The Dental-Eye II

I started this forum for any collecting hobby and it turned into my camera collecting and using forum. I use it mostly to keep a record of my photo adventures. Nobody but me seems to have photo adventures that visit here....but however. I have so many cameras now that I forget which is which and which ones work and which ones don't. If you have cameras and adventures you would be welcome to post here.

Moderator: DuncaninFrance

Post Reply
User avatar
Niner
Site Admin
Posts: 11522
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 1:00 pm
Location: Lower Alabama

The Dental-Eye II

Post by Niner » Thu Dec 18, 2014 10:57 am

I had a notion I wanted one once I heard about them. Ebay has them listed all the time for just about any price somebody selling one wants to imagine. My buy requirement was less than $50 and one day I made a bid and ended up winning one. These cameras were made in three models over time. Dental Eye I, II, and III. The second and third models are nearly identical. The first model had a shorter barreled lens ....but wider at the same time.

What's interesting about the film 35mm camera is that it was made for dentists back before anybody had any idea what digital photography would ever exist and maybe before present generation xray machinery. The idea was to take a correctly lighted photo at 1/1 , or there abouts, through an open mouth, of whatever dental situation some dentist wanted a photo of, for whatever purpose he needed it. To do this a long lens perspective was needed as well as a light ring and auto exposure features.

This camera should... I hope.. be able to take sharp, clear photos of such things as gun marks or anything else I might want a closeup photo of

It runs on a standard 2CR5 battery or with an adapter for household current. You can vary the exposure by a stop or two. You can turn the flash on or off. You could also add date marks to the negative...but thankfully you can also turn that feature off.

It's large compared to a "normal" SLR film camera.

The focus is backward to what a normal lens camera would do. The further out the lens extension and the closer you get to the subject, the bigger the object becomes for recording on film up to 1/1 reproduction of image. You don't focus mechanically you move closer or back up until what you want to photograph is in focus. You can also lock the focus distance with a screw on the end of the barrel.

The max distance you can get away from a subject and take a focused photo is something on the order of 10 feet away. Get further away and there is no way to focus a clear image in the finder.


I shot a roll of color film as a learning experience and mailed it off a week ago. It's yet to return...but cheap is my requirement. If I had taken B&W I could have developed it myself but I wanted a color test run.

The big downer here that I was surprised to see is that there is no way to attach a tripod by the normal screw mount method. I guess dentists wouldn't have one to use and so there was no point.

I photographed the camera next to a "normal" size SLR to show how large it is.
Attachments
back.jpg
closed case.jpg
exposure and flash.jpg
front side by side.jpg
in case.jpg
light ring.jpg
one to one.jpg
power cord.jpg
side by side.jpg
size and lock.jpg
User avatar
DuncaninFrance
Global Moderator Sponsor 2011-2017
Posts: 10934
Joined: Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:08 pm
Location: S.W.France
Contact:

Re: The Dental-Eye II

Post by DuncaninFrance » Thu Dec 18, 2014 2:38 pm

Are those lights at the end of the lens or mini-flashes?
Duncan

What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork to my lunch? -- W.C. Fields
"Many of those who enjoy freedom know little of its price."
You can't fix Stupid, but you can occasionally head it off before it hurts something.
User avatar
Niner
Site Admin
Posts: 11522
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 1:00 pm
Location: Lower Alabama

Re: The Dental-Eye II

Post by Niner » Thu Dec 18, 2014 5:20 pm

They flash when the shutter fires. You can turn them off as well.
User avatar
Niner
Site Admin
Posts: 11522
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 1:00 pm
Location: Lower Alabama

Re: The Dental-Eye II

Post by Niner » Sat Dec 27, 2014 4:50 pm

Still haven't gotten the color film back. So... I took some b&w TMax and developed it myself.
Attachments
img804.jpg
img805.jpg
img781.jpg
img816.jpg
img817.jpg
User avatar
DuncaninFrance
Global Moderator Sponsor 2011-2017
Posts: 10934
Joined: Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:08 pm
Location: S.W.France
Contact:

Re: The Dental-Eye II

Post by DuncaninFrance » Sun Dec 28, 2014 3:55 am

I knew it would be great for gun bits :bigsmile: :bigsmile:
Duncan

What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork to my lunch? -- W.C. Fields
"Many of those who enjoy freedom know little of its price."
You can't fix Stupid, but you can occasionally head it off before it hurts something.
User avatar
Niner
Site Admin
Posts: 11522
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 1:00 pm
Location: Lower Alabama

Re: The Dental-Eye II

Post by Niner » Sun Dec 28, 2014 12:23 pm

The best part is that the flash works without whiting out the object photographed with the reflection of the light. Don't know exactly how it accomplishes that, but it works.
User avatar
DuncaninFrance
Global Moderator Sponsor 2011-2017
Posts: 10934
Joined: Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:08 pm
Location: S.W.France
Contact:

Re: The Dental-Eye II

Post by DuncaninFrance » Mon Dec 29, 2014 3:32 am

Niner wrote:The best part is that the flash works without whiting out the object photographed with the reflection of the light. Don't know exactly how it accomplishes that, but it works.

It's designed to work up close like a ring flash so it must be auto regulated for restricted areas like the mouth...............I looked for one but nothing over here :( :(
Duncan

What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork to my lunch? -- W.C. Fields
"Many of those who enjoy freedom know little of its price."
You can't fix Stupid, but you can occasionally head it off before it hurts something.
User avatar
Niner
Site Admin
Posts: 11522
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 1:00 pm
Location: Lower Alabama

Re: The Dental-Eye II

Post by Niner » Fri Jan 02, 2015 3:43 pm

The color prints showed up. All is well. Check out the digital of the print and the object photographed and then the scan of the negative.
Attachments
DSC03842.jpg
img821.jpg
User avatar
deadin
Site Sponsor 2016
Posts: 158
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2007 10:13 am
Location: Ocean Shores, WA

Re: The Dental-Eye II

Post by deadin » Sat Jan 03, 2015 6:35 pm

Here's my version of the Dental-Eye.... Canon EOS M with an EF 50mm f2.5 MACRO and a Macro Ringlite MR-14EX.
I patch the display to a 21" flatscreen HD monitor so I don't have to crawl up on a chair to peer at the back of the camera..
Image

And speaking of gun parts.... Here's what I'm working on currently.... Merwin Hulbert .32 Double Action:

Image

Sorry about the cropping. I can't seem to get it to recognize that I resized the picture to fit on the screen. (Or is it just my monitor??)
User avatar
Niner
Site Admin
Posts: 11522
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 1:00 pm
Location: Lower Alabama

Re: The Dental-Eye II

Post by Niner » Sat Jan 03, 2015 9:38 pm

That's a pretty neat setup deadin. I'd be afraid to ask what it would coast to duplicate that camera and lens.
Post Reply