Best Vintage LF Lens List

[Natasa Stojsic]

I have one of those lenses already, just 9 more to go.

Richard it's not fair, come on which one is it?

[Ernest Purdum]

Nobody's yet mentioned the Dagor, or if they did I missed it, but it surely ranks as an important early lens.

In addition to the already mentioned Zeiss Protar Ser. VIIa, The Series V was a remarkable lens used for many purposes one wouldn't have expected. It didn't have the amazing angle ability of the Hypergon, but it was a lot easier to use.

Many Cooke's were iinteresting examples of how good a carefully manufactured and assembled a three element lens can be.

[8x10 user]

The universal heliar might be one of the best soft focus lenses. I believe this lens allows you to control the amount of spherical aberrations with this lens independently of aperture. Although, I'm not sure if the soft focus effect has a sharp inner core like the Pinkham and smith or not. If it does, then it is probably the best soft focus lens ever made (at least in my opinion).

[Mark Sawyer]

I thought about putting the Universal Heliar on my list, but as I've never used one or seen a print identified as being from one, it missed out. I've always heard good things about them, though... I think the concept of "best" sort focus lens is pretty personal and subjective; I really like the Imagon, though many others dislike it.

Quite a few sf lenses had an adjustable soft focus mechanism, from the early Dallmeyers to the Portrait Unars, Velostigmats, Vitaxes, Variums, Cooke Portrics, Portrellics and Portronics... The Imagon and Fujinon sf lenses used h/stops to allow a similar control, and all soft focus lenses will vary the effect with the f/stop.

[Ken Lee]

How about sample images to illustrate the look of these lenses ?

If I say I prefer the look of a Tessar to that of a Heliar, a real photo may help make the point. Without it, how much good is my opinion to anyone else ?

[Richard K.]

Richard it's not fair, come on which one is it?

This will disappoint you with its mundanity but I have only a sample of a RDA albeit the 35" variety. I'm keen on acquring some historically significant lenses and actually using them!

[Pete Watkins]

For Mr. Fitzgeralds information Taylor, Taylor & Hobson (Cooke) are still in buisness. The factory is located just off the Leicester ring road. O.K. they havn't made a lot of L.F. lenses recently but those that they have made became instant legends and highly collectable.
Pete

[Uli Mayer]

Schneider didn't start until 1913, and for the first decades they made cheap lenses - AKA "garbage". The first original Schneider design was the Angulon in 1932.

...

Schneider's first original design was certainly not the Angulon (which btw was patented two years earlier, in 1930, and was based on the Dasykar, also an original Schneider WA design (1920).

Earlier original Schneider lenses include the Claron 1 :6.8, a predecessor of the plasmat-type designed by Ernst Arbeit and patented 1912; the early Symmar versions (manufactured from 1913 onwards); Tronnier's Tele-Xenar (1925), and one shouldn't forget the Xenon, also designed by Tronnier for Schneider in 1927. No matter how well or bad those lenses were actually - or supposedly - manufactured, to say Schneider produced cheapo lenses or "garbage" before 1930 is completely out of place.

[CCHarrison]

The 1840-1910 period list of types would be something like:

Petzval ( my Petzval article here; http://members.aol.com/summaron7/petzval.htm )
Globe Wide Angle
Dallmeyer Rapid Rectilinear or Steinheil
Cooke Triplet
Tessar
Protar
Dagor
Heliar ( my article here; http://members.aol.com/dcolucci/heliar.htm )
Planar
( could also add pinhole, meniscus and a soft focus )

Dan

[kilimanjaro1996]

All these discussions are really interesting and exciting for a newbie like me. I was thinking would it be possible to get a vintage lenses library and newbies can borrow or rent with a system similar to:

http://www.borrowlenses.com/

I'm not associated with this company, but find the concept very good. So instead of trying by buying and selling, both users can have a chance to try out the classics while owner has some insurance that their collection will be well handled and maintain value. I guess some of the LFF members are already doing something similar in more intimate circles.

Just some thoughts on a lazy Saturday.