Altissa Altix-N Shots

[David Tong]

Just getting my feet wet with my first roll from the Altissa. Unlike my Konica, this doesn't have a meter at all and it'll be my first roll shooting without a meter...

I've crammed as much Sunny-16 practical computations in my head and overexposed most of my estimated shutter/aperture combination since this expired Jessops film underexposes by almost a stop.

Here are some of the samples that I got just a few minutes ago from teh neighborhood lab scans.

PP in LR only for sharpness (+20).

(No, I didn't attend mass, I just went in the church...)

Still struggling a bit with MF at f/4 or wider...

Quite glad 90% of the shots were exposed decently hehe, talk about "tsamba".

[David Tong]

Not bad for a 1957 cam....

I just threw out a roll taken with my Konica... Forgot to set the ASA back to 200 and left it in 400, all the shots were way underexposed... Oh well...

Lovin' this 4-Euro hunk of metal... Oh, the lens has 15-blades as well...sweet.

[daniel go]

These shots look good. I have a poor poor memory so shooting with out a meter is a no - no for me, you obviously did a wonderful job here

[David Tong]

http://www.retrography.com/altix.htm

VEB OPTIK Altissa-Camera-Werk / VEB Altissa-Camera-Werk
Dresden - Germany

The Altix history began way back in 1904 in Dresden. Your may also have heard the name "EHO Altissa" which dates from the mid-twenties where the EHO was short for Emil Hofert who owned the company way back then. This was yet another of those Dresden companys that managed to rise as the Phoenix from the ashes after the II world war.

The old facilities were completely destroyed in the numerous airraids by the allied forces, but in as early as 1946 the company began manufactoring cameras in the new location in Blasewitzer Straße in Dresden. The company changed names several times during its long history, and it all ended in 1959 when Altissa was absorbed into the mighty giant "VEB Kamera- und Kinowerke Dresden", and only a few years later in the early 60'ties production was stopped. However the company in fact managed to remain a privately owned corporation until 1952, at which point is was taken over by the east german state and were nationalized. Dr. Michael Spehr has an elaborate and superb homepage about the Altissa history and detailed descriptions of the various camera models. A must see !

Altix N Type I (ca.1958) VF Serial no.: 44558

Format: 24 x 36 on 35 mm film

Optics: Meyer Optik-Görlitz Trioplan 1:2,9 50mm / Altix bayonett mount

Shutter: Tempor B + 1 => 1/250 sec. + selftimer

Woa ! What happended !. In 1958 Altissa came up with this brand new design for the Altix. Gone are the quirkyness of the old design. The body are bigger (12 x 8 x 3 cm.) and gone are the days of fiddling around with Leica-style film loading. The camera back comes right of (not hinged), built in takeup spool, 2 filmtransport cockwheels, film pressureplate and easy loading all the way. Film transport and cocking of the shutter is by rapid advance lever with the filmcounter underneath. Similar to the Altix V is has the Altix bayonett mount for changing lenses and the lenses are of course compatible from the V-model. I dare to say, that the engineers got it almost right with the Altix N type I, but only "almost" . Still no strap lugs !!

[David Tong]

Wrote a little page for my Altix...

http://davidtong.wordpress.com/2008/...50s-workhorse/

[joseph barretto]

Originally Posted by daniel go

These shots look good. I have a poor poor memory so shooting with out a meter is a no - no for me, you obviously did a wonderful job here

yeah. hard to shoot without a meter. i always carry my leningrad 8 now with me to meter everything. im trying to memorize specific lighting conditions. haha

[Keith Briones]

nice little camera...
btw i like the last two photos. especially the last one...
soft focus helped the face of the child... although it would have been much better if it was looking at you (imho)..

[David Tong]

Thanks, Keith... I have over 9,000 photos of my son so far, I'm not that worried about getting the "right" images of him anymore, that's just another "real life" shot of him that I absolutely love.

Seph: I'm thinking of getting a cheap hand-held meter as well, but this experimentation in exposure is quite fun, every roll is a big surprise and a big reward if you get it right (or even almost right)... Saves me the agony of searching for mercury battery replacements on these oldies... :P

Shadow-reading is fuhhhnnn....

[David Tong]

Accidental double exposure...

[David Tong]