Paramender?

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Carl Hall

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I have recently been using my Mamiyaa C220 to take some close up photos, but was getting frustrated spending ages allowing for parallax between the two lenses, so I decided to buy a paramender

It arrived yesterday in the post, but does not look much like what I expected... I know there are two types of paramender (knob and lever), but this looks nothing like either of them... Anyone seen one of these before? Is it a genuine thing or have I purchased a knock off version? I'm not really bothered if I have because it works just fine and seems very well built, I'm just curious!

If anyone can shed some light, I'd be grateful :)

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I think yours is the older model. Mine is exactly (similar) but has a plastic handle on the ratchet. It looks legit to me and they are very useful.

Andy
 
IIRC @Andysnap had one, he should be along in a minute...

[EDIT: he beat me to it!]
 
According to the excellent : http://www.gapatterson.com/grahamp/

There were three types and some variants -

"
6.1 Paramender
Basically this just a device to shift the lens axes by 50mm to correct for parallax error. Similar to a cranked tripod column, but effective with tripod heads at any angle. A probable prototype for the Paramender that would fit the Mamiyaflex has been seen. The difference is in the smaller camera platform and what appears to be a removable/convertible tripod bush. At least one home built paramender project has been done. See http://www.btinternet.com/~jrbham/paramender/index.html .

6.1.1 Paramender, type 1
Knob-driven rack and pinion mechanism, with locking screw. There is no provision for damped return of the camera to the lower position. The Paramender Type 1 (jpg/paramender1.jpg) is illustrated in the C3 manual. The knob rotates 225 degrees. There are two variants of this model. The earlier version just has the rack knob and the locking screw, while the later version also has a latch to secure the device in the raised position.

6.1.2 Paramender, type 2
A lever replaces the knob of the Paramender Type 1. A 225 degree action raises the camera, which latches at the top of the travel. A friction knob provides for intermediate positioning. Lowering the camera is not damped. There are variants with both black and grey levers.

6.1.3 Paramender, type 3
Two-axis pan / tilt head with adjustable platform height and damped camera return. This is listed in a C330 and C330f manual, but has disappeared in the later C330s manual which only refers to the Model 2. Although rare, it does exist. "
 
I think mine is 6.1.2.(y)
 
Carl Hall said:
I have recently been using my Mamiyaa C220 to take some close up photos, but was getting frustrated spending ages allowing for parallax between the two lenses, so I decided to buy a paramender

It arrived yesterday in the post, but does not look much like what I expected... I know there are two types of paramender (knob and lever), but this looks nothing like either of them... Anyone seen one of these before? Is it a genuine thing or have I purchased a knock off version? I'm not really bothered if I have because it works just fine and seems very well built, I'm just curious!

If anyone can shed some light, I'd be grateful :)

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Click to expand...

Mine is exactly the same as yours.
 
Ahh ok, thanks for the replies everyone. I believe mine must be a model 2 then? I was confused because pretty much every paramender I had seen had both bars the same length, whereas mine has one that's much shorter and are both solid bars.

I managed to get out in the woods and use it for the first time yesterday and it makes life so much easier! Previously I had taken my tripod head off and put the camera straight into the centre column to keep it perpendicular, and then moving the column 5cm whilst trying not to turn it. It wasn't so difficult except when you want to get low to the ground or look down at an angle! Using the paramender made it so much simpler! Compose as normal, wind the handle and boom!! Done. Awesome.

Thanks for the help!
 
A cheaper method is to mark your tripod centre column so you can raise it by the distance between the lenses.

A bit late now though as you have already bought it!

The one you have looks exactly like mine.


Steve.
 
Steve Smith said:
A cheaper method is to mark your tripod centre column so you can raise it by the distance between the lenses.

A bit late now though as you have already bought it!

The one you have looks exactly like mine.


Steve.
Click to expand...

I was doing this to begin with, but it only works if you keep the camera perfectly perpendicular to the tripod column. If you tilt the camera down on the tripod head, then move the centre column up it changes the distance between the camera and subject, which can obviously affects the focus by a massive amount.

My tripod allows me to remove the centre column and use it like an arm, so I was doing this for all my close up. But it's such a pain in the ass to line everything up and takes quite a while. The paramender only cost me £25 and saves me a great deal of time and effort! I just have to be careful that extending the paramender doesn't shift the weight enough to topple the tripod!

Overall I'm really happy with it, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone else that uses a Mamiya TLR and does a lot of close up work
 
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