  Shutter

The Patent Etui was the first product from Kamera Werkstatten and was marketed under the name, Kawee, in the U.S. -- a play on the German pronunciation of the company's KW initials.  The claims for the camera were a bit over-blown in the ads, though it was quite a revolutionary development at the time.

ebay

Getting the Patent Etui to the point of making some pictures has been a very nice experience for me.  I wanted this camera for a long time, and was very happy recently to get a good example as well as the Rollex film back for it.  It has also been a nice excuse to look at some of the historical aspects surrounding the plate film cameras.

It seems extraordinary that such a lot of talent and resources in camera manufacturing came back together in Dresden immediately on the heels of a war that was so devastating for Germany.  The concentration of resources encouraged modular designs that promoted quality while maintaining reasonable price points.  All the different plate camera producers made use of similar design features, and key components including shutters, lenses and viewfinders were often supplied as complete assemblies from Zeiss and the other major players in the industry.

A pair of rhinos and no place to hide.  Luckily, they chose not to charge.


I haven't found any good light seal material to block out the leaks in the Rollex back for the Patent Etui.  As a stop-gap I put a strip of black tape around the seam where the two halves of the outer case come together.  Eight shots, no leaks.

The Tessar lens is really a great performer.  Combined with the 6x9 negative size it is capable of producing some great results.  Below is a crop of the rocket nozzle at 100% enlargement.


Like the Rada that I use with the Recomar 18, the Rollex film back has a removable internal frame for mounting the roll film and the take-up spool.

My Patent Etui is in nice shape for its age.  The lens is clean and the shutter is only a little slow at 1 sec.  The bellows had just a couple pinholes which I was able to paint out easily.  Most impressively, the bubble level on the viewfinder still has fluid and a bubble.  The camera arrived along with a case in pretty good condition, and there is a nice little packet of film holders as well as a ground-glass back for critical focusing.  The bellows does not extend quite as far as the Recomar or the Maximar, but it still gets pretty close to 1:1 on the ground glass.


So, I'm ready to go except for a way to use available 120 roll film.  I have a good Rada film back which I have used successfully with both the Recomar and the Maximar.  Unfortunately, the Rada has a rim that is just too thick at 1.5mm to fit into the back of the Patent Etui which appears to need a back with the edges measuring between 0.5 and 1mm in thickness.  I have seen illustrations of  Rollex backs on the Patent Etui, but the ones I've seen for sale have been for the larger 9x12 cameras or for 127 format rather than the 120 roll film size I need.

Leads to the needed roll film back will be greatly appreciated.  I'm willing to pay a reasonable price, and I'm also open to  trades from my collection. ( I found the roll film back I needed.)