[LargeFormat] Old Glass
Les Newcomer
largeformat@f32.net
Thu Jun 13 16:45:23 2002
One of the Caevats of old glass is to use them in the manner they were
intended. I had a beautiful Krauss protar that took exsquite photos, but
was designed for 4x5, so I put it up on ebay extolling the virtues of its
imagemaking quality.
I got an email from a guy in Japan wanted to use this lens on his 6x8 and
then make 40x50inch enlargements.
I told him point plank he need the latest in cutting edge imagemaking glass.
Old glass (pre WWII) was designed for contact printing, and in some cases
can handle upto a 4X enlargement. After that the new stuff will run circles
around the old stuff.
Les
> From: "Eve Girard" <evegir@reachone.com>
> Reply-To: largeformat@f32.net
> Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 13:34:53 -0700
> To: <largeformat@f32.net>
> Subject: Re: [LargeFormat] Old Glass
>
> I think we sometimes suffer from "lens envy," a condition that entices us to
> become gadgeteers rather than photographers. Always striving for the best
> and the latest. I've never bothered to investigate the dates on my Protars
> and Dagors but I think it's safe to say that the turn of the LAST century is
> closer than is the turn of the present. I do believe that my latest vintage
> lens is a mid-60's Schneider 210. Are the images good? You betcha! Will
> they compare line by line with the very latest computer-engineered lens?
> Probably not. BUT . . . Do they produce satisfying images that fit my
> vision? Most emphatically a "YES." I guess it boils down to who we are and
> what we want.
> Eve
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Clive Warren" <Clive.Warren@megacycle.co.uk>
> To: <largeformat@f32.net>
> Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2002 6:06 AM
> Subject: [LargeFormat] Old Glass
>
>
>> At 19:09 11/06/02 -0400, FlaFaces1@aol.com wrote:
>> Clive, I have the old Graphic 2, and the non-super schnieder lenses. I
> was
>> beginning to get a complex, thinking my stuff was garbage. Yes, my shots
> so
>> far, are not perfect, but I like what I see. I was beginning to believe i
>> had inferior lenses to do 4x5. Thank you for your encouragement on using
> the
>> lenses that came with it, in the 1940's .. I will soon, have my 8 images
> to
>> put on my site in the room... Don Mason
>>
>> Don,
>>
>> Old glass can rival or even beat new glass - it's also cheaper and usually
>> lighter. No coatings or single coatings is not usually a problem with the
>> older lens designs, although contrast can suffer depending on the design
> of
>> the lens.
>>
>> One of the real sleeper older lens is the Schneider Xenar 150mm - very
>> sharp little lens although not a lot of coverage. I have one of these in a
>> Linhof Compur Shutter and it seems to perform well. The favorite lens in
> my
>> 4x5 kit is a 1947 Kodak 203mm Ektar - loads of coverage on 4x5 and does a
>> wonderful job with colour. Check out the f32 Discussion Forum at
>> http://www,f32.net/discus/ for an example of its performance and
>> enlargement from a trannie.
>>
>> Recently picked up an 8x10 lens made in 1903 for a camera made in 1902
>> which will be used as a lightweight field outfit. If people express
>> surprise at the age of your kit, laugh in their faces, sweep the focusing
>> cloth around you like a cape and say "nobody expects the antiques
> roadshow..."
>>
>> With the money you save on buying new lenses, keep yourself in film and
>> processing for the rest of the year.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Clive
>>
>>
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