[LargeFormat] Wolley Ex W 6.25" f12.5 series III 8x10

[Clive Warren]

At 5:31 am -0700 25/8/02, Les Newcomer wrote:
>On Sunday, August 25, 2002, at 02:34 AM, Clive Warren wrote:
huge snip
>>
>>As for numbers of elements, the f9.5 has four in each cell 
>>according to my count by reflected light. The f9.5 was in 
>>production later than the f12.5 although both probably continued in 
>>production with one maybe less expensive than the other? Later 
>>versions were coated. Seems as though the lenses are possibly of 
>>different construction - how many elements in your f12.5?
>
><snip>  My mini mag comes to the rescue and I find two reflections 
>in the front cell and two in the rear.  Smells like a Protar IV to 
>me.
>
>Les

Les,

Did a little bit of detective work and found some of Richard's words 
of wisdom about the f9.5 as it is clearly not a Protar. Richard, hope 
you don't mind me quoting you here:

"....... Neblett shows a schematic of a Wollensak Wide-Angle Raptar 
f/9.5 in _Photography its Materials and Processes_ sixth ed. p.68. 
This appears to be a double-Gauss design, similar to the WF Ektar but 
with two cemented elements for each of the four components."

So that explains the differences between the two lenses. The f9.5 was 
the more expensive of the two and continued in manufacture until the 
50's, changing its name to Raptar along the way when it was coated.

I haven't used the f9.5 yet, however carried out the shutter CLA with 
the intention of mounting it on a lens board for the Korona Compact 
8x10. Picking up a Series V Protar put that on hold for a while.

I have no idea how it performs but the idea of fewer elements in the 
Protar seemed more promising, in addition to the incredibly small 
size and weight of the Protar compared to the Wolly.

Cheers,
        Clive