Inundated with Nikon Manual Focus gear. Can't decide what to keep and what to pass on to others.

May 11, 2018

#251

Gentle reader,

A confession, the photograph at the top is from a while ago. I think I may have three of those lenses now. But then, film was available everywhere as were places one could get it developed.

My first Nikon camera was an all-black Nikomat ELW. American market versions were called Nikkormat. The rest of the world received Nikomat models.

Here it is, with a Nikkor 50mm f1.4 lens and the correct hood/shade for same. Below is the largest camera case/bag I ever had. Look at all those lenses I once had in Nikon F mount.

Big one at the bottom/ left is a Chinon 55-300mm f4.0. It and a few others are YS mount. YS is similar to Tamron Adaptal in that many adapters were made for many brands of cameras. They use M42 threads, but have a pin like Pentax screw/thread lenses to actuate the aperture mechanism. 

Earlier, I had bought a very clean Nikon EL2 body and several Vivitar zoom lenses for it. But it had been SO long since I'd used an old film camera, that I kept forgetting to wind it after each shot! so, I sought the AW-1 winder and also a 50mm lens.

This lot came up for $60.00 on eBay and I won it. Well loved EL2 with equally well loved Nikkor 50mm f2.0 lens. AW-1 winder in great condition and all the accessories shown below. 

Well loved, indeed. And dirty! I have yet to clean it. I tossed the hideous strap they had on it.  The AW-1 runs. And runs. So, I took the bottom plate off of it and then it wouldn't run at all! Turns out the shaft the battery cover screws into had split the plastic IT screws into! So, I have applied gel Superglue to the two to see if that will secure it. Then hopefully I can see why it won't stop running and NOT turning the gears to actually wind! (I took it apart and found the drive gear on the motor is made of nylon and had cracked, so it was not turning.)

Original manual is a nice bonus. This SEARS lens came in it's case with paperwork too.

Then, I spied another lens lot which included a N2000 body. All for $70.00. I bid again and won.

This set includes E Series Nikon 50mm f2.0 lens which is pristine. Also, something I've never encountered: A Vivitar 2X Macro Focusing converter. More on that later. A Tokina 35-135mm zoom lens and a pristine Sigma 28-200mm Autofocus  lens. It is replacing the Promaster one I have in my AF kit. I've also never encountered the N2000. It is basically a manual focus version of Nikon AF cameras. All the same abilities except AF. Even works wit AF-zooming Nikon flashes.

I'd also won a Vivitar 28-205mm manual focus lens to add to my EL2 kit. Gonna need a bigger bag. Or am I?

Speaking of AF, here is my autofocus Nikon kit without my N90S film body. 

Giant beast is a Tamron 200-400mm zoom lens.

Did you know that Nikon lenses that end in "D" are not designed for Digital? Like the 28-80mm one above? The D stands for Distance. These lenses tell the camera the exact distance to the subject. They also have a metal mount unlike the "G" digital-only lenses which are plastic. Of course all Nikon (and other brand) AF lenses can and DO work just fine on their digital bodies. They planned it that way. Only Pentax and their "K" mount are the same way.

 Above, the ubiquitous 18-55mm "kit" lens. 

My only digital-only lens.

 This Sigma 70-300mm lens was a surprise thrift store find.

This is a Quantaray (Sigma-made) 19-35mm very wide lens.

Here is the D200 body that replaced my D70S. 50mm F1.8 on it.

Back to 28-200mm zoom lenses. Fat Promaster on the left. New Sigma Compact in the middle and late-arriving Vivitar manual focus on the right. Oh, how zoom lens technology has changed.

Let's examine these universal lenses for a few minutes, shall we? I don't recall the first 28-200mm zoom I had, but it was like the one on the right, tall or long if you prefer. I could not fathom how something that long could provide a 28mm wide angle view.

Below shows how the two AF lenses extend. I believe they call it helicoid. That's the way they twist to lengthen. The MF lens slides and the groups of lenses separate as a result. I suppose the AF elements do as well, but frankly I have not researched it.

Here we have a one-on-one comparison of the two AF lenses. Both have identical specs, yet the Sigma gets away with a 62mm filter threads to the Promaster's 72mm. The Sigma is newer and more expensive (when new) than the Promaster. So I am keeping it and passing on the other.

So, I have established that Nikon in extreme wisdom, chose to make even their digital SLR bodies "backwards convertible". No, that is not some odd car. It is the opposite of "built-in obsolescence". A 1950's non-AI Nikon F-mount lens will mount on and work on the latest Nikon DSLR. It will require all manual operation, but you will be able to create images with lenses that are older than most people reading this.
Let's take a closer look at my film gear. I have an N90S autofocus body with the optional battery pack that also doubles as a vertical shutter button and grip. I started out with lesser AF bodies before choosing the N90S.

That lens is a Nikkor 35-80mm zoom, something inexpensive to have mounted on it while it's on display. One problem I have with this camera is the rubber coating on the outside of the film door. Some of it has rubbed off and the rest is slightly gooey. 

You may recall my post about mounting Leica M39/L39 lenses on my D70S. Well, since these lenses are made for a rangefinder body, they could only be used for macro work. Silly way to do that. Which is why I bought a Panasonic Lumix G1 micro four thirds body. Prior to that, I bought this Soviet-era Industar 50-2 lens pre-mounted on an M42 to Nikon F adapter. I have not shot with it yet and am not even sure if it's a good lens. It's mounted on the dirty EL2 body.

Which brings me to my next subject. Nikkor 50mm lenses verses Nikon E Series 50mm lenses. I have put the question to my FaceBook classic camera & lens groups. Their answers were mixed. Some praised the E Series, others suggest the older lens is better. I'm only keeping one.

New-to-me N2000 body with beat up Nikkor lens.

 Super-nice EL2 with E Series lens.

 Some say the depth of the Nikkor is better.

 Just look how dirty they let this lens get.

 Identical exit pupil since they are both f2.0. The "depth" refer to is how deep set the Nikkor's front element is compared to the E-series. Thus almost negating a need for a shade/hood.

Of course, as you will see, most, if not all, of my manual focus lenses are equipped with the meter "fork" that one must physically mate with the meter lever of Nikon bodies older than the EL series. Which is a vote for the Nikkor 50mm.
Let's look at the rest of my recently acquired hoard of manual focus Nikon-F mount lenses. Help me decide which to keep.

Starting with the zoom lenses, which is most of them. Although the Tokina 35-135 lens is pristine, despite the slight dent, Tokina lenses are not that great. So it is going elsewhere.  Next, the new Vivitar 28-205mm is a keeper since it is so versatile. I wish it were a Series 1, but it is not. The SEARS lens, also pristine at 80-200mm is going too. The biggest one is a Series 1 and fast at a constant f3.5. Sadly, it is not AI, so it is relegated to my using the EL2's stop-down metering which is a nuisance. So, it is going unless I buy an older body.

Next, the two wide angle zooms. Both Vivitar, the 24-48mm is a Series 1. The 17-28mm is not, and prior to buying it, I'd never seen this one. It nicely covers the wide angle needs of less than 28mm the long Vivitar covers. So it is a keeper.

 Can anyone tell me what the "-S" stands for?

Different coatings reflect different colors of light as seen here. Someone out there is going to like this fat fellow enough to make it their own.

 F4.0 exit pupil above, verses f3.8 below. Big difference.

I messed up this next shot, the two zooms on the left are of opposite construction to what seems correct to me. The huge Vivitar is at it's shortest setting below. However, I neglected to slide the SEARS collar forward to show it is also at it's shortest that way.

Photo above shows all four at their longest magnification.

Logically, to me, they should all be like the left two. 

 Once I figured out how this works, I got excited.

This 2X by it's design in addition to a 50mm lens magnifies from 1:20 life-sized just below infinity to 1:1.5 life-sized! OK, true macro lenses are 1:1, which means the image on the film is exactly the same size as the subject, but this way less expensive device does almost that. It's a keeper.

I just searched my images archive for a photo of a real macro lens, but the only one I kept a photo of is a Tamron 90mm and it's only in group shots. I know I had a 50mm true macro at some point.

So, there you have it, thanks for helping me to decide what to keep and what to pass on to others. 
SOON, I will have them on eBay:  rfcollectin | eBay

Thanks for looking,

Scott

May 11, 2018 
 

Restomoding a pair of Vintage Advent Baby Advent II Speakers

May 11, 2018

#250

Gentle reader,

Yes, this is my 250th post. When I started this blogging stuff, oh so long ago, it was just something to fool around with. I had no idea people would not only read my words and look at my photos, but that so many really enjoy it! It truly warms my heart. Thank you.

I have never owned any ADVENT speakers. They are one of several speaker lines from the 1950's and 1960's that were ones sought out by music fans. Unlike Klipsch, Altec Lansing and other names that made speakers so efficient that a few watts would drive them very loudly, ADVENT speakers used the then new, "Acoustic Suspension" concept which used sealed speaker boxes stuffed with fiberglass and required more power to get to loud levels. But, the sound they did produce and the low bass they made certainly made many fans around the world.

Whether these Baby Advent II speakers which are from 1992 were made by the same company is unknown to me. They retailed for $200.00 then, around $320.00 in 2018 dollars. I found them at a thrift store and immediately saw the usual deteriorated foam surrounds on the woofers. But I was not discouraged. For $11.99, they came home with me. Plus, they were made right here in the USA.

I gently played music through them to confirm all four drivers worked. They did. At first, I was going to just replace the foam surrounds, but then they have those cheap spring terminals that I can't stand. removing one revealed they also have their crossovers integrated with the terminals. So, I decided to upgrade the crossovers as well. Parts Express: Speakers, Amplifiers, Audio Parts and Solutions to the rescue. They crossover at 4,500 Hertz and to get that exact crossover meant ponying up more money, but hopefully, the sound will be worth it.

As you can see, they exhibit typical foam rot. In case you do not know what that foam is for, a brief explanation: The speaker cone which is glued to the coil (beneath that cap in the center) must be kept centered AND the front of the cone's sound must be kept separate from the sound coming from the rear of the cone. Many speaker makers choose foam rubber over rubber itself. Usually for cost purposes. 

Above are the Dynaco A25XL speakers as they were when I first opened the box. Despite the dirt, notice the surrounds on these woofers are rubber. These speakers are from around 1977. Rubber is not prone to rotting like foam is. Note also the screens below the woofers. They hold a "Critically damped" amount of fiberglass. Dynaco calls this method of venting their cabinets, "Aperiodic" and state that no sounds emit from these vents. But enough about that.

Let's take a look at what ADVENT chose for the crossover for the Baby Advent II speakers. Specs state that their crossover point is 4,500 Kilohertz. Which means anything below that frequency comes out of their woofers and above comes out of their tweeters. 

Below, on the right, is the ADVENT crossover. A coil is glued to the terminal housing, a square ceramic resistor (white thing) and a capacitor make up the three components. The capacitor stops any sound below 4,500Hz from reaching the tweeter. The coil stops any sound above 4,500Hz from reaching the woofer.
Now, look at the replacement from Part Express. Despite the obvious size increase, the components are many and much larger too. The blue wires are so the crossover can be used with either 4 Ohm speakers or 8 Ohm models. These measured 6.5 Ohms, so I left it on the 8 Ohm plug. See the two different types of coils? Plus three capacitors. These babies are not cheap in price or quality. 

Their crossover is mounted to the inside of the speaker terminals. I hate those types of speaker terminals and always convert my speakers to banana/binding post terminals. Since their crossover cannot be used with the replacement terminals (below, right) I needed new ones.

The new round terminals fit perfectly and work so well.

Parts Express thinks of everything and that includes having a wooden plate riveted to the fiberglass board the components are mounted to. Thus, I was able to glue it to the back wall on the inside of the cabinets above the new terminal.

This is what it looks like all wired. I waited for the glue to dry, of course. ADVENT made the wires for the tweeter extra long so that the fiberglass insulation can be installed and still allow the tweeter to be connected to the crossover.

Before and after soldering the wires to the terminals.

Since the color stripe on Advent's wiring is not easily seen, I used a black marker to color the negative terminals on the driver's wires.

Along with crimping, I soldered the wires to the terminal as seen above. Below, shows the fiberglass reinstalled in the cabinets. I poked a hole for the woofer's wires to be able to connect to the woofers.

I have not had good results with refoaming woofers in the past. So, instead of buying generic new foam via eBay, I chose to buy from Parts Express. They have a kit with specialized glue, swabs to apply it, premium foam, replacement dust caps and coil shims. Plus, directions. I now see what I was doing wrong in the past.

Here is the first woofer stripped of the front gasket (why do they even install those anymore?) and the destroyed old foam.

Here is my solution to raise the cone in order to safely scrape the old foam and glue from the metal speaker housing. NOTE: These woofers are "long throw" which means they move back and forth a considerable distance over most woofers. Most will not be able to sit this high.

Since they move so far, ADVENT used dust caps that allow air movement from the piston/cylinder area to escape through the dust caps. This presented a problem since the replacement caps are sold plastic or pressed paper. 
I got lucky with the first one and managed to get the new foam installed with the cone still centered. It played fine and sounded great. Below is the results.

The second woofer, all though I did it exactly the same way, it ended up a little crooked and buzzed while playing. 

Above are the tools I used: Folding utility knife with razor blades. A straight-edge razor scraper with it's own blades and plenty of spares of both kinds of blades
Faced with removing the front gasket and just-glued on new foam, I had to try a different tack. (Tack? That's what sailboats due when sailing against the wind.) So, I got out one of my trusty Xacto knife kits and chose what is essentially a tiny putty knife blade. I carefully worked it between the foam and the metal and slowly worked my way round the speaker until all was freed. 
The breathable caps seem to be made of finely woven fiberglass and I carefully cut around the base with a standard Xacto blade. Divine intervention suggested that I cut a hole just smaller than the diameter of the freed cap in one of the paper dust caps. This I did and using the same speaker glue, I carefully merged the two.

Yes, they look different. Keep the grilles on.

Using the supplied shims (it did not occur to me to photograph that) I carefully slid three in between the coil and metal pole piece of the magnet. These keep the "spider" exactly perpendicular to the pole piece. Plus, I was able to raise the cone again with the knowledge that it was not going to get crooked this time. 
Following the same steps I reglued the foam to the metal frame. By first lowering the cone until the foam just touched the metal. Once dry, I reattached the front gasket. Once reinstalled (the next day) in the cabinet, I hooked it up and tried it out. No bad sounds but plenty of great ones!
Last step was installing the new hybrid dust cap, above. Once that was done and dried, I taped off the black portions of the cabinets and began the laborious process of sanding off the old finish and stain from the top and bottom cabinet caps.

 Here is the post-sanded compared to the old finish.

You may have seen my blog post detailing all the remodeling that I'm doing to our house. Included in that is converting wall-to-wall carpet covered pine stair tread to new solid oak stair treads with white painted risers.

We are very pleased with the results. I have since replaced the foyer floor with acacia wood flooring and begun the stairs leading down. Anyway, I have stained the top and bottom plates with the same stain as the stairs.    

These are the tops after staining.

 The extent I went to, to protect the black veneers.

 Just LOOK at that grain! I believe it is oak.

Here they are from the front. The CFL lighting above the workbench renders the wood a different shade than they really are.  

Here they are in the room I call my "office". They are sitting atop my Cerwin-Vega! LS-12 speakers. By far the most efficient of my five pairs of speakers with certainly the best bass response.

I'm listening to Alex Bugnon, pronounced boon-yon, CD titled 107 Degrees in the Shade right now through these newly completed speakers. I must tell you, they sound FANTASTIC! The new crossovers are certainly worth their price. I'm blown away. These are keeper speakers! And here they are now ensconced atop my Klipsch KG4s.

UPDATE: I decided to use these as front speakers with my more efficient Dynaco A25XL speakers as surrounds. The music being routed by a Dynaco QD-2 five channel surround sound passive device. It is a stunning combination!

This photo was prior to the Advents joining the system. Also, the Dynaco speakers are up on stands now. 

I was given these specifications for the Advent Baby Advent II speakers:

Freq response: (+/- 3dB): 60Hz – 21KHz
Impedance: 6 ohms nominal
Power Handling: 50 watts RMS, 150 watts peak
Sensitivity: 89 dB
Crossover freq: 4500 Hz
Woofer: 6.5 “, Tweeter: .75" Mylar dome

Those explain the long-throw woofers and awesome sound. They were made to handle a LOT of power. And they do! 

Thank you once again for taking the time to read my humble blog.

Scott

UPDATED: October 26, 2018