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View Full Version : Looking for a 14-15" (360mm) lens in barrel that easily covers 15" film



Randy
3-Aug-2017, 09:29
Any recommendations?
My format will be 8 1/2 X 15 (or there abouts).
Due to the constraints of my modified camera back, 14" is about the shortest lens I will be able to use focused at infinity.
No shutter needed, can be a repro or enlarger budget priced lens.
The 355 G-Claron may work, just wondering if there are any other options...like:

Rodenstook APO-Gerogon 360mm F/9
CZJ Apo-Germinar 360mm f/9
Rodenstock Apo-Ronar 360mm f/9
Schneider Componon 360mm f/5.6
Schneider 355mm Repro-Claron f/9

Jim Fitzgerald
3-Aug-2017, 09:53
Randy, for years I've used as my go to lens for 8x20 the Rodenstock APO Gerogon 360mm F-9 lens. It takes 77mm filters and is sharp as all get out. Still a bargain if you find one. Also small and light weight. It stays on the 8x20 all of the time.

John Kasaian
3-Aug-2017, 09:54
Try a 14" Commercial Ektar. Coverage is in acres.

Dan Fromm
3-Aug-2017, 10:06
To echo Jim, a 360 Apo Gerogon will do. But remember that its cells aren't direct fits in any shutter. Apo Ronar and Repro Claron won't cover.

karl french
3-Aug-2017, 10:31
14" f7.7 Goerz Dagor (or Doppel Anastigmat Serie III/Double Anastigmat Series III)

Randy
3-Aug-2017, 11:27
I guess, price wise - and perhaps performance wise, the Rodenstock APO Gerogon 360mm may be my best bet. Just have to wait for one to come available.
I have a B&L 1C 11X14 that looks like it may cover, especially at f/22-32, but it is such a large, heavy lens.
I have a 45cm Apo Nikkor that will work nicely - I was just hoping to come across something a tad wider.
Thanks for the input.

Jim Fitzgerald
3-Aug-2017, 20:22
I think I saw a 360 Gerogon on the e--- for BIN $149.00

Randy
4-Aug-2017, 16:00
I saw it Jim - looks like it doesn't have a retaining ring and I don't see any aperture markings on it - but I am thinking I may have a problem with that type of lens - since my Packard shutter is mounted right inside the front standard (behind the lens-board) the rear element of the lens may prevent me from using the shutter. That would call for more modifications.. :(

Dan Fromm
4-Aug-2017, 16:12
Randy, I just took a look at R'stock's Apo-Gerogon documentation. You're right, the 360 is wasp-waisted with the mounting threads far in front of the back of the much wider rear cell. That's no reason to pass on one.

What you need is a disk threaded internally to fit the mounting threads and externally to screw into a tube slightly wider than the lens' rear cell. The tube would attach to the board. I'm not sure how much a machinist would charge to make the bits, but you might want to look into it.

Not a my idea or even a newish one. That's how the Horseman TC attaches to a lens.

Dan Fromm
5-Aug-2017, 08:25
Randy, I looked at the documentation again. The 360 Apo-Gerogon's rear cell is threaded M58x0.75 internally. I don't know whether you're up for the added expense, but I have several aerial camera lenses, one quite heavy (12"/4 TTH) that are held to boards by adapters that pass through the board and screw into the back of the lens. The board is clamped between the adapter's rear flange and the lens.

Randy
5-Aug-2017, 11:43
Dan, my concerns:

1 - With the camera back adapter I am fabricating for my 8X10 camera (in order to facilitate the use of my 8.5X15 film holder without any vignetting from the cameras rear standard) the 8.5X15 ground-glass has to be about 7" from the cameras rear standard.

2 - My camera, a F&S Commercial View (I think) from the 1920's, when the bellows is set at max compression, will allow a minimum focus distance (from lens board to the 8X10 GG) of about 6.5".

3 - So, any lens I plan to use for this modification has to have at least 14" distance between the lens board and the GG, when focused at infinity....

4 - ...which looks like, any lens of 14"-15" that I can use will have to have an infinity focus distance of no less than 14" from the flange...which may mean that I will not be able to use a 14" lens unless I can spend $ on one in a shutter, so that I can just leave my Packard shutter open when using that lens.

Thoughts?

Dan Fromm
5-Aug-2017, 13:02
Randy, I don't think a 360 Apo Gerogon is the lens for your 8.5x15 camera. Back focus (rear vertex to film at infinity) is 317.1 mm, so mounting the lens entirely in front of the board as needed to use your Packard won't work for magnifications lower than around 1:12. And its flange-focal distance is shorter than 14" too, so mounting it conventionally and hanging a shutter in front of it won't work either.

Front mounting is the problem. So is relatively inexpensive.

I know this isn't what you think you want, but you might have to settle for an 18 or 19 inch lens. 19 inch dialyte type process lenses aren't that rare or expensive, can be front-mounted and should nearly cover, especially if you're going to be contact printing. Few shorter process lenses have the coverage you need.

Flange-focal distance is a problem for lenses in shutter too. I just looked at Joe McGloin's Fuji list (its in my list of places to look ...), only the 360/10 A has a flange focal distance greater than 355.6 mm (14"). 359.1.

Suggest that you spend a little time thinking about what you really need to accomplish, as opposed to what would be nice, and looking at lens catalogs. Use my list.

Don't forget that you can hang a shutter in front of a lens as well as hang a lens in front of a shutter. In this case the critical dimension is flange-focal distance.

Last thought, in the form of a question. I have no idea how big y'r F&S Commercial View's boards are. Is making a recessed board an option? You won't need a deep deep recess to make a 360 Apo-Gerogon with a shutter hung in front of it work.

Randy
5-Aug-2017, 16:02
Thanks for the thoughts Dan - you may have not seen my post #6 - I do have a 45cm Apo Nikkor (17.5") that covers quite well, and I have a B&L 1C 11X14 that seems to cover, especially at f/22.

For some reason (mental defect?) I had in my head that since this format is long, I should try for a lens as wide as I can make work on this rig - which would be 14". But I was not familiar with the lens design of the 14-15" lenses that would cover this format, specifically the 360 Apo Gerogon or the 355 G-Claron. That rear cell sticking out the back does create problems for me.

My camera takes 6" lens-boards, which I usually fashion out of Masonite (old clipboards I find at yard sales). I have made a 2.5" recessed lens-board for the camera once and it actually served quite well - mounted my 115mm Grandagon N on it since I had read that some examples just barely covered 8X10.

So - as per your suggestion - looks like if I really wanted to use a 14" lens, I will have to mount in a recessed lens-board and either use front mount shutter, or the Galli dark-slide shutter.

And yes, I will only be contact printing, and mostly cyanotypes probably.

Jim Noel
6-Aug-2017, 10:56
I have an Apo Ronar 360 in an excellent shutter for $240 plus shipping from 92119.
PM me if interested.

xkaes
6-Aug-2017, 11:09
You might also want to check out the Fujinon A360 and CMW360. I have no idea about their availablity.

Check out:

www.subclub.org/fujinon/ (http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/)