View Full Version : Wanting fast lens for 11x14
cat3261
14-Feb-2016, 06:48
Wanting to purchase fast lens for 11x14 format, you can learn of project I am working on at ourlivingpast.com
Presently using 18 inch Caltrain and a 20 inch gundlach hyper focus
Any suggestions or offers appreciated. Using lens to document great elder roots musicians
Thanks
Tim Duffy
Super symmar XL 210mm would be the fastest...
Caltrain sounds awfully fast...........
cat3261
14-Feb-2016, 13:06
Sorry it is a Caltar, which is a great lens 18inch
Dan Fromm
14-Feb-2016, 13:26
Tim, if you can afford so-so image quality and aren't too fussy about detail in the corners a 12"/2.5 Aero Ektar might do for you. Shutter may be a problem, though.
Fr. Mark
14-Feb-2016, 13:33
http://www.re-inventedphotoequip.com/Home.html
Jason Greenberg Motamedi
14-Feb-2016, 15:41
I found a 360mm f5.6 Symmar to be a great lens for 11x14. Its a medium wide and is as fast as you will find in a shutter. If it is in good condition (check carefully for haze), it should be an excellent performer. If you need faster you will need to do without a shutter.
For want of getting away from a wide angle optic since you're doing portraits and alike I'd suggest a 508mm (20") f/7.0 Caltar in a Ilex #5 shutter. Have used one on my 11x14 for years. Wide open, depth of field is measured in a few mm's and its out of focus areas have a nice quality to them. F/7.0 may sound slowish, but this lens projects a surprisingly bright image on the ground glass. They usually go for around $500-600, which I feel is a bargain. Used one on my 11x14 in the late seventies and throughout the eighties. Sold 11x14 and 508mm lens around 1990. Years later when I decided to get back into shooting ULF, I bought an 11x14 Chamonix and a 508mm Caltar. Over past years have acquired Dagors and Protars, but my favorite optic is the 508mm Caltar.
If you want a 'vintage' (swirly) look, and don't want to spend $5K on a Voigtlander, I bought a B&L Projection Petzval (18" f4) off fleabay 2 years ago for less than $100. You will need to cut it for Waterhouse stops and use a hat, but for a $4,900 savings I'm sure you could find a machinist to slit it for you and make some tin stops.
See the all-black lens posted by jcoldslabs in post #7 here (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?116670-How-to-recognize-a-B-amp-L-Petzval-type).
I don't recall seeing one longer than 18", but someone here would know if there is such a beast out there.
Another possibility is to use a Buhl projector lens... these are bargain lenses to be found on EBay. No iris so have to always use them wide open, but your images on your website match that. Being true Petzval optics not sure of (hard to take apart)... but they very closely produce the same image effect at less than 5% the cost of a brass Petzval. I use a Buhl on my whole plate and another on my 11x14 by having Buhl projector lenses mounted on a Sinar lens boards (thanks to JBWELD) and use in front of a Sinar Copal shutter. Both are the cheapest LF and ULF optics I have ever bought.
fishbulb
14-Feb-2016, 19:26
Another possibility is to use a Buhl projector lens... these are bargain lenses to be found on EBay. No iris so have to always use them wide open, but your images on your website match that. Being true Petzval optics not sure of (hard to take apart)... but they very closely produce the same image effect at less than 5% the cost of a brass Petzval. I use a Buhl on my whole plate and another on my 11x14 by having Buhl projector lenses mounted on a Sinar lens boards (thanks to JBWELD) and use in front of a Sinar Copal shutter. Both are the cheapest LF and ULF optics I have ever bought.
Yeah I just gave one of those Buhl 200mm f/4-ish? lenses to Goodwill. One of those red anodized lenses. They were good back in the day of slide projectors. Could have kept it for LF but didn't want to deal with the hassle.
Another possibility is to use a Buhl projector lens... these are bargain lenses to be found on EBay. No iris so have to always use them wide open, but your images on your website match that. Being true Petzval optics not sure of (hard to take apart)... but they very closely produce the same image effect at less than 5% the cost of a brass Petzval. I use a Buhl on my whole plate and another on my 11x14 by having Buhl projector lenses mounted on a Sinar lens boards (thanks to JBWELD) and use in front of a Sinar Copal shutter. Both are the cheapest LF and ULF optics I have ever bought.
what FL covers 11X14 in this type of lens?
Oren Grad
14-Feb-2016, 21:28
Discussion moved from FS/WTB section; opening post copied back to FS/WTB as well. Please continue any general discussion here; any sale offers should be made within the FS/WTB thread or by PM.
William Whitaker
15-Feb-2016, 12:17
A 14" Cooke Aviar will cover 11x14. At least mine does with room to spare. Not sure the speed offhand, but I think it's f/4.5.
Yes, 14" is kind of short for portraits on 11x14 by conventional wisdom. But when one gets into ULF-Land, conventional wisdom does not always hold true.
Besides, Joel Meyerowitz made some very effective portraits on 8x10 using a 10-inch lens. (Effectively same field of view -> long side of the format.)
In the end what really matters is what's available on the market when you're ready.
it will cost as much as a small car, and be as large and heavy as one too
but a 18" vitax (or royal portrait lens ? ) will probably cover 11x14
and it is ü b e r f a s t .. if they didn't change the design
and it didn't slow down as it got bigger, the vitax is a 3.8, but its in a studio shutter ..
and depending on how fast you are with a bulb release like a degroff, your shutter speeds might vary.
if you don't need the fuzz-u-lator knob, you might be able to find one for less $$$
William Whitaker
15-Feb-2016, 13:06
it will cost as much as a small car, and be as large and heavy as one too
but a 18" vitax (or royal portrait lens ? ) will probably cover 11x14
and it is ü b e r f a s t .. if they didn't change the design
and it didn't slow down as it got bigger, the vitax is a 3.8, but its in a studio shutter ..
and depending on how fast you are with a bulb release like a degroff, your shutter speeds might vary.
if you don't need the fuzz-u-lator knob, you might be able to find one for less $$$
John, What is "it"? What are you referring to? If, the Aviar, then yes, it's a heavy lens. I've had two (or is it three?...) The first one was free. The one I have now I think I paid $85 for. It's a barrel lens, but we all know there are some work-arounds there. Even with sync. If weight is such an issue, then use a smaller format to begin with...
winterclock
15-Feb-2016, 17:55
John is talking about the Wollensak Vitax portrait lenses, their older name was Wollensak Royal portrait. Some of them have a "fuzzulator" knob that softens the image by varying the gap between the front elements. The Wollensak Verito 18" is an f4 that covers 11x14.
thanks james !
yes the vitax .. it was a thing of beauty !
Fr. Mark
15-Feb-2016, 20:23
Beseler made an 18" Cooke triplet for an opaque projector. I built a set of stops for it by first making a collar to go on the front of the lens. The projector had a 10" square platten but I don't think it's going to happily cover 11x14 or 14x17. It vignettes 8x10 if I get aggressive with movements. No swirly out of focus and not the highest contrast either. But it is fast at f3.6 or so.
Scott Davis
16-Feb-2016, 08:08
I have a B&L Tessar that's I want to say in the 16-18" range that's an f4.5. It covers 11x14 nicely. It's also a big honking piece of glass. There's also the 405mm Kodak Portrait f4.5 lens that will cover. It's a soft-focus meniscus-ish (actually I think it's a doublet, not a true meniscus, but it gives that meniscus look), but it does get sharper if you stop down. It too is a massive chunk of glass, and it requires a 7" lensboard at a minimum, 9" if you want to mount a Packard shutter behind it. I think it's the heaviest lens I own, even heavier than the B&L Tessar, which has more glass and is in a brass barrel.
Jim Galli
17-Feb-2016, 07:54
There was a Cooke Aviar 21" f5.6 unmarked that her majesty used in the Air Ministry that turns up once in a while. Looks just like the 14" f5.6 version except on steroids. Gundlach made an f4.5 Radar for 11X14, 18" iirc and put a few of them in Studio Shutter. Neither of these is common. 18" Verito is my all time favorite. People associate Verito with fuzziness but they don't have to be. Stopped down just a bit they firm right up. Also, don't forget that Verito is convertible. I did a memorable portrait on 14X17 with the 24" component of my 11 1/2" Verito. When you're talking 11X14 and fast in the same sentence, there's no way to get beyond large chunks of heavy glass. O/wise it wouldn't be "fast".
Struan Gray
17-Feb-2016, 08:59
The Aviar will cover, but be aware that many of the British long Aerial lenses (often no-name War Department or Air Ministry 20" and 36" monsters) are telephotos designed to cover 9x9" or thereabouts. They'll work on 8x10, but are doubtful for 11x14. My 36" certainly doesn't work at infinity.
How about the Wollaston Meniscus lenses? I have a 500/6.8 that I have not used yet. May not be the look you want.
William Whitaker
17-Feb-2016, 15:45
...18" Verito is my all time favorite. People associate Verito with fuzziness but they don't have to be. Stopped down just a bit they firm right up. Also, don't forget that Verito is convertible. I did a memorable portrait on 14X17 with the 24" component of my 11 1/2" Verito. When you're talking 11X14 and fast in the same sentence, there's no way to get beyond large chunks of heavy glass. O/wise it wouldn't be "fast".
Except that a Verito is not heavy compared with many lenses. For its size, it's really quite light. But it IS big. And it does sharpen quickly as you stop down. Anything beyond about f/8 is reasonably sharp.
Jim Galli
17-Feb-2016, 15:48
Except that a Verito is not heavy compared with many lenses. For its size, it's really quite light. But it IS big. And it does sharpen quickly as you stop down. Anything beyond about f/8 is reasonably sharp.
All correct. Focus area is always sharp. Nice sharp core in the glow. But oof area and glow diminish as you stop down. As you well know, but perhaps others haven't got to play with one.
Tin Can
17-Feb-2016, 16:01
How about the Wollaston Meniscus lenses? I have a 500/6.8 that I have not used yet. May not be the look you want.
No! He needs my 790mm f5.7 Whoaston, well not mine but her sister.
I have used mine and look at her everyday, I got big plans...
No! He needs my 790mm f5.7 Whoaston, well not mine but her sister.
I have used mine and look at her everyday, I got big plans...
Oh...mine is not available...'my' 11x14 is shared property with another photographer, and most of the lenses are his. How nice to have a photographer friend with GAS!!
I have a Sony 300mm f2 projection Petzval (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?116955-Sony-coated-300mm-f2-projection-Petzval) that might illuminate 11x14, I'm not sure if anything anywhere is going to be 'sharp'... I haven't mounted it in anything yet, none of my camera's lensboards are large enough or strong enough to hold it. I bought a 5x7 studio camera for the purpose but it doesn't quite do it.
what FL covers 11X14 in this type of lens?
I use a 9.0" (220mm) f/2.5 red Buhl on my 11x14. It doesn't cover the format by any means, and it essentially has no depth of field... and that's why I love the optic. Mounted in front of a Sinar copal shutter. Downside is that I almost always have to use a very, very large ND filter mounted in the Sinar shutter since the Sinar shutter's fastest speed is 1/60.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.