P3D Heaven V - Super Ilex Paragon

[fj834@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Dr. George A. Themelis)]

I am in Heaven - Part V - Super Ilex Paragon

Thanks to Dalia, I had the chance to try my hands on a Realist Super Ilex
Paragon.  The results from my test rolls confirm the "Super" part of the
name. 

A bit of history:  The Ilex Paragon lenses were used in the first Realists
produced in 1947.  Realist used the Ilex lenses (Ilex was an optical
manufacturer in Rochester NY) for a couple of years (until around 1949 when
the serial number was still below 10,000) and then switched to a different
manufacturer (in Germany, I believe) to save money.  Ilex Realist cameras
are not very common (about one out of 20 cameras, I estimate) and have a
good reputation.  I am using an Ilex Paragon Realist myself and I have been
very happy.  Shooting at wide aperture f3.5 handheld at 1/25 s under low
light, I got some fantastic razor sharp pictures. 

One of the problems with Ilex Realist cameras is that the bodies are not as
good mechanically as the later Realists.  I had the misfortune to run into
film advance problems during my trip to Greece that ruined 1/3 of my stereo
pictures.  That's not a problem if you get a Super Ilex Paragon.  These
cameras have been 
modified/improved as follows:  Late production oversize rewind knob, modern
flash hot shoe, shutter speed increase to 1/200, new shutter speed dial,
DOF scale, front cover, fully reconditioned shutter.  In addition, they are
sold with warranty.

Using the Super Ilex Paragon, with all its modifications, was a real
pleasure and the results from the field-test in the Mohican State Part on
Thanksgiving weekend (just mounted with the Spicer jig), look great.

I'd really be in heaven if Dalia would let me keep this one... but I
understand that there is a long waiting list.  I guess I have to continue
using my regular Ilex :(  If you don't mind waiting in the list, here is
the address:

mailto:dddalia@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Now, how about that Super 12X focusing VM viewer with the 3-element coated
lenses? :-)

George Themelis


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