The Petzval Madness Continues...

[rbarker]

Sure. I can guess. Whether I'm correct or not is another story.

Some sort of meniscus lens.

Joe

Good guess, Joe, but not even close. I posted the shot as somewhat of a joke. It was actually taken with a tack-sharp 150mm APO Symmar, over which I rubber-banded a piece of bubble wrap (1/4" bubbles) with a small, irregularly-shaped hole in the middle. I refer to the combination as my Holgafied LF lens.

I guess my intended (counter) point was that while the various older soft-focus lenses produce lovely results, similar (albeit different) results
can also be obtained via diffusion filters of various types. Both approaches have a long history in portrait photography.

 

[Kerik]

JG,

Thanks for all the great info. I've also heard (but not tried) using only the rear element of a Verito. I will definitely try it. I'd love to have a longer SF lens for portraits with the 14"x17".

 

[Whiteymorange]

We're forgetting the best part about old glass here - it's cheap. The most I've paid for a lens yet is $20. Get an APO Symmar for that?

Perhaps the old (mis)quote is useful here: from famous fat-boy Crown Prince Edward on finding that his bottom button did not quite fit anymore - "Of necessity we shall make a virtue."

 

[smieglitz]

...actually taken with a tack-sharp 150mm APO Symmar...

What's an APO-Symmar?

Some sort of curved sword???

 

[roteague]

What's an APO-Symmar?

Some sort of curved sword???

Ohhh.... One of my favorite lenses is an APO Symmar, a 210 f5.6 to be exact. Best 210 I ever owned. Not as good as my Schneider Symmar XL 80mm, but good - and tack sharp.

 

[Dan Fromm]

What's an APO-Symmar?

Some sort of curved sword???

Joe, you're thinking of a Scimitar. For about five years, I did my daily commute in a one.

 

[Lachlan Young]

Joe, you're thinking of a Scimitar. For about five years, I did my daily commute in a one.

I imagine it was either this or this! (latter very useful in rush hour traffic and on motorway from what I have read).

On a more serious note are there any particular brands of peztval or RR type lenses that would be worth looking out for - I am a total newcomer to this field of old brass lenses. Whilst clearing my grandparents' house recently I found an old brass lens made by Beck which claimed to be 'wide field' or 'wide angle' (I don't have the lens in front of me right now) with a maximum aperture of f8. The outside dimensions of the lens are: about 2 inches long and about an inch and a bit in diameter. The lens has what appears to be in a bakelite (or similar material) mount on one end with an internal thread.

All help will be much appreciated,

Lachlan

 

[smieglitz]

I imagine it was either this or this! (latter very useful in rush hour traffic and on motorway from what I have read).

Tank you.

Joe

 

[Ole]

Lachlan,

if you wish to buy British, there's Ross, J. Lancaster, Perken Rayment, Beck, and Aldis - all good lens makers who made very good Rapid Rectilinears (but often under different names - like Ross' "Rapid Symmetrical", Beck's "Primus", and so on). Petxval lenses tend to be called "Portrait Somethingorother f:3.5".

If you don't absolutely need a lens made by a Sassenach, they made good lenses in Saxony too: German RR's are (mostly) called "Aplanat". Design differences are miniscule. Good makers were Steinheil (the inventor of the Aplanat), Busch, Suter (Swiss, not German), Meyer, Rodenstock, and about 100 others. Steinheil's lenses are named Aplanat, so are some of the others. Each maker seems to have used at least three different names for them...
Petzvals were famously made by Voigtländer, and Voigtländer was made famous by them. But everyone needed to have a fast portrait lens in their lineup, and for a very long time that meant some form of Petzval. Again - anything big and fast with "Porträt" in the name is likely to be a Petzval.

If this is confusing, that is only a small taste of you confusing it gets when you start to learn a little more about old lenses!

 

[Dan Fromm]

I imagine it was either this or this! (latter very useful in rush hour traffic and on motorway from what I have read).

Lachlan

SE4, Lachlan. In fact, I had two. One RHD, the other LHD.

 

[Dan Fromm]

We're forgetting the best part about old glass here - it's cheap. The most I've paid for a lens yet is $20. Get an APO Symmar for that?

Perhaps the old (mis)quote is useful here: from famous fat-boy Crown Prince Edward on finding that his bottom button did not quite fit anymore - "Of necessity we shall make a virtue."

Howsabout a 135/5.6 Symmar in barrel for $32 delivered? Not an offer to sell, a report on a lucky buy.

 

[Ole]

Howsabout a 135/5.6 Symmar in barrel for $32 delivered? Not an offer to sell, a report on a lucky buy.

That's not a report, it's a gloat.

Just like my 300/5.6 Symmar in Compound shutter for 128 Euros (about $200 delivered): It's a gloat.

 

[Dan Fromm]

That's not a report, it's a gloat.

Just like my 300/5.6 Symmar in Compound shutter for 128 Euros (about $200 delivered): It's a gloat.

Nope, like your report mine is a polite suggestion to Mr. Morange that he set his sights higher and shop harder.

Cheers,

Dan

 

[BradS]

The bottom is falling out of the market for used glass and LF gear! Everybody, sell, sell! Hurry! Don't be left holding the bag.

 

[Whiteymorange]

Nope, like your report mine is a polite suggestion to Mr. Morange that he set his sights higher and shop harder.

Cheers,

Dan

Ah, I'm trying, Dan. The cheap ones just keep jumping into my hands! And...I'm a Yankee, always looking for the cheapest way out. I'll work uo to the $30 range someday. Speed graphic with a nice Tessor in great shape for $76? Ektar 203 in barrel for less than $25, Calumet 401 with Fujinon 150 WA for free? 4 magic lantern petzvals for a total of $20? I didn't start out to do this, I just can't spend money when I haven't got enough time to use the free stuff I've been getting for the past two years.

Hey! This gloating thing is fun!

 

[Ted Harris]

I've been following along for awhile .... so why not throw in a plug for the modern variable focus glass? Not usually available at dime store prices but you do sometimes find relative bargains on Imagon's. Here's an example of the reason why for these lenses. They are kind, they are flattering, they are lovely to lovely ladies over 40.

 

[Lachlan Young]

Does anyone know anything about this monster - apparently it weighs about 4 kilos!
Also, does anynoe know anything about this?

Thanks for your help Ole,

Lachlan

 

[jimgalli]

Lachlan, I'll venture a guess that the big lens is one of her majesty's aerial recon lenses, and the 4.5 doppel is a 4 glass air spaced design like our local Goerz Dogmar's were.

 

[Ole]

Does anyone know anything about this monster - apparently it weighs about 4 kilos!
Also, does anynoe know anything about this?

The Ross Xpres is a big heavy lens for aerial photography. It's a strange one, the "formula! is 1+1-|-3! Likely to be sharp - at infinity.

The other one I can find nothing at all about. There are lots of reflections in the pictures, so it might be a dialyte? Anyway it says Double Anastigmat, so it's likely to be evenly sharp (or unsharp). This one is far more likely to be fun

 

[Dan Fromm]

Does anyone know anything about this monster - apparently it weighs about 4 kilos!
Also, does anynoe know anything about this?

Thanks for your help Ole,

Lachlan

Lachlan, the Ross monster is mentioned in A Lens Collector's Vade Mecum. The VM says:

"For F52 7x8.25in (Essentially a 9x9in format).
Ross Xpres f6.3 20in This was a 5-glass 3-component type with a very large front glass to avoid vignetting, (Ros036, Ros035) It is too heavy to be attractive to reuse today, but one user describes it as 'excellent.'"

The VM's design Ros036 is a plasmat, Ros035, which sounds like your baby, is an old-style Xpres, i.e., a sort-of tessar clone with three elements, not two, in the rear cell. And the VM thinks it was made for the Williamson F52 camera.

The broad arrow you mention is HM's gov't property mark.

Can't help you with the Wauckosin Wara, I've been wondering about it myself.

Cheers,

Dan

 

[Ole]

... And now we can congratulate Jim Galli with yet another Diffuse Verito. And an unknown Darlot, and a nameless WA Rapid Rectilinear.

I was watching, but dropped out of the bidding at 1/3 the final price

 

[MattCarey]

... And now we can congratulate Jim Galli with yet another Diffuse Verito. And an unknown Darlot, and a nameless WA Rapid Rectilinear.

I was watching, but dropped out of the bidding at 1/3 the final price

Is that the way that studio shutter apertures look? The blades are different than in my 9" verito.

I like the description "4.9 inch verito". I was thinking, that would be a weird lens, until I saw that the lens was an f4 9".

 

[jimgalli]

... And now we can congratulate Jim Galli with yet another Diffuse Verito. And an unknown Darlot, and a nameless WA Rapid Rectilinear.

I was watching, but dropped out of the bidding at 1/3 the final price

Not technically Petzval madness. Just ordinary raving lunacy.

 

[rbarker]

Question: if you've lost your "a" on one of these lenses, is it OK to put mustard on your Pretzvl?

 

[Lachlan Young]

Pretzvl

Didn't George Bush choke one one of these?

Lachlan