Here's an item from what my wife calls my "lens museum" - the too-many LF lenses in various focal lengths that simply don't get used.
This is a late-production 150mm G-Claron, serial number 14348xxx, dating to 1989-1990 according to Schneider's table. It's in a late-style all-black Copal 0 shutter, the one with the 7 aperture blades - the earlier ones had only 5 blades. The original caps and mounting ring are included. I've heard claims that this covers 5x7 stopped down (I never tried) and that the rear element alone can be used as a 300mm lens (ditto), although a yellow filter is suggested by some to avoid the effects of chromatic aberration when using it as a convertible.
The shutter is running well - 1/60 and slower are all within 1/4-stop, 1/125 and 1/250 are within about 1/2-stop, and 1/500 is about a stop slow (not unusual for any shutter at this speed) - all measured with my Calumet tester.
There are some issues. The one obvious in the photos is the minor damage to the filter ring. This looks bad, but in fact my B+W step-up adapter screws in perfectly smoothly. The other one is what appears to be faint fungus in the front cell, visible with a pencil flashlight shone through the lens. I shot a test negative comparing this to my 150mm Docter Germinar-W, basically the same design, and could see no difference. You may be more critical than I am, but that's what I saw. Perhaps it can be cleaned, perhaps not, I'll leave lens disassembly to the pros. Finally, there's a purely cosmetic ring at the front of the shutter that's come loose, all it needs is a drop of model glue to tack it down. I'd reglue it, but all I have here is Krazy Glue and that might be too strong.
Given the issues, I'm asking $135 shipped in the US (international shipping is more costly, contact me). Think of it as buying a very good late-model Copal 0 with a probably-useful lens. I'm probably a fool for selling this, I should keep the shutter. But I have half a dozen other 150s...
This is a late-production 150mm G-Claron, serial number 14348xxx, dating to 1989-1990 according to Schneider's table. It's in a late-style all-black Copal 0 shutter, the one with the 7 aperture blades - the earlier ones had only 5 blades. The original caps and mounting ring are included. I've heard claims that this covers 5x7 stopped down (I never tried) and that the rear element alone can be used as a 300mm lens (ditto), although a yellow filter is suggested by some to avoid the effects of chromatic aberration when using it as a convertible.
The shutter is running well - 1/60 and slower are all within 1/4-stop, 1/125 and 1/250 are within about 1/2-stop, and 1/500 is about a stop slow (not unusual for any shutter at this speed) - all measured with my Calumet tester.
There are some issues. The one obvious in the photos is the minor damage to the filter ring. This looks bad, but in fact my B+W step-up adapter screws in perfectly smoothly. The other one is what appears to be faint fungus in the front cell, visible with a pencil flashlight shone through the lens. I shot a test negative comparing this to my 150mm Docter Germinar-W, basically the same design, and could see no difference. You may be more critical than I am, but that's what I saw. Perhaps it can be cleaned, perhaps not, I'll leave lens disassembly to the pros. Finally, there's a purely cosmetic ring at the front of the shutter that's come loose, all it needs is a drop of model glue to tack it down. I'd reglue it, but all I have here is Krazy Glue and that might be too strong.
Given the issues, I'm asking $135 shipped in the US (international shipping is more costly, contact me). Think of it as buying a very good late-model Copal 0 with a probably-useful lens. I'm probably a fool for selling this, I should keep the shutter. But I have half a dozen other 150s...
Last edited by a moderator: