Ian Greenhalgh
19-Apr-2013, 23:19
Xpresses? Xpresi? I dunno, but I have a few of em...
The ones in question are two different War Dept. lenses, neither has the Ross or Xpres names on them. The larger f4 5-inch is the well-known Ross Wide-Angle Xpress, a 6 element plasmat with oversized glass so is said to be f3.1 wide open, but on mine, it's definitely f4 as that's as far as the aperture ring will move and you can still see the edges of the blades. I have two of these, the one pictured is sharp as a razor even wide open, the other is quite soft. Both are very low contrast and very flary. The cells have 58mm threads and fit an Ilex #4, I intend to put the sharp one in a shutter some day when I can afford it, the customs fees i always get stung with make buying an Ilex #4 from the US an expensive proposition and I've never seen one for sale in the UK.
The other lens is much smaller and squatter, it's an f4.5 5-inch. I can find very little mention of this lens anywhere, but I have found pictures of it fitted to the same torpedo training camera that the f4 5-inch WA Xpres was commonly fitted to. I'm pretty sure this is a Tessar type, I again have two of them, the other has had the large mounting flange removed, they have identical markings. I've only just acquired these two so not tried them yet. I'm only making a supposition that they are Ross Xpres, but they certainly look and feel like Ross lenses. I expected to find 44mm threads on the cells to fit an Ilex #3 as the Ross catalogue from the 1930s I found listed the f4.5 Xpres range in either barrel or Ilex shutters. Sadly, they aren't constructed that way, they are in two cells but the cells don't have threads at the end nearest the iris, instead it's at the other end and is large, looks like 50mm with a ruler, so looks like putting one in a shutter would need the services of a skilled machinist.
Has anyone seen or used one of these f4.5 WD lenses before? Having been fitted to the Torpedo training camera that shot a 2x7 inch negative, I'm assuming they must cover that format, which sounds like a very large image circle for a 5 inch Tessar type so maybe they are not Tessars, I'll have to take one apart and find out.
93653936549365593656
The ones in question are two different War Dept. lenses, neither has the Ross or Xpres names on them. The larger f4 5-inch is the well-known Ross Wide-Angle Xpress, a 6 element plasmat with oversized glass so is said to be f3.1 wide open, but on mine, it's definitely f4 as that's as far as the aperture ring will move and you can still see the edges of the blades. I have two of these, the one pictured is sharp as a razor even wide open, the other is quite soft. Both are very low contrast and very flary. The cells have 58mm threads and fit an Ilex #4, I intend to put the sharp one in a shutter some day when I can afford it, the customs fees i always get stung with make buying an Ilex #4 from the US an expensive proposition and I've never seen one for sale in the UK.
The other lens is much smaller and squatter, it's an f4.5 5-inch. I can find very little mention of this lens anywhere, but I have found pictures of it fitted to the same torpedo training camera that the f4 5-inch WA Xpres was commonly fitted to. I'm pretty sure this is a Tessar type, I again have two of them, the other has had the large mounting flange removed, they have identical markings. I've only just acquired these two so not tried them yet. I'm only making a supposition that they are Ross Xpres, but they certainly look and feel like Ross lenses. I expected to find 44mm threads on the cells to fit an Ilex #3 as the Ross catalogue from the 1930s I found listed the f4.5 Xpres range in either barrel or Ilex shutters. Sadly, they aren't constructed that way, they are in two cells but the cells don't have threads at the end nearest the iris, instead it's at the other end and is large, looks like 50mm with a ruler, so looks like putting one in a shutter would need the services of a skilled machinist.
Has anyone seen or used one of these f4.5 WD lenses before? Having been fitted to the Torpedo training camera that shot a 2x7 inch negative, I'm assuming they must cover that format, which sounds like a very large image circle for a 5 inch Tessar type so maybe they are not Tessars, I'll have to take one apart and find out.
93653936549365593656