Retina IIIS, at last

[Julio1fer]

I have long been waiting for a Retina IIIS. Now I got locally two of them! One is just a parts camera. The second one is a well-kept but dirty one, even the meter works, and it has film inside. Both have the 50/2.8 Xenar. I am sending both to the technician for a CLA / rescue job.

What are your takes on this Retina model? It seems the last full-fledged RF model in the series. I only know that it shares lenses with the Reflex S. I used a Retina Reflex S back in 1968 for a trip to Mexico, and the lenses were top notch.

[Martolod]

Very nice camera.lovely and discreet shutter noise.i have one and it is just a pleasure to use

[Mike Kovacs]

I didn't like mine. Just too big and bulky for a RF. Retina IIC is my favourite Kodak RF.

Great picture takers though.

[Captain Slack]

I had one of those and loved it! One of the many cameras I had to sell when I was out of work.

The Schneider 50mm lens mine came with was fantastically sharp. Easily as good as the Leitz Elmar I once had.

[Bennybee]

Great camera. Mine is minty but now has a broken string inside : the thumb wheel under the lens mount does no longer change the ASA value on the top cover. Meter and everything else still working fine though. Silent shutter and sharp Xenar lens too. I tried to sell it on evilbay but had no success. They were hot and fetched high prices when I bought mine a few years ago, but nowadays not much interest anymore - even at reduced price...

[Julio1fer]

Thanks for the comments and information. I hope that my tech can get one camera to work from the two I gave him.

Benny, I believe that the wheel under the mount changes apertures. ASA is changed by pressing a button and turning a wheel in the top right, next to the meter. But yes the camera does have strings and pulleys inside, a bit crazy.

I have been looking around for lenses, they look more expensive than I remembered. When I used a Retina Reflex S, back in 1968, it had a Curtagon 28mm, a Tele-Xenar 135mm and a Xenon 1.9 (this was a great lens IIRC). A wideangle would be useful, but I need to wait out for a good opportunity.

[Bennybee]

Hi Julio,

AFAIK on my camera you press the button on the ASA scale on the camera top while turning the wheel under the lens mount. This then changes the ASA scale. On my camera there is no wheel around the ASA scale. Maybe a different version? I have sent an email to Chris Sherlock in New Zealand who repairs Retina's, asking for a repair estimate. If it is too expensive I will try to sell it as is (shipping both ways will already be mucho dineros). Anyway, apart from being stuck on 400ASA the camera is fully functional but I no longer use it for anything else than a display since I have the Minolta CLE.
Best rgds,
Benny

[Bennybee]

Come to think of it, perhaps Chris in NZ would be glad to trade it for one of the other cameras that he has for sale... Has anyone here visited his nice website already?

[Julio1fer]

"AFAIK on my camera you press the button on the ASA scale on the camera top while turning the wheel under the lens mount. This then changes the ASA scale. On my camera there is no wheel around the ASA scale."

Yes Benny, you are right. The manual is very clear on that. Sorry I got confused with the strange operating concept. You do change apertures by moving the wheel below, but without pressing the lock button in the film sensitivity indicator.

[melek]

There are some benefits and drawbacks of the Retina IIIS.

The viewfinder is large and bright with auto-adjusting framelines.

The f/1.9 Xenon is a really nice lens with a lot of character. The 135 Tele-Xenar is an odd beast. While it's suitably sharp, its close focus distance is 11 feet, which makes you not want to carry it, because often you would like to photograph something that is less than 11 feet away.

The other lenses are nice, but by the time you pack them all into a bag, you really have one mighty kit that has significant weight.

There is that string and pulley thing for the mirror. Lord help you if the thing gets unstrung, like what happened to my camera. I just skip the meter and use a handheld meter. These are equipped with Gossen meters, and usually the meter still works. I think it is partly because it is a sealed meter. But I might be wrong on this point.

It's a mostly reliable camera, although it uses the dreaded Retina shutter-cocking rack. If you force it at the end of the roll, you can damage the teeth on the rack, and then you are left with a very handsome but useless camera.

I liked shooting the Retina IIIS. It is a very quiet camera, and the quality of construction is very good.