Wollensak 15"

[jedrzej66]

I can't find information about Wollensak tele - lens.
Is Wollensak Telephoto Raptar 15" the same lens that Wollensak tele 15" yellow dot lens?
Does anyone know if this lens can be mounted to the shutter ilex (acme) - what size? I've seen Wollensak 15" in the alphax shutter, but I don't know what is needed diameter of shutter to mount.

I want to buy "Yellow dot"...

[neil poulsen]

Take a look at the following:

http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/wollensak_5.html

I have this lens in the Alphax shutter. Take a look at the following thread that I began in June of 2007:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?26489-Wollensak-Raptar-Tele-15-quot-Lens/page2

[Bill_1856]

It does well in barrel mount for Speed Graphic and Graflex, but I think mounting it in a shutter was a "Hail Mary" solution for the design department -- better than a Packard shutter.

[jedrzej66]

[QUOTE=neil poulsen;1297099]Take a look at the following:

http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/wollensak_5.html


Thanks.
I know this page but there is no explanation of the difference (?) between the two wollensaks. Is "yellow dot" the same lens that "Raptar"? Optically. I found information about raptar but there is nothing about "Yellow dot" and therefore I ask...

I would like to know if it is possible to mount Wollensak in a different shutter than Alphax #4. Alphax is like a shutter dedicated to this objective, but it is difficult to buy it ..
Ilex 4 is similar in size but mounting hole probably is not perfectly the same...

[Dan Fromm]

[QUOTE=jedrzej66;1297147
I would like to know if it is possible to mount Wollensak in a different shutter than Alphax #4.[/QUOTE]

Long answer, see http://www.suaudeau.eu/memo/pratique/Les_obturateurs_centraux.html for a list of shutters with key dimensions.

Short answer, no. Nothing else matches an Alphax 4. If you want one of those lenses in shutter, buy one in shutter. Buying one in barrel and then buying a shutter and having adapters made to fit it in the shutter (if they're needed) is riskier and will cost more.

[mdarnton]

The ones in shutter aren't particularly scarce, nor expensive, if you have patience. If you want the yellow dot, drill a hole and paint it yellow--I don't think the yellow dots mean that those lenses are any different from the others.

I have four, two in shutters, two not, with different dots or not, one of them an Optar version, and they're all really good lenses. They cover 8x10 barely, better up close, 5x7 well. With a home made extension box board calculated to just barely give infinity, you can make them focus from infinity to about six feet on a Graflex. The reason I like them is that without the back elements they make a nice soft focus lens of about 9-10 inch focal length. For soft focus I flip the front component around to the back and the lens seems to have less barrel distortion that way. It also balances better when the weight is inside the camera. Can't do that on the Graflex, though.

Where else can you buy a nice 240mm soft focus lens in a sync shutter for under $200? :-)

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8705/17146398051_99f86f7e04_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/s8aLLB)

Randy M (https://flic.kr/p/s8aLLB)
by Michael Darnton (https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaeldarnton/), on Flickr


https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7496/15817782908_8c49d2bdbd_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/q6LgLY)

Spinner (https://flic.kr/p/q6LgLY)
by Michael Darnton (https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaeldarnton/), on Flickr

[Bill_1856]

I think that the "soft-focus" effect may be from the mirror bounce on the Graflex.

[mdarnton]

Nope. Neither was shot with the Graflex. Both of those are minus the rear component. You can see the fuzz when you focus, and it has the same "where do I focus?" problem as any other soft focus lens. I think the front is a simple achromatic doublet, similar to the Imagon and Kodak Portrait lens, which are where I got the idea to turn it around and put it behind the shutter. It's the poor man's Kodak Portrait lens for 1/3 the cost. It's a bit sharper, wide open, than my Verito--it might come in at where the Verito is at f/6.3 or so, but it's a much better lens than the Fujinon SF, which I have yet to find a good use for.