Info on Wray apo lustar 18 inch lens please.

[Paul.]

Today I came across a Wray 18 inch lustrar process lens, it has a f10 appeture no shutter and no mounting flange or locknut for the thread at the rear of the body.
It has a slot which opens and closes by twisting a ring in front of the appeture ring, I think this is for waterhouse slides?
The glass looked cloudy and a quick wipe of the external surfaces did not clear it.
It appears to be uncoated.

Bareing in mind I will have to purchase a Sinar shutter, have the lens cleaned and find someone to make a lockring for me before I can use this lens I felt I needed some more info before commiting myself.

Questions:-
1. given that process lenses are designed for close work will this lens focus to infinity on my Sinar Norma 5x4, I have an 18 inch extention rail and secondary bellows if required.

2. is the quality of this lens worth the trouble or would I be better off putting my money towards a prime 450mm lens.

3. any idea of how much this lens is worth, it is available cheap but as stated above there are extra costs involved.

Thanks in antisipation,
Paul.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Paul, the VM says that there were a number of slightly different Process and Apo Process Lustrars, all dialytes. In historical order, f/10 Process Lustrar, f/10 Apo Process Lustrar, and f/10 Apo Process Lustrar Series II. It says that all are sharp but the the first two (plain Process Lustrar, Apo Process Lustrar with no series indication) have relatively low contrast. The Series II is supposed to be by far the best of the lot.

Here's what the VM says about it: "Apo Process Lustrar Series 11 f10 This type was seen in 4.0in, 12in, 18in and 25in. These are still a dialyt type but offer a higher performance and the coating is harder, and are much to be preferred for use. The dialyt can be used from infinity to close up where it was intended to be used. They are seldom in shutters, but are marked Series 11. The 12in has been seen several times. The B.J.A. 1953 p212 noted a 25in example as entirely freshly computed and 'superlatively good' and well up to the 18 and 36in examples of the series. It was really good even for 3 color work at f16- much wider open than usually used in this work. On a 15x12in plate, the biggest colour error was in green, about 0.001in over a 15in dimension. There was no appreciable field curvature and no curvilinear distortion was noted. [It is suggested that this was one of the lenses C.G.Wynne redesigned]."

I have a 16"/10 Apo Process Lustrar Ser. II. It should be coated, but the coating is very hard to discern. I've tried it out hung far, far in front of a Nikon. The news is that its flary and not really sharp until f/22.

If I were you I wouldn't buy the 18 incher you've been offered. Cloudy glass doesn't always come clean. If you're up for a Sinar shutter, I think you should consider looking for an Apo Ronar or dialyte type Apo Nikkor around that focal length. Newer coated lenses, IMO better too. Otherwise a proper taking lens in shutter.

An 18" lens needs 18" of extension to focus to infinity; hanging the lens in front of the board reduced the extension needed by roughly half of the barrel's length. Focusing closer requires more extension.

Good luck, have fun,

Dan

 

[Peter Spangenberg]

Wray lenses

I have used Wray process lenses with good result, but they are the 8 1/4" and 12" Wide Angle variety. Neither says Lustrar. I have some experience with the cloudiness, and it didn't come off. For this lens, probably not even worth trying. If you are interested I have a beautiful Goerz 19 inch Apo Artar that is factory coated or a 480mm inch Apo Nikor. The Nikor has the filter holders and I have some gels for it. I could let the Goerz go for $100 and the Nikor for $125. The Goerz is more compact. The Nikor is big and wide, but light weight. Both have flanges, but no lens caps. Both are in Ex condition. Shoot me an e-mail if you're interested. They're just sitting in my basement.

 

[Struan Gray]

I have two plain APO-Lustrars (no 'Process'). One, fungus riddled, I bought for the flange. The other was my most used lens until I replaced it with a 420 APO-Ronar in shutter. The Ronar is more convenient, sharper wide open and thus easier to focus, and is less prone to flare. The Lustrar gave nothing away in sharpness at f22 and using it inside a compendium hood it gave great results. It will fit (just) on a Technika board if you drill and tap the lensboard.

That said barrel APO-Ronars are stupidly cheap these days, and the coatings don't go blotchy like the Wray ones do. The older style 19" APO-Ronar in barrel fits the same flange as the 18" APO-Lustrar, so if you have the bellows length it would be a better bet. However, on my 4x5 Norma the 19" lens would have only given me infinity focus with my normal field setup of one bellows and 18" of rail. The 18" Lustrar I could focus down to twenty feet or so.

PS: the APO-Lustrar focussed as close as it did with a 12" basic rail, a 6" extension, a rail cap (gives you another inch) and both function carriers racked out to the max. FWIW I have a modern bellows, which is more of a tube in this configuration than a pleated bellows. I don't know if a Norma bellows will stretch this far.

 

[Whiteymorange]

You might try cold cream (often used to remove theatrical make-up) to remove the haze if you can get to the back of the lens elements. It has worked for me as well as some of my friends. Just smear it on and let it sit for awhile, then wipe it off and clean the lens surface with the usual stuff.