Fastest Copal #0 lens?

Hello all,

I've been having a blast with my new Busch Pressman Model D recently--it's great to have a smaller, lightweight, and more portable version of the RZ67. Joking aside, I'm looking for a normal lens for the pressman. Speed is one of the desired qualities--as I've been doing a fair amount of shooting indoors in poor light and Arista EDU doesn't push well. The main constraint is that the Pressman has a proprietary lens board that is currently only available with a Copal #0 opening. I could see about making a #1 board, but there isn't much room to work with.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I still have a lot to learn about large format.

Without a focal length it's hard to say. I think the 65mm f/4's are the fastest that fit your constraints. Someone with more extensive knowledge would probably correct me.

An OscilloRaptar 75/1.9 fits in a Copal #0, doesn't it?
Of course, it's a macro-optimised lens for taking photos of oscilloscope traces, not sure of its coverage at more useful distances...

I'm looking for a lens somewhere in the 150-210 range. I like the 135 mm f/4.7 and it has a lot of coverage, but it isn't that good for portraits and stuff which is something I want to focus on. Well it seems like a #1 shutter might be a necessity. A quick run through keh didn't show anything fast and in a #0.

Well, the opening of a #0 is 24mm, so 150/24 = f/6.25 max in that range (or 210/24 = f/8.75).
A #1 gets you 30mm, so 150/30 = f/5.0 (or 210mm f/7.0).

Of course, in reality they don't design right to the limits of the aperture (or maybe sometimes they do). Your 135/4.7 gives an iris diameter of 28.7mm, is that in #1 or #0?
There are also Telephoto designs where the pupil has a factor applied to it, but then of course you lose coverage.
I'd just be buying a #1 shutter and a huge drill bit if I were you. Xenars and/or xenotars came in f/2.8 and f/3.5 versions, but the 2.8s are expensive (as are Sonnars, so I won't mention them...)

There are good reasons why most LF lenses have maximum apertures that are in the f/5.6 range (ranging from slightly larger to much smaller ).

First, size is a consideration, faster = larger, and a (hypothetical) 210mm f/2.8 lens is going to be way to big to use conveniently on your Pressman. Smaller, more portable lenses in this focal-length range have even smaller maximum apertures (e.g., f/9). If you are limited to a #0 (or even #1) shutter, lenses in the 210mm range will simply have rather smaller maximum apertures due to the physical constraints of the shutter opening.

Second, is depth-of-field. The longer the lens, the shallower the DoF, all other things being equal. Even at f/5.6, the DoF for a 210mm lens is relatively shallow at portrait distances, and may not do the job unless you like out-of-focus ears.

Third, is the quality/expense trade-off. In order to make a fast(er) LF lens, you need more glass, better manufacturing and materials, plus complicated designs to maintain image quality wide-open. Many LF lenses don't do well wide-open; the maximum aperture is meant for focusing, not taking. Almost all LF lenses yield optimum quality in the f/16-22 range. Wide-open they exhibit more aberrations and loss of resolution. Correcting this for even faster lenses is almost always too expensive for a manufacturer to justify.

If you are looking for "speed," then you may find you need shorter lenses and a smaller film format (e.g., a roll-film back for your Pressman) and/or faster film, or even better lighting. There's a reason all those press photographers in the 30s through the 50s had bags full of flashbulbs with them.

Best,

Doremus

Thanks for all the input. I'm probably going to go with one of the 210 f/5.6's available--I got my hands on a #1 lens board.

I have the same set up that you do. I would love to shoot at 5.6, but that lens is just too soft for my liking.

Dr Croubie said:

An OscilloRaptar 75/1.9 fits in a Copal #0, doesn't it?
Of course, it's a macro-optimised lens for taking photos of oscilloscope traces, not sure of its coverage at more useful distances...

Click to expand...

I have a Dallmeyer oscilloscope lens 75mm f1.9 it was in a Prontor Press shutter but barely covered 35mm at Infinity.

A more practical lens in a #1 size shutter woud be an f4.5 150mm Tessar or Xenar, smaller is the f4.7 Xenar. I've 3 small 200-210mm lenses the first a Kodak 203mm f7.7 Ektar is is perhaps a fouch slow but they were in #0 shutters Epsilon, Prontor and Compur (except in the US), the other two are are both f6.3 an 210mm Geronar - a triplet and a great portrait lens, and a 210mm Osaka (Congo) a Tessar design, again great for portraits wider open.

There's a 210 f6.3 Geronar for sale on the LF forum.

Ian

Dr Croubie said:

An OscilloRaptar 75/1.9 fits in a Copal #0, doesn't it?
Of course, it's a macro-optimised lens for taking photos of oscilloscope traces, not sure of its coverage at more useful distances...

Click to expand...

Wash your tiny antipodean mind out with soap. OscilloRaptars were made by Wollensak and were sold mounted in Wollensak's own Alphax shutters, always, I think, #3. Alphax shutters don't conform to the Compur/Copal standard. Neither do Ilex and Kodak-made shutters. Some B&L-made Compounds might but the ones I have don't.

Dan Fromm said:

Wash your tiny antipodean mind out with soap.

Click to expand...

Ha, don't suppose my antipodean humour managed to make it across the globe either (I probably should have added a [/sarcasm] somewhere).
Just that every time anyone asks for a 'fast' LF lens, invariably someone mentions the oscillo raptars and paragons, and I thought I'd get in first this time...

My favorite in this situation is the Horseman 105 / 3.5. It is a small, fast, modern, multicoated lens with reasonable coverage for small movements.