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View Full Version : Cheap lenses that use a Copal #3



stradibarrius
8-Oct-2014, 07:01
I need a Copal #3 shutter and the only affordable way to do it is buy a really cheap lens that happens to be fitted with a Copal#3. I need some suggestions of what lenses to search for.

jp
8-Oct-2014, 07:08
Some of the "Copal 3" shutters are actually 3s shutters.
Some of the fuji/fujinon lenses are pretty cheap but actually good.

Louis Pacilla
8-Oct-2014, 07:13
The least expensive lens in Copal 3 shutter I can think of would be the Caltar II 240 f5.6 in Copal 3 but your still looking at $275-$350 range.

David Karp
8-Oct-2014, 07:19
Best bet is often a damaged lens.

djdister
8-Oct-2014, 07:53
Rather than searching for a particular lens, just search the auction site for "Copal 3" in the "lenses and filters" category, then sort by lowest price.

angusparker
13-Oct-2014, 22:05
Copal 3s is a different size than Copal 3 so be careful. The 3s are cheaper on the whole because they are older for the most part. An ilex 5 might be a cheaper alternative especially if you are mainly looking for B and T.

Dan Fromm
14-Oct-2014, 05:02
Copal 3s is a different size than Copal 3 so be careful. The 3s are cheaper on the whole because they are older for the most part. An ilex 5 might be a cheaper alternative especially if you are mainly looking for B and T.

Gus, cells that fit a Copal #3 won't fit an Ilex #5 and vice versa. IIRC, the OP has cells that need a shutter.

Struan Gray
14-Oct-2014, 05:52
I ended up buying a second Apo-ronar to get a shutter to put my Apo-ronar cells in :-)

240 mm plasmats seem to be playing the part of the ginger-haired orphan these days. Caltars, Nikkor Ws and Fujinons seem to be the least loved, but even Symmar-S and Sironar-N lenses seem cheap compared to a new shutter.

angusparker
14-Oct-2014, 12:24
Angus, cells that fit a Copal #3 won't fit an Ilex #5 and vice versa. IIRC, the OP has cells that need a shutter.

Very true. But any lens that will fit a Copal 3 or 3s will fit an Ilex 5 with an adapter by SK Grimes etc. The Ilex 5 also opens up a host of other lens options for ULF such as the relatively cheap Artars and Apo-Ronar CLs.

Dan Fromm
14-Oct-2014, 13:00
Very true. But any lens that will fit a Copal 3 or 3s will fit an Ilex 5 with an adapter by SK Grimes etc. The Ilex 5 also opens up a host of other lens options for ULF such as the relatively cheap Artars and Apo-Ronar CLs.

Also true. But and however Ilex #5s (or the very nearly equivalent Alphax #5) aren't inexpensive or common. SKGrimes prices adapters by size so adapters that fit #5s can be quite costly.

If the OP has cells that will fit a Compur/Copal #3 and wants to use them his best option is to ante up for another lens in #3 as suggested in post #8 in this thread.

No one has mentioned big Compounds. If the OP is up for buying adapters, one of them might (great stress might) be a more economical starting point than a big Alphax or Ilex. The risk with big Compounds such as the #5 I once bought for ~ $50 from a seller on leboncoin.com is that not all have diaphragms. Mine doesn't but since I hang it in front of a great huge lens this isn't a handicap.

Drew Wiley
14-Oct-2014, 13:07
I like the older 3s variety cause they have way more aperture blades; but being older, you'd want to check the shutter speeds, which are never good in the fastest
settings, but we never use those anyway. Look for a "bargain" lens with a working shutter. Just beware that not all #3 Copals have the same fit.