Any Dagor and Wide Angle Dagor Users Out There?

I am in the middle of a project with a number of highly qualified assistants to evaluate the possibilities of commercially producing lenses that have shown to be highly valued and desirable among LF and ULF users. One of the designs that is on the drawing board as we speak is the Dagor and the Super Dagor which I believe is also called the Wide Angle Dagor.

If you have experience with one of these lenses and could answer some basic questions about its effective angle of coverage, resolution, image quality to the edge of the image circle and other optical properties could you PM me so I can collect this information and pass it on to the optical engineers that we are working with.

I will promise to post updates on the progress of the work when we cross significant milestones.

My Sincere Thanks In Advance.

Michael, reports about parameters like coverage and image quality are so subjective, I think you'd be better off if you could lay your hands on a few actual samples, experiment with them on your own camera(s) so that you could calibrate your own sense of their behavior, and then demonstrate directly to the engineers what it is you're talking about. Or maybe you can find someone who's a real Dagor expert, and arrange a meeting where that person can bring a kit of lenses, join you in a conference with the engineers to explain their properties in detail, and let the engineers put some of the lenses on an optical bench and make their own measurements. Be sure as well to share with the engineers some prints that will show those aspects of optical character that aren't captured by numbers.

Do bear in mind that between the many different production runs by different factories at different times, and iffy quality control in decades past, Dagors vary substantially in their behavior.

Good luck - hope you can pull it off!

Michael,

Two names come immediately to mind when you speak of these types of lenses...

Jim Galli

and

Dagor77.

I'd suggest you contact them...

Good luck on the project!

Cheers

I think an important aspect would be that it have a ROUND apature.

"Do bear in mind that between the many different production runs by different factories at different times, and iffy quality control in decades past, Dagors vary substantially in their behavior." ~ Oren Grad

I have two 210mm f/6.8 Dagors. They do indeed "vary substantially in their behavior."

Hmm. Goerz and successors weren't the only firms that made "dagors." Boyer made at least three lines of lenses to the Dagor formula.

And then there are the early f/9 G-Clarons, also dagor types. Galli has had some, probably still has a bastard with a front cell from one f.l. and rear from another. He's quite enthusiastic about his.

Michael, do your market research carefully and be aware of the power of "the brand." If you can't get the right to use the name "Dagor" your products will be hard to sell. Remember that because Dagors are relatively uncommon its easy for the lunatic fringe to run them up to prices in eBay auctions at which very few would sell if they were generally available.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Fromm

Michael, do your market research carefully and be aware of the power of "the brand." If you can't get the right to use the name "Dagor" your products will be hard to sell.

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I hereby lay claim to the tradename "DAGO-R". Should anyone be interested in licensing this name, please contact me A$AP.

I believe that Michael Smith and Paula Chanlee use Dagors and Artars exclusively.

Michael,

One person I know who has extensively used Carl Zeiss Dagors is Kerik. He is a ULF guy and I believe he has used this lens in different sizes over the years. I myself use a 18cm CZ Dagor on my Deardorff, my favorite lens.

Hugo

Michael,

I use 180mm and 210mm zeiss f9 dagors for 8x10. Both easily cover 8x10. Both lenses produce sharp contact prints. I tend to be conservative in my estimates of coverage for these lenses compared to other users. I think you should include some movement in this assessment. Also, these are wide angle designs and they usually have a minimum aperture of f45 in original shutters/barrels. You might get additional coverage if you stop down past f45. I would say they cover (with movement) 10x12 (180mm) and 11x14 (210mm) based on the useable movement I see on 8x10.

These lenses are small and light. The 180mm is a direct fit in a copal 1. The 210mm fits a slightly larger dial-set compur but could be mated to a copal 1. A new version with modern coatings and glass would be great.

By the way, I asked Cooke if they will be reintroducing a new version of heir VIIB wide angle lenses. See their reply below:

Hi Peter,

Thanks so much for your comments. *Making a modern redesign of the original VIIb wide angle lens is something that we definitely want to do, and plan to do. *Unfortunately, those pesky motion picture lenses that pay the bills keep getting in the way of the fun stuff.

The VIIb should be the next lens we tackle after the 4x5 version of the Cooke XVa triple convertible. *That will be the next out. * I wish I had an ETA for you, but I don't. *I will keep your suggestions in my file.

Thanks so much for your interest,

Barbara Lowry
Cooke Optics Limited
Leicester, England
barb@cookeoptics.com
973-335-4460 in New Jersey
http://www.cookeoptics.com