8x10 lenses

aleksmiesak · Sep 12, 2012

Hello, newbie to the ULF and next month I will be picking up a Szabad 8x10 from a friend who hasn't used it in years. I did some research on the camera and not much available out there since these are pretty rare in the US. But the story of the camera and it's maker are fascinating. Anyone here has any idea what lens (8x10 coverage) and most importantly lens board would work with this baby? I have a few projects I'd like to use this camera for: in the field portraits and maybe some alt process landscape work so hopefully that's enough info to guide your valuable advice.

Thanks in advance for any tips and I look forward to learning more on this forum!

Aleks

E. von Hoegh · Sep 12, 2012

8x10 isn't really ULF.
For landscapes, any modern Plasmat type lens from 240mm to 360/420mm would be a fair start. For portraits, the 360/420 will be better. There are many lenses out there, you will find it worth your while to learn a bit about them. You may want a classic lens to complement the alt. processes.

The best online rescource I know of for LF info and advice is http://www.largeformatphotography.info (homepage, lots of good basic introductory info here) and http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/index.php (question & answer fora).

ic-racer · Sep 12, 2012

If it does not have a lens board, measure the size of the opening to see which size lensboard you need. You can check the SK grimes site to see if those dimensions match some other maker's boards. Otherwise you can make your own out of model aircraft plywood or aluminum. Don't cut the hole in the middle until you get your lens. Look for a 240 to 360mm lens in a Copal #3 size shutter. I don't know of many lenses in #3 shutters that DON"T cover 8x10.

E. von Hoegh · Sep 12, 2012

A thread at LFPF you may find helpful. http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?42335-Any-Szabad-8x10-users

aleksmiesak · Sep 12, 2012

Thanks for the replies so far. I apologize if I posted this in the wrong forum, the label said "anything larger then 8x10" which I thought would include 8x10. In either case I do appreciate the tips on focal length of the lens and shutter size. I'll measure the opening once I get my hands on it. Also, I did read all of the LF forum posts about the Szabad cameras, like I said the google search only came up with a few links and that was one of them. And not much in there about lens board size.

Again, thanks for the help

removed account4 · Sep 12, 2012

hi aleks

there are 2 lensboards for your camera
one is a large rectangular piece that also does rise and fall in addition
to the geared rise / fall on your camera ... the actual board the lens mounts onto
is 5" square, like the kodak boards.
its good to see brendt's camera made it to you !
i have had my szabad 8x10 for a handful of years
while there were oodles of the 18x24 metric versions made, very few of the english/8s10s made it
out of europe ...

its good to know another person with one ( that makes 3 of the 5 accounted for )

have fun, its a great camera !

oh about lens size

i use a lever-stop wide angle rapid rectalianer and a wollensak 1a triple on mine, if you can find
a symmar convertible ( 210/370 ) the 370 will cover, and probably the 265 as well ( 150 / 265 )
converted the symmars have a huge image circle. rumor has it that there are some wide angle versions
of the computar symmetrigons ( 150 ) that will cover the format as well while the person i bought mine from
said it covered no problem i haven't mounted it on anything bigger than a 5x7 ...
one of reinhold's wollaston's would work nicely on your camera too

john

aleksmiesak · Sep 12, 2012

jnanian said:
hi aleks

there are 2 lensboards for your camera
one is a large rectangular piece that also does rise and fall in addition
to the geared rise / fall on your camera ... the actual board the lens mounts onto
is 5" square, like the kodak boards.
its good to see brendt's camera made it to you !
i have had my szabad 8x10 for a handful of years
while there were oodles of the 18x24 metric versions made, very few of the english/8s10s made it
out of europe ...

its good to know another person with one ( that makes 3 of the 5 accounted for )

have fun, its a great camera !

oh about lens size

i use a lever-stop wide angle rapid rectalianer and a wollensak 1a triple on mine, if you can find
a symmar convertible ( 210/370 ) the 370 will cover, and probably the 265 as well ( 150 / 265 )
converted the symmars have a huge image circle. rumor has it that there are some wide angle versions
of the computar symmetrigons ( 150 ) that will cover the format as well while the person i bought mine from
said it covered no problem i haven't mounted it on anything bigger than a 5x7 ...
one of reinhold's wollaston's would work nicely on your camera too

john

Ha! I guess it's a very small world of LF shooters out there Yes, I am the person who's inheriting that camera and can't wait to work with it. So in the meantime I was hoping to pick up a lens so I don't just stare at the camera when it gets here. So I really appreciate the advice. And it's good to connect with you here so I know who to bug with questions

LJH · Sep 12, 2012

Dead Link Removed You'll see a column with the format sizes included.

It will give you a good starting point. As for where to buy them, eBay and LFPF are good places, as is Midwest Photo Exchange.

EASmithV · Sep 12, 2012

I have a 300mm Fujinon, tack sharp and excellent rendering! Highly reccomend as a good normal lens!

Len Middleton · Sep 13, 2012

Aleks,

Another consideration is process lenses (Apo Artar's, Apo-Nikkor's, Apo-Ronar's, G-Claron's) from the reproduction industry. These were extremely expensive and well corrected lenses that cost a bundle when new, but with the printing world going digital, they are surplus and going for a small fraction of their original cost.

The downside is that they do tend to be slow (max aperature f9 is common) and they are typically barrel mounted (without a shutter). These problems are not insurmountable and many use them, myself included.

More to consider,

Len

Dan Fromm · Sep 14, 2012

To add to Len's comment, I've been watching sales of process lenses on eBay and there have been some real bargains lately.

But you have to be aware that process lenses usually cover somewhat -- sometimes a lot -- less than their focal lengths. To get an idea of coverage, visit http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/archiv/archiv.htm for G-Clarons' coverage and http://www.galerie-photo.com/apo-process-nikkors-en.html for Apo Nikkors' coverage. Dialyte type Apo Nikkors should have around the same coverage as equivalent Apo Artars and Apo Ronars.

You should also be aware that adapting a lens' cells to a standard shutter can be very expensive. Hanging a lens in front of a shutter can cost considerably less, at the cost (potentially) of inadequate coverage. Also large lenses (Compound #5, Ilex #5) are hard to find, not cheap, and have very limited top speeds (1/50 claimed, but they never actually go that fast).

Alan Gales · Sep 14, 2012

I picked up a Fujinon-W 250mm f/6.7 lens in a Copal shutter off Ebay for less than $300.00 including the shipping. Since then I have seen several sell for around $300.00 plus shipping.

Quite a bargain for what you get, I think.

Len Middleton · Sep 14, 2012

Dan Fromm said:
To add to Len's comment, I've been watching sales of process lenses on eBay and there have been some real bargains lately.

But you have to be aware that process lenses usually cover somewhat -- sometimes a lot -- less than their focal lengths. To get an idea of coverage, visit http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/archiv/archiv.htm for G-Clarons' coverage and http://www.galerie-photo.com/apo-process-nikkors-en.html for Apo Nikkors' coverage. Dialyte type Apo Nikkors should have around the same coverage as equivalent Apo Artars and Apo Ronars.

You should also be aware that adapting a lens' cells to a standard shutter can be very expensive. Hanging a lens in front of a shutter can cost considerably less, at the cost (potentially) of inadequate coverage. Also large lenses (Compound #5, Ilex #5) are hard to find, not cheap, and have very limited top speeds (1/50 claimed, but they never actually go that fast).

Dan,

Thanks for adding the point on the redeuced coverage relative to regular plasmat lenses, as I neglected to mention that.

While it is nice to have the lens elements mounted in dedicated shutters (and I have some in Compur / Copal 3's), there still remains Packard shutters (relatively crude, but low cost) Sinar shuttters (more elegant, but more expensive), the old photgrapher's top hat or lens cap (or some variation there of), and of course the Jim Gali patented shutter (do a search on this site for it).

For those shutters I do not have mounted in a shutter (i.e. barrel lenses), I have a shutter box with a Packard shutter mounted in it.

There are options...

Aleks, good luck in your efforts,

Len

8x10 lenses

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