NOS Ernostar 200mm f/2.7 for 8x10 camera

[rayfor]

It's lucky for me to find some new old stock ernostar elements in 2023. I was not sure what thery are until I found them in a book.




Ernostar, which is basically the father of Sonnar, was design by Ludwig Bertele in 1919, and wasn't sold much before Ernemann Company brought by Carl Zeiss.

The f/2.7 version is the budget version in ernostar series, with smaller aperature (than f/1.8, f/2 on other ernostars) but large angle of view. the 95mm version should cover 4x5. The one I fould was 200mm f/2.7 so it could easily cover 8x10 at infinity with plenty of shifting space.

They are mounted in 3D printng shell now to work with sinar db shutter. I also found Circle Drawing Tool on Amazon as its aperature.





There is also a non sinar version for wet plat or camera with build in shutter like speed graphic


f/2.7 could provide the a shiny viewfiner. And db shutter allows it working in field, unlike my Aeroektar 305mm f/2.5 and Nanjing 340mm f/2.4 (both are double gauss), which are too heavy and giant to take out. It's not as sharp as these two lenses at max aperature, but usable for portrait photography. Stepping down to F/5.6, it could provide sharp image as sonnar. Although 200mm is wide angle for 8x10 camera, f/2.7 is fast enough to seperate your target with background.

[seven]

very interesting! i've never heard of a 200/2.7, but i've seen a couple of 180/2.7. there have been bigger sizes of course, like 240/1.8...
how did you find it and how can you be sure it's an Ernostar ? how did you calculate the distances between elements so you can print a barrel ?
anyway, nice work and pictures.

[rayfor]

very interesting! i've never heard of a 200/2.7, but i've seen a couple of 180/2.7. there have been bigger sizes of course, like 240/1.8...
how did you find it and how can you be sure it's an Ernostar ? how did you calculate the distances between elements so you can print a barrel ?
anyway, nice work and pictures.

They were found in a large barrel with model name and brand (not Ernemann). I believe it was a industrial or aerial lens. All surfaces were coated so it should be a post war lens. All these data was based on its original mount. I was told to remove its brand and model name so I design a new barrel for them.