Cooke lenses reissued

[John Berry]

Nice glass, too bad it gets screwed up with multi-coating and a copal shutter.

[Sal Santamaura]

Nice glass, too bad it gets screwed up with multi-coating and a copal shutter.

Please explain. That makes no sense to me.

[Mark Sawyer]

My guess is that John is among those of us who appreciate the look from an uncoated lens, and see it as part of the classic signature of the design. Multi-coating a Pinkham and Smith is kinda like pulling the V8 out of a`56 Corvette convertible and turning it into a hybrid. Yup, it's more fuel-efficient and pollutes less, but...

Personally, I'd love to have my 18-inch Verito in a #12 Copal shutter...

[Sal Santamaura]

My guess is that John is among those of us who appreciate the look from an uncoated lens, and see it as part of the classic signature of the design. Multi-coating a Pinkham and Smith is kinda like pulling the V8 out of a`56 Corvette convertible and turning it into a hybrid. Yup, it's more fuel-efficient and pollutes less, but...

I still don't understand why (since there are flarey, less sharp vintage samples of these lenses available in old/obsolete shutters for those who appreciate them) anyone would describe a modern improved version as "screwed up."

I'd take one new hybrid to a million 56 Corvette convertibles. This isn't 1956. If it were, my preferred tool might be different.

[8x10 user]

One issue with a copal shutter is that it has fewer aperture blades then most barrel lenses. Some say this has an adverse effect on the way the out of focus areas are shown.

I'd personally like to see them do a 14" reproduction of Pinkham and Smith; even if it would be barrel lens. Also I'd like to see a more of a wide angle landscape version, that sharpens at F/22 for maximum depth of field (for the sharp inner core).

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

One issue with a copal shutter is that it has fewer aperture blades then most barrel lenses. Some say this has an adverse effect on the way the out of focus areas are shown.

I'd personally like to see them do a 14" reproduction of Pinkham and Smith; even if it would be barrel lens. Also I'd like to see a more of a wide angle landscape version, that sharpens at F/22 for maximum depth of field (for the sharp inner core).

It is relatively easy and cheap to find a vintage 14" lens which is very similar to a P&S. Eddie was selling a 14" Eidoscope--very similar design and look to the P&S--a few weeks ago for less than half the price of a new 9" Cooke. There is even a 14" Nicola Perscheid for sale here (as well as one at Lens and Repro) which are also very similar to the P&S. 14" or 18" Veritos? Not the same look, but they are easily available.

It is much more difficult to find one of these SF lenses in an appropriate size for 4x5. The 250mm Fujinon or Imagon are easily found, but these are a very different look than the P&S or the Cooke.

You are correct however about the number of iris blades. This is in my mind a big problem, but perhaps replacing the Copal shutter with a used Compur or even a Compound might help. One side note however; studio shutters which many Verito and P&S lenses were mounted in have a similar number or perhaps even less iris blades than a Copal, and the aperture shape is very rough.

[Scott Davis]

Sal- I have the f12.5 version of the Wolly 159 W.A. Raptar, and while it may not be a recent design, it is multi-coated (WoCoated mark in purple on the lens face). It will cover 8x10 with limited movement. I've souped a couple of negs from it but not printed them yet, so I can't say for certain how good they are at the edge, but I would expect that on whole plate, they're still pretty good corner to corner. And it's super-cheap, especially compared to similar focal-length vintage optics.

[8x10 user]

I've actually own just about enough soft focus lenses. Many of them are around the 14" range. Still... I'd like to see a 14" Cooke.

All the best,
Ed

It is relatively easy and cheap to find a vintage 14" lens which is very similar to a P&S. Eddie was selling a 14" Eidoscope--very similar design and look to the P&S--a few weeks ago for less than half the price of a new 9" Cooke. There is even a 14" Nicola Perscheid for sale here (as well as one at Lens and Repro) which are also very similar to the P&S. 14" or 18" Veritos? Not the same look, but they are easily available.

It is much more difficult to find one of these SF lenses in an appropriate size for 4x5. The 250mm Fujinon or Imagon are easily found, but these are a very different look than the P&S or the Cooke.

You are correct however about the number of iris blades. This is in my mind a big problem, but perhaps replacing the Copal shutter with a used Compur or even a Compound might help. One side note however; studio shutters which many Verito and P&S lenses were mounted in have a similar number or perhaps even less iris blades than a Copal, and the aperture shape is very rough.

[eddie]

I'd take one new hybrid to a million 56 Corvette convertibles. This isn't 1956. If it were, my preferred tool might be different.

HHHMMM?!?!!? one million 56 vette convertibles worth about $80,000 each vs one crappy ugly $20,000 hybrid?!?!? HHHMMMM? sounds like a bad move to me.....

i will leave the math to others (OH! and too bad they did not make a million)

so based on the rest of your logic with today's tools and all i believe you are in the wrong forum as the "preferred" photographic tool in 2009 is a digital camera. so you seem to be wavering in your ideals.....

[Steve Hamley]

It is much more difficult to find one of these SF lenses in an appropriate size for 4x5. The 250mm Fujinon or Imagon are easily found, but these are a very different look than the P&S or the Cooke.

I guess I'll stir the pot a little in the spirit of discussion. There are 4x5 alternatives although as Jason says, they're relatively rare (except maybe for Veritos), compared to the 14" focal length. Given the price and absence of Cooke portrait lenses at the time, and some comments by users related to the relatively small maximum aperture of the Copal, I began looking.

What I ended up with (attached jpeg) is a 9" (same as the Cooke) f:4 Gundlach Equal (Hyperion) Diffusion. It's triple convertible, color corrected according to the Gundlach literature, and the 15" and 21" lengths will cover ULF pretty easily, especially at portrait distances. After some preliminary testing and some research, I determined that it is the same as the Hyperion Diffusion which I have in the 14" focal length. I then sent it to S.K. Grimes, who fabricated the adapters to mount the cells in an Ilex #5, a triple aperture scale, and a 77mm filter adapter intended to be used with a Singh-Ray vari ND so that fast film can be more easily used. BTW, by appearances, the lens will open up just a bit wider than f:4 in the Ilex #5 shutter.

I like the results very much. Wide open, the lens is considerably more diffused than the Cooke, and has the "glow" that some other diffused lenses don't have. Granted, the shutter is a #5, but you won't find a 9" f:4 lens that fits on a small board.

As far as coated versus multi-coated versus un-coated, in B&W general flare isn't an issue as St. Ansel pointed out, but you do have to have to know your development times accordingly. I've not tested with color yet, but the primary result of general flare seems to reduce saturation and contrast, and you can compensate with film selection to some degree.

Cheers, Steve