Wahey!!!! Wolly 159 f12.5 for my 10x8!!!!

[Tom Stanworth]

Just won this lens (could never afford a newer (150XL type) lens in a zillion years.

Having read up on them, It appears that the 159 12.5 has better coverage than the f9.5 and just covers 10x8. Is this so, bearing in mind that it will predominantly be used for enlargement, but possibly for contacts too? It has an alphax shutter (I understand that these are not great), but the lens might be a later one as it is (I think) multicoated - has a little W inside a 'C' on the front. Anyone with any experience of them in terms of coverage, general performance (flare etc)? I assume shooting at f32 is going to be mandatory for 10x8 coverage. If I have bought a dud, please be gentle, I am feeling quite pleased right now! Seems that in teh threads I have gone thru, some say they cover 10x8 and others say they are all soft in the corners, tho I am never sure which variant they are talking about. A gamble, yes, but at 1/10th the cost of a new 150XL, I thought it was worth taking...........if it covers ......I would probably crop to 10x7, (as I often reduce stubbiness with 5x4 with a little cropping) mostly which I guess would help a tad???????

Just tried fixing paterson orbital for first quick tests of 10x8 once new tripod arrives.....

Tom

 

[John Kasaian]

Tom,
Good choice! Your Wolly will get the job done. The trade offs between the 12.5 and 9.5 are I feel marginal---slightly brighter focusing vs slightly more wiggle room---but I doubt you'll find a wider 8x10 wide angle lens anywhere near the price these are going for. They also won't tax your front standard with wieght like a 165mm SA.

Corners will soften a bit when you add movments before you run out of image circle, but I find the wider the lens the less I need to use movements. OTOH you'll probably find that your wolly will give beautiful shadow detail typical of dagor type lenses. The "w" in a "c" means your lens is coated but if it's multicoated it is indeed a rare bird.
FWIW, mine is in an Aphax shutter and its never given me a lick of trouble.

A fine lens!

Good luck with your new lens!

 

[colrehogan]

I have the 9.5 version and it's great on 8x10 too.

 

[jimgalli]

I was curious one day and shot a back yard pic on APHS 11X14 with one of these and it will illuminate about 380mm which is quite a lot. All depends on how much softness you can tolerate into the extremes. C circle W is single coated which is as far as these ever got. 165 f8 WA Dagor's and 165 f6.5 Cooke WA are both steps up while still far short of the 150 XL. I'm currently having a love affair with the Cooke. Seems sharp out to the corners and has contrast like a Protar VII.

 

[Tom Stanworth]

I was curious one day and shot a back yard pic on APHS 11X14 with one of these and it will illuminate about 380mm which is quite a lot. All depends on how much softness you can tolerate into the extremes. C circle W is single coated which is as far as these ever got. 165 f8 WA Dagor's and 165 f6.5 Cooke WA are both steps up while still far short of the 150 XL. I'm currently having a love affair with the Cooke. Seems sharp out to the corners and has contrast like a Protar VII.

Thanks. I have never seen a cooke 165 advertised nor the dagor. I guess they are more expensive and sought after? I guess that even if I only do a 2.5 linear enlargement I will already have exceeded a 20x24 sheet of paper.

In terms of coverage, I agree with an earlier post, that one tends to employ limited movement with wide lenses. I would imagine it will be used for panoramas of 4-6x10 (where movements are less needed and the format coverage is reduced) or at 10x8/10x7 for normal use, using foreground interest to lead the eye in. In the latter case, I often use front tilt with drop.........which again helps to centre the image circle on the film area. Hopefully I will get sharp enough corners. I used this to get sharp corners with a 65 f 8 Super Angulon on 5x4, which once I got the feel for it, gave me enough of an IC. It got soft mainly on one side (due to the slightly off centre image area of the Ebony) if not used at f22-f32. This was not noticeable at and below 16" prints so doubling that for the Wolly?.....maybe???

Tom

 

[Tom Stanworth]

Can I use a modern cable release with the alphax shutter? I read somewhere that the tapered cable releases a la copals/modern SLRs etc will not fit the alphax shutter? Is this correct? Could be a problem.......esp if the older style parallel threaded releases are not available in the UK!

 

[jimgalli]

I don't recall the tapered releases being a problem but do recall you will need a stout variety with a good long throw. Most of the Alphax shutters have dual threads. Both male and female.