Looking for Vintage Wide Angle 5x7

[Two23]

I'm getting close to completing the work on my Gundlach Korona 5x7 (field camera), c.1925. I have some nice lenses 150 to 300mm for it, but am wanting something wider. I'd be happy with the 4x5 equivalent of a 90mm. (A 120mm/5 in. on 5x7?) Ideally lens would date from 1910--1930, and I'd like it to be in shutter (Compound, Volute, Koilos, etc.) I was looking at Dagors, but seems like those are generally more normal to portrait length. (Hpyergon is out of my price range!) So, what is out there that I'm likely to find?


Kent in SD

[mdarnton]

Wollensak series iiia. There is a nice 5x7 one on Ebay right now in a Betax shutter for a pretty good minimum bid. Its a good lens, towards the end of your specified period. Betax shutters are my personal favorite--instead of buzzing like an angry bee they purr like a cat. FL, which the seller doesn't know, is 108mm. The working speed is f/12.5 but there's a stop on the f/ pointer that you can remove inside to open it to f/6.8 or so for composition.

I haven't fit mine to my Korona yet because I need to make a recessed board for it. It won't work with a flat board.

[Two23]

That might work, but yikes--f12.5? The new bellows I have are much thinner than the old one. Might not need a recessed board, which would be a major plus.


Kent in SD

[Pete Roody]

120mm Angulon f6.8 Usually found in Compur 1 shutters.

[Michael Graves]

120mm Angulon f6.8 Usually found in Compur 1 shutters.

Agreed. Not much excess coverage for movements, but some. Be cautious, however. Quality control seemed to be lacking on those. I had three by the time I settled on one that was truly sharp from corner to corner. Another sleeper is the Weitwinkel 120mm 6.8. (At least I think I'm spelling that correctly. Probably not.)

[IanG]

I bought a 1913 120mm f6.8 CP Goerz, Berlin, Dagor a few months ago, it definitely covers 7x5 stopped down as Goerz claim. It was a very lucky find with a low BIN price £30 ($40) and it was obvious it had never been fitted to a lens board/camera. The tiny Compound shutter is as accurate as the day it was made,

The seller had two other lenses the same age but was asking much more, one was a 135mm the other 150mm I can't remember which way around but one was a Tessar the other a Steinheil. They must have been NOS and sat in someones collection.

Ian

[Louis Pacilla]

Another sleeper is the Weitwinkel 120mm 6.8. (At least I think I'm spelling that correctly. Probably not.)


Hey Michael
Yep it's Weitwinkel & pretty sure your speaking of the Hugo Meyers Weitwinkel Aristostigmat 120mm f6.3.

[IanG]

Hey Michael
Yep it's Weitwinkel & pretty sure your speaking of the Hugo Meyers Weitwinkel Aristostigmat 120mm f6.3.

I have one and tested it along with my 120mm Dagor back around February, I was looking primarily at contrast and included a 165mm f5.3 Tessar and a 135m Ihagee-Goerz Anastigmat (a dialyte), all the lenses are optically very clean. The Dagogor was way ahead of the Tessar in terms of contrast, the Ihagee-Goerz dialyte had lower contrast compared to the Tessar and the Hugo Meyers Weitwinkel Aristostigmat had the lowest contrast. But that's what you's expect as the number of uncoated air/glass interfaces increases.

Ian

[Dan Fromm]

Berthiot's 120/14 Ser. VIa Perigraphe #3. Covers 8x10. In barrel, can't be put in shutter but the barrel can easily be stuffed into the front of an Ilex #3. That's how I use my 60, 75 and 92.

[Two23]

I'm leaning toward the Dagor. I love Dagors! I use a 240mm c.1914 in Compound as one of my portrait lenses. I think I also have a 100mm Aristostigmat in Compound lying around somewhere. How do these two (120mm versions) compare?


Kent in SD

[Pete Roody]

The German Goerz co (and Zeiss) made wide angle Dagors. You can tell them apart from normal dagors by their f9 maximum aperture. They made a 120mm size. They will have full movements on 5x7. Hard to find but worth the search.


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[Pete Roody]

also early Goerz (pre 1900) dagors cover more than the later editions. They have a maximum aperture of 7.7.


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[Pete Roody]

Agreed. Not much excess coverage for movements, but some. Be cautious, however. Quality control seemed to be lacking on those. I had three by the time I settled on one that was truly sharp from corner to corner. Another sleeper is the Weitwinkel 120mm 6.8. (At least I think I'm spelling that correctly. Probably not.)

Mine was in a later Linhof Select Compur shutter. I believe Linhof culled out bad ones.


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[Luis-F-S]

also early Goerz (pre 1900) dagors cover more than the later editions. They have a maximum aperture of 7.7

Those are longer than 12". The WA are f8 or f9.

[Pete Roody]

Those are longer than 12". The WA are f8 or f9.

The early dagors were all f7.7. I recently bought a 180mm version and it covers 8x10. These were made prior to 1900.

[Jody_S]

Hey Michael
Yep it's Weitwinkel & pretty sure your speaking of the Hugo Meyers Weitwinkel Aristostigmat 120mm f6.3.

I could have sworn mine was a f6.8. I sold it some time ago(I think) so I can't check. I may actually have too many lenses now.

OP: If you're afraid of the f12.5 of the Wolly series III, most period wide angles were f16, so the f12.5 is a fast wide! I have a few WAR f16s in barrel that look about as good as you'd expect on the format (low contrast, fuzzy edges), but the Wolly blows them all out of the water. The only one I have that is halfway decent is a "Luxor" 6" f16 that is as sharp and contrasty as some of my modern lenses. The scuttlebut is that the Luxor was made by Cooke.

[Luis-F-S]

I could have sworn mine was a f6.8. I sold it some time ago(I think) so I can't check. I may actually have too many lenses now.

It was. L

[Kirk Fry]

Zeiss Protar V, 111 mm will cover. F18.

[Dan Fromm]

The early dagors were all f7.7. I recently bought a 180mm version and it covers 8x10. These were made prior to 1900.

Pete, there's been vigorous debate about whether 180 Dagors will cover 8x10. It comes down to what "cover" means.

Goerz American offered f/7.7 Dagors in a limited range of focal lengths as recently as 1951. See http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/goerz_3.html. Boyer offered f/7.7 Beryl-S (much the same thing), also in a limited range of focal lengths as recently as 1982, but Eric Beltrando says that the f/7.7 Beryl-S is an f/6.8er with limited diaphragm. I don't think this is the case for US Goerz' f/7.7ers.

I've been meaning to point out that Berthiot's f/14 Perigraphe Ser. VIa is an extreme wide angle dagor type. That is, double anastigmat with six elements in two groups. The OP wants a 120 that will cover 5x7. A #3 Perigraphe Ser. VIa (120/14) covers 8x10 "at small apertures." The cells won't go into a shutter but the entire lens can be stuffed into the front of an Ilex #3. David Goldfarb,who posts mainly on Apug, has one and has said he's happy with it.

[jesse]

The German Goerz co (and Zeiss) made wide angle Dagors. You can tell them apart from normal dagors by their f9 maximum aperture. They made a 120mm size. They will have full movements on 5x7. Hard to find but worth the search.


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This is a 125mm f9 Dagor.

[Jim Noel]

I kinda like Dagors of all focal lengths. I buy, and use, every one I see which is reasonably priced.

[Daniel Unkefer]

120mm Angulons are very nice to use. I have several

[Dan Fromm]

also early Goerz (pre 1900) dagors cover more than the later editions. They have a maximum aperture of 7.7.


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Pete, late w/a Dagors from Goerz American -- see http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/goerz_3.html -- were f/8.

[Ron (Netherlands)]

If you want a vintage look try the 100mm or 120mm Aristostigmat

[Jim Noel]

120mm Angulons are very nice to use. I have several

Agree.