Imagon 420mm

[David Flockhart]

Can anyone tell me how common these lenses are and what format this length is intended to cover? Thank you in advance.

[Ernest Purdum]

They are uncommon. I doubt if many were made. Although Imagons were made in sizes from at least 120 to 480mm,the medium sizes are the most common. Imagons need a shutter size which is large for the focal length of the lens and this has been a factor reducing the demand for large sizes.



The Imagon has quite narrow coverage, somewhere around forty degrees. Since it was intended primarily as a portrait lens where long focal length lenses are used so as to avoid the big nose effect, this was no handicap. It might not, however, be a good choice for landscape work where the limited coverage when focused at infinity would often be a limiting factor. I would expect the 420mm size to be marginal for 8" X 10" at long distances.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

Your lens is pretty uncommon, although I have seen a few before for sale. It would qualify as "rare" by ebay standards...

As for coverage, of the commonly available lenses, the 250mm is intended for 4x5, and 300mm for 5x7, and many people use the 360mm for 8x10, so I would guess that your lens could easily be used on 8x10, and even on 10x12. In general, the lenses, as Ernest suggests, are used at about 40 degrees, but they do have, when stopped down, pretty massive coverage. However by so doing you lose the halation, or "imagon affect"