I would love to see some photos made with the Cooke XVa

[sperdynamite]

It's a lens I definitely cannot afford! I read about it a fair amount though, and it sounds just about perfect as a 'lifetime' large format optic.

I've never seen photos from it! Not one. I think Flickr has some pretty low res examples, but really no more than a tiny handful and they really don't tell me anything.

If you have a good scan, please, share it!

-Mark

[karl french]

I’ve posted at least 15 phots taken with my Cooke XVa on Flickr. Ari has quite a few as well. Look again. It’s a great lens.


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[Mark Sawyer]

I'd say go see an Ansel Adams show. He used a variety of lenses and formats, but a Cooke XVa on 8x10 was a favorite for many years and a lot of his best work.

[karl french]

That was the original Cooke Series XV. The XVa is a modern reissue. Quite similar optical layout with modern coating. 25.5 vs 26.5” front group on the new lens vs original. It a higher contrast lens than the original. It renders with a beautiful sharpness.


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[Greg]

I assume that you are talking about a Cooke f/6.8 12 1/2" convertible. I also was looking to acquire a XVa for some time, but the one(s) I found were priced out of my ballpark. Instead settled on a Wollensak 13" f/6.8 Series IA Raptar, convertible to 20" and 25 1/2", in a very dependable Alphax shutter. It definitely is my favorite lens for my 8x10. Since the late 1970s have used a 12 3/4 “ (324mm) (18 7/8”, 27”) f/7.7 BL Protar V11, but found myself preferring the 13" Raptar's image on the GG and in the negatives. Adding a note on my "list of things to do" to shoot comparison negatives

Maybe another member of the FORUM could chime in here as to how alike (or not) the 13 inch Raptar is to the Cooke?

[Mark Sawyer]

I also have a Raptar 1a triple convertible, the poor man's Cooke XVa. I suppose if you want the poor man's XV, you could get the uncoated Velostigmat triple convertible...

The design layouts look similar, with the Cooke being air-spaced at a couple of the Raptar's cemented interfaces, but depending on the glass used, they could be quite different.

BTW, the Cooke came out in 1921, while the Raptar 1a dates to at least 1916. I don't know if the Wolly influenced the Cooke, the designs were independent, or if they had a common ancestor...

[William Whitaker]

I'd say go see an Ansel Adams show. He used a variety of lenses and formats, but a Cooke XVa on 8x10 was a favorite for many years and a lot of his best work.

The book Examples is as good a reference as any since many of Adams' images contained therein were taken with the Cooke XV.
This is a book that should be in your library anyway simply for the sheer amount of "ansel-ianna" it contains.