Great Wall DF-3,4,5

These simple 120 SLR were made by Beijing Camera Factory as low cost cameras for amateur photographers. Its 90/3.5 normal lens is a 3g/4e Tessar type of national 2nd grade lens with a M39 mount. A rare 2x teleconverter was made, and a wideangle and telephoto lens were planned, but never made. A new shutter with more speeds was also planned, but not made.

Some adaptors were made for using the 90/3.5 lens on a 135 SLR.

This is a clever design, and the shutter could be very reliable. The shutter has a very limited speed range with a top speed of 1/200s only. Quality of the normal lens varies. However, I find that with a Soviet TK-2D 2x teleconverter, some good Russian telephoto lens such as the Jupiter -11 135/4 could be used. After all, cameras are just a dark box, the optics decides. BTW, early Chinese photographic lens were divided into 4 grades, O grade, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, so the 90/3.5 leaves much to desire. A whole package of DF-2 cost less than RMB 100.

Zhang

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are other versions of the Great Wall ,this is the DF 2 that lacks synchro contact and 35mm ability.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some rare versions of the Great Wall SZ-1 spring wind rangefinder cameras. The one with Mao's words"serve the people" has become a collector's item. There is another rare version with a 红光 logo that means red light, that is even rarer than the one with "Beijing" logo.

 

Cheers,

Zhang

 

 

 

Shanghai 58-1 and Leica IIIb side by side. Shanghai 58-1 is a quite rare Chinese Leica copy, but it is not impossible to find like the Dalai. The image is from collector "HAIOU XIANGJI

 

 

Here is what the adaptor ring looks. I have tried Chinese, LOMO, Olympus, Zeiss, AO, Leitz, Nikon,etc 2.5-4X objectives. For this application, Chinese 3x, Zeiss 2.5x, Lomo 3.5x performed better.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

Great Wall 90/3.5 VS Carl Zeiss Jena 80/2.8

Hi,

I never used this Great Wall 90/3.5, but I heard it is a dog. So I tried it with a very sharp CZJ MC Biometar on a DSLR, and took a shot on a book shelf at about 1.5 meter. Both are 100% crop of the center section with lens stopped down to F11. It is not that bad. I have two of these, and both performed about the same. Even wide open, these 90/3.5 are quite good. The smaller image was shot with CZJ 80/2.8. I guess the front cell focusing affected the image quality when used on a Great Wall DF 120 SLR.

The full frame image is of CZJ 80/2.8.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

 

 

 

 

See more comparison pictures at:

Something good - http://www.flickr.com/photos/1muse/s...7594079876981/

 

__________________

Gone to Croatan - and Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9842362@N04/

 

 

Seagull-205 microscope camera. Uncommon.

Zhang

 

 

 

 

I bought two copies of British photographic magazines, a Practical Photography and an Amateur Photography when I was there in mid 90's. I like them very much. I have to say that they are much more interesting than the Popular Photography published in the US. There were still ADs for Russian gears, but not Chinese. I still wear the leather jacket I bought in Bermingham.

Here is an image I captured a few days ago with a CZJ 35/2.4 when the lighting condition is unique, and this is what I saw from where I live in Beijing.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

 

I found this PLA surplus scope recently. This is a less often seen model, a type 69-1A made by the YUNGUANG factory with the longest Zeiss connection since about 1930. This factory also made those 25-40X100 boarder survey binoculars that are now also available as civilian products.

These artillery scopes are often seen on flea markets. They have Zeiss optical quality.

Cheers,

 

 

Here is another image of a Chinese military scope. It is not mine yet. I don't see many these types of military scopes on the #bay. Perhaps they are rare and collectable? These were made for all sorts of artillery guns. I think they can be used as hunting scopes.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

 

 

Rear and Front views.

 

 

 

 

Show off my collection of Shanghai 58-2. All versions from early, middle to last, and all in excellent to mint conditions. I noted that a later version Shanghai 582 is listed on the #bay for $650+.

 

Once I had about 8-9 Shanghai 58-2s, but sold some, and now I only have 5 left. I CLAed the 3rd version in this image, and now it is VERY smooth, and all speeds are accurate.
The one listed on ebay is the last version, and is the most common Chinese Leica.(about 40,000 units)
The 2nd image with a Russian finder is a transition model before the last version. This version has S/N between 5836000-5837000.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

 

 

 

 

Forgive me for interrupting your fascinating thread, but I thought this might interest you. I am a great admirer of Chinese graphic art and was intrigued to come across a poster from 1973 ("The fragrance of flowers and fruit in the former course of the Yellow River") which depicts a Chinese TLR in use, presumably by a reporter. I have not seen a similar picture, so I attach a copy and enlarged detail - unfortunately in Black and White.

I also include a cartoon by Hua Junwu, which I found very apt - who can doubt the high motives of we photographers?

Cheers, Ian

 

 

 

Hi Ian,

These are interesting pictures. I noted that those apples are packed in carton boxes for export to Great Britain ? with English letters. Those Xiaorenshu (pictured books ) are now collectables. Rare copies could cost many thousand US Dollars. The book title should translate to "黄河古道上的花果香"?
I liked painting before 12, and one of my colour works was selected for an international show by the school. I liked to draw pretty girl faces before I could own a camera.

Cheers,

Zhang 

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