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What lens is this?

Bioflex

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Feb 21, 2020
Messages
114
Location
Brewster ny
Format
35mm
Saw this for sale on the net. It’s a 35mm in a shutter. Maybe was part of some scientific/ copy equipment ? Would it work on a view camera ?
 

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The answer is yes-- if you had an extremely tiny view camera. If it covers more than a 35mm standard frame (36mm x 24mm) I'd be really surprised. Especially if it was part of a document/microfilm or fingerprint set-up-- some lenses have larger fields of view at macro distances, but a d/m lens wouldn't be designed with that in mind.
 
Looks like a lens/shutter off of an early consumer grade 35mm rangefinder similar to the Kodak 35.

Not saying it's a bad lens, but I doubt it was intended for view camera work unless you want a tiny image circle in a large sheet of film...
 
It may have been a normal lens for one of the half-frame cameras that became almost popular just after WWII. The best of these may have been the Mercury II, but this lens is not for that camera.
 
Jim Jones said:
It may have been a normal lens for one of the half-frame cameras that became almost popular just after WWII. The best of these may have been the Mercury II, but this lens is not for that camera.
Click to expand...

Yes, that makes much more sense...
 
I'd agree that consensus that this is a mid-century half-frame 135 lens is correct. I've got a 50mm Wollensak in a Speed Graphic board for novelty purposes.



Not suited for infinity, at all, for a variety of reasons but heavily vignetted close-ups are possible.
 
Wollensak lenses can sometimes be found on osciloscope Polaroid cameras. For taking shots of the osciloscope display.
The photograph does not include all of the details on the front ring. If it has oscillo on it, then the answer is found.
 
That looks like a wollensak amaton 35mm f/3.5. You can find out more information at alphaxbetax.com by looking at their collection of old catalogs and brochures.

It covers a 35mm frame at infinity but it has no cable release port on its shutter which makes it difficult to use.
 
I just remembered I've got another 50mm Wollensak lens in a similar Alphax shutter adapted to the Nikon F mount. Slightly different speed range and this one has a threaded cable release. The slow speeds are sticky on both copies but fine at the higher speeds. Adaptable to any film camera or digital body, if a bit awkward. With the proper amount of extension + a helicoid you can achieve something that resembles a normal focus range.



Here's an impromptu close-up flat field sample at f/3.5 and f/8. Nothing magical, really.



Edit/addendum: I took a snapshot showing the coverage of the previous 50mm f/4.5 lens on a Speed Graphic. Magnification is close to but just under 1:1 in this instance. Working distance is similar to the extension, ~100mm. It covers more of the frame than I thought but the vignette is very pronounced.

 
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