Page 1 of 5 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 45

Thread: Rodenstock Weitwinkel Perigon Official Specs

  1. #1

    Rodenstock Weitwinkel Perigon Official Specs

    I've searched the web high and low in effort to find any official specs from Rodenstock on their Weitwinkel Perigon series. I've found a few anecdotal user reports stating the usable image circle of the 130mm f12 Weitwinkel Perigon is in the 380mm - 400mm range - very impressive for a lens of this focal length and nearly impossibly tiny size. But, I have yet to find any official specs on this lens from the manufacturer. Most anecdotal accounts seem to indicate that the angle of coverage is the same 110 degrees, at small stops, as the Series V Protars. A 130mm focal length with 110 degrees of coverage would yield an image circle of 371mm - plenty of 8x10 or 5x12 (I plan to use mine on 4x10), but a little less than the 380mm - 400mm reported by users of this lens. There are also reports that this lens is slightly radioactive.

    I recently acquired a nice little 130mm Weitwinkel Perigon that has been installed in a Copal No. 0 shutter (direct fit). Based on the serial number, it was made around 1958. Sadly, my own literature collection for Rodenstock is sadly lacking. I have some VERY old Rodenstock literature and a fair number of brochures and catalogs from the 1960s and 1970s, but nothing from the 1940s or 1950s when these lenses were made. If anyone has any Rodenstock literature from this time period, I'd appreciate it if you would check to see if you have any documentation on the Weitwinkel Perigon series.

    I do have a very nice Rodenstock catalog from 1914 (in German), and while it doesn't specifically mention the Perigon, it does include an f12 Serie III Weitwinkel-Aplanat that was available in four focal lengths (9cm, 12cm, 16cm and 22cm). Stated coverage is 100 degrees. I assume this coverage is wide open, as the spec table lists even greater coverage (~106 - 108 degrees) at smaller stops (Kleiner Blende). This equates to an image circle of 32cm for the 12cm focal length and 44cm for the 16cm lens. There are no cut-away diagrams or mention of the type of lens construction. So, I can't be sure, but I'm wondering if this Weitwinkel-Aplanat is an early version of the post-WWII Weitnwinkel Perigon. Can anyone confirm of deny this hypothesis?

    Ultimately, I will test the lens myself (and further add to the anecdotal record), but I'd really like to see some documentation from the manufacturer on this lens. I'm also curious to see what other focal lengths were made and exactly when the Weitwinkel-Perigon series was discontinued. Most of the samples I have seen, both in person and on eBay, are 130mm in focal length and made ~1958 (all with serial numbers in the 3,998,0xx range - probably from the same manufacturing lot). I have seen a 90mm and a 150mm sell on eBay within the last year, and there are reports of a 110mm focal length. Supposedly, it was made in much longer focal lengths, but I have never seen anything longer than the 150mm.

    So, history detectives, anything you can add would be appreciated.

    Kerry

  2. #2
    tim atherton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 1998
    Posts
    3,697

    Rodenstock Weitwinkel Perigon Official Specs

    You just beat to that one on apug you bugger...

    I'd love to know how it pans out for quality and coverage on 8x10 - and keep my eye out for another....
    You'd be amazed how small the demand is for pictures of trees... - Fred Astaire to Audrey Hepburn

    www.photo-muse.blogspot.com blog

  3. #3

    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    nyc
    Posts
    498

    Rodenstock Weitwinkel Perigon Official Specs

    I have a catalog that shows 5 sizes were available:

    9 cm, 11 cm, 13 cm, 15 cm, 20 cm

    Respective coverages at small stops are listed as:

    13x18, 16x21, 18x24, 21x27, 24x30 (in cm's)

    The lens is advertised as having 110 degree coverage. It has 4 elements in 2 cemented pairs. I believe Rodenstock used Lanthanum glass for these lenses. They are single coated.

    As for coverage, I find the 13cm tight on 8x10. I don't have a 14cm protar V to compare it to. The 15cm may be a better fit for 8x10 if you want some movement.

    Keep us posted on your testing of this lens.

  4. #4

    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    nyc
    Posts
    498

    Rodenstock Weitwinkel Perigon Official Specs

    I should add that all the lenses fit a Copal 0 shutter except for the 20cm that fits directly to a Copal 1.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Harbor City, California
    Posts
    1,750

    Rodenstock Weitwinkel Perigon Official Specs

    If the "Weitwinkel-Aplanat"is an earlier version of the Perigon, it was a peculiar name for Rodenstock to have given it.

  6. #6

    Rodenstock Weitwinkel Perigon Official Specs

    Peter,

    Thanks for the response. Any idea what year your catalog was published? For that matter, anybody know approximately what year Rodenstock switched from using cm to mm for their lens focal lengths? My Perigon from 1958 is engraved in mm.

    I actually plan to use my little 130mm Perigon for backpacking with 4x10. So, the coverage should be more than enough. Combined with a 210mm Graphic-Kowa and a 300mm Nikkor M (both in Copal No. 1 Press shutters), it will give me a three lens set that covers 4x10 with room to spare (or 8x10 with modest movements) and have a total weight equivalent to the typical modern 210mm f5.6 plasmat.

    I'm also assembling a kit for 7x17 and the thought of a 200mm lens capable of covering 110 degrees in a Copal No. 1 shutter makes my head spin. It would cover 7x17, or even 8x20 with room to spare.

    Kerry

  7. #7
    Clay
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Asheville, NC
    Posts
    364

    Rodenstock Weitwinkel Perigon Official Specs

    Kerry,
    I can send you the 14x17 sheet of film that I exposed with that lens and you can measure the image circle directly. The amazing thing is how sharp it is until the last 3/4 inch of coverage. It is one sharp little bugger. And yes, this lens supposedly had the lanthanum glass in it , which would make it slightly radioactive. I never carried it around in the front pocket of my jeans.

  8. #8
    All metric sizes to 24x30 Ole Tjugen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Norway
    Posts
    3,383

    Rodenstock Weitwinkel Perigon Official Specs

    The Weitwinkel-Aplanat was what would have been called a "Wide-angle Rectilinear" if it had been made in England instead of Germany. Assuredly a totally different lens.

    Aplanat (German) = Rapid Rectilinear (English).

  9. #9
    the Docter is in Arne Croell's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 1997
    Location
    Huntsville, AL
    Posts
    1,210

    Rodenstock Weitwinkel Perigon Official Specs

    Kerry,

    I have the 110mm, it certainly exists. With a serial no. of 3 137 7XX it is a little older than your 130mm, about 1954-55. It is coated, has Rodenstocks red "A" marking for coating, and the focal length is in mm. At least the circle of illumination goes easily to the 110° mark.

  10. #10

    Rodenstock Weitwinkel Perigon Official Specs

    Clay - Kerry, I can send you the 14x17 sheet of film that I exposed with that lens and you can measure the image circle directly.

    Clay,

    Thanks, I'd like to take you up on your offer. I had planned to test the coverage myself by shooting this lens on 8x10 with 3 or 4" of front rise. Then, I remembered I don't have a bag bellows for the 8x10. With a 130mm lens, the regular bellows will be so compressed I won't come close to reaching the coverage limits of the little 130mm Perigon. And, until I get my 7x17 camera finished, I won't have anything bigger than the 8x10 to use for testing.

    If you need my address, drop me an email on a PM over on APUG.

    Thanks,
    Kerry

Similar Threads

  1. G. Leitmeyr Munich V Weitwinkel Anastigmat???
    By Nick Morris in forum Lenses & Lens Accessories
    Replies: 26
    Last Post: 13-Feb-2011, 05:40
  2. Goerz Berlin Weitwinkel Lynketoskop f-scale
    By Richard Årlin in forum Lenses & Lens Accessories
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 31-Jan-2005, 18:36
  3. Where is the official Tachihara Web Site?
    By Chris Gosnell in forum Cameras & Camera Accessories
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 17-Jan-2004, 14:59
  4. Official Fujinon Website
    By Kerry L. Thalmann in forum Lenses & Lens Accessories
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 5-Dec-2003, 08:07
  5. What is a Rodenstock Perigon
    By Kevin Crisp in forum Lenses & Lens Accessories
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 3-Jan-2002, 01:07

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •