RFI:B&L Planatograph 4x5 6 1/2 inch, f8

[PHOTOTONE]

Could someone tell me something about this old lens. It is a Bausch & Lomb 4x5 Planatograph 6 1/2 inch, f8, mounted in a simple brass shutter from Gundlach with 1/100, 1/50, 1/25, T, B. settings. It has a pneumatic cylinder for a bulb type cable release. I would guess it came from a folding camera from early in the 20th century.

Planatograph...never heard of this lens name before, is it similar to a Rapid Rectilinear?

The shutter has two aperture scales:

f8 to f64,

and

a scale marked "WA" and numbers from 1 to 5, with 1 corresponding to f22, and 5 corresponding to f64.

I'm just curious.

 

[k_jupiter]

Let's take a wild guess. Perhaps it's a convertible lens. The whole lens would be the WA (Wide Angle) hence the reduced aperture scale, the lens with the (front?) element removed would be the 'tele' configuration of the lens, less glass more light available.

Just a guess.

tim in san jose

 

[Harrigan]

The planatograph is a RR type I think and not a wide angle per say. Some versions are marked convertible and some not. I have 5x7 planatograph that is marked in one focal lenght only and one for full plate that is marked as a convertible lens.