Apo-Germinar F9/600mm

I recently purchased this lens as a leap of faith. I eventually want to set up an 8x20 system and was hoping this lens would cover the format, maybe even with a few movements. As I said it was a leap of faith in that I purchased the lens without knowing exactly what its capabilities are, but it was so inexpensive and already mounted in a board that I went for it. The aperture is smooth all the way down to f/128, the optics seem in good order (is this a multi coated or single coated lens?) except for a little dust between the elements.

I understand that the true way to see what I’ve got is to shoot with it but I am going overseas for a year and won’t have time to play with this lens on any format before I go. Any practical experience would be appreciated.

I'm not sure it quite covers 20"x24", but it should cover 8"x20" just fine....hopefully Sandy or Kerry will know more about this guy for you.

I don't know the exact coverage at infinity as so far I have only used mine on a camera enlarger. Image quality is superb.

Logan,

You can find a lot of info on this lens in (there was a url link here which no longer exists).

See posts #29, #32, #33, #34 and #35 for info on the coverage. The 600mm should cover 8x20 wide open with a bit to spare, and have an image circle in excess of 600mm stopped down. Should work nicely on your 8x20 (if the front standard an handle the > 4lb. weight).

The lens is single coated. Is yours a Zeiss or a Docter Optics? They are the same optically and mechanically. The only difference is the Docter lenses are newer.

Kerry

Kerry,

Thanks so much for the quick response; you are confirming for me that this was a great purchase. As to if this is a Zeiss or Docter Optic the lens states aus JENA DDR on the front which I assume means Docter Optic.

Thanks to everyone who responded, this is a truly great forum.

Logan Group said:

Kerry,

Thanks so much for the quick response; you are confirming for me that this was a great purchase. As to if this is a Zeiss or Docter Optic the lens states aus JENA DDR on the front which I assume means Docter Optic.

Thanks to everyone who responded, this is a truly great forum.

Click to expand...

No that means Zeiss Jena, DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik- East Germany). It would say Docter if it were.

Rich