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