Protar V 6.5x8.5: worth putting in shutter?

**David G. Gagnon** · 8-Dec-2005, 19:10

Dan,

Thanks for the info---I knew it was an older lens but I didn't think it would be that old. How far back before 1917 was that lens produced?

Daniel,

Please forgive me if I hijacked your thread... certainly wasn't the intention. And thanks for clarifying the style of stops and their range. When I try mine, I'll be using a packard shutter, as slow shutter speeds are the norm for me.

DG

**Dan Fromm** · 9-Dec-2005, 06:38

David, the Vade Mecum doesn't have much of a B&L chronology. It does say that B&L licensed the Zeiss Anastigmats, Ser. V included, in the 1890s, also that B&L used s/n 500,000 around 1903.

B&L stopped engraving the Zeiss name on lenses whose designs were licensed from Zeiss around the time the US entered WWI.

**Steve J Murray** · 9-Dec-2005, 15:56

Dan, I was given one of these years ago. Mine is front mounted in a #2 Acme Ilex shutter. Mine has a small scratch on the front element and the filter ring has a slight ding. I shoot 4x5 and the few shots I've done with this one show that it gives a slightly lower contrast neg maybe slightly less sharp than a modern lens of the same FL. That's not based on any critical testing, so take it with a grain of salt. Ansel talked about the uncoated lenses being an advantage in that they add some density to the lower zones due to flare. If you shoot wide open at f 18 you'll get some interesting chromatic aberrations, which in black and white look like double images, I suppose where certain colors are shifting. Makes a soft, old fashioned look when used wide open. The chromatic aberration disappears as soon as you stop down to f22 and beyond. I think it has creative possibilites and worth playing around with.

**Ole Tjugen** · 10-Dec-2005, 07:52

Just since I just remembered: The Zeiss-made Protar V's are not marked "V", "Series V", or anything like that. Just "Protar F/18".

It can be confusing that Zeiss and B&L used different designations for the same lens, but it's nowhere near as bad as the Steinheil/Beck chaos.

**Oren Grad** · 11-Dec-2005, 19:42

For now, there's still a picture up from a recent auction of one of these in a Copal Press #1:

cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7549471978