Fantasy lenses

[Brian Bullen]

Any (or all) of the portrait lenses from:P&S, Cooke, Gundlach, Wollensak, Goerz and Plasticca.(basically what's in Jim's cabinet)
And pretty much any lense from the 19th century that covers 11x14 up to 20x24.
Oh and some free time to actually get out and use them.
Not too much to ask really.

[Monty McCutchen]

Dallmeyer 8D that will cover my 20 x 24. And while we're dreaming I would like to bid against someone who is actually going to use it the next time one comes up online instead of collectors. sigh?

Monty

[Ole Tjugen]

A modern 210mm f:6.8 Angulon - with a center filter.

Oh - throw in center filters for the 65mm, 90mm, 120mm and 165mm Angulons, too - they need it more than the Super Angulons do!

[Struan Gray]

Might not be possible, Struan, the entrance pupil will be 42 mm and the #1 diaphragm opens to only 30 mm. But an interesting idea.

I could probably live with a smaller aperture, but if you could make it a mild telephoto or a reversed tessar and put enough power into the front cell you might just make f18. What I want is something longer than a 600 mm, with a bit less weight and bulk than the Nikon 720 mm f16 tele.

Why won't an f/18 Protar do? I've had the opportunity to play with just one f/18 Protar, and across a narrow field it was really quite good.

I know it's a bit of a red rag to you, but I like modern coatings :-)
Long Protars attract the collectors too, so a modern lens would probably work out cheaper.

I have one that is close: a 740mm f 12.5 lens that I have attached to the front of a spare Copal #3 shutter.

A nice idea Maris, but for my mainstream work I don't want the funkyness of a typical telescope achromat. The ones I have played with have too limited a central core, even for 4x5. I don't mind bokeh, in fact I'm a bit of a bokeh connoisseur and take a lot of images with shallow depth of field, but I don't like the bullseye effect of off-axis aberrations.

[C. D. Keth]

I don't quite get the whole thing with "fantasy" lenses. I just want lenses that are sharp and work properly. I suppose if anything I would enjoy a 12-14 inch petzval.

[gary alessi]

another vote for the 305 computar, for 12x20....anybody shooting the 305 graphic kowa on 12x20.?..they look like the same lens to me...i know the 240 computar, 270 computar...and many [but not all] of the 240, and 270 graphic kowas are the same......also somewhere i read the 110 xl will cover 8x10, even though schneider 's data says otherwise...?

[Steve Goldstein]

I have a 305mm Graphic-Kowa that shows exactly the same pattern of internal reflections (but larger) as a 210mm Computar, so the optical designs are probably the same. I can't speak to mechanical vignetting in the shutter, but when I stuck it on a friend's 11x14 a while ago it appeared to more than cover. I didn't shoot any film with it as all his holders were loaded with chromes(!). If there's someone in the Boston, MA, USA area with a 12x20, send me an email if you want to do some experiments.

[MIke Sherck]

Me, too: the Cooke.

Mike

[drew.saunders]

"Half Cooke XVa" for 4x5, i.e. 322mm (f), 238mm (r), 156mm (f+r), preferably in a 0 or 1 shutter. If it could be f5.6 for the whole thing, that would be nice too.

Drew