Dagor ID and questions

[Matthew Rusbarsky]

I found an old Dagor in a box of junk and it has me a bit stumped. I know pictures would help, but I'm going to be away from a *igital camera for the next week or so. Here are the details. Lens: Goerz Dagor, F6.8, Series III No.0, Focus 4 3/4 in. The lens in a japanned barrel with a pinion focus. Neat little window on the barrel reveals a brass distance scale. The barrel is marked IIIa, C.P. Goerz, Berlin. It's mounted on a Graflex 23 board. Shutter: C.P. Goerz Am. Opt. XecelL Sector. Condition: Not good. The front group has major fungus and separation, the shutter does not work. On with the questions.
Is this lens at all worth the time to sort out the damge to the front group? Also, what is up with the sector shutter? Inside it sure does not look like a "sector type" shutter. Rather it looks like a strange design where the aperture blades do double duty as shutter blades.

Regards,
Matthew

 

[E. von Hoegh]

The original Goerz shutter was a pneumatic type, the eXcelL was it's replacement, and had a mechanical timing arrangement IIRC. I don't know why they were called "sector; they both used one set of blades for the shutter and aperture. Whether the lens is worth repairing or not depends on condition, and how much you want to do it. This is a standard Dagor, covers about 70 degrees, a bit more stopped down.

 

[Matthew Rusbarsky]

Thanks! I thought I was losing my mind when I only saw one set of blades. It does make sense. They are too thin to be proper aperture blades and too numerous to be shutter blades! I would love to try this out on my Crown 23. Looks like I'm going to have to sort out that shutter first. Not much info is available on the net. I doubt the lens is worth anything and I would not be willing to put any cash into it. With a bit of perseverance I may end up with a nice toy.

 

[Steve Hamley]

Volute shutters also used a single set of blades for both shutter and aperture.

They're not too numerous. It's common to find vintage irises with 10-17 blades. They wanted that aperture round, not pentagonal.

Cheers, Steve

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I don't know about your 4 3/4 inch Dagor, but I have a later 4 3/8" Goerz Am.Opt.Co Dagor, and it's a lens you can pry from my cold, dead hands. It covers 5x7 wide open, with ample movements stopped down. You might be able to perform a shutter-ectomy and mount the glass in something more modern and reliable. If all else fails, you can use it on a Speed Graphic as a barrel lens if you can get the aperture working smoothly.