Goerz L.D. Artar 16 1/2 in F:9.5

Hi.

I just want to know basically what I have here. I came across this lens. this is written on the front of the lens:

GOERZ OPTICAL CO. INC.
L.D. ARTAR 16 1/2 IN. F:9.5
No. 824482

It has F-stop settings from 9.5 to 90
There is a moveable ring in front of the f-stop that does not appear to do anything.
The f-stop ring moves and I can see the shutter inside moves accordingly.
Behind the f-stop ring are threads to mount the lens(I assume)
On the back of the lens is the same number 824482.

It looks in really good shape. It also has a black leather georz lens cover with a velvet lining.
I am not a photographer and know very little about cameras, but I do recognize quality when I see it. It is also very heavy. Once I find out more about it, I will decide what to do next. Thank you for any help.
BoB

This is a large format lens, so I've moved the thread to the large format forum. It was used originally mainly for reproduction work and in the printing industry, but they also perform well as landscape lenses. If there is a brass flange for mounting the lens to a lensboard, that is a desirable thing, since it's expensive to have a custom flange made. If there is a red dot on the front ring with the other identifying information about the lens, that would mean that it is a later coated version of the lens, which is more desirable than an earlier uncoated version, though even uncoated Artars are pretty good.

There is no flange, only threads which would be used for mounting...
There are also threads on the inside of the back of the lens.
There is also no red dot anywhere. No other markings other than what I stated. Thanks for moving this where it belongs and thank you for your response.

Bob,

I also sent you an email. Here's a few details on your lens. The L.D. Artar was a "low distortion" version of the more common Red Dot Artar. It was likely used for copy work on a large repro camera. Based on the serial number, yours would have been made in the mid-1960s (probably in the 1965 - 1966 time frame). This is a fairly late Goerz lens. The company was sold to Kollmorgen around 1970, but continued to produce lenses under the Goerz name. Around 1972, the assets of the defunct Goerz Optical Co. Inc. were sold to Schneider Corp. of America. Schneider continued to produce lenses of the Goerz design (but labeled as Schneider lenses, not Goerz) up until about 1990. This production was initially done in Switzerland where they were made by Kern, but eventually Schneider moved production of the APO ("Red Dot") Artar to their manufacturing facility in Germany. But all that happened well after your lens was made.

I happen to have a 14 in. L.D. Artar with a higher serial number (probably made around 1968). My was a late production version. So, it came in an aluminum barrel, rather than the heavier brass barrel of the earlier samples. I liked mine enough to go to the expense of having the late Steve Grimes mount it in a shutter for me. I've used mine as a long lens on 4x5, but the 16 1/2 in. version would be a nice focal length and have enough coverage to make a nice 8x10 lens.

What you see when looking through the lens is not a shutter. It's an iris diaphragm used to set the aperture (f-stop).

Kerry Thalmann
Really Big Cameras

A little more info I just dug up...

According to a Goerz price list dated 3/10/66 (about the time your lens was new) shows a "Net Consumer Price" (manufacturer's suggested retail price) of $875.00 for the 16 1/2 in. L.D. Artar. Quite a hefty sum in those days and more than twice the $365 "Net Consumer Price" of the standard 16 1/2 in. Red Dot Artar.

Of course, those are list prices. Actual selling prices were probably a little lower, but high end repro lenses back then were very spendy items - especially in the longer focal lengths. I have a 42 in. Red Dot Artar from the same time period that had a "NetConsumer price of $1332.00 in 1966 (I paid a LOT less than that when I bought it off eBay in 2007). A large number of Red Dot Artars, and other repro lenses (APO Ronars, APO Nikkors, etc.), came onto the used market in the mid to late 1990s as the reprographics industry switched over to digital. At the time, they were dirt cheap. They've come up a little in price since then, but can still be good values for someone looking to use them as taking lenses on 8x10, and larger, cameras.

Kerry Thalmann
Really Big Cameras

Dear Kerry,

I have a question. I saw a Gold Dot Dagor has the "Goerz Optical Co., Inc." graved on the lens front. Is this correct? I did not see the "AM" in the company name. Why is that?