Petzval Lens Enthusiasts

[mealers]

Hey everyone - Whats the best way of securing the lens to the lens board? My lens doesnt have a flange and I've used 3mm hardwood as a lensboard so there isnt alot of thread for any kind of retaining ring.

 

[Andrew Moxom]

Mealers... I just make it a friction fit.... A 3mm lens board is quite thin, and might split the wood unless you have a laminated lens board with alternating grain? What lens board type is it? Linhof? I make mine using 1/4 " thick stock and mill down the top and bottom to fit in any linhof type mounting system. I drill the hole undersized and then sand it out to fit using a sanding drum in my drill press. Once you get the right size, I put some candle wax on the lens threads and tighten them up... Works slick.

 

[mealers]

Thanks Andrew, I've just made another lensboard out of 5mm plywood, got to drill and sand but thats a job for tommorrow. I've got some Adox 25 on order so hopefully have something to show by the end of the week!

 

[Andrew Moxom]

Mealers... If you look within the pictures posted here, I have two lens types and how I made boards to fit etc... Also about how to fix a Packard to the front of them. The packard set I use also has a provision for a Cokin'P' filter system on the front of it so I can stack in ND filters to help with exposure control.... It works quite well but you have to be careful with flare in bright conditions!!!

 

[ishutteratthethought]

Hello folks, I have been speaking with Andrew about the petzvals and did purchase one however it is missing one of the elements on the back side. I did not pay a whole lot for the lens since it was quite corroded. I had someone in my shop clean it up (this may be a sin but you can see the before and after photo's here)
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
Any possibilities of finding a rear element any place? I can get the dimensions later. There is no name on the lens or on the side of the elements. The front element appears to have 3 smaller elements glued together. Both front and rear elements are very clean & clear with no scratches. I believe the rear element is approx 2 inches in diameter & i need the one between the middle next to the back side of course. Any thoughts will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Steve

 

[Barry S]

A petzval has a cemented doublet, usually at the front, and an air-spaced doublet at the rear of the lens. Sometimes this is reversed. Have you removed the front lens group? Are you sure there are 3 elements? There is almost no possibility of finding the appropriate rear element, so you might as well shoot with it and see what you get. You'll likely see very intense swirl and lots of rectilinear distortion. Some eBay sellers pretend to know nothing about lenses and sell lenses with broken or missing elements or groups. Yet, when there's some obscure selling point, they seem to become uncommonly knowledgeable.

 

[ishutteratthethought]

Hello Barry,
I am not sure that there are three elements in the front. It looks like there may be but it could be less. When viewing the lens from the side, it looks like three layers.
The spacing rings that are in the rear are in tact. I did mount the lens on my calumet C400 and there is a circle that covers approximately 3 inches in diameter, not nearly enough to cover the 4 x 5. Plus the center is not sharp, which I believe is non-characteristic of a Petzval.
I knew it was a gamble when I bought and believed that it could be a bad lens…. Oh well, I have had very good luck doing this until now.
I will most likely put this one the shelf.
Thanks for you insight. And I plan on purchasing a working Petzval very soon.
Steve

 

[Colin Corneau]

Is it really a sin to clean up the brass on these types of lenses? I think it sorta adds to their beauty, and I'd be interested in knowing how you cleaned yours, Steve.

Colin

 

[Andrew Moxom]

I see that PBrooks bought one of Jos Burke's petzvals....Congrats....There is one left with a rear lens edge chip... Nothing to worry about.... certainly worth the $

 

[ishutteratthethought]

hi Colin,
I work at a job shop machine shop in minneapolis where we make a number of machined parts for the aerospace industry. I did not personally do the cleaning, i had the lead person in our burr bench clean it. i disassembled it. he used a rubber micro hair brush the has diamond dust on it. it is used for finish work on some of our parts.
the lens was extremely corroded when i got it off ebay. i am a collector of vintage cameras and it is not recomended to alter them other than repairing the mechanics so they can be used again. i did not pay much for this lens and planned on using it so i was not that concerned about cleaning it. it did have some copper plating that was peeling and going inside as well.
bummer that it is missing an element. i will most likey re-sell to the highest bidder. maybe someone can us it for parts.
steve

 

[PBrooks]

Hello all! I joined the group a couple of days ago, but have officially joined the group as of this afternoon. Why officially, well because before I didn't have one of these beautiful lenses but I just purchased one from the classified section. It is 90-95mm focal length but I have no idea what the aperture is. I guess I'll be watching Jason's video again about determining unknown aperture and focal length. I do have a couple of questions though. I have an extra graflex lens board but it is one of the new style not the straight board and it has a copal 0 hole. Do I cut the lens board and then make another lens board to glue into that one? I hope this made since. Oh and my second questions. Does anyone have an extra 5-6in? Can't wait to get started with this but I'll have to as my graflex is on a slow boat to Taiwan at the moment.

 

[PBrooks]

Ok, This is really a slippery slope! I had my thanksgiving dinner and got a serious case of GAS and not from the dinner. I found another petzval lens from a wanted post on LFF and this one also solves my camera problem because it is attached to a speed graphic with focal plane shutter!!! Yeah!!!
Sorry couldn't resist. I have no idea what the focal length is or the aperture, only that it is a unnamed petzval lens.

 

[gandolfi]

well - it IS a slippery slope..

I just got two more petzval's to the family..

A Darlot (don't know the specs yet, but it surely cant illuminate 13x18 (maybe even not 4x5)), and today I got a really nice, kind of big Ed. Liesegang from Germany.
I made a bid on it, thinking that I'd never get it, but there you go...
normally the Liesegang lenses are quite pricy (or that is what I've seen...), but this one was more than fair in price.. (approx. 150$)
specs to follow, but you can see the lenses in the gallery..

(Soon I have to actually start using these lenses....)

 

[BlueLemon]

Meeeee toooo

Just bought a Lerebours é Secretan - according to vademecum this should be a pretty early one. Another baby to suit my collection.

Seller states this is a approx 450mm

Only drawback is that these brass lenses with beautifull names look just outright odd on an ugly Sinar But I´ll cope that

 

[djkloss]

I'm really glad you guys started this group. I'm having such a blast with this new/old lens. What I'd really like is to find a brass flange so I can attach it to my lens board and ditch the rubber band that's holding it on.

 

[Andrew Moxom]

Dorothy, what type of lensboard do you use? I have found that making wooden lensboards (linhof style) works great and I can mke them a friction fit using the threads on the lens where the flange would normally attach. Those with no thread, I just drill out the right size hole and use gaffer tape on the side of the lens to make it a friction fit... Seems to work well.

 

[djkloss]

I'm using a spare that came from my Speed Graphic. I drilled the hole to fit then had to file a bit more - and filed a bit too much. So I put a big 'lettuce' rubberband behind the lensboard so it wouldn't slip off. It works for now, but I'm afraid over time it will be too tight on the brass.

 

[Barry S]

If you find a petzval you really like, I think it's worth it to have a machinist make a retaining flange. I have two lenses that I recently sent out for flanges and I won't have to worry about swapping lens boards if I change cameras. Both are heavy lenses, so I feel a little less secure using the wedge-it-in-method. For smaller lenses, a friction fit works well. I also recommend a universal iris--they make it quick and easy trying out lenses before cutting lens boards. Unfortunately, they're ridiculously rare and nearly impossible to find in smaller sizes that would fit a 4x5.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I have a really bad feeling I should've clicked the 'No' button...

Getting back to shooting again. Trying to find a lovely Petzval to use on my 4x5 for a small project. I'm really enjoying all the pictures.

 

[gandolfi]

Stephanie (and others): I am looking for small petzvals too...
(one unnamed projection lens was sold yesterday at Ebay for 350+$!!!)

I do have some petzvals, and the smallest is a newly bought Darlot, which will be fine for 4x5..

However, I have a strange weakness for big sizez lenses... (size does matter? )

and I have no idea what camera to use for my biggest (see gallery).
it is a huge "Kranz" petzval lens.
weighs approx 8 kg's...
the retaining ring is approx. 15cm (6inch) wide, and the height is about 30cm (12")....

I can fit it on my 12x16" Gandolfi, but the image size of this camera is far to big for the lens...
it might be good for 8x10.. I don't know..

But as it is now, I can't really use it.
have to fine yet another camera to fix it on....

It makes a fine display piece though.......

 

[Colin Corneau]

I tried bidding on that very lens on eBay yesterday!...was quite PO'd when it sold, but that's life. It was quite a beaut...I only hope the person actually uses it and it doesn't become a shelf exhibit. And the search continues....

 

[ishutteratthethought]

Emil, now that is one massive lens.......might be a little big for the hassy though.
thanks for sharing.
steve

 

[Barry S]

That Kranz lens is a beauty--too nice to display, maybe you need a studio camera. Any idea of the focal length and aperture? That petzval was on my watch list and I can't believe another magic lantern lens went for big bucks.

 

[djkloss]

I wonder if the price will go up once the demand goes up?

 

[Barry S]

The prices have already gone up--no question. I got my first petzvals less than a year ago and the prices were lower--particularly for magic lantern lenses. I'm guessing this is cyclical because even though lots of photographers want a shiny brass petzval at the moment, there's an ocean of taking, magic lantern and projection lenses out there.