reasonable price petzval lenses

[tenderobject]

heheh steve.. about that rapid rectilinear. whats the difference with that lens to petzval?

[Steven Tribe]

RR's cover a much large part of the frame with quality focussed detail while petzvals "break down" quickly away from the center. The P objectives which made for 5x7 (or the equivalent cabinet size) are now sold for 8x10 as the breakdown area is currently popular. I personally like RRs and I already have the TTH that is for sale ! The lacquer on these is fantastic (golden yellow). We must remember that anastigmatics only became popular because they were just that bit faster than the RR's and dry plates were still a bit slow in the 1890's.

[Steven Tribe]

I have found a nice new petzval on the site but no information this time! I want to do a bit of price research without possibilities of intervention!

[domaz]

I have found a nice new petzval on the site but no information this time! I want to do a bit of price research without possibilities of intervention!

You will still get outbid in the last seconds of the auction - don't kid yourself. That's E*ay for you.

[eddie]

We must remember that anastigmatics only became popular because they were just that bit faster than the RR's and dry plates were still a bit slow in the 1890's.

while this may be true in part remember that anastigmats are a flat field that are corrected for astigmatism as well. a revolutionary step.

[tenderobject]

RR's cover a much large part of the frame with quality focussed detail while petzvals "break down" quickly away from the center. The P objectives which made for 5x7 (or the equivalent cabinet size) are now sold for 8x10 as the breakdown area is currently popular. I personally like RRs and I already have the TTH that is for sale ! The lacquer on these is fantastic (golden yellow). We must remember that anastigmatics only became popular because they were just that bit faster than the RR's and dry plates were still a bit slow in the 1890's.

thanks steven! are there anyway you can tell if a barrel lens is a petzval design or RR or other types of lens? or its usual barrel with the focusing knob and such.. i'm still confused. by the way, my petzval is a magic lantern lens.. should i just leave or ignore the focusing knob? if it's advanced or not would there be any effect with my shots? that knob is kinda annoying at times haha.. i'm enjoying playing with the petzval with a ND filter now. hopefully i could get the diameter of my lens so i could put a stepup ring for nd400.. 52 and 58 doesn't fit. might be in 55-57!

[Louis Pacilla]

Hi tenderobject

On my small Petzval's I use a set of series 7 ND filters (pick em up for pennies) & if you look around there are holders that have two metal bands (half moon) spring loaded when you push them together they open up & I slip it gently around the rear part of the lens I no you should not put glass behind the lens. but really, I have noticed no ill effects.
I did this because of the hood on my little Darlot (the one that swirls best on 4x5) has a very useful original brass cap. you know my shutter. this way my filters are tucked away inside the camera. & I can pull the cap & securely place it back on the lens after exposure.

I've posted a couple of photos of the set up

The knob really does nothing more than place or move focus. You can lose it if you want but comes on handy to tweak focus w/ out touching camera movements after locked down. That's why they continued to make lenses this way long after they it was out of fashion. for the old timers. they became adapt at using the focus knob this way. I believe the 1st use of the knob was well,,, the 1st cameras had no bellows.
Hope this helps. BTW the holder & filters coast $3.00. Money well spent.
Peace
Louis P

[tenderobject]

Hi tenderobject

On my small Petzval's I use a set of series 7 ND filters (pick em up for pennies) & if you look around there are holders that have two metal bands (half moon) spring loaded when you push them together they open up & I slip it gently around the rear part of the lens I no you should not put glass behind the lens. but really, I have noticed no ill effects.
I did this because of the hood on my little Darlot (the one that swirls best on 4x5) has a very useful original brass cap. you know my shutter. this way my filters are tucked away inside the camera. & I can pull the cap & securely place it back on the lens after exposure.

I've posted a couple of photos of the set up

The knob really does nothing more than place or move focus. You can lose it if you want but comes on handy to tweak focus w/ out touching camera movements after locked down. That's why they continued to make lenses this way long after they it was out of fashion. for the old timers. they became adapt at using the focus knob this way. I believe the 1st use of the knob was well,,, the 1st cameras had no bellows.
Hope this helps. BTW the holder & filters coast $3.00. Money well spent.
Peace
Louis P

god louis thanks for sharing! my magic lantern has this hood as well without a thread so i need to seperate it with the lens to put on the filters or put a bluetac on the hood to stick the filter in or i should do your method.. my magic lantern is 6" and i use it in 5x7 i'll try it with 4x5 to see if the petzval effect are much better than using 5x7. ehe i'll try if i can get a hold of those spring type filters locally if not will hceck the auction site.

thanks again!

[Louis Pacilla]

Hi Tenerobject

Yea. I think this is part of the fun of using the not so new & shiny optical Gem .
No modern shutter. Hell, no shutter @ all in this case. Not to mention lack of standard filter thread ,hell no standard anything.

However, after working the bugs out & making a compelling image .Man what a rush

This was a very easy & inexpensive way around this problem & I hope it works for you.

peace
Louis P

[Frank_E]

Hi Tenerobject

Yea. I think this is part of the fun of using the not so new & shiny optical Gem .
No modern shutter. Hell, no shutter @ all in this case. Not to mention lack of standard filter thread ,hell no standard anything.

However, after working the bugs out & making a compelling image .Man what a rush

This was a very easy & inexpensive way around this problem & I hope it works for you.

peace
Louis P

some background and then a question about your post

I was successful yesterday in my bid on Ebay for a brass lens with flange. Whether it has a "petzval look" or not, I will discover when the lens arrives..

in case you are interested this is the one

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...ht_2456wt_1167

I suspect it does not have a petzval profile because of the general dimensions of the lens. But I wanted to experiment anyways.

I plan to try and mount it on a 4x5 Cambo SC

my question relates to how you expose without a shutter. I have not been successful so far in purchasing a shutter so will have to experiment without one.

once you have metered your scene how do you then set up the correct exposure on an old lens like this. In other words both the iris setting (with no iris) and presumably the manual shutter simulation (cap on the front on and off) . I realize that you can do "trial and error" but that is alot of film to burn and develop...

thanks