12" Dagor for portraits on the 8*10" wetplate?

[Ole Tjugen]

Evgenys,

Dagors have greater coverage than Tessars like the Industar. Some Dagors have "better bokeh" than some Tessars, although it isn't necessarily so.

But Dagors were made in the USA for a very long time, and some very famous photographers have used Dagors. As far as I know, not a single famous US photographer has ever used an Industar.

Your search result simply reflects the fact that most posts here are written by Americans!

[IanG]

Dagors have another advantage over the Industar because a large number of them are mounted in shutters, so are very much more practical to use.

Ian

[Ole Tjugen]

Very few German 300mm Dagors are mounted in shutter. It's mostly the late US-made Dagors that come in shutters!

[IanG]

Very few German 300mm Dagors are mounted in shutter. It's mostly the late US-made Dagors that come in shutters!

and the later German made Dagors from Schneider, who bought CP Goerz Am Opt

Ian

[Ole Tjugen]

and the later German made Dagors from Schneider, who bought CP Goerz Am Opt

... But most of those again are Swiss, made by Kern for Schneider.

-------

We seem to have gone completely off track here, though.

But I would advise you to try the Industar before you dismiss it, and if you do buy the Dagor do it as an investment (it's a really good price) and not because it's "better" than the Industar.

If you want an "Authentic Wetplate Lens", neither of those two will do. You would need to find a "Rapid Aplanat" or "Portrait Rectilinear", if not a Petzval.

[turtle]

...a very old thread here. Its perhaps not surprising, but photographers tend to idolise home grown equipment or those associated with 'historical fame' such that their real attributes (and weaknesses) become lost to euphoria. This can quickly become 'dagors are amazing' without any real appreciation for these qualities relative to other options. For wet plate, a dagor sounds great, but I would be surprised if the amazingly high prices being commanded by shuttered lenses are really worth it considering the idiosyncracies of the process.

[premortho]

I wondered about that myself. If he's into wet plate why do you need a shutter? Besides, I've seen pics on e-bay of those russian cameras with an internl shutter, I think a double flap type, which is more than good enough for wetplate.

[goamules]

As someone who uses Dagors with wetplate, I can confirm that for me, they are great (sharp and contrasty). And you don't need a shutter ever for wetplate, unless you are one of the pioneers using megawatt flashes.

[Mark Sawyer]

Dagors are wonderful lenses, but for your purposes, the Industar would be better, if only for the speed. In wet plate potraiture, a fast lens is important.