Topcor 5.6/210 Lens

[steve_p]

I've just picked up an example of this lens in a Copal #1 shutter to use with an Intrepid 4x5 camera that will hopefully arrive at some point in the next week or so. There seems to be very little information about this lens out there. Does anyone use one? Is it any good?

Cheers
Steve P

[Tobias Key]

Not a lens I have and quite obscure, but there probably hasn't been a bad 210mm lens made for 4x5 large format in 60 years, if not more. From the images I googled for it , it looks like a multi-coated plasmat just like the better-known offerings from bigger manufacturers. Just remember to use it at f16 or F22 to get the best out of it.

[Pali K]

I have it but haven't used it more than once or twice. It performs quite well and is similar to my Caltar MC II 210mm in performance.

Pali

[Dan Fromm]

Interesting. This reference http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/horseman_2.html says it is a 70 degree lens. If that's the OP's, there are newer 210/5.6 plasmats with slightly more coverage. But as Tobias said, its very hard to make a bad mistake with any of these lenses.

[David Karp]

Kerry Thalmann wrote an article on the history of Caltar lenses. In it, he discusses the Caltar HR series, which was in part manufactured by Topcon and private labeled for Calumet. He stated that Topcon had a line of large format lenses that included 90mm, 150mm, 180mm, and 210mm focal lengths. The specs state that the filter size is 67mm and the image circle is 295mm. Your Topcor 210mm f/5.6 is likely identical to the Topcon lenses described in Kerry's article.

[ic-racer]

I have almost all the Horseman/Topcor LF and 6x9 lenses (including the 210mm). One could get them from Japan at bargain prices a few years ago. I also had some Caltars HRs. The glass in the Caltars I had was identical to that in the Horseman/Topcor. In fact I even swapped glass and barrels once, to get good glass in a Horseman barrel.

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?85695-The-BEST-way-to-solve-lens-separation&highlight=separation

[steve_p]

My lens is indeed the lens illustrated in the catalogue above. I got it for a good price and cannot wait to try it out (only the lack of a camera is holding me back). I have struggled to find much about this particular lens, so, the above comments are rather reassuring!

Cheers
Steve P

[ic-racer]

The coverage of those Horseman 4x5 lenses is good when used with the folding field cameras and, with respect to the 90mm, were designed with those folding 4x5 cameras in mind. In fact some Horseman folding field cameras came with infinity stops set for some of the Horseman lenses. If you are getting a monorail, then it could out-maneuver that lens.