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I've got a C30 camera with a Polaroid back for a 400 series scope. ()

It's a beautiful piece of engineering with really cool documentation for it....unfortunately, it's kind of useless because the Polaroid land camera film is unobtanium and trying to grab a waveform for the heck of it feels like a massive waste of film

I believe the C30 camera had interchangeable backs. One was for Polaroid
roll film, a second for Polaroid pack film (the later film), and a third
was a Graflok back. This back could take sheet film in a cassette with a
dark slide. There was also a roll film (not Polaroid - regular film) back
that fit a Graflok mount. I confirmed this on the TekWiki page. Sheet film
that will fit a Graflok film back is still available.

See the TekWiki page:



The interchangeable film backs to fit the Graflok back and the Graflok back
itself might be difficult to find though. Maybe not. There are a lot of
Graflok backs (mostly for roll film) on eBay. Whether or not they fit the
C-30 camera is another matter.

Years ago, we used a C-70 Tek scope camera with a roll film back. We had
some special order Kodak film for it. It was called "shellburst film" as I
recall. We used it to take photos of early CT scanner images. The camera
was mounted to a Tek monitor built into the control console for the CT
machine. We could process this film through an X-ray film processor.

Steve H.

On Tue, Nov 12, 2024 at 5:38?PM Luca via groups.io <la_whg=
[email protected]> wrote:

I've got a C30 camera with a Polaroid back for a 400 series scope. (
)

It's a beautiful piece of engineering with really cool documentation for
it....unfortunately, it's kind of useless because the Polaroid land camera
film is unobtanium and trying to grab a waveform for the heck of it feels
like a massive waste of film

On 12 Nov 2024 5:38 pm, Luca wrote:

....unfortunately, it's kind of useless because the Polaroid land camera film is unobtanium

It depends upon which film it uses. A number of Polaroid films are still available.
--
Dale H. Cook, GR/HP/Tek Collector, Roanoke/Lynchburg, VA

I am quite disappointed with the Kickstarter project's concealment? of the fact that this conversion renders an image that is reversed left to right. The film packs used are called "integral", because they do not peel apart. Cameras project the image onto the film upside down and backward. With peel apart film or seperate negative and positive, the image is restored to correct. The integral film cameras all have a mirror in the light path between the lens and film to invert the projected image so it lands correctly on the film. Integral film photos are veiwed from the front, just as the image was projected onto them.? Fuji Instax film, however, is viewed from the rear of the film and this reverses the image to correct for the reversal of the taking lens and no mirror is needed. The image is projected onto the front of the film, but as processing proceeds, the front becomes opaque and reflective, while the rear becomes transparent. There have been conversions done to use Fuji Instax film in old Polaroid cameras, but so far they have all been compromises.

There is only one source for Polaroid peel apart pack film left in the world at the moment, and it is color. The pack contains one shot, and costs nearly twenty dollars a shot including shipping from Austria. The currently produced films do not peel apart and are not compatable with the scope camera. The only possible source is stale now old stock film, but it is at least fifteen years old, usually quite expensive, and may be dried out and unusable. Polaroid so far has refused to reconstruct the tooling to make peel apart packs. Fuji made them until about four years ago, then stopped because they claimed the demand was too small. They so far have refused to sell the production equipment so someone else can resume production. Analog photography is growing steadily after years of decline, and Polaroid peel apart film has an image quality that is irreplacable and is viewed as an art form. There are many thousands, perhaps a million,? photographers eager to get new production peel apart film packs. There are millions of classic and very fine Polaroid cameras in closets and drawers with a new generation of people bored of snapping hundreds of pictures on their phones who would like to use them.

Several problems have been reported in making Polaroid pack film. Environmental concerns for the chemicals used and disposal of the tabs and peeled off negatives have been given. An established product that offended some sensibilities would be more likely to be allowed to continue production, but once it stops, restarting it could be difficult. The film chemistry is probably the easier to overcome than the other parts. The machinery to mold and assemble the packs was destroyed (deliberately?) by Polaroid, and Fuji has viciously refused to sell theirs even though they also refuse to resume production. These are obstacles that make it thus far impractical to make new film packs for the expected number of buyers. The odd thing is the sale of Instax cameras and film is quite robust. Despite all? this, there are millions of the cameras extant, and a devoted number of photographers who want the unique image quality of Polaroid peel apart film. Film photography is gaining popularity again, and I don't think the story of Polaroid film packs is over yet.

?? Bruce Gentry, KA2IVY

Just out of curiosity, has anyone adapted a digital camera to fit the old Polaroid mounts?

Bill Koski

Bruce,

Which Kickstarter are you referring to? This one?

The Austrian company seems to have peel apart film, though it's still way out of what I would like to spend for analog film.

It's probably almost impossible to find that Graflok back, nor am I too motivated to do it since all you can do is taking a picture of a waveform... which would probably be more of an art piece than anything else nowadays

The kickstarter project is one of the possibilities I have seen over the past few years. I think some or all of them may have fizzled. There are two major issues with adapting a packfilm camera to integral film. First, as I mentioned before, the image will be reversed left to right. All of the Polaroid integral film cameras-like the SX-70- have a mirror in the path from lens to film to reverse the image and make the print correct. The other issue is the film plane of the integral pack is different from peel apart packs. One of the conversion kits had an extra lens you put inside the camera on the back of the taking lens. This compensated for the moved focal plane and allowed the rangefinder to be accurate as well as retaining the full original range of focus distances. There are converters that use Fuji Instax packs. Because of how Instax film takes and presents the image, the reversing mirror is not needed but the focus correction lens is still needed. All of the conversions reduce the image area, they are not the same format as the original peel apart film.

Bruce Gentry, KA2IVY

I can picture people wanting to do Polaroid stuff for art, nostalgia, or just for the hell of it, but not for the sake of scope shots. About ten or fifteen years ago there were lots of discussions about going digital with the old scope cameras. First it was digital USB and such mounted or sitting on anything that could hold it roughly in the right spot and block ambient light. I remember even the "plastic flower pot" scope camera that someone came up with. Later it became easiest to just use smartphones propped on a ledge in the back, or held freehand.

I've saved a few old Tek C5 type cameras - the later versions (C5C ?) made of mostly black plastic - lightweight, and simple. The very first I did was a USB camera mounted to the CRT hood with threaded spacers. There was no need for any of the lenses or film backs, which just make it more bulky. The problem of course is needing a PC or laptop for USB types. The obvious choice is a digital camera. I had long ago planned to make one of the C5s into a digital camera (then later smartphone) holder, but got lazy and just resorted to freehand shooting with room lights off or subdued.

You have to think about the application here. I'd say that most scope CRT shots even right here in the Photos dept, are freehand digital, to convey info about problems while trying to figure things out - not at all an artistic endeavor. Even if you had an oldie camera and unlimited supply of film, what would you do with it here? Maybe take a Polaroid screen photo, then scan it or take a digital picture of it in order to post it up for the world to see. Or, tape it into your paper notes. So, unless you're publishing stuff with instrument screen shots, you don't need anything fancy, but may want a classic scope camera's mechanical setup combined with a modern digital camera - the best of both. Forget about the film.

Over the years I've picked up a few classic big complicated HP and Tek scope cameras for free, because they're cool and interesting, but unfortunately useless for the original purpose. I've immediately junked out every one, and saved some of the parts like lenses, irises, shutters, and lighting - none of which I have ever used, but I can't toss them. You know how it goes.

Ed

I have a 475A with the blue CRT which I believe was produced for these cameras.

It's kinda cool regardless..

The blue phosphor (a P11) was built to have considerable blue sensitivity, which meant that the film could be developed under red light (monochromatic film) rather than panchromatic film which had to be developed mostly in total darkness (very dim green could be acceptable).? The phosphor had a very short persistence, which meant that it was optimized to capture fast events.

That nicely explains the single event photography.

Harvey

I have a box with numerous scope cameras/pieces that can be rehomed to anyone who wants them for the cost of shipping. Don't know for sure what's in there--I know there are least mounting assemblies, lenses, polaroid cameras. No idea of specifics. If anyone is interested, contact me off list.

Wayne

Bill,

I have. I use my C-12 all the time.



Cheers!

George KD6NEW

Very cool conversion!
I don't have any real need of a camera mount but
I might fool around with one if I stumble across one at the right price someday.
Thanks for the detailed instructions

Also love the 556 scope on your page
I have one as well with multiple plugins.
It gets moderate use and it does keep my lab warm in the winter:)

and Finally the HP nixie counter is very cool
That would look great with my HP 130C scope!
I do have a Heathkit IB 1103 nixie counter that I uses all the time!

New stuff might have a lot of cool features and sometimes can be more convenient to use
but it just feels so good working with vintage stuff that's built like a tank and is still going strong after a 1/2 century + of service!!

Wayne,

Thanks for your kind comments. If you’re interested I’ve posted the code for the HP clock on my GitHub page.



All the best,

George KD6NEW

This stuff has found a home.