Advice on an old lens..

[photomc]

So, after seeing all of Jim Galli's work and now Jeremy is on the band wagon..plus all of those great wet-plates everyone has been posting I picked up a Rapid Rectilinear brass lens. It is really sweet and looks great on the old Korona 8x10 (and even the 5x7 B&J). Mounted it in the Ilex No. 4 I had picked up some time ago, shutter no iris and it almost a perfect fit. Problem is the threads are different so was considering sending both of to Grimes to have an adapter made, the both off to Carol to for a good CLA (bulb on the shutter sounds just like all the other speeds - except 'T' which does open and close the shutter).

The question is, am I throwing money away, the adapter and the CLA will cost more than I paid for both shutter and lens. I know I could just mount a Packard shutter on the lens, but since it did not come with a mounting flange, would have to either find one or have one made. Really like the idea I would have all those shutter speeds available.

So what do you guys/gals that have some of the old brass lens do?

Here is a shot I made this weekend with it...sorry had to PS it a bit just to even out the contrast (this is how I found out the shutter speeds were so off).

 

[removed account4]

hi mike

i may not be the best person to answer your questions ...
none of my brass lenses have flanges, they are just bear threads.
i don't have them on wood lensboards, but just screw the bear threads into matboard or foam core i don't have shutters, cause i use them with curtain shutters ( speed graphic, or slr ) or i use paper negatves (slow so no need for a shutter) --- but, if you have the itch to mount in a shutter, i am sure you won't be disappointed. rapid rectalinaer lenses are a lot of fun to use, and if you decide you don' t like the lens for some reason, you can always sell it and recoop what you paid ( cla, adapter and all )


great photo btw!!

john

 

[raucousimages]

I have an old Ilex, no shutter or flange with damaged threads. I just used epoxy to mount it in the board. It has worked for several years.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Mike,

Like John, I just screw 'em into home-made plywood panels. I've just mounted a 7-1/4 inch f/16 Ross this way but haven't tried it yet: it looks as if it covers 12x10 inch OK, where it would be the equivalent (roughly) of 21mm on 35mm.

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

For me the questions are--"is the lens a keeper?" and "is the lens of historical interest?" I put some money into a Voigtlander Petzval for an SKG flange and waterhouse stops, because I really like the lens. I'm also not inclined to do something like epoxying an original Petzval to a lensboard, though I've done that sort of thing with other lenses.

For a shutter, I use a front mounted Luc-style shutter of uncertain manufacture. I've had sync added to it, so I can use it with strobes.

 

[Ole]

I use an iris lensmount, and a hat as a shutter for the larger lenses. For the smaller ones I have a front-mount Thornton-Pickard.

 

[photomc]

Thank You Everyone...as always good food for thought.

John & Roger, had considered just screwing the lens into a board, but really like the idea I can get the different shutter speeds.

Ole, one of those iris mounts would be a dream..Matt and I discussed one of those this past weekend. Guess I will have to watch for one.

David, guess I need to shoot a bit more with the lens...right now I am inclined to say it IS something special (at least to me). At f/8 it still has nice boken and seems to be sharp. The glass is nice an clean, with no speration where it is glued.

John, thanks for the kind words about the shot.

At this point, still leaning to having the flange made and getting both lens and shutter CLA'd. Thanks everyone.

 

[Jim Noel]

Having a flange made by your local machinist wil be immensely cheaper than purcahsing an iris lens mount, especially if the machinist likes unusual challenges. Iris diaphragme lens mounts are bringing unsightly prices on e-bay, - $175 and way up.

You probably can get a flange cut for $20 or less.

Jim

 

[photomc]

Thanks for the info Jim, had considered that...just don't know any local machinist, but might just find one. While have heard good things about Grimes work, the price could be upwards of $150.

 

[Ole]

... Iris diaphragme lens mounts are bringing unsightly prices on e-bay, - $175 and way up...

The trick is to buy a camera with a lens mount! I got my first one with a 13x18cm plate camera, for EUR 150. But the camera was nice, so I got another lens mount (cost me more). Then I found a "lot" of old stuff, including a HUGE iris, for EUR 45. And now last month another lot with two lens mounts (one large, one tiny) in it, for EUR 91 including postage. Oh yes - there were a couple of lenses in that lot too, including a Meyer Aristostigmat and a fine Eurynar 180mm.