E. Suter Basil Aplanat B #6 16x13 lens

[Jim Fitzgerald]

I picked up this lens and was very pleased to see that it covers my 14x17 wide open. Has some beautiful fall off. It came with one stop and the patina on the lens is very nice and the glass is perfect. A nice present for my new 14x17.

Also, a while back I found an Ilex F-7 375mm process lens that I picked up. I was very happy to find out today that it too covers the 14x17 wide open and is sharp to the corners at F-7! It was hard to believe but it was bright and really sharp. It also has a very nice blue coating and looks brand new.

Any info on either or both of these lenses would be great.

Thanks

[Jim Galli]

Nice score. Got no other info. Proves you don't need to spend a ton on 1417 coverage, although the Suter is valuable.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Jim, The Suter was under 300.00 and the Ilex cost me all of about 75.00. I'm going to use them both this weekend in Joshua Tree.

[c.d.ewen]

Jim:

Lovely. My S/N (5844) is not all that far away from yours, but the size text doesn't appear on my lens.

The photo below is a scanned 12x20, to give you an idea of how much extra room you have. I hadn't noticed the top corner vignettes; might have been able to get rid of them, if I had, but that's only a maybe. The uneven development is the result of a Rodinal stand development done wrong

I'd love to know the exact diameter of the stop you have, as I have none, and was about to make some (making some for a Suter No 5, this week). Don't have a set of calipers, do you?

Charley

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Charley, the image you posted is nice. Is that wide open? Wow! I do have a set of calipers and I'll PM you what I have.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Charley here is my poor attempt to draw the stop. I traced the stop and scanned it. Let me know if you need any other info.

[jb7]

Thanks for the drawing Jim, it'll be useful-

I posted this question a couple of years ago, but it wasn't really answered-
does anyone have any information regarding the manufacturing dates of these lenses?

Charley, that image might look more like a 8x20 than a 12x20-
and I'd be interested to know if you stopped down too-

A single group from this lens is roughly 750mm fl, (from what I can remember) and should have no problem covering the format...

[c.d.ewen]

Joseph: Yes, that image was shot wide open. I have some Garolite stops I made for it some time ago, but I don't recall ever using them; I think I just gave up on the lens as not covering. You're right, this lens would work well in 8x20 or 7x17.

Jim: Thanks for the info. What might be useful would be to scan the stop directly and measure the hole in Photoshop. I do that to make an accurate WH stop. I put a point-source light one FL behind the lens and expose a sheet of photo paper mounted in front of the lens. I scan the developed paper and measure the dark spot, i.e., the entrance pupil. BTW, do you know what f/stop it is?

Charley

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Charley, All the stop says is #6. It looks to me to be around F-11. From my experience I just estimate what the stops are going to be and that is close enough for me. I found that the metal door kick plates are about the right thickness for stops. Easy to cut and shape.

Joseph, nice lens. The brass has more polish than mine. Older also by just a bit.