Tidbit: Kodak Ektar Lenses

[neil poulsen]

Call me uninformed, but I learned only recently that Kodak optimized their Ektar lenses for shooting Ektachrome film. I thought this was interesting, and that it was worth mentioning.

[Bruce Watson]

Call me uninformed, but I learned only recently that Kodak optimized their Ektar lenses for shooting Ektachrome film. I thought this was interesting, and that it was worth mentioning.

Optimized for Ektachrome? In what way?

[Jim Galli]

They were APO when APO wasn't cool.

[Vick Ko]

Yes, I just read that EKTAR's were designed to be apo-chromatic.

Just think if they had engraved APO on their lenses, they would be fetching an order of magnitude more $$$.

I just watched a Bessa II with an APO Lanthar lens sell for $4.2K USD, while I picked up an Ektar 127mm with Compur shutter for a very economical bid.

Vick

[John Kasaian]

Jim,

When did Kodak start doing this? Which Ektars were apo? I would suspect the models that were copied after the artars as well as the graphic arts lenses might well be apo, but the tessars or the gnauss designs?

[Glenn Thoreson]

APO? That's news to me. The Commercial Ektars are the most highly corrected. Very nearly APO, but no cigar. Optimized for Ektachrome? That's another new one to me. Highly corrected for color work, but Ektachrome? Nah.

[Vick Ko]

Here's a reference from the large format group:

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...c-experts.html

...quote: " Ektars
Ektar was used by Kodak as a trade name for its premium lenses. There were a number of generic designs used for them. Ektars were all very high quality lenses. The ones made for press and view cameras were mostly Tessar types. Exceptions are the Wide Field Ektars, which are four element air-spaced lenses of the "Double Gause" type, and the 203mm f/7.7 Ektar which is a four-element air-spaced Dialye type, made slightly non-symetrical to improve its correction for distant objects.

All of these lenses are completely corrected for lateral color and were intended for color photography. Some Ektars were coated as early as 1940. These include the series of f/6.3 lenses marked "Eastman Ektar", which are the predicessors of the Commerical Ektar series. The early coatings were soft and applied only to inside surfaces. ...."

[Struan Gray]

Gauss. G-A-U-S-S. Gauss.

Write this out one hundred times by the end of break:

[Ole Tjugen]

...

All of these lenses are completely corrected for lateral color and were intended for color photography. Some Ektars were coated as early as 1940. These include the series of f/6.3 lenses marked "Eastman Ektar", which are the predicessors of the Commerical Ektar series. The early coatings were soft and applied only to inside surfaces. ...."

There's a big difference between "completely corrected for lateral colour" and "Apochromatic".

No, Ektars are not APO - at least not from this information.

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Hi there,

I do have an APO Ektar sitting in front of me, it says:

Kodak Process Ektar Lens
18 inch f/10 APOCHROMATIC ETxxx (1949)
strange looking aperture, 'radioactive' glass, 4 element "artar" type, quick-disconnect mount, adjustable aperture scale for bellow extension, center filter slot, really expensive looking for it's time.

I'm sure Kodak knew what APO means when they were making Commercial Ektars. Didn't Zeiss make APO Tessars before WWII? Wollensak process lenses? Rodenstock? B&L? Voigtlander? I don't think Kodak would have missed-out on the marketing scheme if they could have used it.

Sorry to rain on the parade.