Ilex No.4 Universal Shutter and Wray Lens

[Kino]

Got this shutter and Wray 5 inch "Special Copying f4" lens a while back off of a huge process camera used to fabricate custom matrix plates for one-off microprocessors just before they bulldozed the building. Man I left a LOT of stuff behind but, you know you can only take so much...

Being that I have started down the ULF slippery slope, I eyed the combo and wondered the inevitable, are they useful?

(Note that the shutter was at the end of a large, metal cone and the lens was mounted on a plate at the other end of the cone, not that the lens was mounted ON the shutter...)

I would imagine the Ilex shutter would be useful if I could find a lens to fit it, but the Wray lens is quite heavy and large.

Just how do you figure the coverage circle of a lens?

What useful lenses fit the No. 4 Ilex shutter, assuming 8x10 or similar film size.

As always, thanks for the advice and sorry for the crappy webcam pic.

EDIT:
Hey I just noticed this crazy shutter has a aperture in it behind the shutter blades!

 

[df cardwell]

You've got a pretty new Ilex ( early '60s ? )... that's good. I don't have any 'recent' data for Wray, better wait till the Brits weigh in, but you just might have a pretty groovy 4x5 macro lens, something along the lines of a planar or something like that.

Got a Pentax 6x7 ? A Super D Graflex ???

That shutter might be handy to mount a smaller lens....

 

[jimgalli]

Ilex shutters were for the most part made in an era when every lens mfgr. used it for different things but each one made bushings different from anyone else to adapt their product to the shutter. Different than now where the shutter mfg. says here's a Copal 3 with 58mm threads, design your lenses to fit it. So almost nothing out there is a direct screw in affair. But they're a great starting place for 14, 16, 18, and 19" Artars. You typically have to pay a machinist to make the bushings that will adapt whatever cells you're interested in to fit the Ilex. My 12" Dagor is in an Ilex 4 as is one of my Cooke XV's.

 

[Kino]

Thank you Mr. Cardwell.

4x5 macro? Heh, heh, heh... cool! Might rig up something to check it on my Speed Graphic...

I don't have any of the cameras you mentioned, but it COULD facilitate the purchase... (slap, slap, slap)... Well, I'll just hold on to it for now!

Many thanks!

 

[Kino]

Ilex shutters were for the most part made in an era when every lens mfgr. used it for different things but each one made bushings different from anyone else to adapt their product to the shutter. Different than now where the shutter mfg. says here's a Copal 3 with 58mm threads, design your lenses to fit it. So almost nothing out there is a direct screw in affair. But they're a great starting place for 14, 16, 18, and 19" Artars. You typically have to pay a machinist to make the bushings that will adapt whatever cells you're interested in to fit the Ilex. My 12" Dagor is in an Ilex 4 as is one of my Cooke XV's.

Good knowledge to have; thanks Mr. Galli!

Aye, yi, yi; looks like a mini lathe might be a good investment, but I'll use the Sherline at work until I have to buy my own.

Thanks again.

Frank

 

[rbarker]

Additionally, there's a chart on the S.K. Grimes site that lists various lenses that can be mounted in different shutters - many with some machine work being required, some with extensive machine work (e.g. a completely new barrel in which to mount the lens elements). Note, too, that maintaining the proper lens-element spacing is critical. Thus, the machinist also needs to be familiar with the spacing specs for the lens in question.

I have a 610mm APO Nikkor barrel lens that I hope to eventually have mounted in an Ilex #5, for example. But, there is a hefty amount of machine work that needs to be done. The pure economics (ignoring lens quality issues) seldom make sense - unless you can do the (high-precision) machine work yourself.