sorry my mistake its a 24" Goerz Red Dot Apo-Artar, not Dagor, dumb mistake,
expanation: thats what i thought it was.
as i said it is in transit so i havent seen it yet,
and got the goerz and the dagor confused, sorry about that.
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sorry my mistake its a 24" Goerz Red Dot Apo-Artar, not Dagor, dumb mistake,
expanation: thats what i thought it was.
as i said it is in transit so i havent seen it yet,
and got the goerz and the dagor confused, sorry about that.
Well, I still have mine. An ancient thread, but worth the upkeep. Have the 3 WA, 3 5/8 3/8 & 6 1/2", The 6 1/2 uncoated from circa 1946 Golden 6, 8 1/4 9 1/2, 12 & 14" MC Kern. Also have Dagor design G-Clarons in 150, 240, 270 & 305 mm. RD Artars in 9 1/2, 12", 14", 16.5", 19, 24, 30" & 35". all in "modern" shutters except the 35" which is in a Ilex 5. Ken Hough claimed that some of the Berlin Dagors were junk, but mine are all AO Dagors, exept the Kern and work great with no focus shift! Also have an older AO 8 1/4 uncoaded in Acme which is a good lens. Eddie Bolsetzian who was a tech at Goerz claimed that the some of the Goldens may have been a bit better due to better centering.
You may also wish to read:
https://www.largeformatphotography.i...66#post1489166
Let's see .... maybe this thread will have as long a history as the Dagor design itself, which began back around the same time as automobiles did, so involves an awful lots of performance and model changes over all the years. In this case, somebody took a single example and made a misleading generic stereotype about the whole century-long series. But I guess whimsical nonsense is just as collectible as lenses themselves, so why not?
Exactly!
I had a Goerz American Optical Co. 7" f6.8 factory coated Dagor for a while, and it was extremely sharp. I photographed Big Sur with that lens, and the resulting image is stunning. Just beautiful. I sold it to purchase a more recent lens, and I probably shouldn't have.
deleted. double post
I've two Dagors (12" & 19") and both are keepers.
Also two Artars (14" & 19")
Goerz made some terrific stuff!
And mine do cover 8x10 nicely
Just because someone on the internet sez it's a "cult" lens, or its lousy is like carrying water in a paper bag... You can't carry it too far... ;-)
My Dagors (mixed batch) all shoot and cover intended formats well, but there might be better/worst examples of any lens, so testing, testing, testing...
Before the internet, used lenses were usually as-found or ordered from dealers (with return options)... Then came testing, testing, testing...
Some things shouldn't change... ;-)
Steve K
Have owned and used many Dagor formula lenses over the years. Two were superb optics: 240mm Goerz (Berlin) Dagor Series III and a 14" Goertz Double-Anastigmat. Both had seen better lives (cosmetically); but on testing them, the images they produced were excellent. Then there was a 12" Golden that cosmetically in my hand looked to be in absolutely excellent condition. It tested terribly. Upon closer inspection, it evidently had been dropped in the past and either the seller or the previous seller had re-bent the rim, cosmetically filled it in, painted, and polished the outside surface. Who knows, maybe even added the gold color. Sold the 240mm and regretted it later. Still have the 14". The 12" Golden was returned for a full refund, but only after a lot of back and forth squabbling from the seller.
I now pretty much 100% resist acquiring a lens without 100% return privileges. Earlier this year I acquired a 2??mm "Dagor like formula" (sorry can't remember the make/name) that from doing a little bit of Internet research, was said to easily cover 11x14. Tested it out and sure enough the image covered 11x14, but its sharp image only barely covered 8x10. Returned it.
Then there is my recently acquired beautiful vintage brass Gundlach-Manhattan Optical Co. WIDE ANGLE lens inscribed with "11x14". Dial aperture stops. Around 240mm. Reflections make me think that it is a Dagor formula. Image covers 11x14 but is not sharp in the corners, but its Bokeh reminds me of some images shot by some European Masters in the late 1800s. I'd have to rate it as truly a "Lousy Dagor", but a definite keeper and user for certain images.