Cheap & cheerful barrel lens for Speed Graphic?

Cybertrash · Mar 26, 2013

One of the reason I got my Speed Graphic was (as many others) to be able to use barrel lenses. As I understand you can find a lot of quirky barrel lenses to experiment with that weren't designed with photography primarily in mind (such as projection lenses and so on), and I was wondering if you had some recommendations of such lenses. I'm mostly looking to do either portraiture, stilleben or landscapes/nature and I'm looking for something that's relatively cheap and fun to experiment with, technical performance isn't that much of an issue (allthough I'd still prefer something a step above a meniscus lens), any suggestions on what I should look for and where I might find it?

BrianShaw · Mar 26, 2013

I'm into using barrel lenses on speed graphics, but not much into the bizarre and quirky. Some people find inexpensive lenses here:

http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/category/cameralenses_1.html

Ian Grant · Mar 26, 2013

Try a flea market, (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Ian

removed account4 · Mar 26, 2013

folding cameras ( from the junque store )
remove the lens and presto !

jp498 · Mar 26, 2013

http://re-inventedphotoequip.com/Site/Prices.html

$65 for a nice 190mm

You said no meniscus, but it's pretty sharp at f11 onwards.

Old tessars are cheap and fun too.

Ian Grant · Mar 26, 2013

Old Tessars are cheap, fun, and extremely capable stopped down. You should see what Ken Lee does with his over on the LFPF

Ian

BrianShaw · Mar 26, 2013

Ian Grant said:
Old Tessars are cheap, fun, and extremely capable stopped down.

I couldn't agree more, but I also wouldn't consider them "quirky". For me and many others they are still viable tools for serious photography.

EASmithV · Mar 26, 2013

get a petzval or a rapid rectilinear

Ian Grant · Mar 26, 2013

EASmithV said:
get a petzval or a rapid rectilinear

I'd agree, and have both.

BrianShaw said:
I couldn't agree more, but I also wouldn't consider them "quirky". For me and many others they are still viable tools for serious photography.

Yes far from quirky, my 1913 165mm f6.3 Tessar (in a Compur) is just as useable as the late production Xenar made (or rather assembled) about 11 or 12 years ago

Ian

E. von Hoegh · Mar 26, 2013

Get a Dagor.

BrianShaw · Mar 26, 2013

E. von Hoegh said:
Get a Dagor.

Figured you'd say something like that.

Whiteymorange · Mar 26, 2013

Find an old pair of binoculars and take the large end off. There is usually a narrow throat that serves as an aperture engineered into the case and the whole thing screws off together. They make great portrait lenses and you get two for the price of one! The attached shot of our own bill h was shot with a Speed and the objective lens from an old set of 7x35 Crown Optics binoculars.

Cybertrash · Mar 28, 2013

Thanks for all the answers everyone. I found an old 9x12 folder camera (that I guess technically was my first "LF" camera) and took the lens from it, it's even got a shutter. The original lens was a 135mm, but after unscrewing the rear element it seemed to become something significantly longer (probably around the 200m) mark. I haven't been able to test it properly since I lack a lens board of the correct size, but I was able to sort of keep it in place on a larger lens board and observe the image on the ground glass.

Whiteymorange · Mar 28, 2013

You don't say which Speed you have but if it's an Anniversary or earlier, lens boards are easy to make up from any number of materials. My favorite is masonite, but foam-core board in black has served me well on a number of occasions. Just cut them 4x4 and chamfer the bottom edge on the back so as to fit into the slot more easily. Draw lines from corner to corner to mark the center and cut out the hole to size. Usually talkes me about 15 minutes to make a "Q&D" board (quick and dirty construction).

Fixcinater · Mar 28, 2013

I've used the foam-core board for lensboards as well, worked just fine for a couple of different lenses and is very lightweight to boot.

Cybertrash · Mar 28, 2013

Whiteymorange said:
You don't say which Speed you have but if it's an Anniversary or earlier, lens boards are easy to make up from any number of materials. My favorite is masonite, but foam-core board in black has served me well on a number of occasions. Just cut them 4x4 and chamfer the bottom edge on the back so as to fit into the slot more easily. Draw lines from corner to corner to mark the center and cut out the hole to size. Usually talkes me about 15 minutes to make a "Q&D" board (quick and dirty construction).

Unfortunately it's a Pacemaker, which I understand are a bit more difficult to make a board for.

removed account4 · Mar 28, 2013

Cybertrash said:
Unfortunately it's a Pacemaker, which I understand are a bit more difficult to make a board for.

i use pieces of mat board or foam core to make boards for my pacemaker ...
the trick is not to give a crap if others tell you you did something wrong,
then things are that much easier

good luck !
john

Ian Grant · Mar 28, 2013

New Pacemaker boards are very cheap new from Heavystar in Ebay, it's worth buying three.

Ian

shutterfinger · Mar 28, 2013

A piece of 1/4 inch black acrylic cut to the OD of a pacemaker board opening, corners rounded to fit into the opening, back sides routed down so that the center portion just fits into the bellows throat and the front edge just under the board locks ( approximately 1/16 inch thick lip ), back side sanded so that it has a flat finish, and center drilled to the shutter mount makes a very nice lens board that is very rigid. It is a little more work than foam core and the center portion going into the bellows opening eliminates the need for the outer lip light trap.
http://www.graflex.org/helpboard/viewtopic.php?t=6333&highlight=lens+board

Cybertrash · Mar 28, 2013

Ian Grant said:
New Pacemaker boards are very cheap new from Heavystar in Ebay, it's worth buying three.

Ian

Thanks for the recommendation, these are about half the price (including shipping) than the ones I found from searching eBay UK.

Whiteymorange · Mar 28, 2013

I just cut flat boards smaller, to fit inside the opening, and then back them with felt. Seem to work fine.

E. von Hoegh · Mar 29, 2013

BrianShaw said:
Figured you'd say something like that.

Aber naturlich.

Joe VanCleave · Mar 29, 2013

Fuji 240mm f/5.6 Xerox lens on Anniversary Speed Graphic using custom-built wooden lens holder.

~Joe

leighmarrin · Apr 3, 2013

Modified petzval-formula cine projection lenses of the mid 20th century are a lot of fun and often cheap. They can have wild swirl and good center sharpness. In the US the B&L "Cinephor" is probably the most common, but they are really heavy. I've used a couple of lighter-weight Kollmorgen "Snaplite" series on 4x5 with interesting results. Look for lengths in the 5 to 7 inch range.

I've got several examples posted on my Flicrk page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49057438@N08/

Cheap & cheerful barrel lens for Speed Graphic?

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