copal 1 lens direct fit

[merlo.luca1961@libero.it]

I shoot 4x5 and 8x10 negatives and I own a G-Claron 210 mounted in Copal 1 shutter. I realised that the front element is foggy and I franckly doubt I can have it cleaned professionally (is it possible anyway ?). Since the shutter is working perfectly I was thinking of using it by mounting directly a barrel lens on this shutter. What are the lenses that have a direct fit with the Copal 1?

[Donald Qualls]

Pretty nearly any post-War lens with a barrel the same diameter as the G-Claron is likely to fit the threads, but there surely are some barrel-mounted lenses that require a different spacing between groups than what a standard #1 shutter provides. If the groups unscrew from the barrel, you could measure the length of the barrel (over the shoulders that the lens groups bear against when screwed in) and compare it to the length over the threaded collars on the shutter -- but there could still be issues with the aperture not falling at the optical node, which could cause vignetting when stopped down.

Cleaning a lens isn't difficult, however; it just requires having the right tools (microfiber cloth and lens cleaning fluid), the right technique (easily found with a web search, and it's bee posted here many times), and some patience to do it carefully and correctly. I've done a Tessar-type lens in about ten minutes on a couple occasions, cleaning all air-glass surfaces to factory-new condition.

[Jon Wilson]

Another 210mm G-Claron, 240mm G-Claron, 210mm Graphic Kowa, 190mm Ilex Acton (sp), and 240mm Docter Germinar-W f9 are a few off the top of my head which I have and which are a direct fit into a copal 1 shutter.

[Capocheny]

I've just had a 240 G-Claron mounted into a Copal 1... great lens! :)

Donald is right on with respects to his comments regarding the spacing between groups. Some may require shims. And, of course, a new aperture scale may also be required depending on the lens. Speak with Tim at www.lensN2shutter.com on this subject matter. :)

Cheer

[Sheldon N]

I'll throw in a plug for my 240mm G-Claron in barrel that I've got on ebay this week (130027877313). It will screw right into a Copal 1, and cover your 8x10.

[John Kasaian]

Just see if you can get the lens cleaned---several shops do this kind of work. I'd recommend Flutot's if Carol Miller is back from her well deserved R&R.

[Donald Qualls]

Merlo is in Italy -- shipping to and from might cost as much as Carol's service. If the shutter is fine, I'd seriously recommend reading up on technique and doing the glass cleaning yourself; it's very easy to do, and with the exception of the soft coatings put on some lenses immediately before, during, and just after WWII, not prone to damaging the coatings (when the correct cloth and technique is used).

[merlo.luca1961@libero.it]

Thank you to all of you. As Donald said I am an Italian photographer based in Northern Italy so it is out of the question I send the lens to the States since the cost of cleaning the lens, the shipping and the taxes that our "beloved" government is ready to charge will far exceed the cost of the lens. I have tried to open the front element but my LINOS "lens openers" have fixed gauges and none is fitting the two slots of the element. So i will try to get an adjustable "lens opener" and I will try to clean the lens with a cotton stub and acetone. I will keep you posted abiut the results.

Best regards to all.

[Donald Qualls]

Merlo, I use a microfiber cloth and lens cleaning fluid sold at local eyeglass shops (or given away, if you bought your glasses from them). Spray the fluid only on the cloth, never directly on the lens.

Start by using a bulb or blower brush to remove as much dust as possible without any contact with the lens surface, then dampen an area of the cloth and wipe with the wetted bit, very, very gently in a spiral from the center out to the edge. Repeat as necessary, with a clean area of cloth each time, then dry with a dry area of the cloth. Fog the glass with your breath, and wipe again with a clean dry area of the cloth, and again repeat as needed until the glass surface is uniform and shows no marks (or until you satisfy yourself that a particular mark isn't going to come off with this treatment -- coatings sometimes pick up spots that won't clean off). Once you've done this to all surfaces, reassemble the lens, touching the surfaces (if unavoidable) only with clean microfiber cloth, and it's ready to go.

I wouldn't use acetone; at a minimum, it'll take almost any paint off the lens cells and mount. Acetone could also soften, craze, or discolor the cement bonding elements in some older lenses. Some folks have used a mixture of 90% isopropyl alcohol and commercial spritz-on window cleaner (Windex is the best known American brand), but with older lenses, it's slightly possible the ammonia in a window cleaner could damage a coating; I've never heard of that happening with the cleaning fluid sold for eyeglasses (those lenses are often plastic, and often have dip-applied solvent-carried coatings that would soften with acetone or most alcohols; a cleaner that's safe for them should be safe for any material you'll find in any reasonably common photographic lens, aside from the WWII era soft coatings, which are effectively impossible to clean without simply rubbing them off).