Tubes and meters, meters and tubes

Yes, I picked up some new attachments for my Pentacon Six TL medium format camera. And it goes right on top.

This complicated gizmo is actually a through-the-lens (TTL) metering prism, which will allow me to get accurate light readings and adjust my camera settings accordingly. I have to adjust the dials on the top of the prism, focus and adjust my lens’s F-stop until that little line in the window lines up perfectly straight.

Look, if I’m going to make this Pentacon Six TL work for me, I need to confirm that I’m not over-exposing or under-exposing my photos. And I need to find out when I take the photos, not two weeks later when the film comes back from the pro lab.

And if I have a metering prism, I also need some of these things.

What you see here are Pentacon Six extension tubes. They’re actually connected together; the shortest one is 15 mm, then the tubes increase in size to 22.5 mm, 30 mm and 60 mm. No idea why there’s an oddball 22.5 mm size, but hey, who am I to judge?

Now depending on which tube I use, I could actually take macro photos of various objects, allowing me close-up views with sharp focus and proper exposure. That being said, I have to rely on this meter because when I use extension tubes on this camera, I need to let more light INTO the camera with every shot. And rather than go back and try to generate some complicated algorithm or formula to estimate the proper amount of lighting necessary for such things … I chose instead to attach this TTL prism. Two gizmos for the price of one.

Now comes the fun part. I need an object to photograph. And …

Oh, look, I have this old seashell. Let’s see how close I can get to this seashell and remain in focus.

I’ll start with just the 80mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Jena Biometar kit lens. Hello, seashell.

Now let’s attach the 15 mm tube between the camera chassis and the lens.

Hey, that’s kinda close. How about we try the 22.5 mm tube?

Okay, let’s get closer. 30 mm tube. Give it to me.

Hoo boy. All right, I’ve got one more tube – the 60mm cylinder. Let’s slap it on the chassis and see what happens.

Hey, let’s have some fun. What would this look like if ALL the tubes were placed on the camera? To essentially create a 137.5 mm extension tube?

Holy crap. Now granted, there’s a couple of things working against me. I’m shooting hand-held, so it’s taking everything in my power to hold this heavy camera rock-steady-still to capture this seashell. And even when I do hit the right spot … the focal plane with these extension tubes is razor-thin. I can get some of the seashell’s ridges in focus, but not all of them.

But this works. And that’s all I’m asking right now. Especially with test film.

Now I can work towards putting something together with this film and this light meter and the extension tubes.

And you know I will.