Beach Multifocal Portrait lens by Wollensak?

Has anyone heard of such a thing or know anything about it?

I believe it came in two styles, A & B, and both were a Multi-Focus lens. The "A" was designed as a soft focus portrait lens, while the "B" was for groups, portraits, full figures, etc. The No. 4 (9.5 inch) covered 6x8, No. 5 (12 inch) covered 8x10, No. 6 (14 inch) covered 10x12, and No. 7 (18 inch) covered 11x14. You might also research the catalogues which Camera Eccentric (Seth) has posted for more accurate information. http://www.cameraeccentric.com/index.html
I personally have never used this lens, but have heard nothing but glowing praise for it. Best wishes, Jon

I have one. Is a fast 12in soft focus lens with some funky concentric bumps or grooves on the rear element.

I have one of these lenses' but haven’t had a chance to use it yet. I've looked around on the internet and the only info I could find on this lens, is that it was designed by a portrait photographer named Beach from Buffalo N.Y.

Here's a link to the answers I got when I posted on the Large Format Photography Forum;

http://largeformatphotography.info/lfforum/topic/501643.html

Mateo; Have you tried it as a convertable lens? Do you know why it's called multi-focus?

Michael