Just acquired a Wollensak 13" (330mm) /6.8 SERIES IA RAPTAR. Convertible to 20" f/12.5, and 25 1/2" f/16. Also a red W with a red circle around it. Alphax shutter. Find a lot of Raptars but not this focal length listed in any of my B&J catalogues. Also wonder if the red W with a red circle around it means anything. I assume that it's a Dagor or Protar copy. No time to shoot some test negatives with it for a week or two. Anyone have any info on this lens?
Comment on introduction: https://books.google.com/books?id=TF...0Ia%22&f=false
Appears to be a Velostigmat Ser. Ia renamed Raptar, as happened with Ser. II Velostigmats. Cameraeccentric has Wolly catalog #43, which describes Ser. Ia Velostigmats very sketchily.
W in circle means WoCoated. Hard coated.
You have it, count reflections and tell what you saw. Weak reflections (glass-cement-glass) interfaces can be very hard to see.
It's a Zeiss Protar VIIa copy. A triple convertible and a fine lens. Two cemented groups of 4 elements. There are many threads mentioning this lens in archive. Some people report focus shift with the single groups, others not. Testing of your sample is required. I've had a number of examples. The last 13" Raptar 1A I had was was great at 13 and 20, but I had a hard time getting super sharp images with the 25" component. I currently have a Velostigmat 1A (same lens) for whole plate that is sharp at all three focal lengths.
Last edited by karl french; 12-Feb-2019 at 07:35.
The W in the circle (usually purple) is for Wollensak’s trademarked “WOCOTE” coating technology. A very fine lens in a very fine Alphax 4 shutter.
Velostigmats were re-named 'Raptar' after 1945- the name was the winning entry in a Wollensak-sponsored contest (advertised in Pop Photo). Sounds like you have a fine lens.
Thanks all for the info. Counting reflections has been always visually challenging for me. Fortunately I have a 12 3/4" B&L Protar and a 14" Goertz Double-Anastigmat (Dagor) to compare with. Definitely the reflections match the Protar optic. Intend on using the lens on my Whole Plate camera. When we have a break in the weather (I do all my lens testings on a 2nd floor exposed deck in the center of our town. Sunny windless day with temps above freezing my criteria for shooting) intend on shooting three 11x14" negatives at what I consider to be my working apertures for each of the 3 focal lengths, and will post the results on this thread. Look forward to using the lens come spring.
See page 52 of the "Wollensak Lens and Shutter Guide, 1957" here:http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/...lensak_14.html for a drawing of the Raptor 1a.
My 1961 (© 1960) Popular Photography Buying Guide lists the Series 1a Raptor available in focal lengths of 165, 210, 254 and 330mm. The 330mm in an Alphax synch. shutter was $252.00.
The next buying guide I have, 1963 (©1962) unfortunately doesn't list view camera lenses.
David
Last edited by David Lindquist; 26-Jan-2019 at 18:00. Reason: Corrected "300" to "330"
And pages 54 and 55 for a write up and specs on the series. Mine is exceptionally sharp at all 3 focal lengths. Don't forget the single lenses go on the back of the shutter. The 25 inch is a real winner but can eat up a lot of bellows.
Ok now i'm curious, why is this? And since the mounting threads are different sizes it would require a custom adapter.
I owned one of these, and it is indeed a fine lens. Mine had a tiny bit of internal haze, but it didn't hurt that I noticed. I concur that at 13 and 20" it was good, but the 25" alone was pretty fuzzy. I attribute part of that problem to the fact that my old Korona 8x10 was a little wobbly stretched out that far. I used a 15Y filter on the 20" component, which really helped increase sharpness.
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