Originally Posted by
Struan Gray
The lens is missing its rear group. If it's usable as-is, get on with making pictures, but there are a couple of things you can try.
First, turn it round. Most simple lenses work best with the aperture in front of the lens, especially if you are intending to stop down (for wetplate, maybe not though). Play around and see which orientation works best. You may be able to screw the front group into the rear of the barrel, or you may have to reverse the whole lens.
Prices for fast vintage lenses have gone through the roof in recent years, so unless you luck into another attic find locally the chances of getting a long-focus Petzval at a good price are slim. Rapid Rectilinears are cheaper though, and although they won't give you the fastest apertures for wetplate work, they do the job and are very sharp when used properly.
12x15 has an image circle of around 500 mm, so you can just divide focal lengths by 10 to get the 35mm equivalent. A quick browse of eBay shows that you are just into the territory where almost any lens is expensive, especially wide angles. Exceptions which I have lucked into are the old 360 mm Symmars, which in barrel mount can be a little as £100 or so and which work well as mild wide angles, and various process lenses such as the Wray lustrars.
Bear in mind that the large format means that you will have significant extension when photographing portraits, and that a normal lens can have a look which is longer than its focal length equivalent would suggest.
I'll take some pics of my camera and holders once I'm at leisure again. The holders look very similar to the one you have. Gorgeous woodworking, with a tambour section to allow you to fold the darkslide out of the way once pulled.
I asked about the smaller camera because one option you have would be to mount its rear standard or back assembly onto a simple sheet of plywood, slot it into your camera and use 8x10 or smaller film for testing, or if you want to try wetplate at less extreme sizes. Most studios had reducing backs, if only for banging out cartes de visit.
Have you considered the Harmann direct positive paper for testing? Less expensive and fussy than wetplate, but cheaper than film in large sizes.
My impression was that Sunderland and Newcastle had a boom in the early C20th, with commercial shipping still based upon European-built and flagged vessels but many freighters still using coal. Perhaps it was a tad earlier. My great grandfather had a window cleaning business, starting with men on bikes with buckets and rags, and then, after the Factories Act stipulated light levels in workplaces had to be above Dickensian levels, expanding into industrial cleaning. Where's there's muck etc :-) In an age with few other mechanical distractions, portrait photos reached a surprisingly large section of the populace, even among the working classes. Early filmmakers used to move from town to town setting up temporary cinemas, and the first thing they would do would be to shoot and develop a film of the local factories or docks at shift change time - seeing themselves on the screen was a major draw for the rest of the programme. I think Bradford has extensive collections of these kinds of films - although most of them were fairly ephemeral.
Anyway, good luck with getting the beast working.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks