El Bizzarro Lens cludges

This darkroom I just purchased was littered with all manner of wild lenses and lens parts.

Have a look at the hacks this old timer threw together...

Look at the Koni Omega 90mm Hexanon mounted on the speed graphic board. Has a stylish Honeywell Pentax spot meter cap and sports a no-nonsense aperture adjustment with none of those pesky numbers to trip you up! The wire trailing from under the mount, no doubt the sync lead, adds a stylish touch to the whole composition...

Next, the Diminutive Rodenstock Kilmsch Apo Ronar 150mm/6 inch f9 lens, with its suave and debonair prescription lens cap, is also mounted in a matching black speed graphic lens board. While the aperture glides smoothly and the glass is fine, it seems to have a superfluous lever between the aperture scale and the front lens element -- no idea what it once did, but it saves this lens from the embarrassment of begin 'normal' in a sea of oddballs...

Next we see an overview of one of the boxes; the bakelite containers tantalizingly labeled, 'Achromats', 'Ektar 203mm', 'Alpha Adapter', 'old 83mm Heliar', and "6 1/2 Dag" are infuriatingly filled with tissue and battered lens elements that Jim Gali would energetically kick out of the 'bottom sucker' category.

There is a 6.5 B&L Tessar that looks like someone used the front element to drive nails with, the front lens cell of a 203mm f7.7 Kodak Ektar (no rear cell in sight -- if I am assuming correctly that it has a rear element -- it DOES have an iris, but it doesn't look complete for some reason...) and a very old lens who's front is marked 'Kodak Anastigmat F8 -- No 602' (which for some reason goes to f6.3).

Of course a few items make it worthwhile; the iris for barrel lenses and a decent Graflex Optar 135mm for my Speed Graphic, so it wasn't a total loss.

Nearly passed out when I saw the '6 1/2 inch Dag" box.. too bad it only had a simple lens element in the container.

Any comments on the lenses above?

I am curious about the last lens listed; the Kodak Anastigmat F8. The mount is very small; almost the same size as a c-mount 16mm lens. Enlarging lens?

Kino said:

Next, the Diminutive Rodenstock Kilmsch Apo Ronar 150mm/6 inch f9 lens is also mounted in a matching black speed graphic lens board. While the aperture glides smoothly and the glass is fine, it seems to have a superfluous lever between the aperture scale and the front lens element -- no idea what it once did, but it saves this lens from the embarrassment of begin 'normal' in a sea of oddballs...

Click to expand...

Check the side of the barrel while you play with the lever. Does a secret slot open up? If it does it's for screens of some sort used by the process camera people.

Nick Zentena said:

Check the side of the barrel while you play with the lever. Does a secret slot open up? If it does it's for screens of some sort used by the process camera people.

Click to expand...

By golly, you are correct sir! Thanks for that bit o' knowledge.

In the field, it should make a fine, adjustable flare lever, with optional dust ingress, but in amounts you can select!

YOu forgot to mention the adjustable iris diaphragm for mounting lenses which lack a mounting ring. Its worth a fair amount.

Jim, I mentioned it but described it poorly as "an iris for barrel lenses"; my bad!

I really didn't know what the technical term was for it, but knew how to use it!

I was going to say that the Rodenstock Kilmsch Apo Ronar 150mm/6 inch f9 lens looks awfully like an enlarging lens, though a very slow one at that. There are possibilities. The Koni-Omega 90mm Hexanon was probably used on one of the smaller format Graphics. I don't think it will cover the full 4x5, since it was intended for 6x7.

I was going to say that the adjustable iris/lens holder is pretty valuable and good to have. That apo-ronar is pretty sweet. The hexanon is neat, never thought you could do that. I bet it's pretty sharp provided it's mounted flat on the board.
Those kodak anastigmats are pretty good stopped down, I've a newer one (1940s), 7.5" f4.5. It's pretty sharp stopped down. Not sure about the f6.3 but I vaguely recall reading something from Richard Knoppow on medfmt.8k.com regarding the f6.3 _ektars_ as being dialytes and very sharp.
Not sure if that helps..

All of the gallery cameras we had (graphic arts house) were the German Klimsch ones. Virtually every lens that we had, were the Klimsch Apo type, from Rodenstock.

We had about 25 of these cameras and each camera had (usually) 4 lenses. Only our A3 cameras had the small 150 lenses in their turrets. The 150 lens will, or at least should, cover A4 or in contone film language 8x10".

It should be perfect at 1 to 1 ratio as most copy art was designed at same size.

My own Berthold A2 copy camera, which was also German, ran a Schneider G Claron 150 for A4 film at 1 to 1.

Mick.

fschifano said:

I was going to say that the Rodenstock Kilmsch Apo Ronar 150mm/6 inch f9 lens looks awfully like an enlarging lens, though a very slow one at that. There are possibilities.

Click to expand...

As was mentioned elsewhere in this thread, the 150/9 Apo Ronar is a process lens. According to Rodenstock, it covers 135 mm at infinity at f/22. Unlike the 150/9 G-Claron, not for out-and-about use on 4x5.

I shoot a 150/9 Apo Ronar on a 2x3 Graphic, front mounted on a #1 via a really strange string of adapters. Very fine lens.

Kino, if y'r mystery KA looks like it is in C-mount, it is probably a cine lens.

The Koni-Omega Hexanon is from a Koni-Omega Rapid medium-format interchangeable lens rangefinder camera system. This camera had interchangeable backs, interchangeable lenses, and a push-pull type of film wind/shutter cocking mechanism, allowing for rather quick action when shooting action shots.

Dan Fromm said:

As was mentioned elsewhere in this thread, the 150/9 Apo Ronar is a process lens. According to Rodenstock, it covers 135 mm at infinity at f/22. Unlike the 150/9 G-Claron, not for out-and-about use on 4x5.

I shoot a 150/9 Apo Ronar on a 2x3 Graphic, front mounted on a #1 via a really strange string of adapters. Very fine lens.

Click to expand...

I'm another user of a 150mm f9 Apo Ronar, mine mounted in a Synchro-Compur #0. I use it mainly as a close-up and copy lens on 6x9 and 4x5, and it is very sharp indeed. It won't cover 4x5 at infinity (why would one need it to?) but will cover 6x12. At 1:1 it will just about cover 10x8 at f32, though again, I don't see much cause to use it that way.

Very nice lens.


Peter

The large loose lenses you have look like parts of an overhead lens, + - + triplet lens, the one I have covers 11 by 14 with movement which surprised me, and they come in 12 and 13 inch versions.