Originally Posted by
Petzval Paul
Petzvals don't really work well on field cameras or monorails beacause of the large diameters needed for the fast max. apertures. They were mostly meant for studio cameras with large lensboards and sturdy front standards. Of course, they can work, but check all of the dimensions before buying. Otherwise it's not a bad idea to shoot, say, 4x5 on a 5x7 or larger camera, to take advantage of the additional strength, bellows, larger lensboard, etc.
You might be able to find a 20th century Petzval (Eastman, Gundlach, and others made these) in a studio shutter. Finding one in a brass barrel might not be easy, if that's important to you. Wollensak's Vitax often are found with shutters and they are Petzvals... but a bit large for most 4x5's!
Rapid Rectilinears are smaller and still have a bit of funk to them, not unlike a Petzval... but not so obvious. That would be easier to find in a shutter and it would fit on your lensboard. Both are easy lenses to use, as what you see on the GG is what you get on film.
I hope that helps!
Paul
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