The series of photographs “Entre el cel i l’asfalt” (Between the sky and the asphalt) was taken with this old Russian panoramic camera.
Shortly after acquiring it and starting to take pictures to learn about its features and peculiarities, I noticed that the pictures were starting to look out of focus. More and more!
Please note that the device does not have a focus ring and that the focus is set at the factory to infinity.
Out of curiosity I disassembled the device to know its intimacy and found that it was very easy to access the lens: a set of lenses fitted in a small cylinder not much more than a centimeter in diameter and about 3 long.
It was very easy to disassemble. All I had to do was unscrew the two parts of the cylinder that housed the front and rear lens groups.
And there it was, suddenly, a great idea: to insert between both elements a perforated disk that acted as a diaphragm.
No sooner said than done! I got an obsolete disposable camera and, with a few hammer blowsI dismantled it to get the piece I needed.
I was incredibly lucky. It fit perfectly between the two lens groups of the FT-2.
So, once in place, I screwed up the set and put it back in place. Nevertheless, some test rolls were needed to re-locate the lens in order to obtain maximum sharpness and depth of field.
What a gem!