Making the Leitz Varob 5cm f3.5 Focus to Infinity

Someone e-mail me about using the Leitz Varob 5cm f3.5 enlarging lens on the NEX-5, so I thought it might be a good idea to take some pictures of how I make it work on the NEX-5.  Simple, really, but I do need a thin focus helicoid.  I use a cheap Chinese made 17-32mm with M42 mount on the camera side, and a 52mm thread on the lens side.

If you want to know more about the lens, I wrote a bit about it here.
If you want to know more about the 17-32mm focusing helicoid, I wrote about it here.

First thing I did, was to cut the lens barrel closer to the rear element.  This ensures that the rear element is as close to the camera as possible.  Picture below shows the cut as well as the mounted filter ring:

Len Barrel cut close to the rear element.  Click for larger.

The lens is then mounted and glued onto a name ring of some generic lens which has the perfect opening.  This name ring also screws onto the 52mm filter ring:

Adding spacing rings. I need to add a couple of filter rings to make focus close to infinity, instead of way past infinity. Click for larger size.

Ready to be used with the 17-31mm helicoid. Click for larger size.

Screw the lens onto the focusing helicoid, and voila!  We are ready to take pictures!

Lens on helicoid. Click for larger size.

Lens on camera. Click for larger size.

Leitz Varob 5cm f3.5 Enlarging Lens

If you don't look at the name ring of this lens, you might just think that it's just one those old, cheap and probably useless enlarging lenses.  Holding this lens in your hand, you just won't hear it scream "Leica Quality".  In fact, I think the Federal enlarging lenses I have been using are better made than this one.  Definitely unusual with a Leitz name.

This lens is one of the early enlarging lenses and therefore not coated.  Naturally, I didn't expect much from it.  And in reality, it's not a really sharp lens, at least not at infinity.  It performs much better at close range.  Unexpectedly, this is one of the enlarging lenses with nicest bokeh.  Making it worth the time that it took me to make it fit the focusing helicoid.

Bokeh -- NEX-5 & Leitz Varob 5cm f3.5 Enlarging Lens. Click to see larger.

Trapped by the water -- NEX-5 & Leitz Varob 5cm f3.5 Enlarging Lens. Click to see larger.

Not Tulip! -- NEX-5 & Leitz Varob 5cm f3.5 Enlarging Lens. Click to see larger.