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View Full Version : Dallmeyer Wide Angle Anastigmat 6,5/4 1/4inch... MOUNTING?



toggen
12-Mar-2013, 08:01
Just purchased this one:
91123
Dallmeyer Wide Angle Anastigmat 6,5/4 1/4inch
For mounting on my Speed Graphic!
So, i will need lens board/flange and a lot of luck...
I asked the seller to send me the diameter of the lens,
so we will see.

As i understand,this one might not cover 4x5 - but if i use
6X7 format it might work.
Anything else to consider?

Thanks,T

Louis Pacilla
12-Mar-2013, 08:21
The 4 1/2" series XXIII at 100 degrees stopped down to f16 or beyond should certainly cover 4x5 and should have a tiny bit left over for a little movement. According to the Dallmeyer catalog it should cover up to 5x7.

toggen
12-Mar-2013, 08:59
That was an intr. catalog! Thanks Louis.
So i have a GENAR, and according to the catalogue it´s got a
flange diameter at 31mm....
So,i will need a board for this stuff! any tips? ebay

And, is this a good piece of glass? payed 300$ ,got a "lucky" feeling here!
Also,nice to know it covers 4x5..
Thanks,T

Dan Fromm
12-Mar-2013, 09:49
GENAR is just an obsolete telegraphic code. If you tell people you have a GENAR no one will know what you're talking about. If you say "I have a 4.25"/6.5 Dallmeyer wide angle" they'll stroke their chins gravely and say "Really?"

Yes you'll need a board. Wait until the lens comes before buying a board for y'r Speed Graphic (the right model, wooden boards for older models won't fit on Pacemaker Speed Grapics, which have metal boards, and vice versa). Lou showed you an old catalog, odds are that not all f/6.5 Dallmeyer w/a lenses conform to specifications on it. When the lens comes measure it and buy a board that fortuitously has the right sized hole or has a smaller hole and enlarge the hold to suit or have the board rebored. You'll need a flange or retaining ring to fit, again, its foolish to rely on old specifications, best to wait until the lens is in hand and measure the threads.

Good lens? Good deal? Depends. By its serial number, the lens is pre-WW II so is uncoated and may be somewhat flary/low in contrast. Functionally equivalent more-or-less 4" w/a lenses in shutter have sold for less, and with a Speed Graphic you really can't use the lens' coverage to the fullest. I'm a bottom feeder, wouldn't have paid that much. I have an equivalent lens in barrel, a 100/6.3 Meyer Weitwinkel Aristostigmat. Late 1950s, coated. I'm thinking about selling it, would be thrilled if it brought half what you paid.

Roger Hesketh
12-Mar-2013, 13:30
The flange size did not change. All the smaller (less than 6") double Gauss lenses from Dallmeyer and TTH all have the same flange size 1 1/4 " (31mm) and that did not change throughout the production run. You know which model Speed Graphic you have so go ahead and arrange a board for it then you can play with the lens as soon as you get it.

It is a good lens. You paid somewhat over the odds for it but it is only because this lens is currently underrated and the thing you have to bear in mind is that as far as large format older lenses are concerned their is only a loose correlation between the price paid for a lens and it's utility as a picture making tool. TTH produced a series of Cooke series VIIb wide angle anastigmats.These are highly rated and have semi cult status and command good prices. The Dallmeyer equivalent lenses are IMHO the equal of the TTH products.

This particular design of wide angle due to it having eight air to glass surfaces does produce results which are lower in contrast than modern lenses of equivalent coverage but that is not necessarily a bad thing. This Dallmeyer lens does not differ from any of the others in that respect.

In case you have not noticed I am trying to make you feel better about your purchase.The question you have to ask yourself is is $300 too much to pay for a good quality wide angle lens with !00 degrees of coverage. Probably on balance not as it is possible to spend considerably more to gain not very much more. If you had bought a real dog of a lens it would be another matter but you have not.

This what the the lens collectors Vade Mecum has to say about your lens.

Wide Angle. f6.5/f11 It was made as: 60-228mm/2.375-9.0in. This was a 4-glass Gauss type Q16.
for up to 100° at f11. These were 'new' in the advert. in B.J.A. 1930, p312, 1932, p647, and had the following
covering power:
3.25in 82.55mm for 1/4plate or 5.5x3.5in £5.25
4.25in 107.95mm 7x5in £6.00
5.25in 133.35mm 8.5x6.5in
6.25in 158.75mm 10x8in
7.875in 200.03 12x10in
9in 228.6mm 15x12in £9.75.
These were important products in the 1930's as wide angle lenses, the 80mm/3.25in for 1/4plate being quite
a common lens today. They were designed to be used stopped down to f11 or better f22, and the f6.5 max.
was really to compose, then check focus at f11 but they were designed not to change focus. They were
carefully corrected for astigmatism, colour and spherical and should give good definition. These sold well and
are quite common, especially perhaps small versions of 1/4 plate cameras. They were apt to be flary until
coated postwar. Many of those sold coated have the antireflection coat splashed over the mount as well as the
glass suggesting stock was returned for this to be done.

Note the comment about flare. The Dalllmeyer lenses are no different from other lenses of the same design but because of this comment in the Vade Mecum they have been I feel been unfairly maligned compared to others. This comment has been regurgitated many times by their detractors.

It is a good lens. Enjoy. Oh and it very very nearly covers a whole plate when used with small stops. It benefits possibly more than most from the use of a lens hood.

If you have a Pacemaker type board you can use the flange when you get one as a lock nut on the back of the board